(Theme Ninety-Four) Elope With Me
(As Prompted By) ThisUnitHasNoSoul
Once upon a time, the circus came to Caldera.
Ty Lee was in hot water with her family, and she was thirteen, and she was stupid, and she just wanted to belong so badly.
When the circus left town, Ty Lee disappeared with them.
She told Azula why: it was her calling. Azula didn't stop her. Later, Azula decided she should have stopped her.
Ty Lee knows that feeling. The remorse that comes with allowing someone you love – someone you need – to walk away without even trying to keep them. She does not know what she could have or should have done to stop Azula from vanishing, but she never stops reliving a thousand last moments that could have gone differently.
She has lost all hope of seeing Azula again after only a year, but hoping had been hurting her soul.
Therefore, being close enough to touch her feels like a trance. Like some invisible music is blanketing both of them, sealing two young women away from the rest of the world.
"You should have realized by now that lying is an inherited trait. My brother just won't openly admit it," she is saying, but Ty Lee cannot comprehend a single word.
The shock recedes enough for Ty Lee to say softly, "Why are you here?"
Azula looks her up and down.
"I have plans for my future and, while I am capable of toppling empires, I can't do them alone. My options are severely limited," Azula says, examining her fingernails. Ty Lee feels sickened by that same old act that she always falls for, Azula making her feel infinitesimally small with only a single motion. "Join me for one last mission."
"What-what do you wanna do?" Ty Lee asks and Azula responds with a smirk. "You're not gonna tell me, are you? This is one of those stupid tests of faith that only insecure people do."
"I am not insecure. I am just not telling someone with a history of betraying me any of my schemes before I know if you're serious or not," Azula replies contemptuously, as if Ty Lee asking was a grave transgression.
Ty Lee sighs and sits down. "I'm not as dumb as I look."
"Do you still love me?" Azula demands.
"That's super unrelated." Ty Lee's mouth is too dry. Her lips ache. She doesn't know what to do when every fiber of her being wants to say yes yes yes. But Ty Lee is older, wiser and keeps her mouth shut.
"No, it's not. Read my note." Azula rummages around in the black leather bag she had draped over her shoulder when she invited herself into Ty Lee's bedroom via the ajar window. She pulls out wadded up parchment and hands it to her old flame.
"You assumed I would agree to come with you. Seriously?" Ty Lee snatches it out of Azula's hand. But when she opens it and reads it she melts. She cannot keep herself from blushing nor stop her heart from racing. "Wait-wait is this a lie or…?"
"I intend to do it. Of course, the note is really just to give you an alibi of a girl so madly in love that she would to something stupid like running off to marry me," Azula says and she is looking Ty Lee directly in the eyes. That does not happen often and, Agni, is it chilling.
"Do you have a proposal planned?" Ty Lee gently sets down the folded parchment.
"No. But I can do one." Azula turns a palm up and thinks for two seconds. "Do you remember when you vanished with the circus? You went to talk to me first. I was the only person, as far as I know, and I thought you were telling me. You were asking me and I should have said no. I wanted you to stay and I don't know why I let you leave."
Ty Lee's blood runs cold. There is no way Azula could know how she feels, how she ruminates incessantly about never trying to stop Azula from walking out of her life. Or, well, vanishing from it.
"You actually mean that," Ty Lee remarks, incredulous, and Azula nods. "You actually mean that."
"How bad could one last adventure hurt? If you say no I will be forced to kidnap you and marry you against your will so this is an excellent opportunity for you to agree."
Ty Lee rubs her face. "I knew you would say that."
"And…?" Azula crosses her arms and Ty Lee sighs loudly.
"Let me pack."
Azula smirks, but it fades when she realizes how much she wanted this.
She thinks she might have always been the one madly in love enough to do something stupid like risking her freedom to be free with Ty Lee.
[to be continued]
