A/N: It's March. I graduate High School in May… I'm going to have to hurry up if I want to get this done by College. Once a week can only get ya so far. After this weekend I "should" update faster. I have a whole buncha artwork due for the State High School competition thing and it's just been sucking my time.

Haven't done a read through yet, so alert me of ridiculously stupid mistakes.

Chapter 38

In the Fire Nation clothing had been so much simpler. Just a few ties, this goes there that goes here and the like. There had never been layers or little dirty copper buttons and clasps that never wanted to fit to their slotted mates. No, in the Fire Nation Azula could dress her self in a matter of minutes without looking like a bumbling idiot in the least. Clearly evidence that her people were by far superior in all aspects of life.

In the marvelous kingdom of mudslingers, there were under robes, sheathes of various sorts made of thick unyielding woolen compounds that tied in the back as well as the front and the side. There were even a few hidden buttons. Then came the drawstring pants overtop of leggings and wrappings. Then her top-robe. Then the absolutely pointless embroidered drape. Then the sashes that had to be just right over the drape.

This was only if she intended to stay inside. Traversing out doors required much more primping. Another layer of stockings, hide soled boots, her cloak, her cloak's broach-pins, leg wraps…

At first she would fumble clumsily with the flimsy ties in places she could never possibly reach and become drenched in wool-induced sweat, all whilst cursing and stomping around in frustration. Now, as sad as it seemed, she'd grown used to it. It became another on a list of acquired skills, another sad testament to her time away from home.

It was nearing spring now, and Azula had arrived when it was in the briskness of late summer. Almost half a year had past while she was pouring tea, tying up robes, holding hands, and kissing fleshy pink lips. It hardly seemed so long. It felt like just yesterday she was spending her days counting cement blocks and ignoring the constant barrage of people who would mercilessly try to speak with her. It felt like just yesterday she'd see the comforting sight of deep red hues and refined gold, so very different from the colors of the earth.

Being apart from such things no matter what she'd gained along the way, made her stomach lurch. Azula was a child of fire, being around all this earth was smothering her. In her Earth Kingdom robes, her boots, her cloak, she felt naked, foreign, vulnerable. This city could never offer the comforting embrace of her home city. She didn't know whether it was the colors, or the faces, or the attitudes, but even if she spent the rest of her life in probationary hell she'd probably always miss the capital city. The palace, her room, her clothes, even her father. They were the foundation that shaped her, they were the flesh that made her whole. No matter what clothes she had on her back that would never change.

No matter what she would never change.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ty Lee cooed drowsily from her little bedroll, which had been placed unceremoniously cattycorner to Azula's. Her eyes were dark and wet, and lovingly placed on Azula. "You're off today right?"

"I just… want to check on some things at the teahouse." Azula sighed softly and crouched down in the dim light to look at Ty Lee's face. One of her hands strayed to pat at her sleeping companion's head stiffly. She allowed herself that. "Nothing for you to worry over. Go back to sleep. I'll be back shortly."

"It'll do fine without you for one day, 'Zula-- you busybody you." Ty Lee laughed deep in the back of her throat, husky with sleep. Her little hand crawled out from beneath the covers and clasped onto Azula's weakly, like a small child. Her fingers were warm and slightly damp from sweat. They felt so comfortable fitted in her grasp. Like they belonged there. "Stay here with me. Please?"

"You'll do fine without me too." Azula rolled her eyes when Ty Lee emphatically shook her head and squeaked in response. "Ty Lee, I will be back in a moment." Azula wrenched her hand out of Ty Lee's grasp and got to her feet. She liked how easily her voice could slip back into a smooth commanding tone even after so long of being underused.

After all the time she'd spent getting dressed Azula was leaving. She hadn't become so terribly subservient to Ty Lee that she'd just crumble at any stray whim or fancy. Sure, she was cute. Cute and warm and nice-smelling. But Azula knew the people she worked with. A day away from the teashop meant poorly kept records, undocumented transactions, and any other travesty those morons could come up with. She took pride in her work. One measly day would send her flawless ledgers into disarray.

Maybe.

" 'Zula," Ty Lee whined and made some childish thrashing movements but still made no move to get out of her bed roll.

"Ty Lee, you're acting like a child." Azula snapped but got back down to her knees none the less. "It's annoying."

A big sleepy grin lit up Ty Lee's face. "Can't help it." She whispered deliriously. "I guess I'm just selfish. Like a big kid. I want you with me always. Maybe it seems silly, but it feels really… strong? Important? Oh, I don't know the word. I'm always so bad at words."

Azula softened a little and reached out to stroke the side of Ty Lee's smooth face. She was so warm when she slept. It seemed impossible to be so warm, like it'd be painful. How could someone who wasn't even a bender have so much heat?

Ty Lee leaned into the touch placidly, her eyes drifting shut with contentment. This trust, this heat, was like a drug. She was warm when she shouldn't be, trusting when she had no reason to be. She was so brisk and flighty, relying on desires she couldn't even put into words. Ty Lee was like… raw and pure fire. Unpredictable, hot, and completely under Azula's reign.

"Tell me more ill-placed words. Just speak." Azula ran her fingers through Ty Lee's hair, relishing in the way it the downy fine feel of it.

Ty Lee's eyes cracked open. "I've been wanting to ask you something." Her focus was clear, her voice pristine. The change was sudden like an awakened cat, ready, alert, on the prowl. "Can't think of any stranger words, hardly."

Azula smiled briefly as she watched the peaks of Ty Lee's eye brows shift. First from confident and calm, to a pensive uncertainty. The look in her eyes didn't change though, not on any level Azula could tell. "Ask then, won't you?" She asked smoothly resolute.

"Remember, it's just a silly word…and I'm not even sure if it's even the right question." Ty Lee breathed in deep and loud, her wide eyes scanning Azula's face. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Girlfriend…

Azula with drew herself lightly from Ty Lee, moving her hand but not even bothering to move. What good would fleeing do her really? Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Why would she ask that of all things? Weren't they-- sort of-- already…?

"I just wanna call you that is all." Ty Lee smiled nervously. She sat up in her sheets to get a good look at Azula in the eye. "I know it's silly, but… I just want to! Doesn't have to really mean anything. It's just another stupid word."

"Who are you talking to that you need to call me t-that anyway?" Azula furrowed her brows. "I have a perfectly good name. I'd prefer you use it."

Azula didn't particularly want to be someone's girlfriend. She didn't particularly like being asked that question either. It was just one of those nice little embarrassments she was supposed be avoid by being with a woman. If anyone was to do the asking it should have been her. Not that she'd even thought about it. It didn't really mean anything after all…

It just didn't feel right.

"I'm not talking to anybody. I'd just like to see you sitting in your little stock room, with your fancy pen and all those stupid books being all serious and think 'That's my girlfriend'." Ty Lee smiled big and wide showing the shiny whites of her straight teeth. "And, and I can be your girlfriend too. We'll be girlfriends! Just thinking about it makes me all tingly."

"I don't know, Ty." Azula bit her lip.

Now the idea of being able to call Ty Lee her girlfriend felt nice. It felt safe and possessive, like Ty Lee belonged to her. It was like some bond written in stone that couldn't ever be taken back. Once one's no longer the 'girlfriend' they're the 'ex-girlfriend'. If Ty Lee was that they could no longer officially go back to being just friends again. Not that she wanted to do that.

Then again didn't that work the other way? If Ty Lee belonged to her, then she belonged to Ty Lee. That's the part that kept sticking her. It didn't feel right. After so many years of bowing down to her father--

No. This was different. This 'belonging' wasn't of the same kind Azula and her father shared. She was his puppet, his slave, his plaything. Things were different with Ty Lee. She was just a silly little girl who wanted the satisfaction of a little word. She probably didn't even think the dark thoughts of ownership that Azula did. It was just a word. A word that made her feel good. Nothing more or less.

Her father was controlling her even now.

"Okay." Azula mumbled after a long period of pensive silence. "You and I, we'll be… 'girlfriends'."