8. The Olden Days
"She's the cutest baby in the whole world," says Ty Lee. Then she sighs. "We'll have so much trouble with boys when she grows up. Every single one will have a crush on her. Like, literally every boy in the world." She touches Izumi's cute little nose. "Uh, um, Azula…"
"Yes?" coolly inquires the princess.
Ty Lee takes a huge breath before asking, "Will I be like her father, or I guess like a second mother? Or is… is her real father still out there somewhere."
Azula sits in silence for a long time. But Ty Lee waits. She sits as patiently as she can with the sleeping baby in her arms and knows she will hear an answer eventually. Princess Azula cannot hold onto that secret forever, can she?
Finally, Azula explains, "I tried on personalities the way you try on expensive robes. With every town I hid in and every person I became during my travels, I shed my skin. But, you see, no matter how many times you shed your skin, you are always a spider-snake."
Ty Lee smiles widely and brightly when she sweetly replies, "Good thing I love spider-snakes."
"You hate them," Azula states, beginning to laugh. "There was one in your sleeping bag and you slept outside even after Mai killed it."
Ty Lee looks crestfallen. Azula has no idea why.
"Those were the best days of my life," she says wistfully, setting Izumi back in Azula's arms. "I had this crush on you and I… I don't know. I don't know why I feel like they were the best days. Maybe they were just simpler or prettier or something about them was easier."
"They were the best of mine too," Azula states, standing up.
She needs to walk away from this before she breaks down.