Zuko welcomed all the Kyoshi Warriors into the palace and had servants show them their rooms. Right after that he had a meeting with them, explaining what they'd have to do to help him maintain peace. Most of them, Ty Lee in particular, seemed relieved to know that Azula was not in the palace and that, if everything went according to plan, they wouldn't have to around her at all. While he could understand their reaction, he couldn't help but feel offended on behalf of his sister, even though he was quite sure she wouldn't care about their opinion. He simply couldn't stand it when people thought of his sister as nothing but a problem that needed to be fixed.

I made that mistake once as well, Zuko reminded himself. I don't have the right to expect everyone else to be any different.

There was, however, one person he wasn't truly mad at for not wanting to see Azula. Ty Lee. She had written him many letters asking about Azula's well-being, and seemed genuinely pleased that he now trusted his sister. But she knew her and Mai's 'betrayal' had hurt her and started her spiral into madness. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to risk making things worst.

Once the meeting was over, the young Fire Lord took Suki and Ty Lee to his office. Since they were the only Kyoshi Warriors he was truly friends with, the two of them would the only ones who'd know about his engagement to his sister before they made an official announcement to their nation. He closed the door behind himself and simply went straight to the point.

"I'm marrying Azula when she comes back home"

Ty Lee gasped in surprise, eyes wide in shock and... excitement?

Before he could ask her any questions, Suki gave him an all too familiar look - the one she always shot at him whenever he did something stupid.

"Seriously? Azula? Your sister? Your insane sister?"

"She's doing better now" he couldn't help but sound irritated by how she clearly was disapproving of it simply because it involved Azula. He doubted Suki was okay with incest, and he could understand that. But he would not accept anyone talking about his devotion and commitment to Azula as something inevitably tragic or stupid, like there was nothing good in her and she was fundamentally unlovable.

"She's going to be my wife. If there's anything you want to say against it, keep it to yourself"

"Sorry for not feeling comfortable with the fact you want to marry the girl who almost killed you" she looked and sounded tired.

"I have something important to ask!" Ty Lee exclaimed, calling all the attention to herself, preventing Zuko and Suki from being too harsh on each other. She had gotten quite good at subtly distracting people from heated arguments since she grew up with him, Azula, and Mai. The young acrobat now looked more serious than Zuko had ever seen her before "Do you guys love each other?"

"Yes" Zuko answered with no hesitation.

"Are you happy together?"

"Happier than we've ever been"

Ty Lee offered him a huge smile "Then I'm happy for you" she said, pulling him in for a tight hug right after. Zuko hugged back, glad that talking to someone else about his relationship with Azula was easy for once.

Too easy in fact. Zuko immediately got suspicious, and then remember that Mai knew about his feelings for Azula long before he managed to understand them himself. Those two were always close, it made sense that one would tell the other about they knew, or even that they figured it out together.

He pulled away and looked at her "You knew about it, didn't you?"

Ty Lee's somewhat guilty face left no doubt in his mind that the answer was yes.

"For how long?"

"Since we were kids. After all, what kind of best friend would I be if I didn't know who was the boy she actually liked?" she said, immediately going back to sounding cheery and optimistic "Honestly, I was always rooting for you guys."

"Really?" Zuko and Suki asked at the same time.

"I felt bad for Mai since I knew she really did like you, but I always thought you and Azula could be a good match if you found a way to get along."

"Well, I'm glad someone is happy for you, Zuko" Suki continued to look at him like he was the stupidest man to have ever lived "And since you clearly seem to want avoid any problems, I'll offer you a deal. I'll keep my mouth shut about your gross wedding and you'll keep your insane bride in check so she won't start a new war or invade and destroy any more territories. Me and the other warriors spent two years helping rebuild the earth kingdom and it doesn't look like we'll get a break any time soon, so cause any trouble we'd have to deal with, alright?"

He sighed "Fine" after an awkward moment of silence, he spoke up again, somewhat embarrassed "I'm sorry for everything you guys have been having to deal with it"

"It's part of the job" she dismissed his concerns, sounding a bit calmer herself "And you have done your best to help us, but a hundred years of war can't just be magically fixed."

"Cheer up a little, guys" Ty Lee said, wrapping one arm Suki and another Zuko "Soon we'll get to hang out with all of our friends again after so long! Oh, and you better introduce us to your new little sister!"

He couldn't help but smile and Suki did the same. Ty Lee had this way of reminding all of them that, even though they were in a difficult situation and that they were forced to act like adults so early in their lives, they were still young.

"Come on. She'll love meeting you guys."