A/N: Chapter is out early because I am moving this week and starting tomorrow I will be busy and unable to post on Friday. Now I'm the villain in your history. Love and be loved. Read… and review!

Love

[Summer 113 AG]

It's early in the morning. Azula stands in her makeshift throne room alone. She stands at the window and looks out at the sunrise just below the horizon. She's come here early to meet in secret at the request of her friend. Just as she's thinking of her, the doors creak open and the redhead quietly enters. With an awkward wave she approaches and stands beside her, facing the window.

"Good morning, Empress."

"Good morning, Ruki. I've been wondering what could be so important as to meet before sunrise. My best guess is that either you're pregnant or dying. I'd rather it be one than the other."

With a heavy sigh Ruki says, "Thank you for seeing me without Zirin. I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed in me."

"So you are pregnant?" Azula deadpans.

"No, no," Ruki replies earnestly. "Not that. Something came to my attention yesterday and I just need to talk about it right away"

"Well then? What is it?"

"It's just," she pauses for a beat. With a deflated tone she continues, "I'm so tired, Mother."

Azula is caught off guard. That title was so rarely used by the ginger. She typically reserved it for when she was asking for something. This makes the Mother of the Kemurikage uneasy. She says, "Ruki, I hardly believe that's what you've come to talk to me about."

"No, I know. It's just. Well, aren't you tired?"

"No." She lies.

Ruki frowns a little and narrows her eyes. She doesn't really believe her but she moves on. "Do you remember a few months ago? I told you about my lover who scorned me?"

"I recall. Men really do not deserve you, Ruki."

"I'm flattered. Well, Empress, I spoke with him yesterday."

"You did? In person? Not a messenger hawk?"

"He's visiting family in Republic City. And he wanted to see me. Me, Empress! Me!"

Ruki rides the wave of excitement for a few seconds longer. Slowly it ebbs and she comes crashing back down. More solemnly she continues, "We talked. Something he said stood out. He said he couldn't be with me while I'm involved in this life. He can't reconcile it with his conscience."

Ruki abruptly stops talking.

Azula changes the weight of her feet. She gives Ruki a look imploring her to go on, but the redhead doesn't see it. She stares out the window at the city below. Azula offers, "Oh? And so what does that mean?"

Hesitantly Ruki goes on, "I just- I. Um. Empress, have you ever wondered about what if we weren't in this life anymore?"

There is a pregnant pause. Ruki's lungs feel like they're made of iron. She licks her lips, her eyes moving all around the room. Finally she returns them to Azula, who is looking at her with an open mouth and bated breath. A question years in the making is asked.

"Would you hate me for wanting to get out?"

The weight of pressure shifts to the queenpin. Everything she has done for the last eleven plus years has been to build and grow her empire. All of it was done for her girls, or the people of the Fire Nation, or for women. Ruki had once stood beside her in the woods outside of Jingchan, sweating and starving, without a purpose or direction. She had faithfully stood beside her through the years and the travels. The Dragon's empire wouldn't be what it is without the lilac eyed girl with hair on fire. The same girl who now stands before her and summons the courage to whisper about leaving it all behind.

Azula steals a glance at the city. Her heart beats quickly and it feels like she's tilting over the edge of the window, about to fall from the sky. As she mentally fights the nerves she replies, "This isn't a life we can escape from, Ruki. I've thought a lot recently…"

Azula trails off. Her mind goes blank as her mouth becomes dry. Ruki tries to give her a chance to collect herself but when she doesn't, she interjects, "So you've thought about getting out too?"

Azula looks all around. Anywhere but at Ruki. Finally she stammers, "I, well, I'm, um. I-I-I don't have a plan. I've just spent time thinking recently, Ruki, that there is no escape from this life for us. There's no retirement. We either do this, or we die."

Ruki takes a step towards Azula. The Puppetmaster looks up at those purple eyes. Her friend whispers to the Leader of the Fire Warriors, "You know, if you got out, you'd have to leave everything. Including her."

Too quickly, averting her eyes, Azula replies with false bravado, "I know."

Azula draws her inner strength. She measures these next words carefully. She whispers to her old friend. "If you decide to go, I won't chase you."

There is a new found hope in those lilac eyes. "I could try to impede them. I can't promise they won't catch you, but I won't make it easy."

Ruki draws in a hushed breath. Azula urges her, "If you go, then you just go. You run, and run, and run, and you never look back. They'll keep chasing you, forever, even if I told them to stop. They will never stop looking for a traitor."

"Yes, of course. But, where would you go, Azula?"

She knows what her answer is, but she won't say it. Not even to Ruki.

"If you've learned nothing from me over the years, it's that the best place to hide is in plain sight."

Ruki lets out a small giggle at this. She reaches out and places a hand on Azula's. "Yes, I have. Thank you, Empress."

Azula looks into her eyes and gives a subtle nod. Ruki lets go and stands up straight. In a much more controlled tone she says, "Well, you do have some business to attend to today. Shouldn't you get going?"

Azula nods more vigorously this time. She recalls the plan she has made for the day. She steps away from the window. With a devious smile she says, "Indeed. It's time to visit an old friend."

"Excuse me!"

A brunette with soft, grey eyes huffs as she sprints past strangers in the hallway, carrying a long, thin pole in her hands.

"Sorry," she shouts. "Coming through!"

The former acrobat slips through the nurses and visitors. She streaks down the halls of Sweet Blossom Hospital. Her hurried breaths are the only thing she hears as she twists and turns. Finally, she turns one last corner and runs smack into a blockade of familiar faces.

"Whoa there, Ty! Where do you think you're going?"

The Kyoshi Warrior comes to a stop, holding up her umbrella as she nearly crashes into them. She's confronted with her dark haired friend and boss, Suki. She holds a hand up, blocking her path. Behind Suki stands a massive political figure and the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, Sokka. Finally, back against the wall, staring out to nowhere, is the Chief of Police, Toph Beifong. Only Suki blocks her way, the others do not intervene.

"Suki, please. I need-"

"We're not allowed back there yet, Ty. There's nothing to see."

"I completely agree. Nothing to see at all." Toph quips.

"Good one," Sokka quietly adds.

"Oh, sorry Toph. I didn't-"

"Please, can I just-? She's-"

Sokka starts, "Ty Lee, we really can't-"

Suki speaks, "It's nothing against you. We just have to be patient."

"But-"

"Don't worry, Pokey. I think she'll be alright. And when she is, it's officially a police matter, so I'm gonna get the first chance to talk to her," Toph says while cracking her knuckles.

Hemming and hawing, Ty Lee paces in front of the group. Her mind races with questions. "How did this happen? What healers are with her? Does Zuko know yet? What was she doing? Why-"

"Listen, Pokey, maybe you should sit down. All that movement of yours is making me anxious."

Toph steps towards her and puts her hands up to guide Ty Lee away. Ty doesn't want to go but she also doesn't fight, conceding that this is likely best. She mumbles as Sokka and Suki follow, "She's just so important to me."

"I know she is, Pokey."

"We all know, Ty. You two have been through so much together," Suki says as Ty Lee sits down.

"Yeah, all that shared trauma." Sokka comments. "Must've been hard being controlled by that monster together."

"She isn't- that- what?" Ty Lee mumbles in response but doesn't really ask anything. Finally she says, "Healer. Her healer? Whose-"

"The very best in the world, Ty." Suki reassures her.

"Eghhhh." Both Sokka and Toph say at the same time.

"Would you two cut it out, she doesn't need this right now."

"Katara? It's Katara? She's here? She's seeing-"

"Yes. She rode Appa into the city as soon as they got word and arrived maybe a minute or two before you. She's with Mai now."

"And Zuko?" Ty Lee asks, hopeful.

"His boyfriend is on his way to collect him now." Toph replies with a snicker.

"Huh?" Ty Lee asks. It's been a few years since she was at the palace but she's been quite confident that Zuko didn't have a boyfriend before.

"Stop it, Toph," Suki commands harshly. "Can't you tell she's distraught?"

Suki kneels before Ty Lee and holds her hands. "She's referring to Aang. He took Bakunawa and flew straight to Ba Sing Se, since it would be faster than sending a messenger hawk. We expect they'll arrive riding those giant dragons of theirs in a few hours. Hopefully not much longer than that."

Ty Lee tries to control her breathing. Fire Lady Mai was maybe only a few feet away, in another room, being treated by one of the best healers on Earth. There's nothing more that Ty Lee could or would be able to do.

Ty Lee looks down at the ground and tries to blank her mind. She tries to relax. Idle chit chat between the other three fills the air for a brief few minutes. A nurse appears and approaches. Ty Lee has almost finished smoothing over her aura when the nurse asks the group, "Are you all here for the Fire Lady?"

Ty Lee's eyes fly open and she rises up towards the grey haired girl who is near her age, "Yes we are! Is she okay?"

"Umm," she stammers as the collection of high profile individuals move towards her. "Master Katara says that it will be a while. She is doing what she can for the Fire Lady but-"

"But what?" Toph asks when the girl hesitates.

"Forgive me, she wasn't sure herself and I don't know that I can parlay it very well. She's unsure of how this damage came about and is trying to understand better. She can't explain it and something about it doesn't make any sense."

"But will she be okay? When can we see her?" Ty Lee is anxious for an answer.

"I don't know yet. Master Katara was uncertain about all of it."

Sokka tries to pry, "Did she say if she thinks-"

"I'm sorry, please forgive me, Chief Sokka, but I simply do not know. And I am desperately needed elsewhere."

"Okay, okay, yes, please, do your duty." Suki replies. The nurse begins walking away. Suki adds, mostly to herself, "We'll be okay out here."

When they're left alone, Toph turns to the rest of the group and tells them, "I just want to be clear: when she turns out fine, I'm in charge. I ask the questions, and if she doesn't want any of you there, then you have to beat it."

The group expresses their resigned acknowledgement to Toph's decree. After milling about, the group sits back down and settles in for a much longer than anticipated wait. Sokka and Toph exchange gossip and nonsense stories. Suki goes off to write a messenger hawk to Lomin back at Kyoshi Island. When Sokka goes off on a particularly long-winded story, Toph falls asleep in the seat next to him. He doesn't realize this until he is done with that story and halfway through his next one. At first he's annoyed but eventually he falls asleep too, their heads lightly resting against one another as they doze off. When Suki returns she just shakes her head at them and sits down beside him. She never dozes off, but she daydreams enough that she's not really there.

Ty Lee sits by herself and is left alone with her thoughts. Her mind swims in a mixture of things. It came to her then that every time she waved goodbye to Mai, or anyone, it could be the last time she does. The waiting room smells of a mixture of piss and cleaning products. She listens to the thunderstorm outside. Ty Lee tries to find solace in getting any update through the nurse from Katara. 'Any news is better than bad news, right?' she thinks. Nonetheless, she can't help but dread the worst.

She reminisces on some of their adventures and the time they spent together. Growing up together. Attending the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Roaming the world with Azula in search of Zuko and Aang. The Boiling Rock and going to prison together. The breakup with Zuko and eventually watching them rebuild their relationship from afar. Their engagement and regal wedding. The hope of what their relationship would bring in the future.

Rising to the top of her memories is a hot spring night, so long ago, during their travels with Azula. Mai talked about her love for Tom-Tom, and how she wanted to see him grow up and become something great. Something that made him happy. At the time, Mai had told her, 'True love is watching someone else grow up.' It made so much sense and is so logical.

Now that Ty Lee is in a waiting room and fearing for Mai's life and what reason put her in here, Ty Lee disagrees. She feels that in actuality love is much more difficult than watching someone grow up. True love is watching someone die. Being the person who stays beside them as they leave this world. It's so much harder to watch the spirits take them than it is to watch them live their lives, with all of their potential and dreams still ahead of them.

'This is love.'

Nearly two hours later, Ty Lee finally hears the scuffle of footsteps. When she looks up, a neutral face of a mother approaches. Her brown skin and bright blue eyes pierce the Kyoshi Warrior and leave her paralyzed. Suki comes out of her own trance. She quickly shakes Sokka. His movement chain reacts to waking up Toph. Following Ty Lee's lead, they all stand and approach Katara. The world's best healer stops before them and sighs deeply. The weight of the world falls upon her lips. The silence suffocates the room.

The slightest hint of a smile dawns on her lips as she says, "She's alright."

Relief washes over the room instantly. Ty Lee will get another chance to wave goodbye. 'I'll get many chances. I'll never take them for granted again.'

"Can we see her?" Ty Lee asks.

"Can you all see her." Toph instinctively jokes.

"Yes." Katara replies without breaking stride.

Toph and Sokka groggily pull themselves together as Ty Lee bounds behind Katara, leaving her umbrella behind, and Suki takes up the rear. When they get to the room, Ty Lee pounces on her as Katara instantly announces her displeasure with this show of affection.

"Take it easy on her!"

Through a broken and weak voice, Mai replies, "It's okay, I'm okay, she's okay."

Ty Lee bursts into tears and clings for life to the dark haired Fire Lady. Mai tries to assuage her with promises that she's okay and won't be going anywhere. Through sobs, Ty Lee says something about waving goodbye, which Mai doesn't understand. Nonetheless she assures her there will be many waves in the future. Katara, initially annoyed with the brunette, begins melting at the sight as she watches her friends hold one another. She rubs her own eyes dry.

After giving it a few minutes, Toph finally declares, "This is great, and gross, and all of that, but it's time some questions were answered."

"Of course." Mai replies. Ty Lee dries her eyes and reluctantly backs away.

Toph approaches and stares out into nothing as she says, "Do you want anyone else here? Or would you prefer it just be you and me?"

"I don't know Toph. I hardly know any of these people."

The larger group giggles, but Toph is about her business. "This will be a police record. Are you sure? I need your consent for them to be present for this."

"That's fine. I understand."

"Alright, I asked the stupid questions, so let's get to it. First thing, what can you remember happening?"

"Ah well, so I left City Hall and I was headed for the Fire Nation Embassy. It was raining pretty hard, harder than it sounds like right now. But I took the carriage and they dropped me off on the side, by the security checkpoint like they're supposed to do. We were rushing to get inside because of the rain. But as soon as I got into the hallway I knew something was wrong."

"Why do you say that?" Toph asks.

"No one was there. It was so odd. The whole entrance was empty. We briefly discussed going back outside and wandering to the front, but it was raining and we didn't want to get wet and yeah."

"Okay. And then?"

"We eventually just walked in on our own. It was just odd and we thought we'd find someone."

"What did you find?"

"As soon as we turned a corner the torches in the hallway all were extinguished. Before Jizu or Chazo could reignite the lights I heard…"

Mai stops. Toph waits. Then she asks, "What did you hear?"

She gulps. "I heard a squelch noise. And I think they tried to scream, but it sounded like someone covered their mouths."

Toph gulps now. "What happened next, Mai? What else do you remember?"

"I… I couldn't move."

"Why not? Did someone grab you? Were you held down?"

"No. None of that. I just… couldn't move. I was paralyzed and it was so dark. I couldn't see anything and I couldn't get my knives out."

Toph rears up to keep asking about the paralyzation. Katara steps up behind her and whispers into her ear something that no one else can hear. Toph nods. She pivots. "What happened after that, Mai?"

Out in the hallway there is a commotion. The nurses try to calm someone down who is rushing through the halls.

"That's when I heard it."

"Heard what?"

"Someone whispered to me in the dark."

"Did you hear what they said?"

"Yes."

"What did they say?"

"They said, 'Welcome to where you're going.'"

Toph huffs in disappointment. Katara pinches her nose. Sokka grows angry. Suki rolls her eyes. Ty Lee shakes her head.

"Then I saw the mask. It appeared to me in the dark."

"What happened after that?"

"I felt something heavy hit me in the back of the head."

A voice out in the hallway shouts, "She's over here?"

"The next thing I know I'm being rushed here."

The door to Mai's room flies open. The whole room turns to the entrance. A man stands huffing for breath, soaking wet. The entire group freezes in place. Ty Lee, Katara, Sokka, and Suki all wait with bated breath. The Fire Lord looks around the room and then towards the bed. He licks his lips and tries to crane his neck.

He asks, "Umm, Toph, can you move?"

"What?" Toph asks, not realizing that she's in the middle of this grand moment. "No. I'm conducting an interview here. You don't get to interrupt that just because you're the Head Flamey-O Hotman."

The room bursts into laughter. Toph tries to suppress her own laugh before she says, "Oh okay, fine, I got everything I needed."

She steps aside. Zuko sees his wife for the first time. Mai tries to not smile. She fails. Zuko crosses the room and envelopes her. It only takes barely a second before Mai is yelling, "Ugh you're wet, nevermind, get off of me."

The sounds of the room's laughter drowns out the footsteps of the bald man entering the room. He smiles with a giant, goofy grin at the scene before him. He speaks. "C'mon all, let's leave these two alone."

The whole group turns and for the first time they see The Avatar. He is also soaked by the rain, but he doesn't seem bothered by it at all. He stands tall and proud and his presence lightens the room. The group agrees with him and begins exiting, leaving just Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Mai.

"I'll be right there, I need to stay and talk to them about something," Katara tells her husband.

"Well it's good to see you too." Aang chides her.

A small smile appears on her face. She quickly pecks him on the lips. She tells him, "I'll just be a minute."

Aang nods. He finally turns and leaves them alone. He follows after the group of his friends, back to the waiting room.

Back in the waiting room, finally armed with the information, the group discusses. Sokka is the first to speak and he announces for all to hear, "I knew it was that bitch!"

"Why are you congratulating yourself? Even I saw that one coming." Toph retorts.

Speaking quickly and with confidence, Ty Lee replies, "I don't think it was her."

Suki's head juts back in reproach. "Ty? What?"

The acrobat stands in a circle amongst her friends. They stare at her in surprise. She tells them, "I can't explain it, but it wasn't her."

With grey hairs growing greyer by this turn in conversation, Sokka crosses his arms and asks, "Are you out of your mind?"

Aang enters the room and takes the role of an audience watching the debate. Suki tried to reason with her. "Ty, she wore the mask and she said the quote."

Ty Lee throws her hands up and to her side. She gestures wildly as she says, "First of all, every single one of her former Warriors and Kemurikage have told us that the quote is only used in special circumstances when-"

"Oh? So I guess going after her only other childhood friend isn't a 'special circumstance?'" Toph interrupts.

"I wasn't finished." Ty Lee says. She pauses as the group blinks back in surprise at the force shown from the brunette. She swallows and licks her lips. "It's only used in special circumstances when they are killing someone. And Mai is a woman. Azula doesn't kill women, nor would she use the quote. Especially when they didn't even kill her."

Suki grows concerned and it's heard in her voice as she says, "Ty, no offense, but what in the name of Kyoshi are you talking about? She killed Ayon."

"That was different," Ty Lee rebels instantly. "Ayon is the only woman she's ever killed, and it was because Ayon made her somehow."

"My goodness," Sokka moans. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

Suki lightly pushes back again. "Ty, I think you're in over your head. You need to step back. I mean, you're defending Ayon's murder. You don't really mean that, right?"

"No, I mean, yes, I mean, I, ugh!"

Aang speaks for the first time. "I agree with Ty Lee."

"Huh?!" Toph shouts.

Suki again juts her head back in reproach, turning to face the Avatar.

"Not you too!" Sokka cries.

Ty Lee looks into his grey eyes. She senses his sincerity. She can feel his aura reaching out to her. She holds the gaze a moment before nodding. She says out loud, "Thank you."

At that moment Katara entered the room as well. She doesn't say anything or announce her presence, she just stands beside her husband and best friend on the outskirts of the room as the others debate. Aang whispers to her, "Where's Zuko? Everything alright?"

"This is ridiculous!" Toph shouts at Ty Lee. "It was Mai. They always feuded. And the masks. And the quotes. And nevermind that her bodyguards haven't been found. They weren't taken to the Fire Nation Embassy like she thinks they were. Azula's girls had her the moment they all got into the carriage."

Katara whispers back to Aang, "He and Mai are busy celebrating the fact that they're going to have their first child."

"First - !"

"Exactly! Exactly, Toph. All of those things are true. None of it makes sense."

Eyes bulging out of his head, Aang tries to turn to leave and congratulate them. Katara grabs the Avatar and father of their child and prevents him from leaving. She whispers, "Focus, Aang."

"It makes all of the sense!" Sokka groans.

"No," Ty Lee replies. "She wouldn't. It's too risky, too close to home. She knows she can't go after Mai."

"Ty," Suki sighs. "Of course she can go after Mai. Maybe she did this to torture you? Or Zuko?"

"No. Not like this. She knows she's off limits. It would result in exactly this. All of us, the entire gang together, finally putting all of our efforts into going after her."

"Yes, exactly, that's what I've wanted to do for years," Sokka says. "Let's finally do it. Let's go get her!"

Katara finally speaks to the whole room. She announces, "It absolutely was her."

All eyes turn towards her. Ty Lee shakes her head softly and replies, "No."

Surprised, Aang tilts his head and asks his wife, "Really? Why do you say that?"

"The paralyzing feeling that she described is odd and I can't… it just doesn't make sense. No matter how I wrap my head around it, it just doesn't. But the rest of it is spot on for Azula. I think this is her first move to try and finally take the throne from Zuko."

"No!" Ty Lee pleads. "She doesn't care about any of that! You just want any excuse to paint the target on her back."

Katara lets out a resigned chuckle. She thinks Ty Lee may have a point.

"Maybe I do," she admits. "But that doesn't change the facts. Even if it wasn't her personally, it's not like any of her girls have a history of acting out of line. She may not have attacked Mai, but she knew about it and she sent the Kemurikage after her."

Quietly beside her, Aang thinks to himself that it's all perhaps too spot on. Sokka smiles at his sister. "Perfect. Now let's plan how we're finally going to take down the Dragon Empress!"

Ty Lee, on the verge of tears and bubbling with rage and defeat, closes her eyes. She should try to smooth out her aura. Instead, she lets it wash over her. It starts as fuschia and then bleeds into a scarlet. She will not be part of this if they will not listen to reason. She turns and walks to her original seat to grab her umbrella.

Knowing her well enough, Suki says loud enough for all to hear, "Just because you don't want it to be her, doesn't mean it wasn't her."

Ty Lee shakes her head vigorously. She grabs her umbrella and turns back to the gang. "Well it wasn't."

Ty Lee heads for the exit. Suki shrugs as she tells the Fire Nation girl, "She's a perfect killing machine. That's all she's good for. That's all she knows."

Ty Lee stops at the exit. She turns back and looks at Suki, across the room, across all of their friends. In her mind's eye she envisions the former Crown Princess. All the times that she didn't kill Ty Lee. The time she tried to. The bed at Ember Island. The park in Republic City. Their conversations over dinner. Traveling the world, from Omashu to Ba Sing Se to Caldera and everywhere else. Trading her life for all those on Kyoshi Island. She remembers the black haired girl finding her at the circus. Finally, all the way back, traveling to the furthest recess of her mind. Sitting down with a lonely, golden eyed girl at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Everyone was so scared of her then and didn't want to be around her. Everyone is still scared of her now. They make her into something she's not so they can justify why they hate her.

Ty Lee shakes her head subtly, a confused smile on her face. She tells Suki, "I don't think so."

She stares out into space for another moment, thinking about those golden eyes. The next moment she turns away from them and walks out. She leaves them all behind.

Azula locks the apartment door behind her. She walks in and tosses the keys in the cup by the door. She puts her umbrella down by the door so it doesn't drip all over the place. As she walks through the penthouse she huffs in exhaustion. As she enters the living room, finely lit with candles after the summer sunset, she finds a pretty, braided pigtails brunette splayed out on her couch. The girl is under some blankets, reading a book.

"Hey," she says as she approaches. "Make some space."

"No," Zirin playfully protests. "I'm so comfy here, don't ruin my position."

"Ugh," Azula groans as she sits down beside her. She begins laying down on the freckled girl. "Fine, I'll just have to settle for lying on top of you."

"Hmmm, I don't know Azula. You don't usually last very long on top. You lack the stamina."

"Shut up and snuggle me." Azula demands.

"As you command, Empress." Zirin obliges, twisting her body so that Azula can have a space with her.

The Mother of the Kemurikage rests her tired head in Zirin's lap. Zirin holds her book in one hand and continues to read, while her other hand idly massages Azula's scalp and plays with her hair. Azula purrs with contentment and reflects on her day. She lets out a long sigh as the memories flash through her mind.

"Hey Azula."

"Hmm?"

"I know you've told me before, but I forget every time," Zirin's hand tugs at the simple gold headpiece in her hair. "What is it with you royalty and these top knots? Why does any of this matter again?"

"You're right, you have asked me about this before."

"Forgive me."

"No."

"Fair enough."

Azula chuckles a little. "The top knots and the headpieces are separate but inextricably linked things."

"Don't call me big words, you know I don't know what they mean."

Azula chuckles more this time. "You're so stupid."

"See, that's more like it, I know those words."

"You want me to explain this or not?"

"I didn't ask so you could just call me 'stupid.'"

Zirin puts her book down. Her original hand continues to play with Azula's hair while her free hand now wraps around Azula's shoulder and neck. Azula explains, "Okay, so in the simplest terms, your top knot means respect, or as my brother always used to say, your honor."

"Zuko would say the top knot was his honor?"

"No, not exactly like that. Nevermind." Azula sighs as her joke didn't land with this audience. "Anyway, there's all of these examples in the history of the royalty where someone would cut off their top knot as a sign of dishonor."

"But you've cut your hair a lot over the years?"

"It's not just for dishonor. Sometimes it's to reject your nobility. There's a lot of things, it's just traditionally reserved for dishonor. Mine has been done in order to survive. I have to cut it so we can blend in."

"Well, it's awfully long now. What happens if someone else cuts it? Like against their will?"

Azula makes a noise of surprise. "There's only a few of those in the history of the Fire Nation. Usually the people in those positions didn't make it out alive afterwards. I can't think of any that have anyway."

"So interesting. The things they didn't teach me in school."

"I was going to say, I'm surprised you didn't learn about this?"

"Not all of us were so privileged to attend the Royal Fire Academy for Girls."

"That's true."

"While you were busy in your palace, I was dumpster diving in Caldera to get food for me and my siblings."

"It was a nice palace."

Zirin hits her on the top of the head. "Ow! Bitch, that hurt."

"You deserved it," Zirin replies quickly. "Now, tell me about the headpiece."

Azula rubs the top of her head where she'd been struck. "The headpieces are a necessary part of holding the top knots together."

"Yeah, I get that. But is there anything special about them?"

"Sure. The Fire Lord always wears a really fancy one. Zuko and I wore the three-pronged one you can see there, shaped like a flame."

"So if someone took this from you?"

"It would be a great dishonor as well."

"Do you care so much for it?"

"I do." She says, growing nostalgic for the Fire Nation. "It's pretty much the only thing I've held on to from my life in the palace."

Azula feels a tug in her hair. In one fluid motion, Zirin pulls the headpiece out. Azula's view of the living room disappears as her mess of hair falls down into her face. She protests, "Hey!"

"Oh? Did I take the headpiece from the big bad Dragon Empress Azula?"

"That's not funny, Zirin." Azula says, huffing hair out of her face. She rolls over slightly and reaches a hand up. "Give it back. Now."

"Okay, okay. Here you go," Zirin says handing it back. Once she does, Azula rolls back over. "Little brat."

Azula is quiet for a moment. She squeezes the gold headpiece in her hand. She decides to tell Zirin about her day. "I saw Lin today for the first time in a while."

"Did you? What's he doing here?"

"He's working on building up his business in Yue Bay."

"That's good. He's always been ambitious. Have to be if you go and dig 'Princess Azula' from her grave in the Jingchan woods."

"Yes, he has been. He thinks he can be established there in a few months. Once that happens, my money is on him, Ai Zhou, Akolu, and Rimuk moving to Republic City."

"Mhm," Zirin hums, preparing to bring up a new topic. "Did you hear what happened to the Fire Lady?"

Azula's anxiety spikes with this topic. She gets uneasy. The whole mood of the conversation swings to an extreme. The air feels thicker. It's harder to breathe. She replies, "I did. It's a terrible thing."

Zirin runs one hand through Azula's long hair while the other continues to hold the smaller girl against her body. She coos at her, "It's okay. You don't have to admit it was you, Empress. I know."

Azula blows a raspberry briefly. "It wasn't me."

"Like I said, you don't have to admit it. If it's easier for you to cope with it by denying, then that's fine."

Azula is silent. She doesn't fight her. She thinks about this morning's conversation with Ruki in the throne room. She contemplates how to word this next question. She works up the courage. "Zirin," she starts. "What do you think of these lives we have here?"

"We run this city, Azula. We live in the lap of luxury. You sit upon a throne, rule with an iron grip, and control all of the strings of destiny. As a child, I could've never dreamed of a better life for myself."

Azula is defeated by this. She feels the hand combing through her hair. "Does it ever bother you that everyone fears us?"

"Not at all." Zirin replies immediately. "Do you remember Nurse Soh at the psyche ward?"

"Of course. 'Soh of the Sun' as I recall we named her."

"Yes. Soh of the Sun. She was an abomination on this earth."

"Indeed."

The hand runs through her hair. "She terrorized us long before you came to be with us."

Zirin pauses as she flashes back. "But she did say something once that stuck with me."

Azula gulps. "What was that?"

"One day when she beat me senseless, I spit some blood at her and said no one would ever love her. She told me 'everyone loves me.' I was so confused. I wondered if she was delusional or hallucinating. Maybe she should be in one of the straightjackets with the rest of us, ya know?"

Zirin pauses again. "Then she said, 'Love is at the center of fear.'"

Azula stares through her veil of hair, out into space, listening and trying to imagine it. A bloody Zirin. A vicious old woman. How horrifying it must've been. Zirin continues, "If people can fear you, then they must hold you in some regard emotionally. They are scared of you. They don't want to get on your bad side. They want to stand in your light. In that way, they love you. Love is at the center of fear."

Zirin runs her hand through the Puppetmaster's hair. "I loved Soh of the Sun just as I love you. Everyone loves you, Empress, because everyone fears you."

Licking her lips, trying to calm herself, Azula asks, "What if they didn't anymore? What if I was different?"

"Is there something about this life that you don't like anymore, Empress?"

Azula's voice is deflated. She has a hard time getting the words out. "I've killed so many people."

Zirin pets her hair. "I know you have. You're a beautiful monster, Azula."

Azula whimpers, "A beautiful…"

"You're like a forest fire. You're destructive and clear everything away in your path. But it's beautiful in it's own way. That's what you are, Azula. A beautiful monster."

The emotions overwhelm the Dragon Empress and she feels an odd sensation. A stinging in her eyes, something leaking down her cheek.

"Everything alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine." She says with a heavy sigh. "I think I'm just tired."

Zirin feels she is lying. Hidden beneath the cover of her raven black hair, Zirin does not see or feel the tears running down Azula's face. She doesn't know what to say about this moment. She knows that pointing out Azula's sadness would mean acknowledging weakness. Something that the Dragon Empress would never allow.

Out of respect, Zirin says nothing. Head in her lap, she just continues running her hand through the Empress' hair, as the tears silently fall from Azula's eyes.

A/N: This chapter's OST is "Wolf" by Florence + The Machine.

Love always. Tyzula forever.

Notorious