A/N: I've had this chapter half written for about a year now so I'm happy I finished it, happy with how it turned out, and extremely excited to share it. I hope it was worth the abysmal wait.


CHAPTER FIVE

WORTH FIGHTING FOR


"Ernest Hemingway once wrote that the world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part."
-Se7en-


Between the 70th and 71st Harmony Games, The Capitol

Ty Lee went to a fortune teller once.

She always believed in fate and destiny. Believed in years of birth and the elements inside and checked almanacs and the newspaper horoscopes. Her mother always told her about her grand gift of the empathy that comes with seeing auras.

"I'm Aunt Wu," says the fortune teller as Ty Lee steps inside the heavily perfumed store with every surface draped in beaded scarves. "I've been expecting you."

"Then you know why I'm here?" asks Ty Lee, examining the chicken bones still in the ashes of a fire, and the tarot tiles resting on the circular table Aunt Wu sits at.

Aunt Wu laughs and gestures at the chair in front of her. "Love, as it often is."

Ty Lee takes a seat. She sets her elbow on the table and rests her chin on her hand.

She sighs. "I just broke up with my boyfriend and I'm scared I made the wrong choice."

"That's not the right question." Aunt Wu wags her finger.

Ty Lee blinks twice, puzzled. "What is?"

"You thought it would last forever, and now you're afraid you won't ever find your happily ever after."

"I…" Ty Lee is speechless, a rare state for her.

"Let me see your palm."

Ty Lee hands it over and waits patiently as Aunt Wu traces the lines and makes her observations.

At last, the fortune teller says, "You've never been in love, and you don't think you ever will be."

"Am I wrong?"

"Very wrong. But you must be patient. You will know when it is time."

Ty Lee smiles.


"Father," Azula calls into the control room microphone. "Father, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Girl on Fire?" he replies mockingly.

Hama eyes Azula as if she will betray them upon hearing Ozai's voice. But she is wrong. It only strengthens Azula's resolve to destroy him.

"You took Ty Lee from me, and you have no idea what precisely I am going to do to you for it."

"And what are you going to do, little princess? Kill me?"

"I am going to burn your kingdom down."

"That's a very ambitious goal. Now, given the rebels in my Tribute Center, I don't have time to chat. Goodbye, little princess."

"Wait!" Azula nearly curses at herself for accidentally sounding so desperate.

He laughs that wicked, low laugh. "For what?"

In the brief following silence Korra grabs Azula and whispers in her ear, "Can I make a suggestion you won't like?"

Azula sighs and quietly hisses, "Do you make any other kind?"

"Ask for Mai. Ask to talk to Mai."

"Father, is my stepmother nearby?" She wants him to say no. She wants Mai to already be out of the Capitol. But it at least will throw him off for a necessary moment.

"Yes. She is. Shall I put her on?"

"Please."

"Azula?" inquires Mai. She sounds breathless, as if she has been running.

"Mai. I can't tell you what a genuine pleasure it is to hear your voice." Azula means it.

But Mai simply says one ice cold sentence. "I tried to kill you for a reason."

The call ends.

The following silence agonizes.

Korra, Azula and Hama remain pained in the control room indulging in every nervous tick that exists for almost an hour before Zuko bursts in. Two hearts skip a beat.

"They're back. Let's go," says Zuko.

Korra and Azula could not run from the room faster.

[X]

Korra and Azula race to the room where District 10 currently triages the rescued prisoners. They see four full beds: Bolin, Opal, Asami and Ty Lee. Azula cannot help but be angry that there are not five. Mai should be here. They said she would be here.

But before she can turn to Lin and Suyin to protest, someone cries out for her.

"Azula!" shrieks Ty Lee, tearing the IV from her arm and running to her fiancée. "Oh spirits, Azula! I thought I'd never see you again!"

She leaps into her lover's arms and wraps her legs around Azula's hips as she buries her face in her shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of that raven hair.

Ty Lee says, "I missed you so much."

"I didn't even notice you were gone," coolly teases Azula, setting Ty Lee down and kissing her again.

As Korra meanders to Asami, anxious about what she may find due to the doctors surrounding her, "How are you?" Lin asks Opal and Bolin.

"Still breathing," weakly says Opal as the doctors hurry to them both. "That's something."

Bolin grabs her hand and squeezes it.

Once Korra reaches the cot where Asami lies, looking confused and terrified, Korra embraces her wife and then pulls back, grinning at her.

"Asami, I was so afraid I'd never see you again," she whispers, eyes bright and smile wide.

"Who…?" asks Asami with a furrowed brow and perplexed eyes. "Who are you?"

"Korra. It's me, Korra." Korra's heart skips a beat when she sees Asami furrow her brow. "What happened to her?" demands the Avatar, frantically glancing around at the doctors.

Their lead physician replies too calmly, "President Shinohai happened to her. We've been doing tests since she got here. She has retrograde amnesia. They must have induced it somehow."

"What does that mean?" shouts Korra, clenching her fists.

The doctor sighs sadly and explains, "She lost her memories of her past, and we don't know to what extent yet. He played a smart move. It makes her worth little to our cause."

"Worth little? She is worth everything to me, and don't you dare every question Asami's worth ever again." Korra's nostrils flare in rage and the doctor steps back slightly.

Asami can barely follow the conversation, but she is glad to know someone cares about her so much. The sedatives they gave her certainly are not helping her understand any better.

Drawn by the commotion, Lin, Ty Lee and Azula walk over to the crowded bedside.

Asami's eyes light with recognition for the first time yet when she sees her half-sister. "Azula. Azula, mom told me about the bugs."

And she slips into unconsciousness once more without another word, leaving her half-sister to be bombarded with questions about that strange final remark.

Azula denies knowing anything about it.

They believe her for now, since Asami does not seem to be in an ordinary or remotely stable mental state.

But Ty Lee sees that little change in her fiancée's eyes. The small tell that she alone ever notices.

Azula is lying.

[X]

As soon as they are alone, heading down the empty corridor to Azula's quarters, Ty Lee gently stops her fiancée and says, "You were lying when you said you didn't know what Asami meant about the bugs, weren't you?"

Azula's first instinct is to lie again, to stick to her story, but Ty Lee has always had an abnormal effect on her. Maybe that is what drew them to each other. Azula has an abnormal effect on Ty Lee too.

"It won't affect her treatment, and it doesn't reveal anything helpful. Just a dumb childhood thing." Azula purses her lips, but Ty Lee presses. Usually she fears Azula enough to not do that.

"What was it? You can tell me." Ty Lee boldly reaches forward and squeezes her hand.

Azula takes a deep breath. "After her Games, my mother was terrified of bugs. Traumatized by them. And so when she announced she was pregnant with Asami, I went into town and bought a whole bag of plastic insects and spiders and I sprinkled them all over her shoes. She was screaming she found them. I walked in and she was trying to use her shoes to crush the bugs, but they just kept bouncing around." Azula laughs hollowly and fights back tears.

Ty Lee frowns, eyes wide.

"Azula…"

Azula looks wistful and partially smiles at the memory. "I was so proud of myself. It was satisfying. My own mother called me a monster for the first time that day. She was right, of course, but it still hurt."

Ty Lee realizes one painful and true thing in that moment; Azula's moral muscles had become so atrophied that perhaps nothing could return them to their natural strength.

"You've lived a life of pain. Some inflicted on other people and some on you. You wanna believe you're the source of it. You wanna believe the problem is you and not the world you live in."

"My room is just up ahead," is Azula's only response.

Ty Lee disguises her heartbroken frown as an excited smile.

[X]

In the morning briefing, Azula interrupts the beginnings of a conversation about what to do with Asami. Korra looks vicious enough that it probably should have been stopped, although Azula's anger is not any less.

"You left Mai behind. You said you would rescue her. I do not take promises lightly, Ms. Beifong. She risked everything making that lullaby propo for us."

Lin huffs and gruffly states, "Perhaps Mai Shinohai prefers to be with her husband than in the rebellion."

She knows what her soldiers reported, but no one seems to care.

"I don't care who or what Mai fucks. She's my best friend. She's my only friend," says Azula. "I… I love her and none of us would be here if she hadn't rebelled against her husband and volunteered. So, you're going to rescue her, or I'm ending my partnership with your rebellion and your entire district."

Lin leans forward and locks eyes with the overbold girl. "Then end it. If you do, we have a very comfortable cell waiting for you and your Capitolian girlfriend. In fact, given your attitude and opinions of late, I am uncertain our arrangement is still beneficial. We have our Avatar. Why should we need you?"

Korra stands up. "Because she's my friend. She's a total raging bitch but she's my friend, and anybody who hurts my friends isn't ever going to be my ally. If you don't give her the same respect you give me, you can get a new Avatar because I'll be out."

The room falls utterly silent.

Suyin sighs and says, "We'll send a contact to Mrs. Shinohai and she can make her own choice."

Everyone but Azula knows what it will be, even the ever-oblivious Avatar Korra.

After being played while playing the Quell Games, Mai wants nothing to do with her stepdaughter.


The rebel contact reaches Mai as she sits alone in the rose gardens with her new baby in her arms. She gazes off into the distance, eyes glassy, far away from the world even though she had to beg and plead to be let outside.

He is disguised as a guard.

"Mrs. Shinohai, if I may speak to you," he says and she studies him for a moment before realizing that she recognizes him.

He is one of the rebels who helped her with the illegal lullaby she sang.

"District 10 sent me. They found you a way out of the city. I can help you. We can help you."

"I'm not interested."

"Perhaps you misunderstand. This isn't a trick. You wouldn't be a prisoner or ever looked down upon. You could help the rebellion, help us just as much as the Avatar does. If you join the cause, we have an even greater chance of winning the war."

"Join the cause? Your rebellion has done nothing but screw me over each time I was stupid enough to help," says Mai. "Your precious cause has never brought me anything but pain."

"Azula demanded you be rescued. Your true friends are in the rebellion. Here you are in a pit of vipers. Wouldn't you rather be with those you can trust?"

"You're crazy if you think I'll ever trust Azula or the rebellion again, if I'll ever join you."

She stands up. His hand twitches to stop her but he restrains himself.

He tries his last plea, the strongest one he knows. "You can stand to see that Capitol flag in every District every day?"

"It's not a problem if you don't look up."

Mai clutches her newborn to her chest as she leaves both the garden and the Rebellion with one slam of a door.


Korra braves visiting Asami again two days after their first encounter. She wanted to see her earlier but the doctors said not to overwhelm her, that finding out about her Avatar wife may be too much on her after what the Capitol did.

She does not apologize often, but she offers in all earnest, "I'm sorry that I didn't visit before."

"It's okay. They told me I'm your wife. They told me we have this big history but I didn't get to know all of it because I got frustrated and broke down. No one brought it up again but you're my wife and I understand you don't want to see me this way."

"I don't want to see you hooked up to wires in a hospital, not because of the amnesia. We've gotten through worse than that together."

"Oh." Asami does not sound very interested or convinced, to Korra's nauseous reaction.

"How are you doing?" awkwardly asks Korra.

"I hate hospitals," says Asami softly.

Korra wrings her hands. "Me too. Do you remember the one we were in after the Games?"

Asami's lip trembles. "No. No, I don't."

"I'm sorry." Korra's heart begins to race. "I really, really didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine. I'm just frustrated. There's so much I'm supposed to remember but no matter how hard I try I just can't."

"It's okay. You can take your time."

Asami glares, not at Korra, but at life itself. "I don't want to take my time. And I don't want your pity either. The platitudes are getting tiring."

"I'm sorry." Korra does not know what else to say.

"I am too. I'm just tired. The sleeping pills the doctor hooked me up with haven't been doing much good. They're all worried about my insomnia, and when I do sleep, I get these nightmares about awful, violent things and because I don't remember I just… I don't know why."

"What can I do?"

Asami hesitates, as if her coming request is asking too much.

"My mom used to tell me stories to help me sleep. After she killed herself, Azula told them to me. Do you ever tell stories?"

"Not really. I'm not a master wordsmith or anything." Korra takes a breath. "But for you, for you I'll try."

"Okay. Tell me a good one. A true one." Asami lies back.

A true one.

"I don't uh, I don't really know how to start."

"The good ones all start with once upon a time."

"Once upon a time there was a girl — a waterbender — who wanted to skip school. She got caught by peacekeepers, and when that fight was starting to get ugly, a savior came to her. It was this amazingly smart girl with the craziest beautiful green eyes. She saved that dumb waterbender, who invited her to an underground probending match. But the smart, beautiful, green-eyed girl was scared. She went to the match but stayed hidden, and when the waterbender looked for her after, she couldn't find her, and thought she never came. The end."

"That's a sad story."

"It's not sad to me. It's the story of the day I met you."

"Oh. It's a pretty story even if it's sad."

I'm that breathless moment, Korra makes a horrible mistake.

She kisses her wife.

Asami slaps her on impulse.

Korra wants to do something, say something, fix this.

Instead she bolts from the room, unable to face what has happened to her wife.

[X]

At lunch, Ty Lee tugs at her new uniform. "There is just no way to dress up this pasty grey. I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

Ty Lee then looks at the two girls beside her. Azula and Korra's auras are even more dismal than the hue and texture of these new clothes.

She daintily clears her throat and asks with a smile that she hopes appeases, "Are you two okay?"

They both look at her in utter silence.

She purses her lips as she studies them. Ty Lee never has been able to cope with seeing others sad and not trying to cheer them up. What else is her undying optimism for?

She turns to her fiancée first.

"I like Mai too, and nobody likes the idea of leaving her there, but she tried to kill you," says Ty Lee. Azula's golden eyes turn molten with rage. "Maybe it's meant to be that you two don't reunite. What if she tries to hurt you again? I couldn't handle it."

"Don't you understand that that's why I need to reunite with her? I need to show her that she didn't have to try to kill me."

Korra suddenly stands. "Your concern should be for Asami, not for that bitch."

"My concerns are none of your business, Avatar," crisply and coldly snaps Azula. Ty Lee flinches as if something were thrown at her.

Korra exclaims, her anger of days reaching its boiling point, "You don't care about Asami at all, do you?"

Azula shoots to her feet. "Of course I do! And I have known her and cared about her far longer than you have!"

"Like that matters! You dumped her as soon as you got the offer to be a princess instead of a peasant! And you're doing it again!"

"Everything I have done I have done because she was in danger! She is safe right now and that is all that matters! One of my few and only priorities is the preservation of her safety and she is safe! I suggest you be grateful for that."

Ty Lee jumps up and stands between them as they look about to move into blows.

"Take some deep breaths, please," begs Ty Lee, softly pressing her hand against Azula's shoulder and holding up the other in the direction of the Avatar.

Korra takes one threatening lunge at Azula before storming off and abandoning her lunch.

Azula grits her teeth.

Ty Lee kisses her on the cheek and she takes one step back.

This is not over between them, even if they settled down for now.

[X]

Once upon a time there was a girl — an Avatar — who wanted to put her fist through a mirror. She would tell everyone it was so that she could see what was on the other side, but really, it was so she wouldn't have to look at herself. That, and because she might be able to steal a piece of glass when no one was looking and use it to carve her heart out of her chest.

Korra clenches her fist and examines it for a moment before impulsively crushing it into the mirror with all of the force she can muster. Blood spurts from her knuckles but she could not care less.

Katara runs in at the sound of shattering.

"Are you okay? Oh, spirits, your hand." Katara starts the sink running. "Come here."

Korra savors and loves the pain. She does not want to be healed, but she feels so ashamed of what she did that she obeys anyway.

Katara takes Korra's hand and uses the water from the sink to carefully remove the glass. Then she begins to heal the wounds as Korra stays silent, blushing and truly ashamed.

Katara says as she works, "I know you broke that mirror on purpose. Tell me why you did that and be honest."

Korra tears her hands away from Katara. "Because I'm angry! I hate the world and everything in it. Including myself. Especially myself," says Korra. "The world is shit. And it always will be even if this stupid rebellion works out."

"You're right. The world is shit. There will be more dictators and more wars. That's why we have an Avatar; because balance never stays. Yeah the world is shit, but it's still worth fighting for," vehemently insists Katara. "And I know you'll always be there when the world needs you."

Korra frowns at the floor. "Because I'm the Avatar."

Katara shakes her head. "Because you're Korra Raava."

Korra looks up at her, and smiles for the first time in what feels like eons.


People all grow up and do things they never imagined they would do.

Mai never thought she would be weak enough to let the Capitol own her. She never thought she would be changing into her silk nightgown in the bedroom of the man who oppressed her home district for decades, but here she is.

She never thought she would open her mouth and confess to him, "A rebel contact spoke to me today."

His eyes flash. "Where? When?"

"In the garden today."

Ozai clenches his smoking fist. "Tell me who he was!"

Mai stands bold and unfazed by the fire in his eyes and hand. "I don't know his name. He wanted me to join the rebellion, said he could get me out of the Capitol."

Ozai scoffs. "And you're trying to tell me that you turned him down?"

Mai remains unafraid. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"So you're happy here." Mocking. His words are mocking.

She deflects with, "I'm never happy."

"But you want to stay, instead of running off with your beloved friends. You don't think they can win and you don't want to be on the losing end of this war. You've lost too much already."

"Why else would I tell you about the rebel?"

"Perhaps you inexplicably trust me."

"Of course I don't trust you."

"Clever girl."

"But I don't trust them either," continues Mai.

"What should be important is whether or not I trust you. That determines your fate."

"I think I've proven you can trust me plenty of times."

"Then tell me what I want to hear."

"I…"

"Say it. Say the words," growls Ozai.

Mai hesitates. The words do not sound honest as she says, "I love you."

"Say it again," he orders, advancing on her.

Mai leans in slowly, slowly, slowly. Her lips graze his before she pulls back an inch or two and breathes in terrifying earnest, "I love you."

Their eyes meet for a breathless moment.

Mai whispers, "Am I everything you thought I would be?"

"That and more."

And she pretends, for a few moments at least, that this is anywhere near what she wanted.


In Zaofu, when Korra steps into the hospital room for the second time, "It's good to see you," says Asami.

Korra wishes she could smile. She did not expect such a kind remark after what she did last time.

"I'm sorry I kissed you. I feel real torn up about it," she admits, looking anywhere but at Asami.

"It's okay. I'm your wife and you still love me. But I'm starting from the beginning with you."

"Yeah." Korra cannot hide how dejected that makes her feel.

"I want to be your friend, but you're not okay with just being friends."

"Are we even friends?" asks Korra, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. She hates herself for that.

"I really like it that you visited me today. I think that makes us friends. Or at least the beginning of friends. But I can't see us as more than that. I know I felt something before and maybe somewhere in my busted brain I still do but I…" Asami sighs. "I can't see us together. I can't see us as more than friends. And I know you hope that can change and I wish it could too, but I need time. I'm not ready."

"I understand." Or at least she tries to.

She is loath to admit that she keeps thinking that nothing in the Spirit World or this world could make her forget Asami. But she wants to understand. She wants to do what Asami wants and give her what she needs.

"Thank you," says Asami. "Would you tell me another story today?"

Korra gives a true, genuine smile.

"Yeah," she says, "I'd love to."

Asami pats the bed beside her and Korra sits.

[X]

Tonight, Ty Lee is the one who wakes up panicked and drenched in a cold sweat tonight.

She sits up, gasping for breath. Azula immediately rises in bed to be beside her.

Azula knows it was a nightmare without asking. And she also knows what it was most likely about.

"What did he do? What happened to you there?"

Ty Lee shakes her head so wildly that her braid whips around. "I don't want to talk about it. I can't talk about it."

"Did he have you tortured?"

Ty Lee grips at the blankets, averts her eyes and looks suddenly ill as she whispers, "Yes."

"He hurt you. He made this war personal for me, and so I'm going to kill him."

Silence.

"Why do you love me that much?" Ty Lee asks, gazing deeply into Azula's eyes.

Azula looks away. "Because I do. Be grateful for that."

Ty Lee softly touches Azula's hand and pleads, "Please tell me. I need you to tell me why."

"Because you're the only person I've ever known whose love for me is truly unconditional. You don't love me for what I can do for you. You don't love the idea of me like everyone else. You love me, lack of morals and lies and violent past and all. You see things in me that no one else does. I love you because of the way you love me."

"I love the way you love me too." Ty Lee softly kisses her on the corner of the lip.

"Marry me. Marry me here. Marry me before this is all over."

"Okay." Ty Lee embraces her, kisses her passionately, and then lies back down.

Azula strokes her sweaty hair. "I'll make the arrangements with the Beifongs as soon as I can."

"I love you." It is the last thing Ty Lee says before drifting back to sleep, returning to a world of nightmares but too tired to resist.

Azula stands up. No pill the doctors gave her can help her sleep after that, and neither can the happy thoughts about a wedding in a few days. Mainly because having the wedding before the end of the war is in case one of them dies in it.

She walks down the hall aimlessly. Usually even in the drab uniform required by 10 she looks put together and impeccably groomed but anyone could tell from looking at her that she is a mess. But for once she does not care.

She strides down the hall and sits down on the stairs gazing forward.

She battles tears and tries to compose herself as a panic attack threatens to strike.

Azula does not notice the footsteps behind her.

"Can't sleep?" asks Korra a little too loudly and Azula jumps.

"No," replies Azula coldly.

"Me either."

Korra sits down on the stairs beside her former mentor.

"I can tell." Azula stifles a sigh and carefully weighs what to say next. "What's keeping you up. Asami?"

"That's making me lose sleep… but it's nightmares.."

"Ikki again?"

"Kuvira killing herself. It was because of me. I killed her. I basically killed her."

Most people deny that and just anger Korra. They say Kuvira made her choice. They say it was for glory, or for the Avatar, or for the future. But even if that is true, it does nothing but invalidate how Korra feels.

"You had to kill to survive. I understand that even though she killed herself you feel like you got her blood on your hands when she did it. Unfortunately, getting blood on your hands is a lot easier than washing it off," says Azula bitterly. "The nightmares won't stop anytime soon."

"Does… does it ever get any easier?" asks Korra, voice cracking with the threat of tears as she speaks.

"No." Azula sighs deeply and locks eyes with her former tribute. "It gets harder."

[X]

The wedding takes place four days after Azula requests it. Rushed, yes, but they are in the middle of the war. Suyin Beifong was in complete support of the occasion for that reason; they need a shred of light in this time of darkness.

Ty Lee was terrified that she would have to get married in the drab, grey uniform, but District 10 has gowns in supply for special occasions only.

Nothing like what she would find in the Capitol, but it is enough to keep her content.

They get ready in separate rooms.

Azula finds herself shocked by the visitor she receives while she gets ready alone, having not a friend here other than Ty Lee.

It is Hama.

"What are you doing here?" Azula demands frigidly, returning the comb to her hair. She smooths out her gown and waits for her answer while Hama infuriatingly takes her time to speak.

"I may be unkind," explains Hama at last. "I may be cold, but after what I did in my Games I do know what it's like to be alone and hated. I came to help you get ready."

"You hate me too."

Hama shrugs loosely. "Not as much as I did before you organized the greatest act of defiance against the Capitol I've seen in my long life. Destroying the Capitol is all I care about anymore, and we have that in common."

Azula smiles as Hama starts working on her shimmering raven hair.

[X]

Meanwhile, Katara helps Ty Lee get ready in the other room. She looks truly lovely, and truly happy. It feels good for Katara to see her like that.

"Nervous?" asks Katara.

"I thought I'd be, but I'm not. I feel like I waited my whole entire life for this." Ty Lee beams and notices how amazing it feels to have a genuine smile on her face for the first time since she was captured.

After finishing the final braid, Katara places a flower crown on her head. The flowers were grown underground from a seed vault, not plucked from the earth, but that does not make them any less beautiful.

"Good luck," says Katara, hugging Ty Lee once. Ty Lee clings for a little too long, as usual. She cannot help but love a good hug.

"Thanks," Ty Lee says as she steps back.

Katara cocks an eyebrow and crosses her arms.

"Marrying her, you'll need it."

[X]

As the crowd gathers in the banquet hall for the wedding, Korra sees Asami and Zuko walking in beside Opal and Bolin, whom hold hands as if were they to let go the other would float away.

When Asami waves at Korra and walks toward her, she feels a mixture between crushed and elated. They stand face to face and neither knows exactly the right thing to say. They never do anymore.

Korea finally blurts out, "Asami, you look beautiful."

She blushes and averts her emerald eyes. "I look the same as I do every day."

Korra flashes a cocky smirk. "So beautiful then."

Asami turns away to hide her small smile.

Gradually, everyone takes their seats.

[X]

Time stands still as Ty Lee walks down the aisle.

She completely overshadows the impressive décor of colorful flowers in this metal box of a city. She is not pretty. She is not beautiful. She is as radiant and stunning as the sun.

When she at last stands before Azula she looks dizzy, and when the official reads the vows, she looks about to faint. Azula smirks the entire time on the effect her presence can have on the former escort.

"I do," chirps Ty Lee, eyes glistening with a light powerful enough to illuminate even the darkest corridors and corners of Zaofu.

She touches Azula's hand as the official continues the vows, all eyes now on the victor.

Korra did not think Azula's face was capable of making that expression, of looking at anything with genuine love. But there she is.

"I do."

[X]

Ty Lee's hands refuse to stop sweating during her first dance as a married woman. She hides how flustered she is behind a glowing, true smile. Azula spins with her, staying poised and regal while Ty Lee cannot help but giggle.

Korra watches, envious and angry despite trying her her best to be happy for them.

Zuko is dancing with Katara, Azula and Ty Lee create a spotlight of their own simply by how they look at each other, Hama even found someone, while Korra sits on the sidelines trying not to look at Asami. Korra had a thousand fears about Asami since coming to 10, but she was completely unprepared to handle this, to cope with it at all.

But she is the Avatar and has to pretend to be brave every second she draws breath.

No matter how hard that is.