A. N. : If anyone is curious as to why I'm titling all of these recent chapters with sacred things, it's because this arc accidentally started on chapter 108, which is an important number in Buddhism. I am my own worst enemy. Anyway peach trees are renowned for their ability to ward off demons and/or evil spirits. There's a character called "Tsuma" mentioned in this chapter, and her name is kind of a mean joke on my part - I write her name as 爪 (claw), but this pronunciation is a homophone to 妻 (wife). Yes I have ideas on the spelling of most of my OCs. Yes y'all can ask about them - though on that matter, just be aware that ffn has stopped sending emails to warn us about receiving PMs, so you'll have to check manually for the answer. Yes this site sucks.

Mai is all gray again.

Of course she is, none of the news and rumors she and Ty Lee collected were good, and when she shared her thoughts on what her mother would do over dinner, her face was –

Ty Lee is good at reading Mai. Even without auras, she could probably easily proclaim herself a master at knowing Mai's emotions, maybe even better than Mai herself sometimes. And that expression, full of restraint, jaw set tightly, eyes steely and cold, as she talked of the possibility of finding herself in the place of the Fire Lord's wife –

It was fear.

And Ty Lee might be preoccupied with a lot herself – Han hasn't yet given her the answers she seeks, even if she now knows for sure he is the one she needs to keep pushing to finally know what happened with Mai and Azula's auras, and speaking of which, Azula leaving without a word, to execute her uncle with her own hands… there's no way that won't worsen whatever is going on with that purple.

So yeah, Ty Lee has a lot on her plate, things she can't share yet, but even that won't stop her from trying to comfort Mai – her friend, who is counting on her, who needs her, and that Ty Lee is the only one able to help right now.

Really – Ty Lee makes her voice light and playful despite the seriousness of the matter – Mai would be a terrible choice for a bride, not one of her close relatives is even a bender, and everyone knows that plays an essential role in the succession – no fire, no throne, and even having two firebending parents doesn't guarantee a spark in the child, so with only one…

Out of them all, Tsuma – General Zenka's daughter, she adds when Mai raises an eyebrow – is the one with the best chances.

All of that is said in a joking tone, with fake, exaggerated sadness at Mai's lost opportunity, in an effort to lighten the mood a little – Mai has barely touched her food since the start of this conversation, and if Ty Lee could at least untie some of the knot Mai no doubt feels in her stomach, it would be a great start.

Maybe arranging for an appointment with Auntie Mei Lin could help, too. Acupuncture can't do miracles, but it helps. If Ty Lee promises to help Auntie Mei Lin out, she could get Mai an appointment sooner than normal. She'll try and swipe a few diagnosis textbooks at the same time, see if that helps her figure some things out about the green aura issue. Auntie Mei Lin will definitely get on Ty Lee's case about the whole succession thing again – like she doesn't bring it up with any and all family member who shows even an inkling of interest in the craft – but it's worth a try.

Ty Lee swears to help Mai the best she can, and when Azula comes back, she'll help Azula too.

She picks some mushrooms off of Mai's plate and smiles innocently at the stare Mai levels at her in return. If she can get Mai to react and start eating out of spite, that'd be nice. Not ideal, but nice.

Ideal would be none of that worry, just friends having dinner together and sharing stories until they fall asleep, like when they were kids and Azula invited them over for sleepovers – just one more thing that changed when Azula's mom disappeared and the palace became more and more off-limits for play and fun.

Ideal would be a Mai that still hasn't had to let go of her maiden heart, and an Azula that may not be nice – she never was, Ty Lee still remembers school and how Azula would make fun of the teachers, who couldn't say anything to her, and it made Ty Lee laugh so much – but who isn't cruel and who doesn't set Ty Lee's safety net on fire.

Ideal would be making new friends without worrying about betrayal, and with no other goal in mind than having fun and getting to know each other better.

Ty Lee makes sure to keep her smile on her face, to keep the mood bright and warm, and to not sour Mai's day even more.

It's not ideal. But it'll have to do.

Things haven't been ideal for a long time, now that she thinks about it.

But Mai steals some meat from Ty Lee and that's a good start.