TIGHTROPE

Summer in the Fire Nation usually meant a lot of things.

It would mean festivals and parties all over the land, it would mean the high season of whatever small crops managed to be farmed and heat waves that would come and go like a thief in the night.

Today, Zuko felt, was a day of such waves, and as a Firebender, he would be lying if he said the heat was not welcome. He moved from the first stance to the second, his fists rising and falling, following the motions of his legs to keep his body balanced. The warmth made it less of an effort to heat up his chi so, for the first time in days, practicing felt a little less of a chore. All the while, he breathed through his nose, and out of his mouth.

The Key to firebending is proper breathing.

A he finished the routine he slowly waited for his body to cool down, the sweat making his muscles glow in the morning sun as he turned to the sound of movement at his was a pink whirlwind of flips coming his way, a sight that was more than welcome as Ty Lee stopped in front of him, so strange and yet familiar.

"Hey Zuko, have you seen Azula around? I want to know if she would go shopping with me." The girl grinned, her gray eyes watched him wearily, friendly eyes no matter age or uniform.

"I haven't seen her around" He confessed. "Maybe she is in her room."

"Hh… I'll check it out..."

"Wait" The girl stopped, perked up and smiled waiting for whatever he was going to say. Zuko cleared his throat. "Would you like to spar a little? I'm a little rusty and feel like I need an opponent here, what do you say?"

"Hh, I will get all sweaty and dirty."

"I thought you worked in a circus."

"Got me" She giggled and cartwheeled in front of him falling in a fighting stance that was as delicate as she would seem at first glance. Zuko smiled and got ready, palm open in front of his body. He watched Ty Lee carefully, only getting a moment's notice before she came at him, her feet hitting the ground and pushing her forward, her hands launching short jabs towards his face and gut. He blocked as best as he could, stepping back all the time. It was not enough of course, and soon he winced and retreated.

If that was a real fight he would be limp on the ground.

"You okay?" Ty Lee asked.

"Just getting the hang of it" he said inhaling a mouthful of air, and falling in the same stance as before.

This time he was better, dodging her instead of facing her blows, keeping a solid foundation as he used elbows and knees to block her.

"You know, you're a little unbalanced, and a little weak, even for a spar" Ty Lee pointed out, bending her body back to avoid his twirling kick. "How long has it been since you fought someone?"

"A while," Zuko said feeling all the loss his body felt from his time in the Earth Kingdom and those leisure years of his retirement. Hunger made him lose muscles, and age made him lose skill. A conundrum of traveling from an old man to this point in time, one that he felt no need to explore further. He tried for her head, but her blocks were as quick and precise as he would expect from a chi blocker. He fainted left then and found an opening to take her feet from under her, but Ty Lee easily back flipped away and smiled. "Almost there."

"Getting better" Ty Lee nodded. "You know, your fighting is a little clumsy, but your aura, on the other hand, is quite different."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was always this angry red before, you know?" She said twirling her fingers and grimacing in demonstration. "Now it's all orange and soothing like a… A… A sunrise!" She chirped, jumping up and down. "It's rather nice."

"Thanks" Zuko said taking another stance, and refraining from telling Ty Lee that he felt pretty far from a sunrise. No, what he felt truly was exhaustion, like his limbs were heavy weights trying to drag him down, his mind a pile of mud threatening to undo him at any moment.

They traded another set of blows, moving around the courtyard in a dance of punches and kicks, not once hitting the dodging acrobat. Still, he was beginning to feel more like himself before asking a question that bloomed in his mind as soon as Ty Lee made her observation. "How is Azula's aura?"

"What?" She was so surprised, he almost didn't stop his fist in time, ending the punch before it could hit her leg. Ty Lee didn't seem to notice, her eyes looking away, hands close to her body.

"Ty Lee? I'm sorry, if you don't want to answer, it's okay"

"No, no it's fine..." The girl said, sitting down. Zuko threw her a towel and quietly joined her under the bright sun. He offered her some water, which she took in small sips, before she finally seemed ready to talk. "Her aura is… Different..."

"Different?"

"Yes… She has this bright aura you know? All blue, and overreaching… It's kind of like looking over the ocean"

"The ocean?" He imagined Azula would have fire everywhere.

"Yes, exactly." She stopped a little, pursing her lips although he could clearly see her eyes shining a bit, some sort of longing breaking through her usually cheerful persona, if only for a moment. "It's an aura that won't care for what is around it, but at the same time feels very lonely. Do you understand?"

"I guess"

Zuko had always known his sister had issues that could never be dealt with in the time he had, still, he really didn't want to send her to jail, or an institute. He had racked his brain for a long time wondering what he could say to make her free herself from their father's influence, but everything he came up with felt like it wasn't enough. Because it wasn't just his father, he knew that Azula had some pretty problematic thoughts of her own, thing he couldn't even begin to understand. Any word he thought of speaking, seemed only more likely to cause her to kill him or disappear so he would never see her again. Weirdly, he couldn't decide which one was worst.

"You okay Zuko?"

"What?"

"You seemed like you went away there for a moment." Zuko suddenly remembered Ty Lee teaching Izumi to cartwheel under the sun and couldn't help but smile.

"It's nothing. I just really liked training with you, do you think we can practice again tomorrow?"

"Oh, I would love that, you know it's quite hard to keep shape when you have to do all these exercises alone. Back at the circus, there was always someone to chat while you worked" She said fondly.

"Even if you get sweaty and dirty?"

Ty Lee grimaced. "Well… I do get to have a nice relaxing bath afterwards, so…."

He chuckled at her silly smile, he was going to agree with her when someone cleared their throat close by. Spinning around, Zuko felt a sudden chill at the sight of his sister watching from the shadows, seeming very displeased.

"Oh my, what do we have here? Trying to improve your bending dear brother?"

"Is that a problem?" He asked.

"Not at all, but I thought you should be with another bender at least. After all, what use is practicing your bending if you don't use it?" She walked into the sun, her eyes going to Ty Lee who offered her a forced smile. "I thought we were going shopping, but it seems you found more interesting things to be doing."

"No! No, Azula, I was just… I mean… I thought you wouldn't… mind..."

"Wouldn't mind? Well, if you suppose the time of a princess is so vast she can simply dispose of it when her friend wishes to, I guess you're right" That was no question about the error of her mood, clearly Ty Lee had no idea how to answer.

Zuko had enough at seeing the girl shrinking. "Stop that, Azula."

"Stop what?"

"Being this… mean, Ty Lee had no intention of wronging you"

"Intention and action are two different things, I could argue the later has far more consequences." She said frowning. "Besides, do I need to remind you that that is my friend you're talking to, dumb-dumb?"

"No" He came closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "But can't you see you're making her nervous?"

Azula's eyes seemed almost amused as she looked over his shoulder, where he knew she would be seeing Ty Lee fidgeting, too afraid to move. "She should be, for this little treason."

"Why does it have to be treason with you?"

"I don't know, maybe because there are so many going around?" She smirked. "Tell me, Zuzu, how is our dear uncle?"

"He is fine, I left some komodo chicken for him." He smiled, taking in the glare at his confrontation. He wouldn't retreat, not from her. If there was something he knew about Azula was that retreating wouldn't help her, not then and not now. He wouldn't make the same mistakes twice, he wouldn't lose his sister.

Her eyes sparkled. "You should be more careful, Dumb-dumb."

"Why won't you just tell father? I'm sure he would love to give me another memento."

Azula scoffed. "Well, and here I was trying to protect you, maybe I was wrong to do so."

"So you do care about me" He said offering a smile he felt was horribly sincere. Azula was so good at reading people he doubted she wouldn't pick up on it. Sure enough, her pleasant smile disappeared, silence looming over them.

"Wow, Zuko, your smile is sort of cute… I…." Ty Lee stopped when Azula shot a glare her way, but Zuko just kept smiling.

"Thanks"

Ty Lee could feel that Azula's mood was as sour as old milk as the other girl barked at her servants to ready her palanquin. Her angry stare making the men and women do their jobs twice as fast as the two of them sat on the cushions to cross the palace grounds.

Sharing the small space with Azula would have been a nice little indulgence from her part in any other day. She would stay there smiling and would steal tiny glances at her friend from time to time, and if Azula was in a good mood she wouldn't even mind her hands playing with her hair. Today that was not happening and Ty Lee felt a little bad for it. Maybe I shouldn't have trained with Zuko like that…

She had known Azula ever since they were little, and she had always known the princess had a knack for getting what she wanted whenever she wanted. Mai's disappearance had been an annoyance lately, but Ty Lee was doing her best to fill their time despite their trio lacking a member. She was sure Mai would be back when she figured out whatever was bugging her and meanwhile she kept Azula happy. She would show up at dawn, and talk the whole day, she would invite the princess to go shopping, and sometimes she would accompany her to inspect troops. It was not an easy job though, she was starting to realize. Training with Zuko had clearly been too much.

Ty Lee didn't like when Azula was mad at her. It was like her days grew darker somewhat, and not only because of her friend's mood. When she described to Zuko that Azula's aura was like the ocean she spoke the truth. Despite being a firebender, the deep and dark waters made a perfect mirror of who her friend was. Unstoppable, cold, wild, undeterred and ready to make you fall in love with it despite knowing it could drown you and drag you to the darkness.

"Did he say anything?" She was so engrossed in her own thoughts she took a moment to understand the question.

"Who?"

"My brother!" Azula barked. "Did he say anything while you were both… practicing?"

She drawled the word like she was describing something ugly and Ty Lee suddenly remembered the heat of her flames burning the safety net of her presentation. She had thought once that she could ignore those amber eyes of hers, but after only a few weeks together her heart had started beating faster whenever she was a target of that gaze.

"No..." She started. "I mean, we just talked, mostly about his fighting, it's not as good as it should be."

Azula nodded, humming to herself. "I would think you should know better to be on your toes around a possible traitor, Ty Lee, I'm a little disappointed." She said and Ty Lee felt her heart sinking. "However..."

"What?"

"It might be useful if he lowers his guard close to you, maybe." Azula said thoughtfully, and Ty Lee knew her well enough to realize she was intrigued, confused even after her conversation with Zuko. It was there, right below her anger. "I've been thinking that maybe Zuzu deserves some retribution anyway, his behavior has been close to insolence lately."

"Maybe..."

"Let's go see Mai"

Ty Lee blinked, she started to say something and Azula pointedly glared her way, clearly daring her to say a word. Shrinking at the realization she had burned her goodwill for the day, Ty Lee simply sat down and waited, the palanquin turning around and moving to Mai's house.

The girl wore her usual blank stare when they met her, but at Azula's demanding suggestion she quietly joined their excursion into the market.

The Caldera's commercial district was appropriate to its main target costumers, selling everything, from silky and marble to the fanciest foods even a Princess would enjoy. Everywhere they looked, rich colorful pottery would stand in beautiful pedestals, while diamonds, rubies and amethysts hanged from earrings and collars inside a small secured shop. They spent their time chatting mindless subjects, Azula putting fear in the heart of a cute waiter and later, the manager himself. They entered shops and she used a few words to get things for free, and Ty Lee watched everything fascinated, admiring the gowns and the jewels, in special a pretty red gold bracelet Azula twirled around her finger. The princess caught her stare for a moment, rolled her eyes and tossed it her way.

They bought dresses as well, and by the time they finally traveled back home, the servants were carrying heavy loads of newly acquired riches.

"That was fun!" Ty Lee said smiling at her friends, she had gotten a new set of earrings, a diadem, and sandals. Mai was even wearing a new golden satchel over a dark black kimono. Azula remained in her armor though, not even throwing a look towards her new acquisitions.

"Yes, I can think that maybe it was, especially the part where that manager thought we would pay for the food, as if I hadn't done him an honor by having lunch there."

Azula smiled and Ty Lee giggled.

Suddenly, she allowed herself to believe they were young again, running down the halls of the Royal Academy, with Azula already using her authority to get away with stuff, and even getting Mai to smile on occasion. Those had been her earliest memories when she didn't feel like a matched set. With Mai and Azula, she had for the first time felt like Ty Lee, and they were not out there fighting wars and such.

"I missed this, all of us, hanging out together, without all the fighting you know?" She looked back, trying to see if any of her friends shared her opinion.

"Do you agree with Ty Lee, Mai?"

"I don't really care." The girl replied, and Ty Lee caught a glint in Azula's eyes, the peace from before disappearing, washed away by the waves.

"Yes, you've been strangely quiet this whole trip, even more than usual." Azula mentioned. "You would tell us if something was bothering you, wouldn't you, Mai?"

The other girl spared a small sideways glance their way. "Of course I would."

Ty Lee blinked, Mai's aura seemed so messy right then, it was hard to tell if she was been sincere.

"Especially considering that you and my brother are close, did you know he went to visit Uncle in prison? You better watch out so your boyfriend doesn't make any mistakes" The fire princess pointed out, and this time there was no missing the way Mai's shoulders suddenly tensed, a mere second before they went back to normal. "Did he speak to you about that?"

"No, he did not"

"Well, that is a shame" Azula smirked stopped in front of Mai's house, signaling a stop. "I think Ty Lee would like to spend some time with you, by the way. Make sure to behave. And Mai, surely you will let me know if anything happens, he is my dear brother after all."

With that she was gone, been carried back towards the palace while a few servants stayed behind with Mai's new stuff.

After a long pause in which the acrobat could count her heartbeats, she heard a long sigh coming from her back. Mai seemed horribly tired as she spied with a sideways glance. "I don't know what you see in her."

"I don't either, sometimes." Ty Lee confessed, feeling her heart sinking, her fingers idly playing with her new bracelet. "Sometimes, I wish I had stayed in the circus."

Mai nodded, and stopped short of entering her house. After letting out a long-suffering sigh she turned around. "You wanna have some tea?"

"I..." She was ready to refuse until she caught Mai's gaze, concerned and also, was it longing? Ty Lee couldn't tell, but she did feel in need of some tea. "I would love to."