Disclaimer: I..yadda yadda yadda...nothing...yadda yadda yadda. Insert lame joke here.

Ponytail

Ty Lee had always had a "thing" for men with ponytails. Right now, there was that silly bumbling water tribe boy, and earlier the man who'd come to her circus every day to flirt with her, but had turned out to be jerk so she'd cut off his ponytail. Then, Zuko showed up again. Zuko: The orginal ponytailed crush, the prototype for the rest. (His ponytail was gone now, but still.) There was the same bubbling over of guilt, intensified by the look of delight shining in Mai's eyes.

She realized two things: First, Mai and herself were more alike than others believed, since they had both retained a crush on the same boy for several years, even when it looked like they might never see him again. Second, Zuko wasn't looking at Mai, he was staring straight at her. For a moment, Ty Lee considered showing off for the prince, smiling at him...hurting Mai again. No! She wasn't going to go through this again. Mai's voice from so many years ago, when she'd discovered that there was something more than friendly between her crush and Ty Lee echoed through her head.

"Ty Lee! I thought you were my friend!"

Ty Lee forced another smile and another joke about how Mai and Zuko were perfect for each other, feeling sad, but pleased at the same time that she could pull this off.

I am your friend. Believe me.