A/N: I loved you with a fire red, now it's turning blue. Love and be loved. Read… and review!

The Beauty of Dragons

The Crown Princess comes to a stop at the top of the steps. She stands alone in the early morning dawn and looks out across the entirety of the Coronation Plaza. She takes a deep breath in through the nose and holds it. She has imagined this day so much that it feels more like a memory. She will be the ruler of all she surveys. She will be the one who decides. She will be the Fire Lord. She has finally reached the moment. Over one hundred years after Sozin brought the world to heel, it is Azula who will be next to lead the Fire Nation.

The teenager reflects on leadership and the mantle of power. So many men had spent their lives in search of becoming the Fire Lord. Her own Father had spent most of his life seeking it before usurping her uncle Iroh. How many men had sought to do the same? How many had sought to take the Throne from her father, or her grandfather? Men wasting their lives plotting and scheming, only to fail. All those men, too scared to act, lost to time.

Not Azula though. Like her ancestor Fire Lord Sozin, when an important moment came she had attacked it with conviction. Now, a hundred years later, the comet returns and lights the sky on fire, a rising flame before the sun.

Azula feels strength she has never known. She feels that her power has no bounds. She feels invincible and that she will live forever. Fire Lord Sozin, Azulon, even her father, they were all but men and time had come for them. Now it is her time.

The sun also rises.

Azula spits a small object into her hand. She turns to her servant.

"What am I holding?"

Yuzu is terrified to reply but nonetheless says, "A cherry pit."

"Correct. And what day is this?"

"It is the day of your coronation," Yuzu acknowledges.

"Yes, it is. So, please. Tell me why, on the most important day of my life, you've decided to leave a pit in my cherry?"

She throws the pit at Yuzu, who winces but otherwise does not move.

"It wasn't a decision; it was just a small mistake."

"Small? Do you realize what could've happened if I hadn't sensed the pit in time?"

Anxiety rising quickly, Yuzu deducts, "I suppose you could've ... choked?"

"Yes, then you will understand the severity of your crime."

Yuzu bows her head and replies, "I understand, Princess. Please, forgive me."

"Oh very well, since it is a special day, I will show mercy," Azula says offhandedly. "What is your name?"

"I am Yuzu, Crown Princess. I have lived my ent-"

"Very well, Yuzu," she turns to another girl. "Sayaka."

The head servant steps forward.

"Cut out Yuzu's tongue."

Sayaka knows better than to argue. She grabs a sharp knife nearby and approaches the young girl.

Yuzu scrambles for words. "Princess, I-"

"You what?" Azula asks. "You said you understand the severity of your crime. You nearly killed the next Fire Lord. I can think of a no more fitting punishment."

Sayaka had lost her grace with the Princess last week, she could do nothing for Yuzu now. She stands behind the kneeling girl and grips her head. "Stick out your tongue, Yuzu."

"Princess, please, I am truly sorry."

"You're not sorry," Azula tells her. "Not yet. Sayaka, proceed. If she refused to give her tongue, then cut out her throat."

Yuzu's eyes tear up. Sayaka fights an inner turmoil. She does not want to harm her old friend. She whispers, "Please, Yuzu, don't make this harder."

Yuzu feels an intense fear. She straightens her neck, sits up straight, and extends her tongue out. Sayaka reaches down and pinches it with her fingers. She pulls it further out and then brings the blade to its base. Yuzu's heart beats heavily. Azula watches with interest. Sayaka rears the blade back.

"Thank you, Sayaka, that will do just fine."

Confused, the black haired beauty looks up at Azula. "Princess?"

"Release her. There's no need for this. Besides, the blood would spill all over me and we can't have that."

Sayaka gladly steps back, if not bewildered. Yuzu breathes deeply. Azula turns and looks her in the eye, "Now you are sorry. Should there be another mistake, I will cut that tongue out myself, fashion it as a trophy in my bedroom, banish you from the Fire Nation, and imprison your family for the rest of their days. Do you understand, Yuzu?"

Quickly she breathes, "Yes, Princess. Yes, I understand."

"Good."

Azula smiles malevolently. She looks back to the servants at her feet and nails who had stopped to watch the sequence unfold.

"What are you all looking at? I have two feet that need scrubbing. And make sure you get in between the toes. I won't have my first day as Fire Lord marred by poor foot hygiene."

The head of the Dai Li leads a procession into the dimly lit Throne Room. They kneel before their soon to be Fire Lord. He asks her, "You sent for us, Princess. Is everything alright?"

A disgruntled Azula sneers, "Actually, everything's not alright! Do you know how long it took you to get here?"

Unsure of where this is going he responds, "Uh ... a few minutes, I guess."

"Five, to be precise, in which time an assassin could've snuck in, done away with me and been on his merry way!" She berates them.

"My apologies, Princess." He grows impatient with the little girl.

"Is this how you plan to treat your new Fire Lord? With tardiness and disloyalty?"

He is quick to defend them, "The Dai Li would never betray you!"

"And I'm sure that's just what you told Long Feng before you turned against him and joined me!"

Azula hesitates before adding this next part. She must bend them to her will the way she bends the fire around the room.

"Let this be a warning: If you should ever raise a hand to me, it will be the last time you ever have hands."

The leader looks up in shock. Azula continues, "You won't have to worry about your response time because you won't be Dai Li anymore, you won't even be Earthbenders. I will chop them off myself and then send you back to Ba Sing Se to rule over a graveyard. Am I clear?"

Bowing his head again he replies on their behalf, "Abundantly."

"Excellent. Now leave, and send the next group in on your way out."

One by one the Dai Li agents stream out. They are terrified of her power. Yet they also grow tired of serving a petulant child.

The leadership for the Royal Procession enter the room next. There are a dozen of them, representing those who are responsible for the other Imperial Firebenders. Once they are present and kneeling Azula begins instructing them. "I have made a decision on what we will do with the prisoner, Ty Lee."

"Yes, Princess?"

"You will go to collect her and remove her at once. Transfer her to another prison for holding. I don't care where, but I want her out of the Capital by the time I am crowned Fire Lord."

"Understood."

One of the most senior members turns his head and nods. Two others immediately stand and file out of the room. He turns back to Azula and she continues.

"Once I am crowned the Fire Lord, my first order of business will be to banish her to a prison of her worst nightmares. I will design it myself so that she must confront her greatest demons every single day. Let it be a lesson for all who seek to disobey me."

An elder member interjects, "But your majesty, she was in your innermost circle and betrayed you. How can you allow her to live?"

"Ha! You think she was in my innermost circle? Don't fool yourself. She was nothing to me," she explains. Azula is quick to bury Ty Lee's memory in their mind. "Still she did betray me, so she will be imprisoned until the end of her days."

Azula allows another second of pause so her point can sink in. She launches forward, "You all however? You will not be given such a lenient sentence."

The leadership group before her grows tense. She tells them, "Should you make an effort to betray me, you will be forced to face me in an Agni Kai to the death."

Allowing for another moment of dramatic effect, Azula drags it out before finishing them. "I will make sure that I am the last thing you see on this Earth. You will look into the white of my eyes as I watch the light fade from yours."

None dares look up at her. She commands them, "Am I understood?"

The room murmurs their agreement.

"Excellent. Now leave, and send for my advisors."

The Royal Procession's leadership stand and exit in silence, none so brave to even look at the Crown Princess on their way out. They all stew on what has been said. They are proud men, who have fought, killed, and survived through a lifetime of warfare. They feel that the pride of this teenage girl will eventually become her hubris, as it so often is on the frontlines.

As they enter the Throne Room, Lo starts in on the girl, "Azula, we heard what happened. Why have you threatened all your servants?"

"All your Dai Li agents…"

"And the Imperial Firebenders?"

Azula stares off into the blue flame surrounding her. She replies quietly, "None of them can be trusted. Sooner or later, they all will consider betraying me. Just like Mai and Zuko did."

"Why have you given the order to transfer the girl?"

Her eyes turn to the women finally and she asks, "Who told you that?"

They do not answer. Instead the twins say in unison, "Azula, we are concerned for you and your well-being."

She dismisses them. "You think I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord. But I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history."

"I'm sure you will. But considering everything that has happened today…"

"Perhaps it's best if you postpone your coronation."

Azula doesn't turn her attention to them. She doesn't know who has suggested it, nor does it matter. She readies her attack on them. "That won't be necessary," she tells them. "I appreciate your concerns but I'm going to let you both in on a little secret."

"Huh?" They both ask.

"I've never liked either of you. I've grown tired of your appearance and your smell at court. So I am telling you now that as soon as I become the Fire Lord, you will both be banished from the Fire Nation."

Lo yells at her first, "You insolent child!

Li follows up, "The Phoenix King will never allow this!"

Azula waves this off without hesitation. "Then by all means, bring it up with him. But you'll do it from outside of the Fire Nation. My father isn't here to protect you anymore. The moment I am crowned, your time here is over."

More tempered, Li tells her, "This is not wise, Azula. You are playing a dangerous game and this will only serve to enrage the Phoenix King. He will not be as gentle towards you as you have been today."

Lo again yells, "You are not the Fire Lord yet, Azula. You'll do well to remember this."

"At this point it's merely a formality. And I'm sure he won't miss a couple of old hags, desperately clinging to the court to maintain any relevance in the world."

In unison they reply, "You miscalculate our place with the Phoenix King."

"No, you miscalculated!" She recalls.

"Get out of my sight before I decide to put you both to death instead."

Unlike the others who hemmed and hawed on their way out the door, the twins exit with poise. They know what the Phoenix King has not told Azula. It is their job now to ensure she learns the lesson.

Azula wanders the hallways of the Royal Palace, headed back to her chamber. She doesn't know why, but her thoughts are being consumed by her argument with Lo and Li.

"You are playing a dangerous game…"

"Why have you threatened all of your…"

"... concerned for you and your…"

"... insolent child!"

"You are not the Fire Lord yet…"

"You miscalculate our place…"

Azula wonders how different things would be right now if she had just been a little different. It's almost like she could sense another version of herself, roaming these halls, making different decisions. One that killed them all. Or maybe one that banished them all. Maybe that's not all that could be different. Maybe if one thing had been different, maybe it could all be different now? If she had not sought out her friends for help. If she had not gone to the Boiling Rock. Would Mai have still betrayed her? Would her life be the same? Would she still be alone on her coronation day? Would she even become the Fire Lord in that world?

'So simple. One tiny change here or there. How different would my life be?'

Azula comes to a stop. She has been so lost in contemplation that she's walked herself right into a wall. She doesn't realize what but something on it catches her attention. Her eyes trail upward and she is caught with a vision.

She sees a woman dressed in traditional Royal Family garb. Her hair is dark, and falls back below her shoulders. Her skin is light, but wrinkled in places it shouldn't be for someone of her age. She is about the same height as Azula. She has Azula's same golden eyes, but they are tagged with drooping eyelids and heavy bags under them. She is a woman aged well beyond her years. A woman who has sacrificed everything in pursuit of honoring her family and lineage. A woman sworn to duty, at the cost of love.

Azula looks at her reflection, but what she sees is Ursa.

She has not seen her mother so clearly like this since the day she walked out on her and Zuko. The woman staring back at her is more her mother than herself. She stares until the pain rises in her. She hates what she sees. Flowing through her like a river, the anger explodes upwards until her fist rises to match the rage within.

Crack!

Azula had only meant to crack the reflection; turn it into a spider's web the way she had done last week. The power flowing through her from Sozin's Comet had resulted in considerably more damage though. The mirror breaks and shatters, raining shards down on the carpet below. She feels a pain in her hand and looks at it. Her knuckle bleeds. She grips it with her free hand and blood pools into it slowly. She moves towards her bedroom.

The glass had been nothing before. It was fragile and brittle. Difficult to move without considerable effort. Now that it's broken, the shards are sharp enough to kill.

Azula storms into her chambers and collapses onto a seat by her makeup. Her fingers and palm run with red as she attempts to bandage the injury herself. She never hears someone arrive at her door.

"Princess?"

Quickly Azula eyes flick to the doorway. She recognizes the hair as dark as night itself. She turns away from her head servant and back to attempting to dress her wound.

Sayaka cautiously enters the room and approaches. She sees what Azula is attempting to do and insists, "Allow me to assist you, Princess."

Azula struggles for another moment on her own then groans and gives up. Sayaka sets to fixing and tugging the bandages. Her hands are nimble and quick. Azula leans back in her seat and reflects once more.

Despite this being 'the most important day of her life,' she could not help but feel like the whole thing felt… empty. Her entire life people have told her that she's the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the whole world. She should be deliriously happy right now, but she's not.

'I'm sadder than ever and I don't know why?'

She is reminded of Zuko on the beach, saying he finally got everything he wanted. She remembers him screaming that he was angry at himself. She had called him pathetic back then, because she had not felt what he felt. She had not understood.

'Perhaps I treated you too harshly, brother?'

Sayaka finishes dressing the wound with beige bandages covering Azula's right hand. She asks, "Shall I finish your hair, Princess?"

"Please." And Sayaka sets to fixing up the topknot.

The memories and thoughts cause her pain. She just reminds herself that she will soon be the Fire Lord.

'Fire Lord Azula. A more fitting title never existed.'

"It's everything you ever wanted."

The familiar voice echoes in her mind. She tries to shoves the thought of the prisoner away. But no matter where she pushes the girl in her memory, she pursues her still and Azula thinks of her more. Her eyes water against her ironclad will. A sight Sayaka has never seen before.

"Princess? Is… is everything-"

"Not a word, Sayaka," she rubs the tears away. "Not an Agni damn word."

There is a pregnant pause. Sayaka knows better than to ask. Azula is not foolish enough to divulge. Instead, she broaches a new subject. She asks her hairdresser, "Tell me, Sayaka, what do the people think of me as their future Fire Lord? What do the people think I will be like?"

Sayaka answers in an almost sing-song like tune, "The Capital sings your praises at every opportunity."

"Sayaka." She says, but her tone says much more.

It is a day of many firsts. The Princess will be no more, instead becoming the Fire Lord. The first woman to hold such position. Sayaka had never seen tears on her face before a moment ago. She decides to be honest.

"Princess Azula, permission to speak plainly?"

Azula looks down at her knees as the girl pulls her hair. She had never asked such a question before. Azula flashes to the brunette who had always been the one to ask. She responds, "Would you lie to your Fire Lord?"

"Of course not."

"Then speak."

Sayaka composes her thoughts and takes a breath. She answers truthfully, "They say you will be ruinous."

Her tone is not hurtful. It is not malicious. It is stately. A matter of fact. She takes no pleasure in sharing this, but does so because she has been asked. "They whisper you are fueled by rage and hate. They think you are angry at the world. They believe you are mad. The men believe you will be the death of them. I suspect they will seek to usurp or coup you if given a reason."

"And what do you think, Sayaka?"

"It doesn't matter what I think." The lowly servant replies.

"It does to me."

This is a level of mutual respect that Sayaka had never before received from Azula.

'With the right people around her, she is fit to rule.'

"All men will die," she proclaims.

Azula's head dips as Sayaka fashions it so. She thinks about the passing of time and the sun still rising each day.

"But you are no man. You are a woman."

Azula lifts her head at this.

"I know you better than all but one other. You are cruel, but just. Strong, but soft," Sayaka explains. "In my experience, men in the Fire Nation are fine with a powerful woman, but not a woman in power. When she is ascending they applaud her efforts. Once she has it, then she is a threat that must be eliminated. These men fear you because you are everything they will never be: powerful beyond measure."

Azula isn't sure if she's just saying these things to appease her or if she really means them. The words don't seem patronizing. They seem sincere. She stares down at her hands and the bandage wrapped around her bloody wound.

'The touch of the sun.'

She briefly considers telling Sayaka about how everything she touches turns to ash. To seek her counsel. But Azula can't do that. She isn't open and warm like others are.

'I'm not like her.'

"You will have many people who will pursue you as suitors," Sayaka tells her. "You must be careful, Azula, with whom you share your heart."

These words reverberate across time. She flashes back to the garden when those words were first spoken to her. A silence falls over them momentarily. Azula weights the next question on her mind and decides to ask.

"Who knows me better than you do, Sayaka?"

Azula can not see her face. Sayaka smirks.

"You know the answer, Princess."

She remembers the butterflies that used to float in her stomach when she thought of the acrobat. Perhaps those butterflies had actually been a warning sign, trying to tell her to get out while she could. She wonders if the alternate versions of herself could have ever ignored the butterflies.

"I see you, Azula. And you see me."

Azula has to keep pushing through. She has to shove the memories of her best friend down, until the pain is nothing but a distant memory. In her mind though, those distant memories rise. She goes back to the circus. The first night when they met again.

'I found her.'

Azula wishes she could go back. Not to stop herself though. There is nothing she would change about any of it. She wants to go back so she can feel it all again.

"Mostly we deal with drunks who wander into our village and try to cause trouble. Sometimes it's cool stuff like, ya know, a flying sky bison that needs help…"

Ty Lee blushes with embarrassment.

"... that happens to be guarded by some crazy Fire Nation girls…"

"Oh Agni," she sighs.

"... who beat you up and put you in prison for the rest of your life."

"I said I was sorry!"

"What?" She startles sarcastically. "You? Oh, you did that to me, didn't you?"

Ty Lee giggles at the tease. Due to the coronation, all of the excess guards have been pulled from their posts. She and Wally are alone in their cells so they are chatting freely, albeit still whispering to not draw the attention of any patrolling guards.

"Well, I want to join you all. It'd be nice to settle down for a while. And besides, I think I'd look pretty good in green."

Ty Lee's use of this word and the way she says it triggers a memory in Wally. She asks, "Hey wait, were you the one who said the thing about us not being pretty? Or were you the one with knives?"

"I didn't say you weren't pretty!"

"So that was you!"

Ty Lee feels intense embarrassment again. Her cheeks singe red and she wishes she could just die on the spot. Defeated, she admits, "I said you weren't prettier than us."

"Wow, you called us ugly."

"Stop! I did not!" Both girls laugh at this.

Through the cracks she hears Wally whisper, "I'm gonna call you Pretty Girl from now on, just to remind myself and everyone else that we're not as pretty as you."

"Wally, no! Don't do that!"

"Too late, Pretty Girl."

Ty Lee rolls her eyes. She doesn't mind the nickname, she just wishes the context of it was different. A thought comes to mind as she ponders it and so she asks, "What do you even look like, Wally?"

"Hmm?" The girl hums back to her. "Well, I'm no Kyoshi Sunset, I'll just say that."

Wally wears a wry grin while Ty Lee giggles some more. "Seriously. I don't know anything about you! Tell me, tell me!"

With a sigh they reply, "Well, my hair is ginger, but usually looks darker when we're on Kyoshi Island. I've got lilac eyes, that everyone tells me I get from my mother. And my name's not Wally."

Ty Lee snaps out of trying to envision the girl on the other side of the wall. She retorts, "Oh my Agni! Yes, tell me your real name. That way if we ever get out of here I can find you!"

"When we get out of here, you mean," she tells her before adding, "And my name is Ruki."

Ty Lee sits up straight at this. She must have misheard. Shocked, she asks, "Ruki?"

"Yes, Ruki."

"Your name is really, actually Ruki?"

"What, you don't believe me, Pretty Girl?"

"No, I do. I Do. In fact, it's a beautiful name," Ty Lee smiles. It starts small and subtle before blooming. She asks, "Do you happen to have a pet bird?"

"What in the world? No? Why would that be your next question?"

"Uh, nevermind," Ty Lee panics momentarily. She pivots, "So are you in charge of the other Warriors? Would I need to apply to get in or anything?"

"No, our leader is Suki."

"Wait, so Suki and Ruki?"

"Please stop, every joke you can think of we've heard."

Ty Lee stifles a giggle this time. She comes up with her own little joke and says, "Well, I'll talk to Suki about my friend Ruki and how she convinced me to join the Kyoshi Warriors!"

Ruki smiles at this. She decides to press her for information. "She'll want to know how you ended up in prison with your friend Ruki."

Ty Lee huffs. She says nothing.

"It's okay Pretty Girl, you don't have to tell me."

Ty Lee turns her body and faces the cracks in the wall. She speaks softly into the whispering place, "I just… I really messed up."

"Yeah? I kind of got the feeling yesterday that maybe you two are, well, more than just friends." Ruki says. "That's what you suggested anyway."

"'Just friends' don't do what we did."

"Did you like… try to kiss her or something?"

Ty Lee chortles at this, "No. That wasn't it. I chi blocked her."

"Chi block?" Ruki asks.

"It's a way to take away someone's bending."

"That's possible?"

"Temporarily. A few seconds, a few minutes, depends."

"Wait really? That's plenty of time! That would be very useful for the Kyoshi Warriors."

"Yeah? Well, if we ever get out of here I'll teach you and everyone else."

"When we get out of here, Pretty Girl." She whispers back.

Ty Lee smiles at Ruki's optimism. There is a natural break as their conversation dies at last. After some quiet contemplation, Ruki decides to address the elephant in the room.

"So, today's her day. How are you feeling about it? Do you think you'll ever see her again?"

Ty Lee considers it. She knows what Ruki is not asking. What she hasn't asked. What she wants to know. Ty Lee will be sent away forever soon, what harm is it to tell her? She could be gone by tomorrow or next week and who knows how long they could whisper like this for before the guards return after the coronation. When she is sent to her hole in the ground, she will have no one to tell. No one will care. No one will listen.

"You will never be found again."

Ty Lee whimpers and tears come alive. She proclaims, "I love her. I've always loved her."

Ty Lee sobs. Ruki tries to soothe her, "I can only imagine how hard it's been for you. On our island of Kyoshi, we love whoever we want."

"I told her something similar," Ty Lee sniffles and wipes her nose on her sleeve. "But now that she'll be the Fire Lord she might kill me for it."

"No, no, she won't. If she loves you-"

"I don't know, Ruki. She's spent her entire life trying to get here, I just don't know."

"When things are dark, I sometimes think it's best to remember when they were brighter. Pretty Girl, tell me about her. Tell me why and how you fell in love with her."

Ty Lee rubs the tears away. Cautiously she asks, "You really think that's going to help anything?"

"Yes. I think it will. Do you trust me?"

These words reverberate across time. She flashes back to the beach when those words were finally met with an affirmative response. She smiles as the memory fills her soul up, until her cup runneth over.

"I do." She replies.

"Good."

Ty Lee spends some time telling Ruki about the relationship she had with Azula. Their trek around the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. She tells her about the Firelight Fountain and the late nights and the walk on the beach. She gets so lost in telling the story of their love that she forgets many of the smaller details. Yet even still, the flame of their love burns brightly within the acrobat.

Ruki had listened intently. She has plenty of time to formulate what she wants to say. When Ty Lee finishes and there is a long enough pause, Ruki tells her, "Damn, Pretty Girl. That's something. You love her as a moth-wasp loves a flame: too close and too much."

Ty Lee chuckles at this comparison. She has a bigger one in mind. "Moth-wasp. That's beautiful. I've had this thought for so long that I've been chasing a dragon."

"Oh dragon, yes, absolutely." Ruki starts on. "Because she's terrifying and horrific and the fire and…"

Ruki goes on listing comparisons, but hearing the girl call Azula horrific and terrifying hurts Ty Lee. She briefly regrets telling Ruki about this. She wishes she had more of a filter. She isn't introspective and thoughtful like others are.

'I'm not like her.'

Ty Lee jumps back into the conversation, "Even though she's burned me down, I keep going back to her. Because even though she's burned me and she may burn me again in the future, I never learned to stop loving fire."

Ruki feels her heart break for the girl. She searches for the exact right combination of words that will assuage her. Ty Lee has never given up on the girl, even if she swears to put her in the ground. She had run away from home and all dreams of ever spending her life with the princess of her heart. Until she came to her at the circus. The first night they met again.

'She found me.'

Ty Lee wishes she could go back. She wouldn't even change anything. Simply so she could be with Azula again. It is at this moment that Ty Lee realizes that the crests of the waves were worth it, even if the falls had brought her to this prison cell.

Ruki finds her perfect string.

"You know, there's a lot of reasons to love dragons. They can breathe fire and beat the strongest heroes. Lay waste to armies and fly us to faraway places. They seem invincible, even when we try our hardest."

Ty Lee listens intently.

"But that's the beauty of dragons, because the only stories you hear about them… are ones where the dragon is slayed in the end."

She is reminded that the dragons have all been dead for nearly a hundred years.

"Usually by some upstart nobody, who works up the courage and finally outsmarts the dragon."

Ty Lee smiles. She sees now what Ruki meant. Her eyes stinging clear once again she replies, "When I become a Kyoshi Warrior, we're going to be best friends."

Ty Lee can sense her smiling through the wall.

Click

"I can't wait."

Woosh

Light penetrates the abyss. Ty Lee looks up and strains her eyes. She lifts her bound hands up to block it out. She looks up at the block of her hands but they don't fully block out the light beams, which erupt from the outlines.

Two figures approach. As they arrive, Ty Lee sees them covered in green. They are older, much older, their skin tanner. They scowl down at her. Realization sets upon Ty Lee.

"No, no, not yet," she pleads. "I'm not ready."

One carries a cloth in his hand, the other a segment of rope. One reaches for the keys. "By order of the Fire Lord, we are here to remove you from your cell."

Click

Woosh

"No! No! Not yet!" Ty Lee cries, but they handle her all the same.

One of them slips behind her and lifts the rope up. He loops it over her head and pulls it tight against her mouth. The other Dai Li agent pushes her bound hands down towards the ground. They force her to step over them and then pull her back into a standing position. Her bound hands are now behind her back. The Dai Li agent standing before her whispers, "It's a special day and it's going to be one you never forget."

The next thing she knows, Ty Lee is shrouded in darkness. The earthbenders toss a sack over her head. They yank and pull her arms out of the cell. She resists and they lift her up off of her feet. She tries to scream and it dies on the gag.

Ruki hears the whole thing happening. She knows she will be punished but she screams all the same, "Be strong, Ty Lee!"

She tries to scream back but nothing makes it out.

Ruki calls out, "I swear we'll come for you! There's nowhere on Earth they could bury you that we won't find you!"

She cries fresh tears as they carry her off. Ty Lee prepares to meet with a prison of her deepest, darkest fears.

A/N: This Chapter's OST is "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron.

Love always. Tyzula forever.

Notorious