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

Kill the Girl

Azula stands at closed double doors, the audible sound of a procession on the other side. Her hands shake unconsciously as the moment grows closer and closer. Fashioned to her side is the ornate scabbard her father had gifted her for this day. It brings her no peace. She is waiting for the last moment of her life as the Crown Princess. She stares at the gap between the doors and asks herself if it's even a gap. The space is black but the doors appear closed. She debates it internally to keep her mind busy. Her hands shake more violently.

Behind her two Dai Li agents stand ready to attack. They are her 'security detail,' which feels frivolous. An exercise in futility. She is the child of Ozai, the next Fire Lord, she wields a sword of her father's design, and the power of Sozin's comet flows through her. The Dai Li agents slide closer. Her hands shake out of control and she doesn't know what is causing it or what to do.

A soft hand touches her shoulder and asks her, "Princess?"

Azula's hands stop at once. The soothing calm of another's touch stills them instantly. She turns to face the gold eyes and black hair. "Thank you, Sayaka."

Her head servant nods and moves to stand beside her. They stand side by side as Azula prepares to make her grand entrance. The teenage girls stand together but are worlds apart. Sayaka knows what comes next, while Azula finds herself afraid of going into the unknown. She seeks to find something to distract herself. She looks sideways at her loyal servant.

Azula asks her, "You're set to be moved off of my staff soon, aren't you?"

Sayaka belies her feelings on the matter by remaining stoic. She just replies, "Yes, Fire Lord."

Azula shifts the weight of her feet and asks, "Will your family have you married off then?"

"I suppose they will," she admits. "I'll be of age. All of the maids who have come before me, who paved the way for me and taught me? They all were married off upon turning sixteen."

Azula shifts her weight again, her fingers fiddling with the base of the sword at her hip. She recalls a question she once asked a brunette. Her head remains facing forward but she asks the girl beside her, "Tell me, Sayaka, what do you dream of?"

Sayaka has been conditioned to respond a certain way. She says, "I have lived my life in service to the royal family. My very way of life is a dream for many others."

Azula shakes her head. This predisposition from her servant to lie is a monster of her own making. She has created a fear in the girl to speak her mind. She did not want that for her, not anymore. She asks, "But what if you got to choose what happens next? Would you want to?"

Sayaka had come to accept long ago that she is disposable. Being Azula's longest tenured servant came with a certain doom. A resignation to a difficult life. And despite a lifetime of working to manipulate the Princess, she had awoken this morning, on the day of her coronation, in poor graces. Her life, she felt, was over. Her life, she felt, had been meaningless.

She now feels that something had changed within Azula. Whether it was for the better remains to be seen. But certainly it seemed to be for good.

'Was it some thing or some one who changed her?'

"It doesn't matter what I want," Sayaka huffs. "I can't have what I want right now."

That answer is all too familiar to Azula. She knows the feeling well. She hates that feeling. A memory comes to her.

"You might be the Fire Lord someday. You might get to decide."

"Well, we'll have to change that won't we?"

Confusion rises within the teen beside her. She turns her head and asks, "Fire Lord?"

Azula doesn't smile. She doesn't betray the exterior of a battle hardened monster. She replies, "An old friend told me that if I ever became the Fire Lord that I could change whatever I wanted. That I would get to decide. So whatever it is you seek to do with your life, be that in service to the throne, or a husband, or to yourself… I will see to it that you get to decide that."

Sayaka can't believe her ears. Azula turns away from the doors and looks into the bright, golden eyes. "You have lived to serve. I will see to it that you get to decide what you live for next."

Sayaka's jaw hangs open. She can't find any words to repay the feeling this is giving her. Azula has breathed new life into her. A life of her choosing. Azula senses the suppressed joy in her servant. She raises her hand and pats her on the back lightly.

'The touch of the sun.'

She looks at her hand touching the girl and hastily removes it. The Dai Li agents standing guard exchange eye contact having listened to this entire conversation. They slide closer to the girls.

Azula faces forward. The noise on the other side of the door grows louder. The time is coming. Yet for the first time, she allows herself to openly think about how she will get her back. How she will save the one who knows her better than anyone, better than even Sayaka. Azula will be the Fire Lord. She will get to decide.

"Fire Lord, may I ask what you dream of?" Sayaka finally asks.

The doors begin to open. The truth is that she dreams of a girl with grey-brown eyes. Azula's hands are still at her side. She lies to herself one last time, "I dream of this moment, Sayaka."

Azula leaves Sayaka and her life as a Princess behind.

Dressed in the garb of the Fire Lord with her armor underneath, Azula stands before the Fire Sages and rules over all that she surveys. The Coronation Plaza is filled about halfway to capacity, maybe a little less so. A disappointing turnout for the youngest Fire Lord to ever be crowned. She looks out at the group. It is mainly the Royal Procession, of which there are numerous, and Dai Li agents. At the bottom of the steps in the plaza, just off to the side she sees Lo and Li. A collection of servants, sans Sayaka, are congregating together to watch as well. Completing the crowd are a number of citizens from the Capital.

All of them come to see Azula, a woman standing conflicted before them.

For Azula, none of it feels right. There's just something missing and she can't place it. It's not her father or brother or even her mother. It's not the girl she misses. It's not what is missing, but what is present. The people are not enthused. They are not celebrating. They are not happy for her. Why should they be, when Azula isn't even happy for herself.

It is everything Azula has ever wanted. It is all hers. She has taken it with fire and blood. Yet her mind sticks to Zuko on the beach and herself in her chambers. There is a void in her stomach, where no butterflies float and all of her energy is sapped from her. The Fire Sages drone on through the procedures, but her ears prick when they reach this next stage.

"Your Princess, Azula," he starts and there is a smattering of applause. "Has accomplished much in her young lifetime. She is a true firebending prodigy…"

'I was skilled when I was younger, now the world has begun to catch up.'

"... defeated the Avatar in battle…"

'I attacked my opponent when they turned their back on me.'

"... led the Coup of Ba Sing Se…"

'A "liberated" city that I then proposed we burn to the ground.'

"... orchestrated and led the defense of the Fire Nation from the Day of the Black Sun…"

'Pure, dumb luck that I learned about it from the Earth King.'

"... is a hero in our time…"

'I'm not a hero. I'm a monster.'

"... and will stand beside Phoenix King Ozai atop the Fire Nation Empire!"

'Will he still stand beside me when he finds all that I have chosen to do in his absence? Will he still love me? Has he ever loved me?'

Those gathered in the Coronation Plaza applaud to Azula's surprise. The words are hollow. The sermon preached by the Fire Sages are not anointed with the reality of how they were accomplished. Azula has done the most terrible things to get here. She has taken it with fire and blood. Fire burning down everything in her path. Bloodletting of everyone who has ever cared about her, as she pushed them away with fear mongering.

"Azula," a low voice whispers to her. "Kneel!"

Realizing that she has delayed her own moment, she quickly falls to one knee and bows her head before the Fire Sages. One stands and holds the headpiece behind her.

"By the decree of Phoenix King Ozai, we are now ready to crown you as the Fire Lord."

The Fire Sage looks out across the Coronation Plaza. His eyes track down to the bottom of the steps at a pair of eyes awaiting a command. Ever so subtly he nods his head. The return expression is a bowed head and a double clap of the hands.

clap clap

Azula waits for the Fire Sage to finish the ceremony. She expects it any second. Yet as the entirety of the Coronation Plaza grows quiet with anticipation, she hears a muffled sound nearby break through the silence.

"Mhm! MHM!"

Azula dares to peek an eye open. Once she sees it, both eyes fly open at the sight. At the bottom of the steps, out in the flat of the Coronation Plaza, a pair of Dai Li agents carry a wounded, straggling animal out for display. It's head covered by a black cloth, Azula looks down and realizes it is no animal at all. It is a person.

She rises, "What is happening? What is this?"

"Tell us, Azula," a croaking voice shouts up to her. "What have you done today to reshape the world by the flame of the Fire Nation?"

Azula looks down at Lo and Li, then slowly begins descending the stairs. The Dai Li agents position the person at the foot of the steps. They shove them to the ground and then walk away as quickly as they came. A single Imperial Firebender approaches. He bends over and grabs the body. He pulls them upright. They try to struggle and he shoves them back down. The body kneels at the bottom of the steps. Azula draws closer and closer but the realization rises above her like the comet giving her strength.

She is nearly at the bottom when she replies, "But this was supposed to be my first order of business after I became the Fire Lord."

The plaza crackles to life like a flame in Azula's palm. They murmur to one another. The Royal Procession, the Dai Li, they are silent. The citizens are ablaze with whispers.

Azula reaches the bottom, her mouth slightly agape. The guard steadies the body of the prisoner by gripping their shoulder tightly. Lo steps forward, producing a sealed roll of parchment she had kept hidden. She holds it high above her head momentarily, showing it to everyone. She pulls it back down and cracks it open. She unfurls it and reads aloud.

"By the decree of Phoenix King Ozai. For the crimes of high treason, and gender betrayal," she starts. The crowd's quiet murmurs explode at these last two words. Shouts of outrage from the mob of people come forth. Lo relishes this reaction another second before continuing, "I sentence Ty Lee… to death by execution."

There are jeers and cheers in response to this news. Yet the silence of the hundreds of eyes falling on Azula all at once is the most devastating part. She feels all of their eyes burning into her.

"This execution shall be, in accordance with our laws for such crimes, a public beheading. I hereby also decree that the executioner shall be my only daughter, Azula."

"Kill the girl."

There is a raucous applause. The people have not seen such excitement at court in some time. They are enthused. They are celebrating. They are happy for her.

"Only afterwards will she be crowned as the Fire Lord."

"Become the woman."

Azula can't look at anything else. She stares down at the body of a girl, kneeling at her feet. She is dressed in the same pink clothes. Her hands are tied tightly behind her back. She hears muffled noises beneath the black headcovering.

"May she reshape the world by the flame of the Fire Nation, or else meet with the same treasonous end as the girl."

Li now speaks, saying, "He gave us this important task of informing you at just the right moment. He instructed us that this would be your first act as the true Fire Lord. Prove your worth."

The guard rips the cloth off her head and all at once she is blinded by the lights. Stuffed in a prison cell for nearly two weeks, then covered in darkness, all of the sunlight is overwhelming. Azula stares at the top of Ty Lee's head. The brown of her hair is all she sees, her face hiding from the light. She bows her head to the ground, her chin buried in her neck as her eyes try to adjust.

Ty Lee looks up at Azula. The sky is a mixture of orange, pink, red, and gold. The clouds are a picturesque violet, billowing perfectly without blocking the view. The rising sun, in all of its fiery glory, floats just over the horizon. The burning light of Sozin's comet sets the sky on fire. Her eyes adjust until it is a saturated brightness, so it doesn't hurt her eyes but she can't look directly at it either. Instead she looks at the slightly bowed face of the girl in front of her. All about Azula's frame is gold and black.

Azula looks down at Ty Lee. Blanketed by the looming shadows, the brunette is sanctuary in a world otherwise on fire. The lone exception to a world covered in the same pale golden light. The light all around is pretty, but it is within the shade that Azula's eyes track.

The streaks down her cheeks, the redness of her eyes. The way the remnants of recent tears smudge her face. A little girl, hurting, and in need of a friend. In need of Azula. They stare at one another a moment. Azula, surrounded by sunlight. Ty Lee, rare and glimmering in the dark.

For the kneeling traitor, the sight is beautiful and terrifying. She remembers her dream of a dragon coming to bury her in the ground. She had dreamt it the first night she had decided to join Azula. Now she lives her nightmare.

Her best friend towers over her with an aura as black as midnight. It is darker than any that Ty Lee has ever seen. She cries hard tears looking up at the sight, but every sob is snuffed out by the gag around her mouth.

"MHM! MHMMM!"

She tries to rise up, but the guard pushes his weight down upon her to keep her on her knees. She does not beg to be spared, but she still weeps before the girl that she loves so deeply. The girl who will now end her life.

Azula knows what must be done. She has never counted the costs before. She has done whatever it takes every step of the way. This is the final cost. The last pound of flesh to be extracted. A grim resolve befalls her. She will not start counting the costs now. All eyes and ears await her. The people, the servants, the Dai Li, the Royal Procession, Li and Lo. Obey, and be crowned. Refuse, and meet with the same bloody end.

"Turn her around," she commands the Imperial Firebender. "I don't want her to see this."

"MHMMMM! MHMMM! MM!"

Ty Lee violently shakes her head and screams into the gag. She calls Azula a coward, she begs her to not turn her around, she cries harder tears. If she has to die she wants to go looking into those golden eyes. Yet in her final moment, with but another twist of the blade, Azula denies her this last wish. Azula will give her no grace.

Ty Lee struggles against it but is helpless, as the Imperial Firebender twists her arms and turns her around. She turns away from the sun, the comet, and golden eyes. Her last sanctuary slips away as she turns to face the crowd. The tears blur her vision but all of the faces are unknown to her anyway. The last thing she will see on Earth is the foggy view of people who have never met her, yet cheer her death on all the same. The emotions overcome her. She weeps and bows her head in pain.

FLOOM

Ty Lee feels an intense heat near her face. A second later a strict voice instructs her, "Stand up straight and expose your neck for the Fire Lord."

Through bleary eyes she looks up to the guard standing over her. He holds a fireball inches from her face and growls down at her. He threatens, "If you struggle again, if you make any effort to move, I'll simply burn you alive right here and now."

Fresh tears come as he goes on, "And after you're dead, we'll go find your big family and kill all of them too, one by one."

Ty Lee had no love lost for her family, but the idea of each of them meeting with the same fate disturbs her. She whimpers as the tears on her face begin evaporating under the intense comet-fueled fire. She does as she's told. Slowly she sits up straight, squares her shoulders, and exposes her neck. Her head bobs around ever so subtly with the tears and sobs.

Azula stands behind her and grips the handle of the weapon at her waist. She unsheathes the sword and spins it in her hand momentarily.

"Now, Fire Lord Azula," the guard says in a low but firm voice. "I don't know if you've ever done this before, but a bit of advice: Step very close. The neck is thicker than it looks to cut through, even the little ones like hers."

Azula looks down at the ornate handle. For the first time, she notices an inscription etched into the blade. Her father wanted her to see this when the time was right. She reads it.

'Rise from the Ashes.'

Azula recalls yelling at Ty Lee in the prison cell.

"You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation."

Azula looks away from the inscription. She steps up and is right behind Ty Lee, the guard another foot in front of her. He holds the flame at her face, making her sweat and burn. Azula carefully rests the blade on her shoulder. Ty Lee squeals at the feeling of the cool steel on her neck. It does not escape her lips though, as she screeches into the nothing. Azula looks at the handle again. In her own hands she holds the sword.

'The touch of the sun.'

Ty Lee looks up into the sky. Some birds flutter away. Time slows down and her life flashes before her eyes.

'Holding her in the forest clearing.'

'Seeing her at the circus and falling on purpose.'

"We were born with both, Ty Lee."

"Do you trust me?"

"I love you, Azula. I do."

The Fire Lord fidgets with her hold. She stares down at the brown hair, and the canvas of her neck which she is about to adorn with steel. She announces to the world, "In all of my years of conquest… slaughter… bloodshed, it was never personal." She tightens her grip around the handle.

"And neither is this."

Azula summons all of her courage.

She lifts the blade on high.

Time slows to a halt.

For a moment the blade glistens, the burning sky reflecting off of it. Memories rapidly flicker in her mind's eye.

"In the Fire Nation, little girls like little boys."

'The touch of the sun.'

"I AM A MONSTER, TY LEE!"

"Kill the girl. Become the woman."

"I love you, Azula. I do."

She steps into it and with one fluid motion she swings the blade down.

Swip!

The blade rips through flesh and keeps going, cleanly through. It cuts through the base of the neck. They're dead before their head hits ground.

Thud!

Blood sprays and splashes onto Azula's face and armor. Splattering onto the ground of the coronation courtyard, Azula watches the head fall.

Ty Lee feels the heat of the fire one moment, then she feels nothing. The fire is gone. Blood sprays and she watches with eyes wide open as the head of the guard rolls on the ground before her. Another moment later his body hits the floor.

Thud!

Swip!

With another fluid motion, Azula slices the ropes holding Ty Lee captive. This frees her hands and the brunette feels her shoulders move without restriction for the first time in hours. She has no time to process what has happened before Azula is acting once more. Azula turns to her side and with all of her might she hurdles her father's sword at Lo.

Swip!

The blade cuts right through the old woman, who staggers backwards and collapses. She falls flat on her back, the sword sticking out of her. Li turns to her sister on the ground, completely stunned. Lo struggles to breathe. Her mouth quickly fills with a liquid. It tastes like iron. Li turns back to look at the demon girl.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" She screams. "KILL THEM!"

Azula's eyes dart all about as gasps and screams take place. It is only fractions of a second but she sees the Dai Li begin sliding. She spins her arm around swiftly then extends her fingers towards them.

Crack

Lightning blasts off a few feet from Ty Lee's head. It surges forward and crashes through a number of the Earthbending agents and they are dead on arrival. Their bodies fly through the air, charred corpses rolling on the ground when they land.

The first strike on the Dai Li buys the Imperial Firebenders precious seconds to disperse. The servant girls scatter in terror and the Capital citizens shove one another to make their escape. Some of them fall down and are crushed by the stampede of feet. Ty Lee stays on her knees, shock keeping her paralyzed to the plaza floor. The guard's head stops rolling, his vacant eyes staring up into the sky. Ty Lee looks at the blood spurting out of his neck, staining the immaculate tile beneath.

Azula had spared her life and in doing so forsaken the crown. Ty Lee's head is heavy on her shoulders but with effort she turns and sees her savior. Glistening with sweat, she rears back a hand, then launches it forward and an inferno bursts forth, bathing half of the court in a deluge of blue flame. Ty Lee looks up at her in astonishment, her jaw hanging open as much as it can despite the gag. Azula stood in that moment perfectly still, like a painting. A moment ago Ty Lee saw her life flash before her eyes, but now she sees a new life taking shape.

The sparks and the flames may explode from her hands, but the greatest fire on Earth is the one that flickers within Azula's soul.

The flame of her love for Ty Lee.

FLOOM

Azula sends out a second wave of blue fire towards the guards trying to flank her. The flames rise high into the sky. They eradicate anything they touch, but mostly they give her a bubble of protection for the time being. Sozin's comet is imbuing her with great strength, but the numbers are not in her favor, even with her quick strike to defeat many of the Dai Li. She turns to the girl still kneeling.

"Listen Ty Lee, I'm doing everything I can to save us," she starts with a lilt in her voice. "Can you say the same?"

Realization finally crashes upon the teen. Hastily she climbs to her feet, yanking the gag from her mouth and untying the remnants of rope on her wrists. She turns around and takes a step back. The wall of fire that Azula has set up to shield them begins to dissipate from the Firebenders all around them trying to calm it.

They stand back-to-back and turn to face their foes. Ty Lee raises her fists up and bends her knees, prepared to flip through her enemies. Azula leans forward and spins her fingers around to summon the lightning storm. The childhood friends take their stance, facing the wrath of the Fire Nation.

The Princess and the Commoner.

The Sun and the Moon.

The Monster and the Circus Freak.

The Dragon and the Protector.

Lovers, set against all seeking to keep them apart.

A/N: The entirety of "Touch of the Sun" started with this scene in mind. I wanted to have this moment. Then I said, "Azula would never refuse the crown unless she had an equal and opposite motivator. In fact, something greater than her fear of her father and loyalty to the Fire Nation." And from there I set off to write this fic. I hope I did it justice. Alternative title for this chapter was "Fire and Blood." This Chapter's OST is "I Did Something Bad" by Taylor Swift.

Love always. Tyzula forever.

Notorious