alesana4ever: xP Glad that you liked it. But yeah, unfortunately sometimes it takes a loss to stop many more of them. She may seem oblivious, but deep down she has her suspicions. Who knows, maybe it will do her some good to have someone to talk to, someone fresh and without bad history. I can see it going in several directions and one of them is pretty dark. But also there's a chance for something more happy.

QueenTyZula: xD I ought to just make a pinned post on tumblr with links to all of my current fics to make them easier to find. And thank you so much! This is a concept that I've been meaning to work with for a while. And to tell the truth, it was initially going to be a Sokkla fic! I decided to make it Tyzula tough because I've already written a lot for Sokkla and haven't had a long fic with Tyzula until now. "Doing this, forces the reader to see her inner thoughts, which for Azula, is the worse place for anyone to be." But yeah, big time; this fic more than any other offers a chance to really explore what's in Azula's head. "Anyway, Ty Lee and Mai's exchange hurt and I loved every second of it!" You definitly haven't seen the last of TyLee POV. "Azula needed to lose Ty Lee to force her to move on, honestly, I'm hoping Seicho brings about a bit of jealousy, crossing my fingers." But yes, something needed to give. She needed some eye opener. "Speaking of Seicho, I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY LOVED how you took that small character and made her significant." And thank so much again! That girl and the one with the pigtails and the injured leg (during the volleyball scene) are two characters that caught my attention. NGL cup girl with Azula was my crack OTP but like, now it's not crack. xD Super thrilled to have you on board as a reader!

She doesn't know what to do now. She hasn't a single inkling, not even the smallest of inklings. Twice now she has thrown away something perfectly good to pursue and follow Azula about. Twice now it has led her to nothing good at all. The circus has long since went under in her absence and the Kyoshi Warriors have had their share and more of her skipping out on them to prance alongside Azula. She can't bring herself to try to tiptoe back to them. She has more respect than that, mostly for them than for herself.

And it comes to her; that she has never truly been her own person at all. Every single thing has been guided by someone else or an entire group of someones. If not Azula's will then she was acting upon Mai's. And if not Mai's, the Kyoshi Warriors. Albeit, the Kyoshi ladies had more noble intentions. Albeit, they asked her what she wanted to do every now and again. But she only wanted to do what they wanted.

Every. Little. Thing. Every goal and opinion. Every direction. None of it was her own will. Even the circus. By Agni it hurts but she knows that it's true. She wouldn't have thought of the circus, wouldn't have chosen it at all if not for well placed hints from TyWoo.

The fact of it is that she deserves this. She let Azula and Mai both string her along. She is too innocent. Too trusting. And oh how they feed upon that. All of them, every one of them. She hates them for it. And she hates them for making her hate them.

This isn't her.

"What happened to chipper, bubbly TyLee?" How often had Suki asked that? How often had she tried to throw her a lifeline? She might just be the only one. Mai's helping hand came with a razored palm.

Azula is bad, certainly. But Mai? Somehow Mai is worse. She had seen all along what was going on. How Azula toyed with her, frightened her...loved her.

Yet, aside from a few 'move on's' she hadn't lifted a finger to intervene. TyLee can't help the growing suspicion, the nagging notion that Mai wanted her to fall apart; wanted Azula to sap every bit of fight out other so that she would run along to her for comfort. Because who else could stand up to Azula? Who else could protect her? Certainly TyLee couldn't do it herself. So she made it. She made the leap.

From one manipulator to another.

At least Azula is more forthright about her rottenness.

She takes one last glance back at the palace. At the Capital skyline.

She needs to find her own way.

.oOo.

She dreams again of volcanoes, of lava and magma and charred skin. But this time it hurts so dreadfully. This time she is afraid. It still promises to help her, to take all of the pain away so long as she can withstand the tortures it will inflict upon her. It speaks in her father's tongue. And when she turns away from the bubbling glow it changes direction; sleek and cool and with a saccharine sweet charm, it promises that it won't hurt her. That this is what she wants and that it will save her. It promises her that everything will be okay so long as she takes the leap. It coaxes her in a voice that she hasn't heard in so long.

It coaxes her in a voice that she had ripped from her throat.

And by Agni if she isn't convinced.

Her legs carry her out of the beach house. She thinks only briefly to let Zuko know that she is leaving. To wake him up with a sugary lie, written with lovely penmanship, about how restlessly excited she is to be going on an adventure with a new friend. With someone she clicked with right away.

It is better if she doesn't. She doesn't want him telling her even prettier lies about how she will be okay, about how she's on the right path.

She has been on the right path several times now and each time she has so readily walked right off of it and into uncharted territory. Unfriendly territory.

She thinks that a swift dead end, is better than whatever trail she walks along now.

She stands on the beach and inhales. It is a lovely night as it often is. She is growing tired of pleasant pineapple breezes and ambient bird calls and wave crashes. For once she just wants a storm. A bright and jagged flash of lightning before the sky lights and rains damnation upon her. She wants something in the universe to hurt and weep as furiously as she.

The volcano, her salvation looms darkly against a starry backdrop.

She inhales again and wraps her arms around herself with a knowingness that no one else will.

It is just one more thing she is wrong about.

She wishes that she were wrong about it.

"Do you know what personal space is?"

Seicho blinks at the message that the princess has hastily written in the sand.

"Sorry." She laughs. "I'm just happy to see you here!"

"Why?" She mouths.

Seicho grins. "Because I think we're the perfect traveling partners. We're both too thrilled to sleep."

Azula rolls her eyes and mouths, "sure."

"I've already got our packs together and I found a lot of parchment!"

She doesn't plan on conversing enough to fill even one sheet. Though she is already off to a bad start, she takes the ink and asks, "don't you have to let someone know that you're leaving?"

"Already did!" She declares. "Now let's go steal your voice back."

But she already hears her voice and it calls from the core of the volcano.

She knows her path and this time she won't let anyone point her to a different one, no matter how sun dappled it seems.