Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This is a Two-shot Ty Luko story and takes place during the events of the Boiling Rock.


Zuko and Sokka ventured towards the Boiling Rock in the hopes of finding and rescuing Chief Hakoda. While searching for Chief Hakoda, Sokka met and reunited with Suki.

Zuko had blown his own cover, unintentionally revealing in order to save Sokka's. He was soon arrested and had been taken into an interrogation cellar by two Fire Nation prison guards. There was nothing, but a chair inside.

"You can't do this to me! I did nothing wrong!" Zuko yelled as he watched the guards leave the room and closed the door. He heard the sound of a door locking, which meant that the guards had locked the cellar door from the other side trapping him inside of the cellar.

He groaned in disappointment as he had realized he was stuck inside of a cell.

Ten Minutes Later

Zuko remained in a cellar for the next ten minutes. He walked around the cella rfor a few minutes to see if there were any keys or objects he could use to escape, but learned that there wasn't. There weren't even any windows. As soon as he realized, he sat in the interrogation chair and disappointingly sighed. He then thought about what was going to happen to him, whether he stayed in the Boiling Rock Prison or if he gets taken back to his father, Ozai as prisoner.

He thought about his new friends, Aang, Katara, Toph, Appa and Momo, whom were still at the Western Air Temple. He thought about Sokka, who's working on escaping the Boiling Rock. Then suddenly, he thought of his sister, Azula, whom is conniving and dangerous. Then, he thought about his uncle Iroh, whom he regret treating horribly wrong. And most of all, he thought about his ex-girlfriend, Mai. He didn't want to drag her of all people down with him, so he left her behind with a note.

As Zuko had coped and reminisced about his life, he suddenly heard sound of the door unlocking. He looked and saw the cellar slowly open in front of him. As the door had fully opened, he surprisingly gasped as he saw a familiar face.

"Hi, Zuko." Ty Lee greeted as she walked inside the cellar and confronted Zuko.

"T-Ty Lee?"

"Long time, no see." Ty Lee chuckled, then closed the cellar door behind herself.

"What are you doing here?"

Ty Lee "Mai's uncle-"

Zuko had interrupted Ty Lee. "The Warden?"

Ty Lee replied with a nod. "He contacted Azula. We came, the moment we learned that you were here." Ty Lee informed Zuko.

"We?"

"Me, Mai and Azula."

Zuko gasped. "Mai's here?"

Ty Lee nodded.

"Where is she now?" Zuko asked, feeling concerned for Mai.

"She's with Azula and her uncle. As far as I know..." Ty Lee answered Zuko's questioned.

Zuko sighed and lowered his head. "She's safe, then." Zuko muttered under his breath, then thought of something.

"Yes. But, she's really upset that you left her without saying goodbye." Ty Lee said.

Zuko remembered the letter he wrote for Mai on the day of the Solar Eclipse. "I can definitely imagine." Zuko stopped and thought of something. "Wait, if Mai and Azula are with the warden... then, why are you here... with me?"

Ty Lee's eyes met the floor, temporarily. "Because, I want to ask you questions." she muttered as she looked at Zuko, again.

"You mean, you want to interrogate me?"

Ty Lee did not respond to that question and kept staring at him in the cellar.

Zuko looked at Ty Lee in her eyes, then frowned. "If you're here to interrogate me about Aang, then you're wasting time." He moved from the interrogation chair and sat next to a wall.

"You mean, the Avatar and friends?" Ty Lee asked as she thought about Aang and his friends.

"Yeah. I'm not giving out any information to you or anyone."

Ty Lee had chucked a bit. "I figured you would say something like that, but, no." Ty Lee shook her head, no, afterwards. "I want to ask you..."

"Go ahead. Ask away." Zuko gave Ty Lee permission to ask him a question.

"Thank you." Ty Lee cleared her throat and was starting to feel serious. "Are... are you..." Ty Lee paused a bit, until she had gotten her grip together. "Are you still angry at yourself?"

Zuko looked to Ty Lee with a bit confusion and shock. "What?"

"Sorry... I wanted to know, if you still were. Like when you admitted on Ember Island."

Zuko suddenly gained a small flashback after Ty Lee had mentioned Ember Island. He remembered his Sister, Azula and his friends pressuring him to answer, whom was he angry toward.

Small Flashback

"I'm angry at myself!" Zuko screamed as he bended the fire at the beach waters.

"Why?" Azula asked.

"Because, I'm confused. I don't know what's right and wrong, anymore." Zuko said, feeling a bit depressed.

End Small Flashback

"No. I'm not. At least, not anymore." Zuko confessed.

Ty Lee clapped her hands together. "I'm glad."

"Why are you asking me this?" Zuko asked, curiously.

"Because, I now you." Ty Lee simply answered.

"Nngh-" Zuko was about to deny Ty Lee, like he did on Ember Island, but stopped himself. He remembered once telling Ty Lee. 'No you don't! You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's great, all the time!' But after going through any emotional journey and being forced to reveal why he was angry and confused, there was no way he could deny Ty Lee.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Can I sit down with you?" Ty Lee asked.

Zuko looked at Ty Lee. "Why?"

"Because, I want to, silly." Ty Lee gave Zuko a friendly and innocent smile.

"Fine." But before Ty Lee could take a step forward, Zuko felt like he needed to add something. "But, don't try anything funny-like blocking my Chi or anything else."

"Thank you, Zuko." Ty Lee said then cartwheeled over toward Zuko and crossed her legs. Zuko flinched a bit after her legs almost hit him, when she cartwheeled and sat down. She sat down right next to Zuko, leaving a two feet gap between them.

There was nothing but silence inside the cellar for a total minute.

"This is nice." Ty Lee commented.

"What is?"

"Two of us, silly. We're alone, here, sitting together. Peace and quiet all around. No one coming in to interrupt us... This is like it. Just between us two friends."

"Yeah, you can say that, again." Zuko almost let out a smile until he thought of something. "Wait... what did you just say?"

"What?"

"Did... you just call us friends?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, I did." Ty Lee replied. "Is there something wrong?"

Zuko gave the word "friend" a moment of thought. Within his mind, he started thinking of the times that he met and encountered Ty Lee in the past. Most times, he would remember Ty Lee teasing him along with Azula. But, he couldn't think of a memory of when he and Ty Lee had spent together.

"Well, you see... I've always thought of you as my sister's friend." Zuko said, honestly.

"But, we've known each other since we were kids..."

"I know that, but..." Zuko then stood up on his feet. "When we were younger, you would always hang around Azula and you both would tease and pull pranks on me." Zuko had stated.

"That's because Azula and I are girls. We like to-" Ty Lee

"Pull pranks on me, then?" Zuko said, cutting her off from her sentence.

"No. We like to hang out and do things, together. Because, we're girls." Ty Lee then stood on his feet and stretched a bit. "And the reason that Azula like to pull pranks on you is because she-!" Ty Lee started walking fast towards Zuko, but her right foot tapped part of the interrogation chair, causing her to trip and lose balance.

Zuko saw Ty Lee about to fall and quickly gasped. "Careful!" Zuko stretched his right arm toward Ty Lee

"Uwaah!" Ty Lee yelped as she had lost balance. She knew that she was about to fall at any second. But, before she could hit the ground... she felt herself being grabbed. Her eyes were shut when she nearly fell. And when she opened them, slowly, she found herself standing on her feet and her shoulders grabbed by the traitor Prince, Zuko.

It turned out that Zuko had quickly moved his body toward Ty Lee's, and caught her by bending his knees and grabbing Ty Lee's shoulders. In another moment, Zuko then stood both himself and Ty Lee on their feet.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked in concern.

Ty Lee slowly nodded as she kept looking down. "Mm-hmm."

"You have to be very careful in here." Zuko yelled, in a worried tone. He said it while holding Ty Lee in his arms. "You could've gotten hurt."

Ty Lee blinked, twice, then looked upwards to Zuko's face. "Sorry, Zuko. I..." When Ty Lee saw Zuko's face, she had lightly gasped.

"Hm?" Zuko noticed that Ty Lee was gazing at him. "What's wrong?"

Ty Lee did not answer Zuko when she asked. As she continued gazing at Zuko... she suddenly imagined small white sparkles and a pink background around him. His hair flowed a tiny bit from an imaginary breeze.

Zuko locked eyes with Ty Lee as she kept blushing in front of him. He didn't know why Ty Lee was blushing, though. "Um, are you okay?"

Ty Lee kept staring at Zuko, blushing and gazing into his eyes. Without warning in the next five seconds... Ty Lee pushed her head forward and pressed her lips against Zuko's.

Zuko was in complete shock as he felt Ty Lee's lips against his. His left eye barely widened and his right had widened, completely. He froze like a statue when Ty Lee pressed her lips against his.

After twenty seconds of kissing, Ty Lee separated her lips from his.

"W-what the heck was that!" Zuko yelled, then quickly covered his mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"You j-just kissed me, just now!" Zuko stated and covered his mouth. "Why would you do that?"

"Because..." Ty Lee looked down at her hands and started twiddling her fingers. "I like you, Zuko."

"Wait, what?" Zuko stuttered in a quieter tone.

"I said... I like you." she said, looking at him and making eye contact.

Zuko then stared in a bit of disbelief and shock for a brief moment. "You like me? S-seriously?"

Ty Lee nodded and smiled. "I liked you for a while, now."

"But, why?" Zuko asked in a confused manner. "I barely treated you right, since I came back to the Fire Nation. How can you still stand an angry person like me?"

"Because, deep down in your heart, you're a kind person. Also, you're always honest and brave and caring. And most of all, you know what it's like to be weak, but you pick yourself and do what you can to make yourself stronger." Ty Lee said as she grabbed his face with her soft.

"Ty Lee, I... I appreciate the compliments, but-" He gently removed Ty Lee's hands from his cheeks and sat down in the interrogation chair. "I don't really know how to respond..." he sighed and started thinking of Mai.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know if the two of us would work out, honestly. I'm starting to see you more than just as Azula's friend. And also, I still like Mai. She's someone who knows me well and she can understand my pain. The reasons of why I broke up with her during the Solar Eclipse was not just only because of her family's reputation... but also, because I didn't want to drag her down so low with me." Zuko admitted.

Ty Lee understood what Zuko was saying, but at the same time, she felt her feelings being hurt. She can probably imagine Zuko thinking about her best friend, Mai. "Are you saying, that... you want to get back with her as soon as possible?"

Zuko glanced at Ty Lee. "I believe I do. Yes." Zuko answered, plainly.

"I see." After hearing Zuko's confession of him wanting to get back with Mai, Ty Lee felt a bit depressed. As if her emotional heart was plunged with a dagger. She then turned her body away, hunger her head a bit and began walking to the door.

Zuko watched Ty Lee walk to the door and gripped the door knob. He kind of noticed something was off when hearing her voice. She didn't sound optimistic to him. He also watched her closely and noticed something was off about Ty Lee. He usually saw Ty Lee act cheerful and optimistic, except for when everyone was revealing their emotional journeys on Ember Island and now. He saw Ty Lee's hand trembled when she tried to open the door as if she was upset.

In the next ten seconds, he suddenly saw two small drops of liquid touch the ground by Ty Lee's feet. She looked at the back of Ty Lee's head and noticed something was off. "Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee paused when she heard Zuko call her name. "It's fine. You..." Ty Lee turned her head around and gave Zuko a false smile. "You don't have to worry about me, any longer." her eyes were closed when she responded to Zuko. "It was nice knowing you, Zuko."

Zuko saw small bubbles of tears forming in Ty Lee's face when she delivered a false smile to him. And hearing her words and seeing her current facial expression made him remember something.

Flashback

Ty Lee sighed. "I know you." She she claimed that knew Zuko well than he thinks and she knew what he was going through.

"No you don't!" Zuko turned to her. "You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's great all the time, but it isn't!" Zuko decided to mock her as he flipped onto his palms on the sand.

"You don't know that..." Ty Lee looked a little sad.

"Zuko. Leave her alone." Mai ordered Zuko, whom refused to listen."

"Hey, look at me. I'm so pretty, I can walk on my hands. Woo!" his back had landed on the light sand as he flipped over. "Circus freak!" he said in a cold manner.

End Flashback

Zuko's right eye widened as he remembered that moment when he berated her on Ember Island. He now realized doing it was a mistake. He never once thought of her feelings when he did that.

Ty Lee then twisted the nob and began to walk through the door with a false happy expression on her face. But the second before Ty Lee could take her first step out the cellar door, she felt herself get turned around, then pulled into an embrace. Ty Lee then gasped as she realized she was being embraced..

Zuko had twisted Ty Lee's body making her face him, then pulled her in a warm hug. He wrapped his arms around her upper back. "I'm sorry. For everything." Zuko said in a humble voice.

After hearing Zuko's apology, Ty Lee had released her false smile. She then started hearing Zuko's own heartbeat as part of her face contacted with Zuko's chest. She gasped when she discovered that his heartbeat was strong and calm. She softly gritted her teeth and let tears stream down her adorable face. "Zuko..."

"Yes?" Zuko looked down to Ty Lee as he held her.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Ty Lee asked, as she had broken down and started crying within his arms.

"Because I'm selfish. And I promise I'll make it up to you." Zuko then rubbed Ty Lee's upper back, gently. "You don't have to fear this place, nor you have to fear Azula, any longer. Because, I'm going to take you far away from them."

"Wh-what?" Ty Lee murmured.

"I'm well aware that you fear my sister. And I promise when this is over... you won't have to fear her, anymore." Zuko told Ty Lee as he looked at her.

Ty Lee gasped as she thought about Azula and all the experiences she had with her. She had feared Azula almost as long as she had known her. She remembered being threatened by the Fire Nation princess during one of her circus performances and had become terrified of Azula ever since.

But, Ty Lee was currently with her older brother, Zuko, who's the polar opposite of Azula. She knew how caring and brave he is. And she knows that Zuko wouldn't let anything else happen to her.

She cracked a small smile and looked up at Zuko's face with a less sad expression. "I would like that very much." she sniffled in front of him.