The grind in Azur Lane continues, just can't get Enterprise and Laffey up to Lv120, then I need to work on anti-air ships like Montpelier, San Diego and Seattle, plus carriers Shinano, Essex, and the Graf Zeppelin sisters. Plus equipment grinding. Damn hard to get rainbow gear. Anyway, here we get Zuko's mentality straightened out a bit, everyone's favorite Kyoshi Warrior again being the grown up in the situation. Poor girl. One more chapter to go, so hopefully this one wasn't a disappointment. Thoughts and comments always welcome, and enjoy.
Ty Lee x Zuko
Rating: E
Unfortunately I don't own any characters presented in this story, otherwise the pairings would look totally different. All credit to the creators of Avatar, Mike and Bryan, for creating such a rich world.
'Uuuuu, this is so hard,' Ty Lee thought to herself. It had been almost a week since she had told Suki she would come clean with Zuko about how she felt, but whenever she was around him, the words always seemed to get stuck in her chest.
Multitude excuses had bubbled up in her mind each time she chickened out, from the time being wrong to other people being around and not wanting to put him in an awkward position with the court officials. But deep down she knew she was scared, but the reasoning for it escaped her.
Boys had always been easy to handle for so many years. Flash a smile, show a little skin, flaunt a little cleavage and hormonal teenagers and grown men alike would line up to do whatever favor she might ask of them. So talking to boys was nothing new to her, yet something about the current situation scared her more than when she had "betrayed" Azula all those years ago.
Maybe not quite THAT scary, but it was a similar feeling.
Standing near the entrance to the large expanse of the training hall, the young woman attempted to shift her gaze anywhere but him. Checking for any signs of movement, and subtle change in the flow of the room. But it seemed like each time she tried NOT to look at him, to watch his every movement, her eyes became that much more firmly glued to his toned form as he ran through his firebending techniques.
Large plumes of reddish orange glowed brightly in the warm air, each jet and burst flowing smoothly upon the completion of different movements. A glimmering sheen of sweat seemed to glow softly on his bare skin, the tightness of his muscles apparent to her even from her vantage point.
Clasping gloved hands to her painted cheeks, she tried to push the thoughts of ways she could make him sweat like that from her mind. 'Gotta focus on the job, Ty Lee. You can do this,' she tried to persuade herself. With a firm shaking of her head, the bubbly noblewoman thankfully got herself back to focus.
Straightening her back, Ty Lee felt the tension of standing guard wearing on her body, knots forming between her shoulders. A soft groan of relief passed the red tinted lips as she stretched her arms out over her head, toes reflexively tensing along with the rest of her body. She regretted not taking him up on his offer to spar together today.
Excuses had become something of her forte in recent days, mind always churning for reasons to not be within arm's reach of her charge. The young woman chided herself for acting like such a dope, but instinct always seemed to win out.
'What am I so scared of? Zuko's a really great guy, and he deserves to be happy, and I deserve to be happy, so why can't we be happy together?' she pondered to herself, shifting back and forth as the desire to move around began to grow. Being idle was definitely one of her least favorite things.
A gentle rush of warmth ran through her body as she caught him gazing at her out of the corner of his eye. Had he been staring at her the whole time? Had she really been that out of it?
The look on his face was hard for her to read as he shifted back into his well practiced routine. It was so similar to how he looked before she had more or less snapped at him and gotten him to open up to her. Sadness? Pain? Frustration? It could have been any of the above or something completely different.
Eyebrows furrowing, the young acrobat shifted her thoughts inward, wondering if something had happened that he just hadn't told her about. So lost in her thoughts, Ty Lee became unfocused on her surroundings, not noticing the figure casually approaching her from behind.
"Hey Ty Lee, how's it going?" Suki's voice and hand on the younger girl's shoulder pierced the veil of deep thought, her subordinate's body tensing as she jumped nearly out of her skin. The elder woman's eyebrow raised curiously as Ty Lee turned quickly around, brown eyes wide in surprise to pair with the heaving of her chest.
"Suki!? It's not nice to sneak up on people," Ty Lee squeaked, placing her hand over hear chest to keep her heart squarely in her body.
"It's not like you to get snuck up on," her friend responded, voice laced with all sorts of unspoken questions about the apparent situation.
"What's going on?" Zuko's voice sounded as he approached the two girls in a hurry, eyes scanning the surroundings for something to have caused Ty Lee's loud scream.
"Oh, uh, nothing Zuko," the brunette said in a panic, hands waving in front of her to somehow try to calm the situation down. "Um, I need to go, uh, use the bathroom. Suki, you got this, right? Thanks," she stumbled in a hurry, offering a curt bow before turning and escaping the suddenly awkward situation.
Zuko and Suki were both left blinking, watching the retreating form of the hyper active young woman.
"What's her deal?" Zuko asked worriedly, eyes narrowing a bit in thought as he caught the subtle shaking of Suki's head.
"I have a pretty good idea," she said, a sigh escaping her lips as she turned towards the Fire Lord. "I'm surprised you don't get it, though," the words dripped with a somewhat playful teasing tone, a mirthful smile crossing her face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he responded, a quizzical look on his face, mind racing to try and figure out what she was getting at. True, Ty Lee had seemed a bit off the past few days, but he had chalked it up to his naturally paranoid mind just playing tricks on him.
"There is no way you can be this un-self aware," the auburn haired woman spoke, slightly affected tones of disbelief coating each word as it slipped from ruby painted lips.
"Look, I didn't do anything, Suki," he found himself on the defensive somehow, voice cracking a bit as he continued to think what could possible have happened. "She's been a little distant the past couple of days, but I figured she just needed a day off or something," he continued, a slight pain pinching his chest as he recalled the previous few days. A dull throb squeezed his heart as he thought of the times he had caught her attention and then quickly turned away.
"...I guess you really are that clueless," his friend spoke calmly, tutting as she shook her head. Locking gaze with the young man in front of her, she gave her best attempt at a stern expression, which sent a small shiver through Zuko's body.
"What are you talking about?" the Fire Lord felt a surge of anger coursing through him, being more or less called stupid igniting his natural indignation.
"Zuko, she likes you," she said softly, the stern expression melting away into a more comforting expression.
"Well, I like her too, but I don't get what that has to do with this," he explained, a clear disconnect between their phrasing of the word sounding in her ear.
"No, I mean, she likes you," Suki changed the emphasis, hoping he would catch on.
For a moment Zuko's mind seemed to go into some kind of glitch, golden eyes blinking idly as he pondered what she was saying. After a long moment, his eyes widened in surprise, the information seemingly finally clicking into place.
"No, that can't be, she's totally not into me, you must be mistaken," he felt the words streaming from his lips, that twinge of teasing pain giving an unmistakable pinch.
"Did you ever think why she chose to stay around even though she has so many opportunities to do other things?" she spoke a bit more firmly, wanting to get this situation sorted out as soon as possible. 'These two…' she thought, a mental sigh at having to essentially play match maker between the two.
"She just likes being home, right? It was never really cozy and stuff with Azula around," he seemed steadfastly focused on denying the situation at hand.
"I can only imagine," Suki spoke with a tone of understanding, recalling her few interactions with the calculating, dangerous Fire Nation princess. "But you can't really think that's all it is."
"What else could it be?"
"Zuko, I'm telling you this straight as your friend even though it's not really my place, but she's got it really bad for you," she spoke clearly, pressing a finger directly against his chest as she locked him in her gaze.
"Then why has she been avoiding me? Why hasn't she said anything about it to me? It seems like she just doesn't want to be around me," hints of sadness stained each syllable as it passed past his lips.
"Because she doesn't know how you feel about her," Suki explained, taking a few steps to settle on the top step leading to the training arena. "She told me about what happened last month, so I understand a little bit," she said planting her hands on the smooth tile behind her as she leaned back.
"She told you about that?" he asked, knowing precisely what she was talking about. Taking a seat next to his friend, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. Long ebony locks curtained around his face, shrouding his periphery from his vision.
"More or less. I never figured you for the type to lead a girl on," she added, unable to help herself from teasing him just a bit over the event.
"I'm not," he said weakly, realizing that what he had done would give one that precise impression about the facts. "It's just… confusing."
"Oooo, not complicated. Look at you learning how to express yourself more eloquently," she teased, earning a slight groan from her older friend.
"Not as good as your vocabulary," he retorted, the two sharing a quick, friendly snicker.
"Well, when you're around someone who tries to sound smart so much, some of it just kind of impresses onto you," Suki's words shone with a distinctive longing, Zuko knowing it had been a few weeks since she had seen Sokka.
"You miss him, huh?"
"That obvious?"
"If I can tell, despite being "oblivious", then yeah, it's pretty obvious," he spoke, fingers lifting to offer subtle air quotes on the word oblivious.
"I know, but I know he'll show up randomly, and it'll all be good," she responded, a wistful sigh escaping her lips to accompany the warm smile that crossed her elegantly carved features.
"You could always take some time off and just go see him," Zuko offered, knowing that Suki was not necessarily above taking vacations when it was appropriate.
"Not right now I can't. If my friends are having an issue, with one so twisted up inside she can't do her job and the other emotionally oblivious, I'd probably come back to an assassinated Fire Lord or a blown up palace or something," she teased, earning another groan from her ostensible employer.
"You're not gonna let it go, huh?"
"I can't. The real question is, how do you feel about her?" A gentle breeze blew through the training arena, softly tussling the silky auburn locks around Suki's face.
"I…" Zuko started, feeling the tips of his hair brushing against his face with the soft summer breeze. He hadn't really thought about it. Like really think about it. When he had kissed Ty Lee it had been more or less an instinct, something inside telling him it was somehow the right thing to do at the time.
The following weeks he had taken her stinging commentary to heart, making an effort to be more open with her, to speak to her just as his friend as opposed to just someone who was around because it was her job. And he had found it really comforting, having someone to share at least a little of his burdens with.
Self improvement seemed to always be slow and come with all manner of gains and losses to reach what seemed easy conclusions for others. And so it had pained him a bit the first time she had been somewhat skittish with him, her usual air-headedness taking on a seemingly unfounded increase. It had confused and hurt him, more than he had really realized as he sat with Suki thinking about it.
"I guess… she's kind of my best friend," he said after a moment, his lips curling into a small smile as he recalled her soft, welcoming smile that had always seemed etched permanently on her soft features.
"Is that all?" Here Suki was going to make sure things were clear for him, to not give him any way out of dealing with this. "Is there any more to it?"
"Maybe… no? Yes? It's all a mess," the smile faded a bit, turmoil raging in his chest and stomach.
"So, how would you feel if Ty Lee started seeing someone else? If she left and was spending her nights in another man's bed?"
This mental image struck deep within his very core, a cold sort of pain spreading through his body like ice. Naturally he recalled his friend's girlish crush on Sokka, before then flashing to that day on the beach all those days ago. At the time he had been so preoccupied with his somewhat frayed relationship with Mai that he hadn't really considered Ty Lee as a person if he was being honest.
But now, in this moment, after all the years they had spent together with no Mai and no Azula around to skew things, picturing her soft brown hair fanned out on some other man's bed, giggles and sighs sounding for someone other than him filled him with a sickening, dull heat that boiled in his gut. It was not something he ever wanted to see happen.
"I think… I'd hate that," he said squarely, hands curling into fists against his knees as he spoke. His jaw clenched, heart picking up in pace within his chest as he tried to recall the images of her smile back to his mind.
"Then, you need to think of why you would hate that. If you only see her as your friend, you should want her to be happy, and give her your best support to find what or who makes her happy," Suki kept her words pointed, sharp and direct, not wanting to see him try to explain things away in the way he tended to do.
"I just want to see her smiling all the time."
"Is that all?" he was certainly not making this easier for her.
"I guess… I want to be the one making her smile," Zuko continued, his voice dropping an octave, the subtle rumbling of his words sending small shudders through Suki's body. Sometimes she forgot just how thick and tempting his voice could be. Mentally shaking her head before any inappropriate thoughts could latch themselves into her mind, she turned her head to squarely look at the young Fire Lord.
"So, she's not just a friend to you?" she asked easily, figuring he just needed one more push to get himself to the right destination. The week previously, she had assumed Ty Lee would take the initiative, but she knew that once Zuko made his mind up about something he would follow through with it, whatever the cost.
"No. I think I always kind of associated her with my sister, so I could never 100% see her on her own, but seeing her every day, talking to her every day, I started seeing a little more of her personality and her mind," he said, the smile widening across his angled features.
"Ty Lee knows a lot about governing and economics, I guess?"
"Not exactly," Zuko chuckled, knowing that his acrobatic friend was never interested in things like that. Not to say that she couldn't, she just had no desire to. "She just has a way of carrying herself I guess. Ty Lee is really good with people, helping them just feel better by being there," his voice felt like thick, warm honey in her ears, a silent curse passing through her mind as she fought back the unwarranted thoughts forming in her mind.
'I should definitely take him up on that offer of some time off,' she thought to herself, subtly lifting herself to her feet. "So what does all that mean?" The last push, Suki could almost feel his mind trying to process things.
"Maybe, I like her as more than a friend," he said simply, his ebony locks swaying gently as his lifted his head to look into her eyes. "I think I might… love her," Suki smiled as she saw a gentle shading of color cross his cheeks.
"So that's your answer," she said, turning to make her way out of the training arena.
"Suki?" his voice gave her pause, her azure eyes widening as he pulled her in for a warm, friendly hug. The heat of his body emanated in waves through her uniform, the green garments suddenly feeling altogether too warm for the situation. "Thanks for being such a good friend," he said as he pulled back, his smile nearly melting her heart in her chest.
"Just remember that when I go on vacation," she said, thankful for the face paint adorning her face to hide the blush she could feel burning her cheeks. "So you're going to-" the question froze mid sentence as he dashed past her, off in the direction where Ty Lee had disappeared.
'Jerk,' she thought to herself, unable to suppress the smile that crossed her face. 'Not bad at match making if I do say so myself,' the young woman gave herself a mental pat on the back before starting off in the opposite direction.
Now it was in Zuko's court, so she was going to start making her plans for vacation.
Hopefully Sokka was well rested, because she was definitely going to put his endurance to the test.
Mostly speech here, next time we get the steamy, sexy conclusion to this particular story. Stay tuned and thank you whosoever decides to give this humble fiction a shot.