82. Countdown
6:00 AM
Ty Lee wakes from a nightmare with her heart on fire. She dreamt of Azula falling and Zuko running and Mai on her knees and something chasing them from all directions. Ty Lee could not help any of them.
As she sits up in bed and blinks several times, she wonders what it meant. Dreams always mean something.
She cannot figure out this one, however.
All she knows is that it is a scary one.
7:00 AM
Ty Lee decides that she knows what the dream means.
It is some kind of omen. Something will drive them apart.
She will lose someone. Maybe she will lose herself.
Nothing can make her feel better when she thinks about her nightmare like this.
She dresses herself early and walks out of her house to bask in the cold sunlight.
Ty Lee loves mornings. She loves nights too. Well, and afternoons and every other vessel that carries her forward in the stream of time.
8:00 AM
Azula loses two-thirds of a nail in a poorly calculated move. It sears and stings, and bleeds profusely, but she does not stop her useless training.
She knows that she is wasting energy when this Invasion is tomorrow, but the entire plan rests on her shoulders.
Anyone would be restless in her shoes.
Azula continues to assault the rock wall in front of her.
10:00 AM
Ty Lee and Azula's paths collide and unite. At the moment they are walking and talking. First Azula says pretty words and Ty Lee looks pretty while she listens and nods. Then Ty Lee blathers about nothing and Azula ignores her.
She has more important things to think about than the weather.
12:00 PM
Ty Lee and Azula both realize that they still are together. Neither speaks of it.
When Azula notices, she lifts her head and kisses Ty Lee on the lips. They are together at the moment, and Azula might as well savor it. First love like this never lasts long. It always winds up snuffed out before it goes too far.
They come alive when the kiss breaks.
After four more, the moment ends.
They are no longer truly together.
2:00 PM
"I want to marry you," Ty Lee says, her palms sweaty and her heart racing. She hopes this goes over well. It probably will be disastrous. Maybe even cataclysmic.
"Why?" Azula asks, briefly entertaining the ridiculous notion.
"So I can have a very fashionable crown, of course," Ty Lee chimes.
"I will consider it."
No one marries their first love.
At least no one who matters.
4:00 PM
"So, about this marriage nonsense," Azula remarks as they continue their stroll through the maze of a palace and its grounds. "Do you mean it? If I were not destined to be Fire Lord, would you?"
Ty Lee does not think Azula would.
But she thinks honesty is wise.
"Oh yeah! Of course!" Ty Lee sounds too excited to Azula. To herself, she is trying to keep herself from mentioning that she daydreams about it all the time.
"So would many people," Azula looks away.
"I'm not many people," Ty Lee whispers. She wonders if she is even allowed to say that.
"I suppose you aren't," Azula says, shrugging. "You do have the privilege of being the first person I consider not wholly expendable. That is situational of course."
"I love…" Ty Lee blushes and changes her mind. "I love when you say I'm not expendable depending on the situation."
Azula tries not to laugh.
7:00 PM
"I don't want to go home tonight," Ty Lee says, swatting the mosquito-flies that keep attacking her skin. Zuko is home. Mai is gone. The palace shifts. Ty Lee stays the same. "I really don't."
Azula studies her closely. She would say many, many things if she were a moron. Tragically, she is brilliant beyond brilliant and therefore keeps her mouth shut.
"Are you afraid the monsters in the night will get you?" Azula asks. She does not care either way – or so she lies to herself – but right now she welcomes distraction.
"Oh no," Ty Lee whispers, leaning closer to Azula and further into the light of the lamps. The chiaroscuro is quite fascinating to look at. "I've never been scared of ghosts or monsters or the dark. I've always been afraid of being alone though. And spider-snakes. Those too."
Azula considers Ty Lee's offer.
She knows what she wants.
2:00 AM
Ty Lee is still awake; Azula is too.
They both stare at the ceiling despite being so far apart. The warm bed is cold in the gap between them.
Silently, Azula's knuckles brush against silk as she slides her fingers beneath the blankets.
Ty Lee nearly dies from shock. Azula should give some warning about that.
They are holding hands.
Is Azula holding her hand? Yes. She is. Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic…
"Are you ready?" Ty Lee whispers.
"You could mean a variety of things by that," Azula replies.
"I mean all of them."
Azula does not reply.
4:00 AM
"I am ready for the Invasion. Of that I am certain," is the statement that wakes Ty Lee. She was only just drifting off, between sleeping and awake. "I am not certain if I will ever be ready for what I believe you are talking about."
This is too complicated, Ty Lee decides. Azula is way too complicated.
"I'm completely faithful to you, my girlfriend, and I'm like a loyal cute pet who loves you so much. I'll always wait," Ty Lee chirps.
"You might wait for your entire lifetime," Azula says.
"I don't mind."
Azula is not ready.
Ty Lee can wait.
6:00 AM
"You should leave," Azula orders Ty Lee as she wakes. "And do not let my father see you sneaking out of my room in the early morning."
"We didn't do anything," Ty Lee says without thinking. She always says stupid stuff to the princess. It frustrates her.
"We did this." And the princess kisses Ty Lee, half-dressed and allowing her hands to fall from the parts they were covering.
"We did do that, I guess," Ty Lee whispers, batting her eyes. It is her defense mechanism. Because that was terrifying and perfect and more terrifying than perfect.
"So, your fear of being alone and spider-snakes. Do you fear being without me?"
"I'd be alone forever if I didn't have you. I'd never be able to be with anyone else."
"Good. You will not cheat on me with anyone in this world, because if you ever betray me I will drop you in a vat of spider-snakes and seal you in it."
"I'm yours."
"I know."