Loyalty was a funny thing. It could be fickle, it could be headstrong, but it was all up to the person that held it within their hands.

For the life of him, Chan could not understand Ty Lee's loyalty to Azula. He'd noticed that the trio stopped hanging out earlier in the year. They had all become more reclusive as the weeks had gone on and Chan found it quite odd.

Ty Lee was a cheerleader. A typical one in every sense. Outgoing, bubbly, and lovably airheaded. She even had the rack to match. She could do flips and tricks that no one else had even fathomed before. It was no wonder she caught the attention of a few guys from all the sports teams.

Locker room talk often consisted of them imagining all kinds of depraved, sexual situations involving her. Some were harder to stomach than others. But Chan was a teenaged boy - not far from a man - so while he didn't exactly join in on the perverted shenanigans, he did lend a listening ear.

The conversations filled him with an insatiable curiosity. Just who was this girl that could bend in every single angle and position at her own free will? Should he be interested in her as well?

It wasn't hard to find her. One look onto the football field and he spotted a girl with an extension far superseding the others in a scorpion pose. Ty Lee was a marvel to look at in action. He could see how the guys could become so obsessed with her. She had to be the eighth wonder of the world.

But Chan didn't find himself smitten with her. Sure, her athleticism was a marvelous feat in itself, but he didn't find her captivating. Just walking by as he watched and overheard the gaggle of cheerleaders speak with each other had ruined the fantasy he tried working up in his head. He thought she was kind of vapid. Nothing else passed her lips but talks of cute boys and new, shiny outfits. What the hell did he care about any of that? He couldn't imagine himself carrying a conversation with her. It would derail into awkward pauses of silence until they both found excuses to leave each others' presence.

Although he didn't like her, he did find her useful. He had seen her hanging out with Azula and a gloomy, dark-haired girl before. Azula had walked off - a bit peeved from what he gathered and Ty Lee looked sullen in her absence. The dark-haired girl pulled her off to the side and just from her body language alone, he could tell that the two friends were talking shit about her. Chan's lips curled over his teeth at the sight. It was just too easy.

He waited several weeks before he finally cornered her after one of her practice sessions. She hadn't recognized him at all. She commented that she hadn't seen him around campus once since she started here. He would use this to his advantage.

"Yeah, I hardly know anyone," he fibbed smoothly. He licked his lips preparing for another round of lies. "But I've seen you around a few times and decided to say hi."

"Oh…Hi!" Ty Lee squeaked, just as oblivious as the day she was born. As if they weren't standing a mere few inches apart, they waved frenetically at each other. Ty Lee - realizing her dunder - slapped her forehead and hid her face. "That was so dumb. Why'd I just wave at you?"

Chan laughed in good nature, keeping a cool ambiance for the game he was playing. "It's alright. I do stupid stuff all the time."

"Not as much as me I bet," she giggled.

Right, he snarked to himself. He backed away from the door and gestured down the long hall. "You wanna talk while we walk out. I think you're holding up traffic."

Ty Lee looked behind her to see a few of her teammates looking over her shoulder patiently. She scampered out of the doorway sheepishly and held the door as they walked out. Chan took note of the looks they threw her.

Their walk was silent. Aside from her chattering teammates in the background and the echoes of their shoes reverberating, neither party said a thing. It was only when they pushed the exit door and fully embraced the bitter cold awaiting them outside did either find the courage to speak.

"How come you never leave with your teammates?" Chan asked, feigning ignorance. He had to be slow in his approach or he'd scare her away. He watched the way her body tensed momentarily, the nervous way her hand reached for the back of her neck, the way her eyes darted in every direction but his.

Bingo, he chuckled darkly.

"You really have seen me around," she joked half-heartedly. Her eyes flicked from his to the gaggle of girls racing each other to a single car, heads thrown back in laughter. Her eyes wavered with a forlorn sense of longing. She averted her gaze remembering Chan was still there. Waiting.

"It's nothing really. Most of the girls on the team already know each other from other schools, teams, their parents, stuff like that y'know. I can't mosey my way into established friend groups like that. I take a lot of time to warm up to people."

"But not all of them did," Chan added. He knew it hurt. It was obvious in the way Ty Lee's shoulders drooped in response.

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

The lull in the conversation hung in the air threatening to choke them with the icy breeze that fluttered every now and again. Chan breathed into his gloved hands and shoved them in his pockets. This was harder than he expected. Why wasn't she spilling her guts yet?

"But you're fine aren't you? You hang with that girl on the volleyball team. What's her name again? Azalea? Annabeth?"

"Azula," Ty Lee huffed curtly.

Ding ding ding.

Chan hid his smirk behind his hand. "Yeah, Azula and that other girl with the buns."

"Mai. Azula and Mai. We used to hang out, but we don't anymore."

"Oh," Chan responded with just the right amount of shock and pity. He moved in closer to rest his hand on her shoulder. She flinched away from him, her face muddied with several emotions. "You all looked really close. Do you mind me asking if anything happened?"

"I do."

That was unexpected.

He watched - with rapt attention - as she held her belongings closer to herself and stormed off. His head tilted like that of a puppy's as he looked on in shock and bewilderment.

"I guess that's a sore spot for you! Sorry! I didn't know!" he shouted out to a rapidly shrinking figure. Chan shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed.

Maybe he didn't understand what loyalty was at all.

….

The days had swirled by all in one since Azula's breakdown.

Ruon Jian never thought he'd see the day. Sure, he had certainly hoped for it, but he'd never thought his fleeting daydreams would ever come to fruition. She had seemed so tough, so durable, so wrapped in her own web of unknown truths and hidden feelings that Ruon Jian imagined he wouldn't have cracked open a well before at least five years down the line in friendship.

He couldn't lie. He'd been on a high since that late afternoon. Neither party had spoken about the ramifications of the kiss - nor did he see either of them doing so. He also didn't try pushing things any further.

After they'd both gotten back in the car, they'd driven aimlessly in silence all over town. He was waiting for her to calm down. To be the first to open up this dam that he'd seen peeking around the bend for a long while. It finally came a half hour into the car ride.

"I don't know what your expectations are of me, but I hope they're not excessive. I really can't give you much of anything," Azula squeaked out in between tear-streaked hiccups.

Ruon Jian subtly slowed down and merged onto a less busy road. He scouted over the bright lights of the passing cars and traffic cars looking for a quiet place to park.

"I think you're a really ridiculous person. I wanted you out of my hair the first day you sat down next to me and you insisted. You even implied that I was poor. A charity case for you to project all your self-righteous feelings onto."

"I never thought of you as-"

"I know," she cut him off with her hand raised politely. Another tear dribbled down her cheek, hooked onto her chin, and fell onto her lap. She tried swiping it to no avail. It only dissolved into the cotton fabric of her uniform pants. "I know that now. I was…I was going to use you to get back at Chan. It's horrible to admit. I'm horrible, I know."

"Azula-"

"Please," she interrupted again. She squeezed her eyes shut as more tears slipped through. Her nails dug into her thighs.

Ruon Jian held tight to the steering wheel. He spotted a local diner and pulled into the parking lot. The car slowed to a stop as it settled into a parking spot.

"When we came back from one of our games earlier in the year and I told you what I planned to do to Chan, I thought you'd hate me. That you'd distance yourself. I would be alone again because I couldn't be…normal. I only know how to hurt people. It's why they all leave me sooner or later," she rambled. Azula didn't look up as she vomited a thousand words a minute. Ruon Jian settled into his seat and drank in her image.

"You could've yelled at me. Told me I was a bitch. Ran for the hills. But you told me…you told me that you didn't think I was a bad person," she choked through a sob that racked her entire body.

Her hands shot up to her face, both hiding her tears and trying to wipe them away. Ruon Jian lifted his arm cautiously, then reached over to rub her back. She seemed to calm down instantly. She wiped a few more tears and took a deep breath before looking deep into his eyes. Her face was a blotchy red, nose even redder, eyes bloodshot, and nose running.

His hand lowered to find her hand. She curled her fingers into his without hesitation. "You're the first person who's ever told me that."

Ruon Jian felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped onto him. His chest felt heavy and he could hardly breathe. He struggled to position his mouth to form words. He brought his other hand to grab her shaking hand, now embracing her completely. Azula closed her eyes and took a shaky breath.

"I'm not being hyperbolic either. My father really isn't a kind man. The rest of my family does little to make up for it. I don't know how to be any other way. This is me," she explained.

Ruon Jian remembered how she suddenly seemed naked to him at that moment. It was like they were only bodies at that moment. A connection waiting to find its cord.

"I don't want to promise you anything. I can't. I'm not even sure that I could actually be a friend to you, much less something more than that. But I want you to know…I like you. I really do."

….

Zuko was currently spending the weekend at Uncle Iroh's. He was a little bit more pissed than usual. His uncle had locked the trophy room and had even put up the most childish sign to boot.

'NO ZUKOS ALLOWED PAST THIS POINT'.

What the hell? Could his uncle be any more unserious?

Two weeks had gone by since he'd last visited his mother's house. He tried fighting that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of that day, but he just couldn't. As much as he hated to admit it, he was truly shaken. Zuko wasn't sure what to do with whatever it was that had happened. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know either.

In the meantime, he'd been spending more time with Lu Ten. Uncle Iroh had been rightfully upset since their spat. While he wasn't outright avoiding Zuko - he was a busy man after all - he also hadn't been going out of his way to entertain the boy. Coming to terms with the repercussions of his actions really depressed him, but he didn't linger on it for too long.

Today was another day that he spent with his older cousin. Lu Ten was in the kitchen standing over a stove with steam rising to his face. Zuko watched him from across the marble countertops, bored. His eye caught a marble sitting idle near a stack of envelopes. He reached out his pinky finger and watched it roll back and forth against the counter. Lu Ten caught a glimpse of him and smiled.

"Have you spoken to Azula lately?" Lu Ten asked, humming all the while stirring whatever contents sat in the pot.

Zuko almost choked on spit. The question had come out of left field.

"Pfft. No," he replied without hesitation.

Lu Ten - eyes fixed on the pot - frowned. "Why not?"

Zuko shrugged, not caring much about wherever this conversation was headed. "Why would I? She's not some innocent baby doll. I'm sure she's managing just fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She's Azula," Zuko snarked, irritation heavy in his tone.

Lu Ten sighed, shoulders dropping in tandem. He stopped stirring the pot, placed a lid over the steam, and met his younger cousin's eyes again.

"I know you have your reservations about your sister-"

"Hell yeah I do."

"And I know that you also look up to my father."

The teenaged boy quieted. He nodded his shyly in agreement. Curiosity furrowed his brow. "Yeah. I do."

"Well…I just think that you shouldn't follow him so blindly. He isn't always right about things, y'know."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll get it when you're older."