AN: The format/prompts for this chapter is a reprise of an old chapter in which they tentatively begin to admit that they're in love (Chapter 17). I thought it fit well with this one. Thanks for reading!

Please Don't Break My Heart

29. Certain

"I am allowed to be worried that you will leave me at the altar," Azula snaps, sitting up in the middle of the night. Ty Lee stays lying down, gazing up at someone she sees as a goddess.

"I would never do that, princess," whispers Ty Lee.

"But you have betrayed me time and time again. Maybe it will not be different." And Azula wonders if it will be her fault. She never fails to poison everything she touches, but has too much pride to admit it. "You hurt people. It's who you are."

Ty Lee bravely protests, "I'm certain that I've never hurt anyone outside of war, Azula."

The silence goes on and on for what feels like forever.

"I never believed people when they said how much it hurts to have your heart broken. Or maybe I just knew I did not have to worry about it because I lack a heart. But then, after that day, I knew how awful it was. I was lying on my bedroom floor with mascara running down my face, gasping for air, crying—me, Princess Azula, crying—and in horrid pain. So don't you dare say you have never hurt anyone because that day you killed me."

Tears streaming from her eyes, Ty Lee caresses the side of Azula's face and earnestly declares, "I want to make it better."

Azula steps back and breaks free of the touch. "Me too. I want to trust you. I want to raise my child with you. I suppose I want to marry you. But I never can trust you and I think you must accept that. Can you?"

"Yes," says Ty Lee. "Let's get ready to get married. Let's plan this wedding. It'll make it better and easier and we'll forget all about being sick or feeling betrayed."

Azula wishes she could believe the acrobat.

Yet, she will try.

30. Fragments

Thrill — Starting to prepare for the wedding is the most exciting time in Ty Lee's life, and she could not be happier.

Once — Before this happiness of a marriage and a baby, someone on Kyoshi Island asked Ty Lee if she knew Princess Azula well, and a million memories flashed through her mind—yes, she thought she would say—but she just smiled broadly and said, "I used to."

Mother – Izumi smiles and Ty Lee's heart thunders, because she wants this little baby to be hers too, hers with Azula, her golden-eyed baby.

Flowers – "I will have the flowers that I want," snarls Azula, glaring at the nervous shopkeeper, while Ty Lee pretends to be looking at something else.

Support – Azula sulks in her room with her baby and fake tears, and thinks to herself, Am I really willing to destroy my family to get what I want? Yes. Yes, I am.

Truth – Ty Lee says, "I don't mind hearing the truth, but I don't know if you want to tell it."

Tantrum – This wedding is complicated solely because Azula does not know how to be a girl who does not get what she wants.

Parents – Ty Lee's family tells her she should be with someone else, someone who values her and Ty Lee tells them she never wants to speak to them again.

Leash – When Ty Lee whispers she would like Azula to stop her public tirade about the ballroom in soft decay, the princess replies, "If I was meant to be controlled, I would have come with a leash.

Murderer — Ty Lee dreams about Azula's coup, and how at the time the bloodshed made Azula look like divine absolution, but now, after Kyoshi Island, Ty Lee realizes she does not think she is safe just because Azula loves her.

Pretend – Mai can pretend to be happy for them, but she is among the one hundred percent of people who object to the wedding, who hoped Azula and Ty Lee would break up like they always do before they make a permanent mistake.

Astronomy – Ty Lee loves her because when she speaks magic tumbles from her lips and, when she speaks, the stars sigh in unison.

Change – Ty Lee suggests fire-lilies and Azula does not speak to her for three days, because apparently they are no longer her favorite flower.

Speech – Ty Lee tries to write the right words for the engagement party but all that comes out is, "I don't know what it is that made me love you more than I love anything else but I remember what you said to steal my heart and compare it to what you did and it doesn't make sense," but she would never say that so she starts over from scratch.

Denial – For all of Azula's life, she has never had anyone say no, and she does not handle rejection easily, even something as simple as Ty Lee saying she wants to wear her braid down instead of up at their wedding.

Invitations – "If you invite that peasant whore I will call off the entire wedding."

Abandoned – In the lukewarm night, Azula whispers beautifully, "You were there, and then you weren't," and Ty Lee apologizes, ignoring that she could say the same.

Apology – Azula says crisply, "I want to say I'm sorry for being a nightmare about this wedding; all I want is for it to be perfect, because I've waited my entire life for it."

Happy – They eat breakfast in the sunshine, and gaze at each other like they never want to look away again.

Sad – Azula locks herself and Izumi in her room again and torments everyone in the palace until they collapse, giving her what she wants.

Soulmates – When Azula demands to know why Ty Lee would stay with someone so broken and destructive, Ty Lee replies, "You had my heart and I had yours and we knew it was love so I stayed."

Possibilities – Maybe it is too much; maybe it isn't enough.

Schemes – Ty Lee watches Azula plan the wedding the way she plans a war, and smiles.

Midnight – Ty Lee lies awake and realizes she cannot shake the knowledge that Azula makes her feel like she is everything, nor the knowledge that Azula makes her feel like she is nothing.

Envy – "I will invite my enemies to the wedding because they will see my hot wife and my perfect life and they will envy and fear me," says Azula, and Ty Lee grins eagerly.

Silence – Ty Lee plays with Izumi; Azula breaks a shelf.

Confused — Azula makes a make-up artist cry and Ty Lee is not sure if that is sexy or not; she never stops being confused anymore.

Child — "You aren't Izumi's mother, even if you want to pretend to be," Azula snaps when Ty Lee tries to braid a piece of the baby princess's soft raven hair.

Cold – "I'm sorry that I hurt you and hurt your feelings and I hate myself for it, but I keep trying to change who I am and it's the hardest thing I've ever done, so please let me apologize," Azula begs with sparkling eyes, and Ty Lee forgives her.

Forgotten — Ty Lee does realize, five weeks before the wedding, that she forgot who Azula is, and forgot that being around her makes it hurt to breathe.

Surrender — And Ty Lee finally gives up, drops the fake smile, and whispers to herself, "I can't do this anymore."

31. The Truth About Forever

Ty Lee wishes she never asked for that commitment.

She did not need it so why did she demand it?

And she smiles at the babbling Izumi and wishes she could have the life she dreamed of.

But it was a dream.

Trying to marry Azula only reminded Ty Lee that they were never meant to be together, no matter how much they were in love.

Loving Azula hurt.

Loving Azula is hard.

Loving Azula is too much to bear.

So, Ty Lee turns away from that road and hopes something good waits in the distance.