b r o t h e r

One look in the mirror reveals her aura has turned green, and Ty Lee decides it's best to spend some time away from her friends for a while until she's back to pink.

Ty Lee had never been the envious type, and was very contented in her life. She had never once looked at Azula and thought, 'I wish I was princess', or spread a rumor that Mai dyed her gorgeous ebony hair simply because she was stuck with badger-mole brown.

No, early on Ty Lee accepted that her friends had different talents; all good, and that they looked different; all beautiful, and that they each had their own role in society; equally important.

So then why, after coming home from a day at the academy, was she so… so green?

She would sleep on it, Ty Lee decided, and in the morning everything would be normal. Besides, tomorrow was Saturday, which meant Daddy was taking her with him to the palace and she got to play with the other kids while he was in meetings.

Saturdays were her favorite.

Perhaps that's why Ty Lee awoke so early the next morning, or maybe it was the smell of breakfast Mama made that she and Daddy never got to eat (always in a hurry, her Papa) 'cause they scurried out the door.

Daddy is especially quiet on their carriage ride that morning, and Ty Lee feels real out of place sitting next to this important man, and wishes she had another kid there with her. She wishes she wasn't alone.

But that doesn't matter, because in a minute the carriage will pull up to the palace, and she'll soon be sitting in the courtyard with her friends.

And it is so. Ty Lee finds herself cart wheeling with Azula through the grass as Mai watches form her favorite spot under the tree. Zuko walks out to where the girls play, and sits down in a huff.

Ty Lee knows the only reason Zuko sits with them is because today they get a special treat, as Iroh has promised to spend lunch with them.

Ty Lee loves Mr. Iroh (Call me Uncle, he insists) and his jokes, and thinks Azula to be the luckiest girl in the world to be related to such a jolly man. Sometimes she wishes Mr. Iroh ate with them every day, just so she could call him Uncle and pretend maybe he's hers.

But still, her wanting an Uncle never turned her bitter, and it certainly didn't make her jealous of Azula. If anything, it made Ty Lee happier that Azula was her friend, and it made her grateful and smiley and pink.

But there was something that Azula had that Ty Lee wanted desperately. Something that did make her jealous, and turned her as sour and green as the limes Mr. Iroh squeezed in his tea. And that something was Zuko.

Ty Lee can see Mai watching Zuko, and she can see her cheeks turn pinks when Zuko watches back. Ty Lee watches Zuko, but in a different way. She wanted Zuko too, probably more than Mai did, but there was one big difference. Mai wanted a boyfriend.

Ty Lee just wanted a brother.

Azula had it all (Mai had it, too, but Tom-Tom wasn't much fun yet). A fun, loving man to call Uncle, and a Papa who sat down to breakfast, a Grandpa she was affectionately named after, a Mama who still kisses her Papa every now and then, and most of all, a boy to call brother.

Ty Lee thinks brother must be the loveliest word in the world.

To imagine, a boy to live with her, and play with her, and tell her to cover up her tummy 'cause the boys are gonna look at her, and pay her extra-special attention when Daddy wouldn't.

How wonderful it would be to have a brother, someone whom her kids could call "Uncle" when he ate lunch with them, and he could be theirs and no one else's.

Ty Lee thought about having a brother often, but it had only made her green once before. She remembers when they were little, and she and Azula and Zuko and Mai were all sitting out in the courtyard, much like they were doing now, when Azula told Zuko he was a stupid brother and that she didn't want to be his sister anymore.

And then, without thinking (she hardly ever did) Ty Lee turned to Zuko and said "I'll be your new sister." Azula and Mai had started laughing like she had just told the joke about the man and his rooster-pig, so she went right along laughing too. Only Zuko seemed to notice that her eyes were just a little watery, and the look he gave her –sympathy mixed with protectiveness and something that seemed to say 'better you than Azula'- had just about killed her, because she guessed that was the closest she was ever gonna get.

She had turned green after that, but it was mostly covered by the deep blue of her sadness so she hadn't noticed.

Her aura was heavy all the rest of the weekend, and by the time Monday rolled around Ty Lee didn't even make an effort to try to catch breakfast before Daddy rushed her out the door.

On her way up to the gate Ty Lee was about as mopey as ever, until that is, Azula showed up eager to spill the palace gossip from the day before.

"It's a shame your Papa only lets you come over on Saturdays, Ty Lee, 'cause boy did you ever miss the stupidest fight ever."

"A fight?" Ty Lee's eyes were filled with amazement, wondering whether the grown-ups had broken out into a bending match in the middle of a meeting, or two of the palace kids got into a scuffle in the court-yard. "What happened?"

"Well" Azula started, casually glancing at her nails. "You know that Dilly, the big one? Well, he called you an airhead, and it set Zuko off. Next thing you know he's tackled Dilly to the ground even though the kid's twice his size!"

"Wow! You mean he did that all for me?!"

"Mmm-hmm" Azula stated, still studying her nails, as if this wasn't a big deal at all. Then, puffing herself up with pride, she added "Some of the boys teased that ya'll are sweet on each other, but I told them you weren't, and Zuko's just real protective of us."

"Us" Ty Lee echoed, trying to figure out if Azula meant what she thought she did.

"Yeah, you know, me you and Mai." Blowing a stray hair out of her face, Azula rolled her eyes. "Protective older brothers, what can you do?"

And with that Azula pranced off, leaving Ty Lee to gape behind her.

"What can you do…?"

After that Ty Lee's aura was as pink as Zuko's swollen face.

Note: Aww, Ty Lee wants a family of her own. A sweet Zuko Ty Lee friendship fic, not a pairing!

I'm not sure about the time line for this one, but I was so inspired by the song "Brother" by Racoon.

He's to you, big brothers everywhere! And no, I don't know where Mai is at the end, or if hair dye was even invented.