AN: I apologize for the cliché that Book Two is based on. I really love the following Tyzula trope and I really hope that I can put a fresh spin on it. Thanks for reading this far and I hope you enjoy the remaining three books.

BOOK TWO

~Part V~

Fire Nation Psycho

Reuniting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

1. Hopes

When Ty Lee wished for a date to Mai's wedding, she didn't mean this. But Azula is drenched in rain, a nightmare dressed like a daydream, and so Ty Lee takes her inside and does not look back.

It has been twelve years since the comet and the tangled situations have finally died down. Azula embarked on a journey that Ty Lee used to console herself every night. They were not meant to be, she thought at first, but her conclusion was that sometimes people who are meant to be together have to be torn apart before they can be reunited.

"Is something wrong?" Ty Lee asks, shocked that she is not speechless.

"No. Maybe. I just thought I would drop by," Azula says.

"I thought maybe your story was… over," Ty Lee replies, clearing her throat. She eyes Azula and sees how ill she looks. There is something wrong with her, even if Ty Lee cannot place her finger on it.

"It's never over. Not for me and not for you," Azula says, wringing out her hair. Ty Lee cringes as the rainwater soaks her expensive carpet. "But it's been a long time. I know it has, and I imagine we would love to catch up."

Ty Lee licks her lips.

"Please tell me something," she says breathily. Azula has to admit that Ty Lee's fear is extremely sexy.

So, of course she pushes it the extra mile: "Please ask appropriately," she orders.

"Princess, may I ask you a question?" Ty Lee says politely.

"Yes."

"Have you been okay?" Ty Lee inquires softly.

"Mostly. I have destroyed many lives, but so far not my own." Azula shrugs and removes her cloak. She drops it on the floor and makes Ty Lee flinch again.

"Am I next on that list?" Ty Lee whispers, genuinely concerned.

"I certainly hope so," Azula purrs. She laughs at Ty Lee's terrified expression. "That was a joke."

"Oh." Ty Lee blushes brightly. "It's been a really long time."

"Well, our introductions have always been better than our goodbyes, regardless of time," Azula says and Ty Lee nods. The princess has never said anything truer. "I hope that we can move past all of that."

Nervously, Ty Lee asks, "You can stay with me, but I would like to ask—beg—for a favor in return."

"I am listening," says Azula.

"Will you be my date to Mai's wedding?"

.

2. Dreams

"I have this recurring dream about us," Ty Lee says as soon as Azula leaves her bath. The princess took her sweet time, which left Ty Lee pacing like a lunatic.

"I do not like to hear about other people's dreams. They are very boring. However, I will make an exception for dreams about me." Azula sits down and Ty Lee remains standing in front of her.

Ty Lee feels like she is on trial, even if Azula is the one who should be. Zuko said she made up for her crimes with… other crimes. Ty Lee believes him, but she does not know how many other people will. Harboring Azula feels dangerous; she is pardoned but not redeemed.

"In that dream, I…" Ty Lee screws up her face as she tries to remember it properly. "I'm trying to escape a wildfire and I think I'm alone, but you save me. You help me run, but when we're almost out of the woods, you leave me behind to burn."

"That is not the most flattering dream I have ever heard," Azula comments. She smirks, which Ty Lee hopes is a good thing. "It is accurate. I will not tell you that I have changed or that I am as redeemed as I am in my brother's eyes, nor as perfect as I am in my own. I could tell you all of the right words, but I will not."

Those are exactly the right words. Azula knows that; Ty Lee does not. The girl is remarkably easy to manipulate and Azula simply cannot resist doing so.

"Why me?" Ty Lee inquires.

"Now, you know why I would choose you," Azula says. "You will keep our little secret, as I imagine you always have."

Ty Lee sobers slightly, fear turning into guilt.

"I haven't always kept our… little secret, princess."

"Who did you tell?"

"Nobody important."

"Who did you tell?"

"Zuko."

"Well, you were not lying when you said 'nobody important' I suppose."

"And Suki. And Aang."

"And stop."

"That was it."

"This is why I do not trust people," Azula remarks, adopting a cavalier air that masks her internal panic. You will help me."

"I won't," Ty Lee says, praying that she can stay brave like this. She learned to live as a real person, not someone's shadow or someone's twin or someone's pet and she hopes she can stand against her greatest fear.

"You will help me because you ruined me and everything I ever had or ever deserved."

"I don't know. I don't know if that matters. You have your life and I have mine and they don't mix." The excuse is feeble but

"You will help me because I would do it for you," Azula suggests, locking eyes with Ty Lee. Ty Lee averts her gaze.

"You…" Ty Lee whispers, "You wouldn't. I'm sorry, but you wouldn't."

"You will help me because I have nowhere else to go," Azula snarls.

"Where have you been for so many years then?" Ty Lee asks, slowly shaking her head.

Azula shifts her tone to that of a successful and terrifying tyrant. "You will help me because I am pregnant and you are a terrible person who should pay for her crimes as much as I did. Making friends should not exempt you from what you have done to the world and pretending to love me should not exempt you from my wrath. You should feel terrible for what you have—"

"I'm sorry, I apologize, I'm sorry, princess, but I stopped listening after you said 'pregnant.'"