The Dragon Queen and her wife name the newborn female dragon Takeshi.

Azula does, at least. Mai wants little to do with the newborn dragon, but neither woman cares much about that. Loyalties have been tested of late and even Azula does not want to endure more of it. She just wants to run her fingertips across the smooth, sleek, glowing red scales of her daughter.

They are in the master bedroom of the palace. Mai sleeps silently. Azula stays awake with her new baby girl, hoping no one will notice the dark circles under her golden eyes.

"You're beautiful," whispers Azula in the night. "So beautiful. Just like me."

Mai suddenly taps on Azula's shoulder. "Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep," Azula admits, rubbing her sore face.

Mai asks, "How long have you been awake?"

"Two days. Maybe three. I'll be fine. I feel fantastic. I am Dragon Queen Azula and I have no need for sleep. That is a necessity for lesser beings than myself."

"You're human. You need sleep."

Azula hesitates. She does not want to be honest with Mai. Or with anyone. She wants to be alone again. Alone with her dragons in her tower, before any of this happened. Of course she loves power, but perhaps she does not love what comes with it.

"I dream about the four of us. I dream about the beach, all those years ago. Every single night. I am sick of it."

"Nightmares?"

Azula chews on her fingernail and wonders if she should be honest.

At last, she decides that Mai will not care, so she says earnestly, "Worse. Good dreams. I never had good dreams. I spent my life with nightmares every single night since I was a little girl. But I don't want to wake up from these dreams."

"Oh." Mai does not react much. Azula takes that as a good thing, but still…

"If you tell anyone, I will gut you with your own knives." Azula glares with fire in her eyes.

"I don't doubt that. I also don't have anybody to tell in the first place."

"It is just the two of us, isn't it?"

"It doesn't have to be."

Azula bites her lip. She contemplates the possibilities for a moment but quickly shoves them out off her mind.

"Yes, yes it does. They made their choice when I conquered Caldera, and you made yours."

Mai shrugs.

"Judging people on what they did a long time ago doesn't seem too smart. Not smart at all for someone as clever as you. I mean, you're trusting me and I stabbed you in the back."

Azula orders harshly, "Just leave me alone."

Mai obliges and goes back to sleep.

She never was one for heart-to-hearts.

###

The next day, Azula stands at the harbor in her home city and spectates the five ships anchored before her, staring at them from the shadowy dock. She inhales the smoke that permeates the city and contemplates what she must do. The plan is to reach Ba Sing Se, to invade the Earth Kingdom for a second time and retrieve whatever powerful artifact is buried beneath that rebel city.

Regardless of the buried treasure, Ba Sing Se has stood in defiance of the Dragon Queen for far, far too long. It is high time that they pay.

And now she has the opportunity to work with her ex-friends to shrug off the shackles of the spirits. They will come around to serving her again, and she will be able to use them, hopefully without too much reconciliation.

In three days she departs.

In three days she starts another story, another legend in which she stars.

In three days, the world will tremble as she demands that they make her their queen, or suffer in eternal flames.

###

Days of Azula's bliss with Takeshi and Ty Lee's agonizingly boring captivity in the dungeons later, Ty Lee and Zuko stand across from Azula in chains. Mai crosses her arms beside them, uncertain why she must be part of this abysmal lineup.

"You will listen, and you will obey," says Azula, mainly to satisfy and mislead the spirits breathing on her neck. "You will be my team, since I trust in your abilities. But I do not trust you. If you try to cut and run, you die. If you displease me, you die. If you disobey an order, you die. If you serve me well and assist in my conquest, I will cancel your execution."

Zuko and Ty Lee exchange a glance. They know they lack a choice in this matter, and they can only hope Azula still has their conversation a few days ago in mind. That Azula wants to defeat the spirits and restore the world to its safe and peaceful state.

If she does not, they just have to be grateful she will not feed them to Ryzu.

Mai awkwardly pats Zuko on the back.

Azula inquires, "Do you understand the parameters of your service?"

"Yes!" chirps Ty Lee, a little too eagerly.

Azula pivots on her heel. "We leave tomorrow. Be prepared."

Mai and Zuko keep staring at each other.

Ty Lee gazes after Azula longingly as she walks away and the guards drag the former Fire Lady and Fire Lord to the obsidian dungeons.

###

The next day, on the sea speeding towards the Earth Kingdom, shortly after sundown on the flagship of the Dragon Queen's fleet, Ty Lee gazes up at the stars. Azula follows the path of her eyes and studies the constellations beside her.

Azula points upwards at a connection of stars that Ty Lee never paid any mind to before.

The Dragon Queen softly explains, keeping her eyes away from her ex-girlfriend at all costs. "They named that one after one of my ancestors. Do you think I'll be a constellation one day?"

Ty Lee stammers, cheeks flushed. "You're not exactly, uh, a constellation. But you're made of stars. Beautiful, shimmery, fiery stars."

Azula smirks. She hates how much she missed this girl. "Very smooth."

Ty Lee blushes and averts her eyes. "I try."

Azula then sours. She hates the thoughts that come to her head, but she voices them anyway. "Did you use that one on my brother? Or any boy you got with in my absence?"

"Even if you kinda tricked me and locked me up in a cell and everything, you know, you know there's only you. You're the only one. Only you…" Ty Lee trails off.

Azula shakes her head. "I do not believe that for a second. Do not take me for a fool."

She presses her fingertips against her lips, holding back words she does not know.

Ty Lee wonders why Azula makes her this was, but she tries anyway. "I—I don't. I only got with Zuko because he reminded me of you… when I had my eyes closed."

"I… I am uncertain. I don't trust you yet. It will take time to earn that from me."

"I'd wait for a million years."

"Perhaps you will have to."

"I mean it. I really, really, really mean it."

"I hope so. For your sake."

Ty Lee tugs on Azula's arm, taking a grand risk. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you are disposable."

"I'm not disposable," whispers Ty Lee. "I'm not disposable to you. I still love you and I know you still love me."

"I love other things more. Power. My children. I have no time for a star-crossed romance with an old flame I had no business reigniting."

"But we did reignite. We did. We can't take that back."

"Shut up, Ty Lee."

The acrobat wants to argue, wants desperately to argue, but she holds her tongue.

She never could stand up to Azula, whether she was a princess or a Dragon Queen.

###

Ty Lee stands up in the middle of the night. Zuko sits up beside her and squints in the darkness. She strides gracefully across the room and knocks on the door. One of the guards opens it.

"I need to take a walk. There's nowhere I can go. It's a ship and stuff. One of you can come with me if you need," Ty Lee pleads and the guards exchange a glance.

"If you are accompanied, it can't hurt," says the female and the male does not argue.

But before Ty Lee can leave, Zuko barks, "If you're going to see Azula, just tell me."

Ty Lee spins around and wrings her lovely smooth hands. "I'm not. Of course I'm not. Why would she even want to see me?"

Zuko does not answer. Instead, he stifles a sigh and admits, "I know our time is running out."

Ty Lee shakes her head.

"I don't think she'll kill us," she states, offering her sweetest airhead smile. Playing dumb tends to serve her well.

"That isn't what I mean," snaps Zuko.

Ty Lee's heart pounds and she struggles to breathe. "Then what do you mean?"

"I mean that you only dated me because you were grieving over my sister, you only married me because you missed my sister, and now you have her back."

"She's with Mai."

"She won't always be with Mai. She'll be with you soon, and we both know it. We all know it. So, if you're going to see Azula, just tell me."

"I don't understand. We're married. I love you as much as I love her."

"That's not true. We know that's not true."

"I…"

"You know why I married you? It wasn't because I was settling for second best."

"You aren't second best to her. I know you think you are but…"

Ignoring his wife, Zuko continues, "I married you because I loved you. But I saw this coming. I saw it coming the moment we found out she was alive. I knew I only had you for as long as you or Azula would let me. And somehow? Somehow I was fine with that."

Tears swim in Ty Lee's eyes. She stands there at a loss for words, fingers softly resting against her neck.

"I won't give up on our marriage this easily." Ty Lee walks towards Zuko but he steps backwards. She freezes in place, throat constricted from growing tears.

Zuko says coldly, "This isn't a marriage, Ty Lee. It's a lie."

Ty Lee's eyelashes flutter. "Zuko, please…"

"Don't do that. Don't do that to me. Just go see my sister. I don't care anymore."

"I…" Ty Lee blinks back tears.

"You can't have us both."

"Don't you want me to be happy? I'm happy when I have you both."

"I want you to be happy, but I also have a thing called self-respect. And you can't have us both. And don't even make this a contest. I know you already chose Azula. Go see her."

Ty Lee wants to argue but she does not know what to say.

She just slowly walks away from him to go visit the Dragon Queen.

Zuko was right.

He was so very right.

###

Azula, again, fights sleep at all costs. She sits in bed, staring forward, a cup of lukewarm tea resting precariously on her knee. When someone knocks on the door, she drops the drink and the glass crashes loudly. She halfheartedly mops up the tea on her bare leg with the blankets and rises to answer her door on the ship.

She finds Ty Lee standing there. Her ex-girlfriend looks tired but her eyes are still bright, her braid still tight, her lips still twisted into that perpetual small smile as if the pain every human feels does not affect her in the slightest.

"Why are you here?" Azula demands.

"Because—because—because—" Ty Lee takes a huge breath. "Because I'm in love with you."

"I am married to Mai."

"But you're not in love with Mai, are you?" asks Ty Lee.

"No, but I was never in love with you either."

"Can I stay please?" Ty Lee begs. "I need to be with you."

"I would deny you in other circumstances, but I could use company to keep me awake."

Azula steps aside and lets Ty Lee enter. The former Fire Lady sits down on the Dragon Queen's bed and Azula walks to sit beside her.

"So, you don't love me?" Ty Lee whispers.

"If this is all you are here for then…"

"Maybe… maybe we should talk about something else."

"That would be for the best."

Ty Lee thinks quickly. She knows she must come up with something at least halfway decent to ask her true love. She settles on, "How was your day?"

Azula scoffs, laughs, rolls her eyes. "How was my day? Is that the best you can do? That does not remotely interest me. Try again."

Ty Lee swallows her hurt feelings and inquires quietly, "What was it like to end the world?"

Azula closes her eyes for a few tense seconds.

"Beautiful," she at last says.

Ty Lee blinks in surprise. "Beautiful? Really?"

"Yes. There really is a certain beauty in setting the world on fire and watching from the center of the flames."

"But you ended the…"

"The world has done nothing for me."

"I guess it hasn't," admits Ty Lee. "Are we lying to ourselves?"

"Maybe. I am a good enough liar that I cannot say for certain. I rarely figure out when I am lying to even myself."

"I hate lying to people. I hate lying to Zuko. He did nothing wrong."

"He did everything wrong to me. And if you love me, you will understand that."

"Yeah, I, yeah, I know he hurt you and I hate that. He didn't ever hurt me, though. I get guilty. I'm not even telling him about this."

"That isn't lying."

"It's a lie by permission."

"Omission?"

"That. Yeah, that. A lie by omission."

Azula smirks smugly as she smoothly says, "A lie by omission is the easiest lie to tell."

Ty Lee averts her bright eyes.

"I'm really stupid," whispers Ty Lee. "I'm so dumb and I'm in love with you and I just wanna pretend I'm stupid enough to think this is all a good idea."

"It doesn't have to be a good idea."

"This thing I feel for you. I don't understand it."

"You feel desire. I can tell that, and there is nothing wrong or hard to understand about desire."

"Desire is scary. It's… wrong. Is it wrong?"

Azula sets her palm on Ty Lee's face and turns her. She holds her ex-girlfriend there and gazes intensely into her eyes.

"Desire becomes surrender, surrender becomes power." Azula's lips come devastatingly close to touching Ty Lee's ear. It makes the acrobat shiver. "Surrender to me."

Ty Lee wants to ask if that applies to the spirits, if Azula thought her desire for power, her desire for justice or revenge, that became surrender. That if she surrendered to the spirits she would be powerful instead of pained. But it is too heated. She is too caught up in lust to think deeply about anything as complex as that.

All she can think about is the fire surging through her veins, originating from where Azula's fingertips rest on her smooth peach skin.

All she can do is start taking off her clothes.

###

After their flawless yet complex tryst, lying in bed and to herself, Azula rests her arm around Ty Lee's body. They both feel a hum, a hum between them radiating like nothing ever felt. Maybe no one ever loved the way they love. As messily, as prettily, as desperately, as painfully.

"Are you asleep?" whispers Azula.

"No."

"You look asleep."

"I'm just—I'm trying to keep my eyes closed."

"Why?" Azula retracts her arm and sits up, brushing Ty Lee's bangs from her face.

It hurts. It stabs Ty Lee in the chest and she feels like she cannot breathe.

Yet, she manages to explain, "Because this is like that—you know that moment—that moment between being awake and being asleep in the morning when you don't remember anything. No problems exist and you have nothing to do in the world and you don't remember who died and who left you and who hurt you and if I just keep my eyes closed I won't have to deal with the next moment when the sun hits you and you remember everything."

"I know that moment," Azula whispers, but she says no more than that. Baring her soul to anyone feels utterly wrong.

She thinks about her dreams. Her dreams about the beach. Her good dreams. Her painfully good dreams. And so, yes, she understands Ty Lee more than she ever has in her life.

They both lie down, side by side, in silence.

###

"Mai," says Zuko in the wee hours of the morning, standing in the hallway with the male guard and waiting for Ty Lee. He can tell the guy in armor pities him and it has been killing him until he sees his ex-girlfriend walking down the metal hall. "Mai, I… I'm glad to see you."

She halts in the middle of the hallway. He stands outside of the door to his well-guarded bedroom, waiting for Ty Lee to returning, wondering if she would, hating that he made this into a contest with his sister because Azula tends to beat him more often than not.

Mai turns to face her ex-boyfriend.

"Hey," she says, a little reluctantly. He does not know what to make of it; he wishes she were more expressive instead of constantly blank and cold.

"I think my marriage ended tonight," says Zuko.

"Look, I'm not the kind of person who cuddles you because you're sad. And if you're trying to get back together, this isn't the most seductive proposition I've ever heard."

"I miss you, though. I do."

"I'm not the one who ended our relationship. You are. More than once. It's evident you don't want me and I don't care enough about anybody to go where I'm not wanted."

"I want you."

"I'm sorry," says Mai. "This isn't going to happen. Not because of Azula, since I know you'll blame her. But because we never were meant to work out. That's why we never do, never did. Takeshi needs me. I should go."

"Oh."

Mai steps forward, gently takes Zuko's face in her cold pallid fingers, and presses her lips fiercely against his.

And when she steps back, breaking the kiss, she just walks away to take care of her newborn dragon daughter.

Zuko brushes his fingertips across his lips and wondered what he did wrong to lose her.

###

At daybreak, Azula stands at the bow of the ship with Takeshi resting on her hand. Ryzu flies eagerly around the sea, sometimes swooping down to devour large fish. Takeshi watches her elder brother with wide eyes, but remains hooked to Dragon Queen Azula as if her life depends on it.

Ryzu flies back towards his mother and Azula smiles softly. She had a lovely night with Ty Lee and now a lovely morning with her children.

Then Ryzu snaps at his tiny sister with his gigantic maw and Azula hisses at him. She bats at him and he bites at her.

She steps back, clutching Takeshi tightly to her chest.

Ryzu flies away, avoiding his mother's chastising glare.

Zuko says loudly from behind, "You need to be careful; they're dragons, Azula."

"Oh, really, ZuZu? I thought they were koala-otters," sarcastically replies the Dragon Queen.

He rolls his eyes but still strides over to stand beside her at the bow of the flagship.

"Even our ancestors—who had power over them—were occasionally killed by their own dragons, since dragons are really not good pets."

Azula's eyes flash from pure rage. Zuko barely stops himself from recoiling.

"Ryzu and Takeshi are not my pets," she spits. "They are my children."

Zuko brashly states, "I guess I hope that makes a difference."

Azula clenches her jaw and gazes out at the rosy horizon.