(Theme Fifty-Seven) "Chandelier" - Sia

(As Prompted By) n7raincoat

The adrenaline rush surges through Azula brilliantly, vibrantly and passionately as she runs through the backstreets of Ember Island with Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko. She has just possibly had the most fun in her life and she feels utterly thrilled. It certainly makes up for the disgusting amount of talking about feelings she witnessed beforehand.

She tries her best not to look at Ty Lee. Tries to avoid the fact that this vacation has only made her feelings for that circus freak stronger, and she fears they will broil over at any moment. Mai and Zuko are not helpful in the slightest at distracting Azula, seeing as they are constantly at it like eel hounds.

What Azula would give to be at it with Ty Lee like eel hounds...

Electric eel hounds perhaps...

"That was pretty much the most fun thing I've ever done," Mai admits openly as she dashes across the sandy street, Zuko pulling on her arm so hard she thinks it may snap off.

"Mai thought something was fun?" Azula chimes in, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they are not being followed.

"I liked the part where he cried and pleaded!" Ty Lee shrieks from behind before she seizes Azula's arm to catch up. Ty Lee catches a blush on Azula's cheeks when she grabs her and she lets her heart escalate before remembering that there is no way Azula is interested in her.

They make it to the private beach by Lo and Li's house and stop for a moment to catch their breath. Azula glances at Ty Lee and then at her feet, feeling immensely awkward. Tonight is strange. Tonight is very strange.

"Let's break out the liquor and get wasted on the beach," is Ty Lee's bright eyed suggestion, and no one is arguing, although Azula is not quite one for drinking.

They do, somehow. Azula sits in the cold of the beach as Zuko starts up another fire and she realizes they are passing a bottle around of white liquor, like some kind of peasant teenagers or street urchins. It makes Azula feel uncomfortable, and she hates herself for it.

Ty Lee sips from it, screws up her face for a moment, and presses it into Azula's hands. Azula again struggles against the sensual sensation of Ty Lee's fingertips against hers. But, if anything, today proved that Ty Lee wants things to be platonic. That Ty Lee likes boys and make-up and not the princess. At least not in the same way Azula likes her.

Azula sips the liquor and it burns in an oddly pleasant way. She has never drank before because it was not conducive to her father turning her into a weapon. But she winds up liking it. It feels impossible to get hurt as she imbibes herself with more and more, listening and joking and messing with these three idiots.

They are united as friends again for the first time in a long time, and even to Azula it feels good. She only wishes she could be united with Ty Lee in the way she daydreams of so often.

In the blur of alcohol, Mai suddenly makes a remark that shifts the night for Azula. "You know, I don't know why you guys don't just get together," she slurs and Zuko tenses. "You both obviously love each other. Go on, make out. Please. For me. Make out. We're drunk on a beach, go ahead."

Azula just blinks. Ty Lee swallows, feeling nervous, unsure what to say. Because she likes Azula, Agni, she loves Azula, but she is terrified that Azula does not reciprocate.

But Ty Lee feels bold. She feels like she cannot get hurt so she leans forward and before Azula can react, she presses her lips against Azula's. They taste like bonfire and liquor and Azula finds herself liking it. So maybe it is Azula's first kiss and it probably should not be like this, this gross and sandy and drunk.

It is wonderful, though. Beyond wonderful.

In the morning, Azula has never woken up feeling so terrible. She cannot remember how she got back to her bedroom, and the sun is making her want to stab her eyes out instead of breathe in and do firebending exercises. Her mouth tastes like death incarnate.

She closes her eyes for a moment and tries to think about how she got back inside from the beach drinking Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee roped her into after destroying that poor kid's house and desecrating Fire Family memorabilia.

And then she looks to her side, and finds that she is not alone in bed. But she is not naked, which leads her to believe that she hopefully did not drunkenly lose her virginity to the girl she has had a crush on since she first hit puberty.

"Azula...?" murmurs Ty Lee, half asleep. "Ugh. Azula?"

"What did we do last night?" Azula demands, lying down to be close to her. She still smells like a distillery.

"Nothing. You didn't want to..." Ty Lee mumbles and Azula has to give her drunken self points for not caving in so easily to all of her rampant sexual desires. "Azula, I'm in love with you and I wanted you to be jealous. I'm a horrible person. And I really didn't want it to work out with you and a guy at all. But that's probably what you want anyway and I was so stupid for thinking that maybe you were jealous of them getting me instead of me getting them..."

She makes a pained expression Azula has rarely seen on Ty Lee's usually happy face. Azula lies down closer to her, trying to summon courage and keep down vomit.

"I didn't think you liked me back," Azula murmurs, trying not to sound excited. She has to play this off as casual and powerful, has to.

"You like me?" Ty Lee's eyes suddenly open, despite the pain of the sunlight against them.

"I do. And it kind of took seeing you with horny men to make me really... realize it," Azula says, struggling with the words.

Ty Lee kisses Azula fiercely on the mouth, and it is not the drunken jump of a party girl. It is tender, it is intense, and it means to claim Azula as hers.

And Azula, to her surprise, is quite okay with that.