A/N: Now I'm the villain in your history. Love and be loved. Read… and review!

Choke Her

[Summer 113 AG]

The clatter of her shoes against the ground are the only noise that echoes across the room. She enters from a side door and finds her faithful third in command standing at attention. The ginger girl greets her with a warm smile and a slight bow of the head. The motherly figure crosses the space and takes a seat in her throne. Juxtaposed to the heat of summer in the city, the iron feels cool to the touch as she grips the arm rests. She feels the smoothness and the icy feeling in her fingertips. She relishes the brief moment of tranquility before the next order of business.

She finally looks up at the lilac eyes that rest upon her. She nods in affirmation. The girl with fiery hair turns to the Fire Warriors at the door, partially hidden in the shadows. They pull the doors open. Azula crosses her legs over each other. She raises her fingers up and folds them into steeples in front of her. She narrows her eyes and waits.

Anxious and measured steps precede a man entering the room. He steps through the shadows and darkness and into the throne room. High up on the top floor of the skyscraper in the Downtown of Republic City, he looks cautiously around the room, eyes quickly darting all about, hands rubbing together. He has grey hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. He is much older than anyone else in the room. He shrinks his body into itself to take up less space. Ruki speaks loudly and clearly.

"You stand in the presence of Empress Azula, first of her name. Rightful heir to the throne of the Fire Lord. Rightful ruler of the Fire Nation. The Seed of Sozin. The Prodigy with Blue Fire. The Mother of the Kemurikage. Leader of the Fire Warriors. Founder of the Red Lotus. The Faceless Demon. The Immortal Soldier. The Puppetmaster. The Dragon Empress. Ruler of all she surveys."

The man looks from Ruki to Azula and doesn't say anything at first. Realizing that he is meant to talk he offers his name.

"I-I'm Lee Gan-Lan," he says with a pause. He wonders if they're waiting for more as no one says anything and just stares at him. He awkwardly adds, "I'm the cabbage merchant."

Lee had heard from others that it was expected that he kneel before the Empress so he does so instantly. Azula smiles at his bowed head, appreciating that he knows his place. After a moment he cautiously looks up and around before finally rising.

"Indeed, you are the cabbage merchant," Ruki says. When he is at his full height again she speaks. "Now, in your own words, please explain your request. We have it in writing already, but we would like you to describe it in-person."

"Yes, of course," Lee Gan-Lan says. "Well, I guess the short of it is that I'm looking for a long-term investment to turn my cabbage business into a corporation. I, uh, I have a plan, it's a good plan, I think. But with the weather in this last season, I've lost a lot of my crops."

"Your cabbages, you mean?" Ruki interrupts.

"That's right," he tells her. "My cabbages."

"And your whole business is built off of them?"

"Th-that's right, ma'am."

"And you lost most of them?"

"I, uh, I'm afraid so."

"I see."

"But it-it's not all about cabbages. It's about new technologies, and motorized vehicles for both commercialized and-"

"And you can't accomplish any of it because you have nothing left. No cabbages, no capital, no corporation."

Defeated, he sighs. "Yes. The banks won't give me any loans for the same reasons."

"I can't imagine why not." Ruki deadpans.

"Tell me," Azula cuts through the silence. "Everything."

Ruki turns her head to the side and looks at the Leader of the Fire Warriors in her peripheral vision. Lee looks up at her with glittering eyes. "Everything? But I-"

"I read the report, Lee. Tell me what you really know. Not what you could write down. What do you see this becoming? What's the endgame? What will Cabbage Corporation look like in 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now?"

Ruki is in disbelief. Lee Gan-Lan discovers newfound self-confidence. He launches into an impassioned answer to her questions.

"Can anybody else do what you do?"

"No, ma'am. Not right now at least, and I doubt in the future-"

"How big is your team?"

"Right now I'm working alone, but I plan to outsource the supply procurement, and more. I think my greatest strength will lie in managing the entire-"

"Alright, I've heard enough." Azula finally stops him.

"Oh?" He asks nervously. "And what do you think?"

Azula takes in a dramatic, drawn out breath. She lets him stew just a few seconds longer. Finally she announces, "I want a 35% stake in your company. It will be an iron clad agreement. Something to stand in perpetuity. We'll sign the contract in blood if we have to."

Lee is completely stunned. Hesitantly he replies, "Madam Empress, ma'am, I, well, uh, I can't do that."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I, my company, I-I, for that kind of control, I-I won't survive off what I requested. The funds, the resources, the help, I just-"

"You're not understanding, Gan-Lan. I'm not going to give you what you requested."

Lee licks his lips, heart pounding, he averts his eyes, anxiety spiking. The legends speak of a ruthless woman and now he is preparing to meet with the brunt of her full force. He wonders if he'll regret this decision for the rest of his life.

"I'm going to give you whatever you need, and more."

Ruki interjects, "Empress!"

"Y-you're… what?" Lee Gan-Lan is dumbfounded.

"I've read over your proposal. I've listened to you, and it's excellent. It's meticulous. You're passionate, and driven, and you're pioneering a new world, one fit for this city. You plan for every possible shortfall along the way. It reminds me of myself when I'm at my best."

"Empress," Ruki says in a hushed tone. "We can not possibly afford-"

"Shut it, Ruki." Azula says, eyes still on the cabbage merchant. "I have more money than Agni himself."

"B-but, Madam Dragon, I mean Empress, it's, but, 35% share?"

"Indeed," Azula replies. "To keep you afloat I'm thinking we'll have it vest in 5 years. That will give you time to get your legs under you and then, once you're established, I'll come in as the majority stakeholder."

"But Empress," Ruki again tries to interfere. "What if you're deposed? What if you no longer care for the investment? Or we relocate to the other side of the world? Will you really want to be involved with this company?"

"That's precisely why this will be in perpetuity," Azula replies quickly. "Even if I die, control will simply go to my next in command. In this case, you, Ruki."

Ruki stops suddenly at this. She had expected her to say Zirin. This throws a wrench into her plans.

Azula smirks at the look on her face. She turns back to Gan-Lan. "Now, we're going to sign this contract, today. I've let Ruki and others run my finances for nearly a decade now, but I want my hand on this personally. It may take them a few weeks, maybe even months, to get you all the coin, but if we take care of the details today, the sooner you can move forward with your plans."

Gan-Lan doesn't move. He stares in disbelief. He finally utters, "Why me? I'm nobody?"

The Dragon Empress rises from her throne. She crosses the room and approaches. She stops a foot from him.

"Look at you. Look at all you've overcome. Everything you've sacrificed. All so you could get here, stand before me, and try to make a name for yourself."

There's a pregnant pause. The room of Fire Warriors, criminal masterminds, and a single cabbage merchant is silent. Azula sticks her hand out. He looks between her eyes and her hand. Finally he takes it. She speaks for the whole world to hear.

"I'm going to make you famous, Lee."

Azula, Ruki, and a few of the Fire Warriors are lounging about in the Empress' penthouse apartment, idly chatting. The business with Lee Gan-Lan has been done for a few hours and now they are home, relaxing. Ruki is still trying to think through how she's going to explain all of this to Zirin when the girl herself bursts through the doors. The brunette with black eyes shoves the front door open with power. She shouts into the living room as she storms across it.

"You killed her, right? That's what you said?"

Her question is directed at Azula. The smile that was on the Empress' face fades as her girlfriend charges towards her. Ruki looks lost at this, and one of the Fire Warriors asks bluntly, "Killed who? 'Her' who?"

"She's knows exactly who I'm talking about. Her."

Zirin comes to a stop, arms crossed over her chest, eyes wide, teeth bared. Azula sits up straight in her chair by the window and looks right at her, concern growing, confusion spreading. She answers confidently.

"Yes."

Zirin shakes her head in frustration and disappointment. "She's alive."

Azula smiles. She curtly replies, "No."

Zirin looks exasperated. She waves her arms about. Azula continues, "That's not possible. I burned her alive."

Zirin balls her hands into fists and rests them on her hips. "I saw her with my own eyes."

Strange things begin happening to Azula. She promptly feels out of breath. Her arms feel very heavy, hard to hold up. Her mouth becomes dry and her tongue is very sensitive to touch all of a sudden. Her teeth now feel sharp, so sharp they could cut her tongue. She sits but still her knees feel weak.

"You didn't go back to check for the body? When you get emotional, you just start seeing red and you get tunnel-"

Azula can hear Zirin is still talking, but she's not listening anymore. She hears her own heartbeat in her ears. Zirin's body language and tone get angrier. She does not like watching the Empress zone out. Ruki tries to make sense of it. Azula finally snaps out of it.

"Everybody leave."

Zirin stops mid-sentence. Ruki looks on disapprovingly. The Fire Warriors move to exit immediately. Zirin's mouth hangs open and she just stares at her girlfriend. Azula looks around as her two trusted advisors don't move.

"Now."

No one says a word. They all go without argument, although Zirin and Ruki begin whispering to one as they slip out. Once the door is closed, Azula rises from her seat. Her mind races. She looks out the massive window. She presses her hand to it and leans against it. She rests her forehead on it and looks down at the sprawling Republic City. She wonders where she could be and what she was doing. She's struck with a memory and stands up straight.

She turns towards the bedroom and runs into it. She opens a dresser. She digs through it to the very bottom. Hidden away, she pulls out an object made of fabric.

Late in the evening on a cool summer afternoon, a woman walks out of the Republic City Police Headquarters. She smiles from ear to ear and it almost hurts her face. She walks down the steps leading to the building but jumps down the last few. Her momentum carries her into a skip as she walks down the street away from her workplace. She heads for home after another successful day.

Ty Lee's muscles are sore. She is still getting her stamina back, after nearly 3 years of little physical exertion, and can hardly keep up with the young recruits. She hasn't been getting much sleep because she wakes so early and stays so late. She barely has time to eat before she's back in bed so she can get up a few hours later and do it all again. Her days are mostly scripted, just as they were on the Nokizo Village Island, but a different kind of script. One that allows for improvisation and unexpected twists. Tonight, she decides, she'll take an unexpected walk through the park.

There's the massive City Park right outside of City Hall, but that's a few blocks away. Instead, she cuts through a smaller park that's near the Police HQ. The night is young, the lights are low, and the sounds are swarming. The sounds of a sprawling, growing city. Construction on roads, hoofprints clopping as carriages are drawn, water spurting from a fountain, birds chirping and insects buzzing. She spins around as she walks and takes in the whole city. Finally, she finds a bench beneath a tree, across from the fountain, and she sits down.

From her seat she can see in one direction the city skyline. The skyscrapers and the offices and the various buildings that make up the futuristic city. In the other direction, looming in the distance, is a statue larger than life itself. Her own personal friend, Avatar Aang watches over Yue Bay and all of the city. It all felt surreal and so different than where she thought her life was headed a few months ago.

Ty Lee reflects on the arc of her life. She had been a nameless child, one of seven identical sisters. She transformed her talents into being a circus star. She became a war criminal, responsible for the fall of an entire kingdom. A traitor to her country and more importantly her friend. Perhaps her most important role is that of a Kyoshi Warrior. She travelled across the Fire Nation chasing the Dragon Empress. She found her, lost her, then recruited her. She lived with her, ate with her, trained with her. She killed with her. Then she hid from her. She lost herself and for a while she didn't know who she was anymore. Perhaps in a different timeline, she stayed on that island forever.

Fate had different plans for her.

Now, she is back. As a Kyoshi Warrior, training chi blocking again to nonbenders. She is living, really living again. She is free of weight, free of mind, free of stress, free of fear. Her aura hasn't been this pink in years. She drinks up the sights and sounds of Republic City. The running water fountain, the hue of the lights in all of the buildings, the scuffle of feet behind her.

Striding up to her, sitting safely beneath a tree in the park, is a woman. She has long flowing black hair and eyes as gold as sunrise. She is finely dressed and keeps her hands in her pockets. She stares in awe at the brunette. It dawns in her peripheral vision that this stranger is looking right at her. She turns her grey eyes to the woman. Her jaw drops and she instantly returns to the ocean.

Smiling down at her, standing there so casually, is Azula. She speaks sweetly.

"Hi Ty Lee."

For one singular moment the world stands still. The water fountain doesn't run. The insects don't hum. The city lights don't illuminate the dark. Azula wants to sit beside her. Sit beneath a tree together and both be unafraid. Be happy and together. Ty Lee's eyes begin to bulge. Her face twists. All of her rage is unlocked. She rises up off her seat and screams at the top of her lungs.

"AHHH!"

The moment of daydreaming about sitting and talking completely evaporates. The grey eyes, brown hair, and innocent face get larger as the girl flies up towards her. Azula quickly pulls her hands out of her pockets to defend herself. Ty Lee pushes her back but Azula is already backing up anyway. She swings wildly and Azula's hands stay up to block the force of the blows.

"Hey! HEY!"

Azula turns in a semicircle as Ty Lee goes into a fit of rage trying to hit her. Chi blocking isn't even on her mind. She screams as she swings and swats, every step Azula knocking her hands away at the last second. Ty Lee sees red. She sees the woman who tried to burn her and inadvertently instead almost sent her to a watery grave. She sees the thirty foot drop into the ocean. She sees the woman standing in front of her. She sees her neck. She tries to grab it. She wants to choke her. She wants to choke the life from her.

"I'm not doing it anymore, Ty Lee. Any of it!"

Ty Lee doesn't care. Her twisted words and her mind games and her tricks. She swings a hand and finally Azula fails to block it. She smacks the former Crown Princess right on the top of the head.

"Ow!"

Up until this moment, Azula had not been trying. She had been letting Ty Lee work it out of her system. Keeping her at bay, but not fighting back. Getting hit in the head is the end of the fun and games. Ty Lee swings her hand up and Azula catches it this time. She uses her emotions and her motion against her. She uses Ty Lee's forward momentum to spin around and send the girl flying. Ty Lee crashes into the bench she had been sitting on. Azula pounces on her.

Ty Lee lays with her back on the bench and immediately feels a weight on top of her. Azula straddles her and pins her one arm down with her knee. Before the brunette can react, Azula grabs her other wrist and yanks it in. She leans down, on top of her old roommate, and lifts her forearm up to her throat. Her head against the wooden bench, she is forced down and can't move. Azula uses her free hand to shove some hair out of her face and then leans down low, until she is inches from her face. Ty Lee struggles and grumbles obscenities at her.

"Ty Lee. Ty Lee!" Azula yells in her face and the grey-eyed girl grows quiet. "I have a gift for you."

Ty Lee stops struggling. She heaves and sighs but she can't move. Azula's free hand reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a small, scarlet object made of fabric, with a golden loop. Ty Lee looks and sees that it is an old accessory of hers.

A choker she wore to a party at Ember Island, many years ago.

With swiftness, Azula repositions the arm holding Ty Lee's neck down. She exposes more of the neck. She leans closer. She loops one end around her neck and then the other. With this new location of her hand, and her free hand, she just barely ties it around the back of her neck. Without realizing it, Azula has released her hold on the girl. Their faces are inches apart. Ty Lee looks up into those sunset eyes. Azula gets lost in those grey orbs once more.

Ty Lee moves first. She cranes her neck and moves her face up. She closes her eyes and their lips meet to the total surprise of Azula. There is no tongue, there is no excessive desire. There is just a final meeting of the lips. It sends shockwaves through their systems.

She pulls away and Azula can't believe it. She searches the grey. Dives into it and swims about. She lets out half a sigh as it finally registers what happened. Ty Lee stares at the raven haired girl on top of her. At that moment, Azula didn't want to be anywhere else. At that moment, her forearm came up slightly off of Ty Lee. Still staring into her eyes, Ty Lee rears her head back. She slingshots it and headbutts the girl on top of her.

"Oof!"

Azula's world swings about wildly as she falls off the girl and rolls on the ground by the water fountain. Ty Lee's head ricochets back into the bench and she hears a ringing in her ear. All of the lights appear brighter. The women lie dazed and confused for a few moments, the force of the blow disorienting them both.

Ty Lee hears something as she groans and covers her eyes. The running water fountain, the hue of the lights in all of the buildings blinding her, and the scuffle of feet behind her.

When she finally uncovers her eyes and her vision adjusts, the girl is gone. There is no Dragon Empress anymore.

A/N: If you pronounce the chapter's title fast enough it's 'choker.' This chapter's OST is "Crazy On You" by Heart.

Love always. Tyzula forever.

Notorious