A/N: This prompt said Tyzula and any pairing, so I decided to change things up and make the other pairing Zutara; that makes this one AU. I have Maiko as canon in this.


(Theme Thirty-Three) Snowman Contest

(As prompted by) Streetlight Eyes

"I can't believe we're in the South Pole," Azula bemoans, breathing fire into her fingertips. One of her gloves starts smoking and Ty Lee stifles it with a single fingertip.

"They're basically our family, Azula," Ty Lee says sharply and Azula frowns, looking unimpressed. "She's going to be our sister-in-law."

Azula clears her throat haughtily and remarks, "I think it was survival of the fittest that this place was nearly wiped out. The only reason they're put back together is my brother's hard-on for─"

"Hello, Katara," Ty Lee says blithely as their host walks up to them. The acrobat shoots a warning glance at her fiancée.

"Hi, Ty Lee," Katara says with a smile, before her eyes gloss over Azula entirely and fall on the wall built of snow beside her. Azula takes a deep breath and prevents herself from starting a rematch. And she quickly departs from the couple to find Zuko, who is locked in uproarious laughter with Sokka.

"I think we were just snubbed," Azula murmurs but Ty Lee ignores her, seizes her hand and takes her to the other side of the room, of course, to lock her in conversation with Suki, who looks upon Azula as kindly as Azula looked at her Water Tribe dinner.

After the ridiculous party that Azula struggles to coast through, she finds herself walking back towards Katara's house with Ty Lee. They clutch onto each other as Azula rolls her eyes and wishes she were in the Fire Nation.

"This may piss you off," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula cocks an eyebrow in response, "but I want to stop here for a minute."

"Seriously? You know, your water peasant fetish is really not sexy. If I was into that, I would fuck my brother," Azula says and Ty Lee tugs on her arm with a goofy grin that Azula finds to be the most desirable looking thing in the Southern Water Tribe.

With a sigh, the princess follows Ty Lee to the center square of the walled in miniature city. The lamps are different, the smell is distinctly different and the weather is very different from the Fire Nation. Azula loves her nation and they love her, madness and all. The Water Tribe and Zuko's friends are less forgiving.

"I want to build a snowman," Ty Lee says, sitting down. "We made them on Kyoshi Island."

"I have no idea how to build a snowman," Azula says, crossing her arms. She feels snow make its way into her tri-fingered glove and shudders. Cold and wet are two things Azula loathes being; if Mai were here she would be incredibly displeased.

"You're going to build a snowman with me, Azula," Ty Lee says, her eyes aflame like dark embers. Azula shakes her head regally, tilting her chin upwards towards the moon.

"Hey, Zuko, let's build a snowman," Katara's voice exclaims, tugging on her newlywed husband.

"Let's build a snowman, Ty Lee," Azula says, her competitive nature flicking on with a flash of her gilded eyes. She kneels beside Ty Lee, trying to ignore the wet snow freezing her knees.

"Is this a competition?" Zuko asks as Katara summons the snow into a large boulder with her bending.

"Yes," Azula snaps at her brother and he touches the snowball Katara has made awkwardly. "Waterbending is cheating, Peasant Princess."

"That's Fire Lady to you," Katara says and the snowball Azula is holding turns first to water, then to ice. She looks at it, deems it sharp enough to stab Katara to death, but then decides against it. "And bending is fair game."

"If you say so," Azula shrugs and Zuko breathes in through his teeth. If there are four words you never want to hear Azula say, it is those.

Azula and Katara have developed a level of competition that makes both Ty Lee and Zuko uncomfortable. Usually it manifests itself in harmless ways, and they constantly one each other up. The score almost always flattens because they are freakishly equally matched, which makes both unchallenged young women even more vehemently competitive. And Ty Lee and Zuko tend to get roped in more often than they would like.

Ty Lee is forming the body of the snowman as Katara is bending a perfectly round bottom. She delegates Zuko to busy work with a command that Azula finds hilarious. She definitely is the dominator in their relationship and it amuses Azula to no end. If Azula did have a perfect opposite, it would be Katara. After all, she is the only person capable of defeating Azula in combat. And the only person equally capable of flustering Zuko.

Azula shoves Ty Lee aside and drops the blade of ice she accidentally made. While Katara starts forming the second circle, the night is stained with a blue glow from Azula's flame.

"That isn't a snowman," Katara snaps with a small, self important laugh as Zuko smoothes a corner of their snowman's body.

"It's an ice sculpture," Azula purrs, guiding the water up as she finally figures out the timing between melting and freezing. It is a small margin for error and Zuko and Katara are making far more progress than her. But so help her, she will win. "Ty Lee..."

The couples are almost equally matched. Ty Lee feels at home amongst the snow and she and Azula have worked together long enough to be able to nonverbally communicate orders. But Katara is an expert at waterbending and Zuko has drive to push through mistakes, which Azula struggles with.

Azula's ice sculpture is coming to a close as she starts to work out the details, forming a blade and chiseling out pieces. Ty Lee helps her, dripping with sweat that turns cold on her skin as soon as her body produces it.

"We're done," Katara says smugly, crossing her arms.

"That is impressive," Ty Lee whispers, cringing and examining the chunks of ice stuck to her blue gloves.

Zuko breathes a sigh of relief. His chest is tight from a snowman building contest, more so than it is during assassination attempts or his morning training. Azula's eyes are fixated on the ice so smooth and crystalline that it reflects her form in it as the moonlight falls on her just right.

"We're done," Azula says finally, stepping back and crossing her arms.

Katara examines the ice sculpture and her lips part in surprise. It is a girl with her arms raised above her face, cowering from an unseen attack. At first Katara thinks the melt is unintentional, before she realized it is frozen to portray melting skin.

"That's horrifying," Zuko remarks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it is definitely the most disturbing snowman I've ever seen," Ty Lee remarks, squinting at it and catching her breath.

"You didn't say it had to be cheery." Azula shrugs with a small smirk.

Katara waves one hand and she and Zuko's snowman crumbles.

"Tomorrow. You. Me. Rematch. One on one." And she is gone, looking huffier than the day she tried to attack Azula with a glass of liquor and it lit her skirt on fire.

Azula breathes a sigh of bliss and presses her lips against Ty Lee's victoriously.

"You two are mean," Zuko laughs, rubbing his neck and dashing after his wife.

"That is a really scary snowman, Azula," Ty Lee remarks as the kiss breaks, studying it closely. "I'm going to have nightmares."

"I'll protect you from your horrible dreams about ice sculptures," Azula purrs, shifting her lips to Ty Lee's neck. Ty Lee moans faintly before realizing they are in public.

They abandon Azula's horrifying art project, and one of her victories against Katara, and head off to bed.