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

Say It Back

Fire is an event. A mixture of vapors and oxygen combusting into a flame. It is not a thing or a state of being. It occurs in spurts of time and then fades. Yet, even as it fades, it is still there. The potential for fire is still there. The ability is still there. It may be hard, even impossible to see, but it is still there. As long as there is oxygen, then fire can exist.

A tiny blue flame dances in the hand of a little girl. She smiles and marvels at it. It lightly crackles and skips about in her right palm. With a mental command, it rages bright. The next moment it fades, almost to nothing. She thinks about how, as it smolders and shrinks, it still burns. Even as it begins to disappear, she still feels it. Coursing through her veins, she still feels it. In her heart, it slowly burns. Waiting to be brought back to life.

"Azula," her mother calls her attention from across the garden. "Your friends are here."

The nine-year old girl with jet black hair looks up and shouts back, "I am coming, Mother."

She runs in a full sprint, almost skipping, towards the gate. Young Azula is happy and excited. Her friends from the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, Mai and Ty Lee, have come to spend the afternoon with her. She likes to play and spend time with them. They're the only friends she has made at the school, but Azula doesn't think about that. She doesn't think about how she intimidates her other classmates. That level of self-awareness or self-consciousness have not developed yet. For now, Azula is just a happy little girl, who can't wait to play with her friends.

She arrives at the entryway where her mother stands with two young girls waiting for her. One looks uneasy while the other stares down at the ground. Mai stares with apprehension at Azula as she approaches. Azula observes the top of the other's head as she comes to a stop in front of her. The brunette hair cascades down her right shoulder, her hands at her side, grasping her dress around the waist. She grips it like her life depends on it.

"Ty Lee?"

She lifts her head. Azula looks at her in the early afternoon light. 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.

"What's wrong, Ty Lee? Why are you sad?"

"Oh, n-nothing. I'm not sad," she fibs, averting her eyes.

Mai stands to her side and stares, unsure of what to say. Azula wants to do something but doesn't appreciate the way Ty Lee is brushing it off. She commands her, "Would you lie to your friend?"

Ty Lee looks back at Azula. Panicked, she replies, "Of course not!"

"Then speak. Why are you sad?"

Ursa is put-off by this exchange. She scolds her, "Azula, leave her alone."

Ursa knew that the young girl's mother wasn't sure if she even should come here today. There had been trouble at home, but Ty Lee had wanted to come. Now Ursa was unsure if that was wise.

Meanwhile, Azula pouts at her mother. She turns her attention back to her friend. She looks down at the hand still clasping the dress with an iron-like vice. She reaches for it and yanks it away from the dress. Ty Lee looks down at the hand holding hers.

"Well, don't be sad, Ty Lee! You're here now! C'mon, Mai!"

Azula turns and rushes off. She tugs Ty Lee's hand and pulls the young girl towards the garden to play in the warm summer sun.

"Hold up, wait for me!" Mai exclaims and follows.

Ty Lee runs to keep up with Azula as they rush into the beauty of the Royal Garden. Azula continues to pull her forward, refusing to let go. Ty Lee feels that just the touch of Azula's hand has set her ablaze with joy. She gleefully yelps into the wind as they run around, with Mai close behind.

Ursa watches this all unfold from a distance. Part of her wonders what is wrong with that girl, to be so crass and confrontational towards her friends. The other half though is proud. Her daughter has made friends and bonds and she cares about them enough to want to wisk their pain away.

Ursa briefly daydreams about a distant future. One where Zuko ascends to the throne, and Azula, a doting sister, becomes an excellent advisor to the Fire Lord. It is the best of all outcomes for Azula in society today.

It is a lovely wish, but one filled with many pitfalls. Not the least of all though is Ursa's growing suspicion about Azula. The girl had been gifted with magnificent firebending skills at birth. They are already calling her a prodigy. That is not what concerned Ursa. Rather, it is that her daughter is… different… in other ways. Zuko had been born different too, in so much that he was much gentler than Ozai.

'Thank Agni for that.'

While Azula impresses her father and Masters and teachers, none of them see her the way Ursa sees her. Ursa is with Azula and Zuko more than anyone else. Not Ozai, not the sworn Imperial Firebenders, not even the palace servants are with them more than Ursa. That much time and exposure has given her insight into her daughter that no one else is aware of, likely not even Azula herself.

This is troubling for Ursa. She wants to talk with Azula, and connect with her. Explain to her the way of the world so that she is equipped to deal with it. It comes from a place of deep seeded love and compassion. If she is correct, and Azula was born different from other little girls, then Azula needed to know her place in society, so she could hide it and protect it from those who would seek to destroy her for it.

'The way she interacts with those girls. The way she scares off any and every little boy. It's just… different.'

Ursa formulates a plan. She slides the puzzle pieces together in her mind. She practices the conversation in her head. Today is the day she protects her daughter from the monsters.

The endless summer afternoon melts away. As they spend the day together, Ty Lee forgets all about the mean things her sister said to her that morning. She forgets those things, and instead she remembers Azula doing whatever she can to make her tears go away. Azula of the Fire Nation burns the pain away with her games, and jokes, and tricks, and pranks.

As she runs away from the girls for one of their games, the normally fleet footed young acrobat trips over her own feet. She goes crashing to the ground and slides for a moment to the base of a bush. When she opens her eyes she catches sight of something. Ty Lee gets on her hands and knees and crawls closer to look at it. Within the shade of the bush she sees a single cream-white flower sticking out. Ty Lee stares at the moon flower, and is pleased by it. She has only seen a handful in her life, and never one growing out of the earth, only ever in vases or cut and in bushels. She reaches out and picks it from the ground to bring it closer.

'Azula will love this!'

"Ty Lee," Azula's mother calls out loudly. "Your mother has come to collect you for supper!"

'Already? But I don't want to leave yet.'

A voice much closer than the previous one says to her, "Ty Lee, stop messing around in the bushes. It's undignified."

The small girl shoots up and turns to face her host, whining, "Hey!"

Briefly exposed to the sunlight, the flower wilts. Azula notes an odd object in her hand and asks, "What's that?"

"I picked it for you!"

Ty Lee extends the cream colored flower to the black haired girl. Azula's eyes are drawn down to the cream flower in Ty Lee's hand. The sun is at Azula's back, so it now casts her shadow across the both of them. The shadow provides the necessary shade for the flower to bloom fully. That is the science of what happens, but what Azula sees when she looks down is a pretty flower springing to life in the hand of her best friend.

Ty Lee looks up at Azula. The sky is a mixture of orange, pink, and gold. The clouds are a picturesque violet, billowing perfectly without blocking the view. The setting sun, in all of its summer glory, floats just over the horizon. It's a saturated brightness, so it doesn't burn 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 up 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. To the cream colored flower, blooming to life. Up and up until golden eyes meet the luminous grey-brown eyes that await her.

They stare at one another a moment. Azula, surrounded by sunlight. Ty Lee, rare and glimmering in the dark. Unconsciously they both smile at one another. Neither quite realizes it, but this moment is being burned into their memory. Stamped down as something they may never forget, even if they tried.

Azula reaches for the flower. Her fingertips graze Ty Lee's palm as she takes it from her. Uneasily her eyes return to the safe harbor of those grey-brown ones. They welcome her warmly and an even wider smile spreads across Ty Lee's face. Azula returns the smile.

She asks, "So what is it?"

"It's a moon flower! They bloom in the shade, and wilt in the sun. They're the prettiest flowers in the whole world."

Azula lifts it up. Her friend proves to be correct. When she exposes it to a bit of sunlight, the flower recedes and shrinks. As she pulls it back into the shade, it grows and sprouts.

Ty Lee is thankful for her friend. The one who rescued her from her bad day. Who made her laugh and smile and made her happy. Feeling these strong emotions course through her, Ty Lee launches herself at her friend. She envelopes Azula in a big hug. Azula is caught off guard. After a moment she tentatively returns the affection. They hold each other for a second before Ty Lee squeals.

"I love you, Azula!"

Ty Lee pulls back from the hug. Azula feels something soft brush against her face. Light as a feather. Almost like it was nothing at all. Nothing but sunlight. The very touch of the sun itself, dancing across her cheek right where Ty Lee had just pecked her.

As the brunette steps back from her friend, the realization of what was said and what has happened spread across Azula. It starts on those same cheeks, as they grow as red as the clothes she wears. It spreads quickly to the rest of her body. Embarrassment and shyness overcome a girl who has little experience feeling either emotion. Her heart skips. For perhaps the first time in her life, butterflies float in her stomach. She opens her mouth to say it back.

"I -"

"Ty Lee! Your mother is waiting!"

Both girls turn to face Ursa and Ty Lee's mother, whose patience has worn out. Quickly, without another word, Ty Lee steps out of the shade and into the direction of home. She runs off, but as she goes she turns back to Azula. Still standing there, speechless, in the garden. She takes one last look at those golden eyes. She waves goodbye and shouts.

"Bye 'Zula! See you later!"

Azula absentmindedly waves back as her friend disappears into the summer air. She turns to find Mai, but her mind follows the brunette who has departed.

Some time later, after Mai had finally gone home, Azula winds her way through the Royal Garden. She is lost in a daydream, staring down at a cream colored flower in her hand. She clutches it tightly. She spins around flashing sunlight on the flower and then retracting it into the shade. She likes how it rises and falls with the light. Azula's friends make her so happy. She can not wait for them to come back again so they can all play together some more.

'Next time Ty Lee won't be so sad, so I won't have to be as nice to her… but maybe I will be anyway.'

A short distance away, Ursa stands and observes Azula dancing about with a flower in her hand. She had watched the entire afternoon unfold, which only added fuel to the fire. She has been carefully and meticulously plotting this conversation with her daughter. It will be hard, but it is necessary. She sits down on a bench.

"Azula," she waits for her daughter to look up at her. "Come sit with me a moment."

As Azula sits down she huffs, "What is it, Mother? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing wrong, Azula," she assures her. "I just wanted to ask if you had a good day with your friends?"

"Oh," she says, surprised. "Well, yes. Yes, it was the best day ever!"

Ursa smiles down at her daughter. Azula has seen her mother sit with Zuko like this, time and time again. For the life of her, she doesn't remember once sitting with her before now. She feels a tinge of kinship budding.

"And what is that you have there?"

Azula shows her gift off and proudly explains, "It's a Moon Flower! If you hold it in the shade it grows. But if you expose it to the sun, it dies."

Ursa was familiar with such flowers and knew they were one to grow in the Royal Garden. Still, she listens intently to the explanation offered by her daughter. She enjoys the excitement in her voice.

"Well isn't that something? How curious. Tell me, Azula, do you like Mai and Ty Lee?"

With a roll of her eyes Azula replies, "Of course, Mother. They're my friends!"

Ursa smiles knowingly, then presses on. "Yes, they are. They're very nice, aren't they?"

Azula looks away from her mother and down at the flower again. She tilts her head playfully and replies, "I suppose so."

Ursa places a hand lightly on the shoulder of her daughter. She gives a little squeeze and asks, "And they are very pretty, aren't they?"

Azula bows her head a little further now. Away from her mother's eyes as they bore into the black of her hair. She hides the blush singeing her cheeks. She thinks about the girls who have just left. How they were so fun to look at. How she enjoyed being around them all the time and just wanted to be around them more. She weakly spurts out, "Y-yeah they are."

Ursa nods her head. She recognizes how slowly that answer came out. She removes her hand and pivots, "Say, where did you get that Moon Flower exactly?"

Azula raises her head a little. Confidence and excitement surge back to her. She replies, "Ty Lee gave it to me!"

Ursa smiles widely, "She is just the nicest, isn't she?"

Azula looks up to her Mother at this and shares the wide smile, "Yes! She is!"

"Do you love her?"

Azula blinks and stares up at her mother, not breaking eye contact. Her mouth hangs open but no words rise to her throat. Ursa gives her a second to compose herself. She doesn't answer so Ursa pushes on.

"Well, Azula?"

Her tone is comforting. It is encouraging. Yet Azula feels anything but comfort or encouragement. She looks away, her face growing crimson once more. She becomes flustered by the difficult questions her mother is asking her.

"I-I don't know!"

Ursa's expression turns to a sad smile. A knowing smile. She knows what must come next. She reassures her daughter, "That's okay. Maybe you do know the answer to this question: What do you know about Fire Lord Sozin?"

Azula scoffs. Such a basic question, her mother already knows the answer. She recites from memory, just the same as she recites the Fire Nation Oath each morning at school.

"Fire Lord Sozin started the war. He spent his early years secretly preparing for it. He was as patient as he was clever. He famously waited for the comet, later renamed Sozin's Comet, and used its power to launch his full-scale invasion of the world. In the end, he died peacefully, in his sleep."

Azula has answered fully, but doubt creeps in. Not about her answer, but about why she is being asked.

Ursa nods along with the textbook reply. She looks down with care at her daughter. She has prepared for this moment. She can not go back now. "That is all very true, Azula. Very good. Now, tell me, did you also know that Fire Lord Sozin decreed nearly 100 years ago that same-sex relationships are illegal?"

Confusion rises within. The little girl asks, "What does that mean? 'Same-sex?'"

They lock eyes once more. A subtle innocence shimmers in Azula's eyes. Ursa plunges forward nonetheless, "It means that little girls are only allowed to like little boys. It is a crime in the Fire Nation for little girls to like other little girls." She pauses to let this sink in. "Do you understand, Azula? Fire Lord Azulon has not shown mercy on these matters in the past, and your Father has been especially harsh when given the chance."

Azula did not know what she felt for her friends. She did not realize it yet. But what she does know, now, is that affection for them is wrong and a crime and would bring great dishonor upon her family. Loving them would bring dishonor to the entire Fire Nation.

Ursa purses her lips as her daughter looks away, shaken. Ursa is simply attempting to teach her daughter a crucial lesson. Not to shame her for who she is, but to explain to her the way of the world that they live in. She wants Azula to be happy, but if Ursa is right and she was born different, then she needs to be better equipped to face that reality in the world.

Instead of understanding or acceptance, Azula only feels fear. She has never been more terrified than she is right now. The wedge between mother and daughter is driven deeper. Ursa is not equipped to have this conversation. Married at twenty-one, a mother by twenty-three, she is not even thirty-four now. She has no experience talking about this subject, with anyone, let alone a child and her own progeny. All Ursa knows is that she sees something budding in her daughter. Something that her own Father would kill her for, regardless of her status as a 'prodigy.'

She tries again with the small girl, "You must be careful, Azula, with whom you share your heart."

The words reach her, but Azula doesn't hear them. They don't latch on the way Ursa wants them to. Ursa searches for the perfect thing to say, the exact right string of words that will salvage this moment. She has seen how Azula reacts to direct orders.

'Perhaps that will work best?'

"Now," she says, sitting up straight to her fullest height. She commands Azula, "Say it back."

"Say what?" She asks, but stares at her feet. She refuses to look up at her mother.

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

Azula feels the shame rise in her. Her voice trembles, but she replies, "In the Fire Nation, little girls like little boys."

Commanding felt wrong. Ursa can't help but feel like she has botched this conversation every step of the way. She wants to instill some hope in her daughter. She wants her to end this on a positive note. She tells her, "Maybe that could be different someday, Azula, but it's not right now."

A gloom settles over Azula. The daylight is all but gone beyond the horizon. The sun has set on the endless summer afternoon. The divide between the women grows. Azula says nothing. The mother tries to reach her daughter. She speaks calmly, but there is a desperation in her voice.

"I love you, Azula."

She reaches to hug her daughter, but Azula jumps up and runs off without another word. She may cry, she may explode with anger, she may do both, or neither. But she will do nothing with her mother present. She will do none of it in the arms of her mother.

A few days pass and the girls return to play. When they arrive, Azula rejects them outright. She doesn't want to play with them today. She doesn't know if she wants to play with them ever again. Mai and Ty Lee whine and complain, they demand her time and attention.

Azula would have remained steadfast against them, if not for Ursa's interference. The mother saw clearly what was happening. She would not let her daughter continue down a path of self-sabotaging her friendships. She insists on letting them in to play, much to the joy of the visitors.

As is the case with most things, time passes and Azula forgets. She forgets what she talked with her mother about on the bench in the Royal Garden. For a time at least, she returns to being just a little girl. Playing with her friends around the palace reclaims her innocence, temporarily.

They play hide and seek this time, and as is the case every time they play hide and seek, Azula wins easily. She tracks them where they lie, and they never find her tucked away in some far off corner. Over her years exploring the Royal Palace as only a child can, Azula has found hidden doors and secret passageways. It's what makes the game so easy for her. The girls gather near the Coronation Plaza and complain of her dominance over the game.

"Can we play something else, Azula?" Ty Lee asks. "You always win Hide and Seek."

"I know, and I love it." She boasts.

"Where did you even hide this time?" Mai asks curiously.

"Oh, this time was one of my favorite spots!"

"Where was it?" Mai asks. "Show us."

"No way! Then I won't be able to use it again!"

Ty Lee begs her, "Oh c'mon, 'Zula. Please!"

Swept up in the moment, she takes pleasure in making Ty Lee happy. She acquiescence, "Oh, alright."

The two girls cheer in unison. Azula begins walking away and tells them, "Keep up, slowpokes!"

She dashes off away from the plaza and the friends give chase. She twists them down alleys and narrow pathways. Finally, after a minute or so, she comes to a halt. Ty Lee and Mai catch up quickly. They stand near what appears to be a run of the mill wooden door. It's positioned against a cobble wall that encircles the royal palace. She points at it and tells them, "This is it."

Mai looks it up and down and says, "Doesn't look like a secret passageway."

Ty Lee chimes in, "Yeah, Azula, it just looks like someone's shed. What do they have in there, garden tools?"

"That's exactly why it's the best secret passageway, because no one thinks about it. It's just an everyday door, but if you open it-"

Click

Woosh

She unlatches the lock and then pulls it open. There is no back wall. It goes straight back for a few feet, built into the cobble wall behind, and then a flight of stairs go downward into a dark tunnel.

"Whoa! How cool!" Ty Lee immediately runs into the open door and to the top of the steps.

"Where does it go?" Mai asks.

Azula explains, "If you go through it and go down those steps and just keep going, you'll be just outside the capital in a few minutes."

Ty Lee stands at the top of the steps and shouts, "Mai, you gotta see this!"

Azula steps through the entryway and Mai gets a devious idea. She stays at the entrance. As soon as Azula is a step or two in, she puts her plan into action.

Woosh

Click

"What the?" Ty Lee exclaims.

"Mai?" Azula says to the closed, wooden door.

All of the light from the outside is extinguished. Only thin slits in the doors allow for any sunlight to pass into the narrow passageway. A low giggle can be heard from the other side of the door.

Azula approaches the door, "Mai? What are you doing?"

Knock knock

Azula knocks on the door, wondering if something happened to her friend. Ty Lee walks up behind her. After a brief pause a voice comes back, "You said yourself you can be outside the capital in a few minutes. Just walk out and then come back."

"Mai! Open the door!" Azula commands her. "Let us out!"

"What are you gonna do, Azula? Burn it down?"

Azula grows furious with the girl. She raises her hand and lights a blue flame in her palm. It illuminates the dark and illuminates the little girl standing with her.

The flame provides the light in the dark. Azula can't help but look into those grey-brown eyes and find solace. A sense of security about their situation. Ty Lee wears a big, goofy smile and looks at those golden eyes from barely a few feet away.

"It's okay, Azula. We're safe as long as we're together."

Azula keeps the flame lit but steps away from the door. She steps towards her friend and closes the space between them. They look at one another. 'Safe' is the perfect word to describe it. Azula feels safe when she is around Ty Lee. She feels happy. She feels…

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

'No no no no no!'

Panic spikes in Azula. Her eyes go wide and she steps away from Ty Lee. Caught off guard, Ty Lee takes a step back as well. She doesn't know what's happening, but Azula suddenly is acting differently. She turns towards the door and shouts, "Mai, if you don't open the door right now I will have my father destroy your family!"

Ty Lee whispers to her, "Azula, that's not very nice."

Azula knows she can't burn the door now, because then the secret passageway wouldn't be hidden anymore. Mai knows this as well and was part of the fun for her. Mai teases, "You want me to open it? Make me!"

Azula walks back a few feet. She goes to the top of the steps and faces the door. She runs at it, picking up steam, then throws the full force of her shoulder at it.

Bump

The door doesn't even budge. Mai hears her friend crash against it, then slowly get back up. She concots a new twist of the knife. Azula rubs her shoulder and walks back towards the steps.

Ty Lee asks, "Are you alright, Azula? Do you want me to check your shoulder?"

Mai peers through the thin slits in the door and sees Azula in position.

"No, Ty Lee, get out of the way!"

Azula slumps her shoulders and prepares. She runs at it, picking up steam, then throws the full force of her shoulder at it.

Click

Woosh

Just as she's arriving at it, Mai unlocks the door and swings it open. Azula throws her shoulder at nothing but air. She leaves her feet and tumbles to the ground.

"Ahhh!" Azula shouts, hitting the ground. A burning pain sears her right hand.

"Hahaha!"

"Mai! That wasn't funny!" Ty Lee shouts as she comes running out of the dark. Mai doesn't even hear her over her own laughter.

Woosh

Click

Ty Lee closes it shut and then locks the wooden door. She then turns away and looks towards Azula, still on the ground, writhing in some pain. She rushes to her aid and falls to the ground with her.

"What happened, 'Zula?"

"Gahh." Azula whines, grasping the palm of her right hand.

"Here, let me see."

Ty Lee holds Azula's wrist with one hand and slowly peels back Azula's left hand with the other. It exposes a small scrape in the palm of Azula's hand, likely from trying to break her fall. Ty Lee looks down at it. She releases Azula's left hand and uses her now free hand to delicately graze over the little cuts. Her finger tips slide across the rest of Azula's palm. The attention, the care, the touch of Ty Lee, it all calms Azula.

Ty Lee looks at the hurt and whispers, "See, not so bad."

A memory flashes of life at home and Ty Lee gets an idea. She suddenly lowers her head and brings Azula's damaged palm closer to her face. This surprises Azula but doesn't stun her. She sees the girl getting close and retracts her hand.

"What are you doing?"

They draw eye contact. Ty Lee looks dumbfounded and embarrassed. She shouldn't have tried to do what she did, but she had, and it had been rejected. She sheepishly admits, "Oh, well, my Mom always kisses our boo boos to make them feel better so I thought-"

"Well stop it! Don't do that!" She shouts at the brunette.

Mai giggles at them, "You're cute together."

FLOOM!

Azula turns on the ground and wheels on Mai. With her left hand she tosses a fireball at her. Mai narrowly dodges it and both friends shout their disapproval.

"Hey!" Mai yells.

"Azula! What are you doing?" Ty Lee tries to ask.

Madness overcomes the young girl. She stands up and grits her teeth. She wants to say something but she isn't sure what. She wants to hurt Mai for saying they were "cute together," but she isn't sure if she should. The conflict runs amok of her mind for a second.

"Just… leave! Right now! I don't want to see either of you ever again!"

"You… don't mean that, right?" Ty Lee asks, hurt.

Mai scoffs. "Ugh, whatever, Azula. We'll see you later."

She turns and begins walking away. After waiting for an answer and not getting one, Ty Lee hurriedly gets to her feet and runs to catch up.

Mai dislikes Azula's short temper, in general but especially to such a tiny joke. She felt like the girl in the palace was overreacting to a minor injury. She knew she didn't mean what she said, but the fact that she said it was blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Ty Lee follows along, but her mind stays with the black hair, golden eyed girl in the back alley. Ty Lee likes it better when they are playing and having fun. She wishes that Azula wanted to play and have fun again. She hopes it was an exaggeration that she doesn't want to see her again. Mai seems sure of it, but Ty Lee's feelings are hurt as the two go marching home.

Alone at last, Azula looks down at the wound. It burns slightly. As she stands there without her friends, she slowly realizes that it doesn't hurt as much as she thought. She regrets sending them away, but now it's too late to apologize. She grips her right palm with her left hand and makes her own way home.

Azula walks into her royal chambers, her mind adrift. She is in so much pain that it is difficult for her to think straight. Her pain doesn't stem from her scraped hand though, but from somewhere else. From something deep within her.

She paces around her room, her mind playing and replaying events from the last few days. Ty Lee crying at the door. Ty Lee smiling at her, an oasis in the desert of ordinary. Ty Lee in the dark, telling her that they are safe. A peck on the cheek. The soft graze of their hands touching.

"Little girls like little boys."

She stops pacing and looks across the room. A cream-white object on her nightstand catches her attention. Mesmerized, she walks over to it. She picks up the Moon Flower and stares at it. Her right hand, with the scrape inside, closes around the base of the flower. Azula loves the flower. Azula wants to love the flower.

In her heart, the heat rises. It courses through her veins.

Crackle

Slowly the flower burns. Azula summons the fire into her hand and the flower catches. She burns the flower to erase the memory; to erase the pain. She holds her open palm out in front of herself now, the same way Ty Lee had presented it to her the other day. She watches it burn and melt. The cream petals curl inward and then blacken as they burn away, until the flower is just ashes. Something that was beautiful and alive, is now dead and gone in her hand.

Azula hated that little flower.

She hates her mother.

She hates Ty Lee.

Ty Lee's voice rings in her mind.

"I love you, Azula!"

She slowly tilts her hand and the ashes sprinkle down towards the ground. A pain sparks within her soul. A voice in her head questions her.

'How could somebody ever love me?'

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and will consider reviewing/ leaving comments/ likes/ kudos, etc et al, and keep up with the remaining chapters. This entire fic has been written start-to-finish before any of it is posted, so you'll have the rest of the story on a regular updating basis.

My first A/N and my last A/N are the only times I really leave any thoughts. I've learned from my peers and inspirations that less is more.

Speaking of inspirations, this story will be very similar in nature to coveredinsun's "I Didn't Have It In Myself To Go With Grace" (AO3, ATLA) and Longclaw1-6's "Empire of Ice and Fire" (FF, Game of Thrones). Essentially, we're accepting that most of what happens in ATLA is canon, but we'll visit a few key moments and see them play out a little differently. There's also some creative liberty as we add new scenes for consideration (like this entire first chapter). It shows you how much changes with just the smallest twist of the knife. Or, as my Autumn Ends readers will tell you, we cast the stone and watch 'the ripples on the pond.'

On a separate note, I have created an Official Soundtrack (OST) for this story. These are songs that I chose for a myriad of reasons. They emotionally align with the story, they remind me of things I was thinking about as I wrote it, they are songs I listened to for inspiration as I worked on this story for the last few months. I will be updating my bio (on FF) with each installation for the chapter, song+artist. This chapter's OST is "Forever ... (is a long time)" by Halsey.

Most of these end A/Ns from here on out will just be that chapter's OST. Again, I appreciate all comments, reviews, likes, and kudos, or what have you. Thank you so much for your time!

Love always. Tyzula forever.

Notorious