Chapter 12
Scratch scratch scratch.
It was pitch black outside, no moonlight to offer any assistance, but the bird found its target quite easily. Perched on a very narrow windowsill, it lifted its sharp talons again to rap against the glass.
Scratch scratch scratch.
Still no movement from inside the room. The hawk ruffled its feathers in impatience. Surely this person knew how important he was? The best and quickest hawk of the whole hospital aviary, here to deliver a special message. Its fluffy white chest puffed out in pride.
The night was silent as the grave, aside from the hawk's attempts to rouse its target. No people or animals were awake at this hour.
Spreading its wings and flapping them to shake out a little flying cramp, the hawk paced along the windowsill. Using its talons hadn't worked yet, so the bird decided to employ a more abrupt method of waking someone.
SCREEEEEECH.
A piercing call rang through the silence. The bird bobbed its head up and down at the magnificent sound it created. Best hawk for sure. It saw a light flicker on inside and heard uneven footsteps approach. Quickly it hopped to one side, so the human could open the window.
Barely awake, a woman with long chestnut brown hair poked her head outside. Yawning, she let the anxious hawk hop towards her. Ty Lee's eyes blinked a little faster as she realized where the bird was from. She snatched the letter from the leather pouch on the bird's back and watched as it took flight and disappeared into the darkness within a few seconds. A job well done.
She shut the window, cutting off the cool breeze that tumbled through it. Clutching the letter tightly in her hand, Ty Lee sat on her bed near the dim light and tore the sealed hospital letter open. She read apprehensively:
Lady Ty Lee,
I will preface this by saying: do not worry, Azula is okay. However, I wanted you to know that there was a serious accident here tonight. She injured her leg badly as a result of unintentional lightning generation. I am hoping a visit from you at your nearest convenience would help comfort her.
I can tell you more concerning this situation upon your arrival. We will be in the patient care room, a few doors down from my office on the ground floor. Azula will have a healing session in the afternoon, she should be conscious by then.
If you could, please refrain from telling the Fire Lord about this for now.
Dr. Kai Liu
Ty Lee reread the letter two more times before slouching on her bed. Unconscious from lightning generation?! How could she use lightning when her fire is so weak down there?
She was now awake enough at 3am and completely lacking a way to get to the hospital. The ferry wouldn't run for several more hours, it was way too far to walk, and she didn't own a boat or an animal to get her there quicker.
After turning several unlikely ideas over in her head, Ty Lee decided the only thing she could really do was wait until morning. She perused the letter a few more times and nodded to herself, knowing that it was the right decision. Azula was probably still unconscious anyways and Ty Lee would have to stop by the boutique to say she wouldn't be able to work.
Breathing deeply to calm down, Ty Lee stood and placed the letter on her nightstand. She flopped back onto her bed, facedown, thoughts swirling in her head about the princess. Azula… What happened?
She must have been sleepier than she thought, for within a few minutes of stuffing her face into the cushy pink pillow, and despite thinking about Azula, she drifted off.
What felt like moments later, Ty Lee awoke to a few scattered sunrays beaming across her face. I could have sworn I shut the curtains last night—
She bolted upright. The hawk! Azula! She had to go!
She quickly shook off her pajamas and grabbed a pair of pants, a shirt, a jacket, and jogged out her front door. If she got hungry, she would just request some food at the hospital, Dr. Liu probably wouldn't mind.
Ty Lee ran down the streets, shouting a few apologies to the people she accidentally bumped into. She arrived at the store within minutes, clambering through the door as the little bell on it clanged loudly. The older woman Ty Lee worked for was in the back of the shop, preparing to lay out some new merchandise for the day. Seeing that her employee was in such disarray so early, she kindly agreed to let Ty Lee take the day off.
Docks next. Ty Lee caught her breath outside in the morning sun and then continued on her race to the ferry. She had to get there early enough to catch the first one, otherwise she would be stranded in the capital for at least another hour.
Luckily there was nothing to worry about. The ferry was there, tied to the little dock and a few people were already queuing up to board. Ty Lee joined this line and waited. She was the picture of anxiety: jittery fingers drumming across her folded arms, chewing her bottom lip incessantly, her foot tapping a steady rhythm into the ground. She glanced all around her, looking at nothing in particular, thinking only of what she might find once she arrived at the facility.
Dr. Liu said Azula was alright. So, that must mean there wasn't any serious damage from the shock, right? Or was it really bad and he was just waiting to break the news in person? She couldn't be in any worse of a state than when Ty Lee found her nearly frozen that one day. Unless Azula had managed to blast one of her arms off or something.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. Nope, don't think like that. If he said she was okay, then she must be okay and that's all that matters. Once I get there, I can worry more.
The man that operated the ferry unhooked the bright yellow chain barring people from entering and slowly the little carrier filled with people. Ty Lee hadn't seen the ferry so packed before. She filed in and stole away to a corner of the boat, not in the mood to chat with strangers. Her concern for Azula's condition was paramount to any other feelings. Distantly, her mind made a note of this. She was quickly treading into dangerous waters with the princess. Dangerous, enticing, scary waters.
With a jolt, the ferry pushed off from the docks and they were on their way. Just twenty minutes and I'll be there. Everything is fine.
A cold mass of air rushed at Ty Lee, chilling her to the bone. She turned her back to the wind and waited out the rest of the ride hunched over, clutching her sides.
Finally, the ferry docked at the little port by the hospital and Ty Lee again started on a jog towards the building. She cut the time it normally took to get there in half and passed the security points, rushing through the front door, past a bewildered secretary, and down the hall to the patient care room where Dr. Liu said they would be.
She burst through the door and found the doctor standing by a bed at the rear of the otherwise empty room. Ty Lee, chest heaving from the run and a cramp stabbing her left side, approached him. Trying not to sound overly worried, she greeted the man and focused her eyes on the princess.
Azula looked… fine. Ty Lee was a little surprised to see how normal she appeared. She was sleeping, covered in a fleecy white blanket and looking utterly relaxed. The doctor, on the other hand, appeared not to have slept.
"Lady Ty Lee, I'm glad you could make it."
"What happened to her?"
The doctor gestured to a chair near Azula's bed and Ty Lee took a seat, tossing her jacket over it, while he fetched another one from a neighboring bed. He drew the curtains around the three of them so they could speak privately.
"Well, as I said in the letter, Azula was able to conjure lightning in her cell late last night. Our healer doesn't think she was hit directly from the blast, but her leg did suffer more severe injuries from being in contact with the metal floor when the lightning struck. The wounds are okay!" he quickly added at a look from Ty Lee. "But they are still serious. We must keep a close eye on her for the time being. I've taken the liberty of making a few changes to her cell downstairs, where she'll still be kept. But it hopefully will be less conductive after today."
Ty Lee looked at him relieved, but with a thousand questions blossoming in her mind, "How did she do this? I knew she could bend down there, but it was just a tiny little orange flame. How could she make lightning?"
Dr. Liu shook his head, clearly as baffled as she was, "I'm not sure. That's something I'd like to ask her once she wakes up." He looked down at Azula, "Hopefully that will be soon. The painkillers we gave her last night will probably wear off shortly and I need her as alert as possible for my questions."
"Do you know why she might do this? She-she wasn't trying to kill herself, was she?" That particular thought had been at the forefront of Ty Lee's mind since the early morning. She would never do something like that. But she's been stuck here for so long… maybe the hopelessness finally got to her.
"I don't believe so," he looked hesitantly at Ty Lee. "She mentioned her father before she lost consciousness yesterday. I think she may have hallucinated his presence and been attacked by him. But we all know Ozai was not in the cell last night, so we can conclude it was Azula that conjured the lightning, unknowingly using it against her very self."
Oh how awful. Being attacked by your own hallucinations sounded terrifying. Ty Lee stared at Azula and put her hand over the princess's.
"You love her, don't you?" Dr. Liu's voice was gentle as he asked the question.
She didn't avert her gaze from the princess, but felt a tiny flush cover her cheeks for a moment, "I think so. I think I have for a while."
"I'm glad to hear that. Azula has so few people fighting in her corner," he looked sadly at the two of them.
They sat quietly for a few moments. But soon the doctor's last comment sparked a question from Ty Lee. She turned to look at his somber expression, "Why didn't you want me to say anything to Zuko?"
He pressed a finger to his chin, "To be frank, I don't believe the Fire Lord currently has his sister's best interest in mind. I certainly haven't helped the situation by following all of his orders, but what choice did I have? I could not disobey my Fire Lord and risk them replacing me with another doctor, one who knows nothing about Azula's tendencies. Or worse, one who wishes to harm her." He paused, "But I am doing something now. It is perhaps a breach of orders, but I believe the Fire Lord would only tighten the security on his sister after this incident. He may suggest more flagrantly unfair treatments. I've told him many times that these won't help her. And so I decided to contact you instead, I think you may be a good chance for Azula's recovery."
Ty Lee was saddened to hear the doctor's opinions about Zuko, though she had been thinking similar things recently. She desperately hoped he would come around, start visiting his sister again, try to mend the shreds of their relationship. But she was not confident that would happen soon. And she definitely knew Azula wouldn't be keen on such a thing anyways.
"Will you be okay watching over her? I have some other patients to attend to, but will return for her healing session this afternoon. She's been stable all night, but if something happens, our healer Minah's office is just across the hall."
Ty Lee nodded and Dr. Liu walked out of the little room, down the hallway.
She sat next to Azula in silence, putting her face in her hands and losing herself in thoughts of how everything used to be and how it all was now. What she wouldn't give to go back and relive the days of chasing the Avatar with her two best friends. Sure it wasn't glamorous like capital life, and Azula was… challenging and mean and cold, she touched the spot on her wrist where a burn had been weeks earlier, but those days were still fun. Nothing was as complicated as it was now and—
"Finally, I thought he'd never leave."
Ty Lee launched herself off of her chair and squealed in terror. She clapped a hand over her mouth and looked down incredulously at Azula, a perfectly awake and conscious Azula. Eyeing the hallway, Ty Lee was relieved to find no one approaching, and she quickly crossed the room to shut the door. She returned to Azula's side and pulled the curtains around them again, before settling gently next to her on the edge of the bed.
"You were awake this whole time?!"
Azula looked positively amused. Her mouth curled into a small grin, "No. Just long enough to hear about my dear brother's lack of concern for me."
Ty Lee was relieved Azula had missed her little love admission. She lightly batted the princess on the shoulder, "Ugh, you almost gave me a heart attack! How are you feeling? Spirits, Azula, what happened?"
Azula tossed the blanket off of her left side and Ty Lee finally saw the extensive bandaging that wrapped its way up her entire left leg. The princess quickly tore at the gauze, wanting to see the damage, but Ty Lee grabbed her wrists to stop her.
"Don't! Dr. Liu said you have to be really careful about it." She frowned, "Hey, answer my questions!"
"My leg hurts. It's like my nerves are on fire. Last night I was…" she stared blankly down at her leg and whispered almost to herself, "No, that can't be right."
"Don't you, um, remember what happened?" Ty Lee asked carefully.
Azula's eyes were distant, replaying something Ty Lee could not see. Her brow was furrowed in an odd mix of concentration and confusion, a trait not often seen on her face, "It doesn't make any sense. What did Kai say happened?"
Ty Lee saw Azula's eyes flick her way. She wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to tell her Dr. Liu's theory, but then again, maybe it would be better coming from her than from the doctor.
"You imagined your father attacking you, but really you just hit yourself with lightning in your cell."
The princess's eyes narrowed, "How could I do that? I can't even bend my regular fire down there, let alone lightni—" She trailed off suddenly. After a moment she spoke slowly, as if trying to make herself understand, "Father wasn't there. He was a hallucination. Obviously he wasn't there. So it must have been me that conjured the lightning. But he was attacking me. He choked me."
Azula pulled her hair over one of her shoulders, raised her hand to her shoulder and tugged her shirt away from her neck. Ty Lee gasped as she saw the bright purple marks.
"Dr. Liu didn't mention those."
Azula mimed a choking motion, her fingers aligning perfectly with the bruises already planted there. Again she spoke, half to herself, "So I did that too. But why wouldn't he go away? Why was that one so real?" She looked up in horror at Ty Lee, realizing what she was mumbling out loud.
"I-I don't know, Azula. I think if you tell Dr. Liu, he can help you with uh, managing them," Ty Lee slowly lowered Azula's hand from her neck. "We want to help you, you know."
The princess huffed, withdrawing her hand from Ty Lee's and crossing her arms. She closed her eyes and sat for several moments, thinking. Soon, her mouth twitched into a smirk. When she opened her eyes again, she was a completely different person. Golden irises were bright and she wore an expression of gleeful disbelief instead of the defeated one that graced her features a moment before.
"I generated lightning. That far underground, lightning!" she let out an unrestrained cackle.
Ty Lee rolled her eyes. Of course she doesn't want to face the way too real hallucination she had, instead she focuses on the impossible thing she accomplished.
Azula flexed her hands, "I still have my skills, they've just been buried for so long. And I would never have thought to try and conjure lightning. The cell is made of metal and I'm not an idiot. This is… perfect." Her eyes sparkled brilliantly, heart racing with excitement. Ty Lee gaped at her.
"Shouldn't you be more worried that you did it on accident? Like, you didn't even mean to do it! You thought your father did it! You won't try and do it again, right? Oh, Azula, please don't try to do it again. You were really lucky that you weren't hurt way worse—"
She was cut off by a pair of perfect lips against hers.
"Shut up. Don't ruin this for me," Azula snapped before kissing her again. She dragged the woman closer to her on the bed, one hand twisting itself in Ty Lee's braid. Gently she pulled and Ty Lee's head tilted back a bit. Azula attacked her throat, nipping at all of the places she knew would elicit sweet sounds from the woman.
She wasn't disappointed. Ty Lee's breath hitched at the sudden sensation of Azula's mouth traveling along the delicate skin of her neck and she whimpered quietly. During their recent brief activities in Azula's cell, the princess had always been restrained, so Ty Lee was the bold one. But now, Azula's arms were free to roam about the former acrobat's body.
"Ooh, Azula, we should t-take it easy with you injured," Ty Lee only spoke the words to try and convince herself. But she recognized that they were completely alone for the first time in forever, with no time restraint, and no physical restraints.
The princess purred into her neck, "I really don't think so." She released Ty Lee's braid and moved her hands down the woman's sides, feeling the outline of her body.
Ty Lee felt the princess's hands toy with the hem of her shirt. Azula's breath was scorching on her neck, her shoulder, her jaw, her lips. She was not surprised to feel the air of the room touch her bare stomach as Azula lifted the shirt over her head.
"We shouldn't do this here, someone could walk in. The-the healer or Dr. Liu," Ty Lee was finding it hard to make up reasons to stop while Azula's mouth licked down to the swell of her breasts.
The princess paused, nipping her way up Ty Lee's neck. She clutched the girl's face in her hand and pressed her mouth against Ty Lee's ear. Azula tugged at the lobe with her teeth, whispering hotly, "Do you want me to stop?"
Ty Lee's eyes were closed, "No."
"Good."
After her second feeble attempt to get Azula to slow down, Ty Lee stopped and gave in to desire.
Azula returned to pay attention to Ty Lee's ample chest. She was wearing a white bra with lacy pink details. The princess refrained from rolling her eyes at the color choice and instead focused on tugging down the obstructing material. Ty Lee stifled her moan at the feel of Azula's mouth enclosing around her nipple. She tossed her head back, long braid swishing against her spine.
Ty Lee lifted a hand to curve around the back of Azula's head, encouraging her actions. Oh Agni, I've missed this. She'd gone more than four years without Azula's touch.
The princess switched to the other nipple, palming the soft flesh with one hand as the other slid over the toned contours of Ty Lee's stomach, lower, and lower until…
"Ohh," Ty Lee managed to breathe out when the princess's hand started rubbing a particularly sensitive area. She pulled Azula's head away from her chest and messily kissed her, sucking at her bottom lip. A little moan broke the kiss and Ty Lee looked at Azula. She was staring back with darkened eyes, need clearly written across her face.
Suddenly Ty Lee was struck with a thought: it had been greater than four years since she'd been touched by Azula, but she'd still seen some action. Azula, on the other hand, hadn't been touched by anyone in that time. Ty Lee thought she was overdue for some fun.
She crawled atop the princess on the narrow little bed. Azula's left leg was bandaged so heavily that she could not bend it, and it lay flat on the mattress. Her other leg was bent at the knee and Ty Lee gently spread it wider to accommodate her body.
She kissed Azula again, long and slow, trying to communicate everything she had never said out loud to the princess. I'm sorry how this all ended up. It kills me that you're in here. I probably love you. Ty Lee placed feather light kisses along the bruises of Azula's neck, as if that would somehow miraculously heal them. She ran her hand from Azula's cheek, across her chest, past her protruding hip bones, pushing up the hem of the light shift she wore, to explore the apex of her thighs.
Azula closed her eyes at the contact and gently moved her hips while Ty Lee applied more pressure. They kissed, Azula's breaths coming in slightly shorter intervals than before. Ty Lee was dying to hear any vocal reaction from Azula. It was always one of her personal challenges to set free a magnificent groan from the normally carefully controlled and composed woman.
Before Azula had time to realize what was about to happen, Ty Lee dipped her hand beneath the waistband of Azula's underwear. She found the princess slick and wanting. A brief thought about Mai crashed through her mind, but she quickly suppressed it. Not now. Not now.
Azula leaned back into her pillow, back arching slightly. Ty Lee slid her fingers along Azula's center and slowly pushed one digit inside.
Both of them exhaled at the action. Ty Lee found that even with only one finger, Azula was tight. A shiver spread down her spine while she sped up her pace, moving in and out. She could feel her own desire pooling in her abdomen, but she could wait. Right now, Azula needed this more than she did.
Ty Lee continued her motions below and resumed kissing and licking the princess's jawline and collarbone. She was careful not to be too rough, the bruising that circled Azula's neck looked awfully sore. But if Azula was in any discomfort from neck or leg pain, she was not showing it. Her eyes were shut, brow crinkled in rising pleasure. Her hair splayed out on the pillow. So beautiful. Ty Lee pulled back to watch her. Azula's hips still ground in a steady, but quickening rhythm.
The former acrobat knew she needed release and quickly shifted her fingers from curling inside of the princess, to circling her clit. Azula's response was immediate. Her hips bucked upwards and her mouth fell slightly open in a hastened sigh. Ty Lee captured her lips and Azula weakly kissed her back through her shallow breaths. Soon, whimpers were regularly escaping Azula's mouth and Ty Lee moved faster.
Within a minute or two of the increased pace, Azula's back arched, her hips twitched wildly, and Ty Lee finally heard the sound she was craving. Azula produced a low, quiet moan that flamed Ty Lee's arousal. Their eyes locked as the princess was coaxed down from her high. Ty Lee leaned down to kiss Azula again, feeling her hips jolt in erratic aftershocks as she removed her hand from its position.
For a few moments afterwards, Ty Lee gently toyed with Azula's long, dark hair, brushing it away from her face and placing light kisses on the top of her head.
She lay down next to Azula, uncertain of how this most recent coupling affected their super-complicated-barely-hanging-on relationship. It was way too soon to ask her about it, so for now Ty Lee just enjoyed lying next to the princess, savoring the little feeling of pride that she could get Princess Azula to shake and moan.
After her breathing slowed, Azula turned her half-closed eyes to look at Ty Lee. Her face looked conflicted and she wondered what the princess was thinking. Leaning forward, Ty Lee kissed her softly again.
Azula blinked slowly, "The shampoo is... I... like it."
Ty Lee couldn't help breaking out into a giggle and quickly put her hand over her mouth at Azula's annoyed expression. She knew that was probably an attempt to say thank you and that it took a lot to say it. So Ty Lee ignored how ridiculous it sounded and scooched closer, tracing little circles on Azula's shoulder.
"You're welcome. I thought you would like the scent, it's very princess-y. But it took me forever to pick out. You should have seen this place, it was gorgeous! They had like a thousand different perfumes and shampoos and nail polishes," Ty Lee rambled for a solid five minutes about the amazing new spa she visited to purchase the shampoo. The princess surprisingly had no abrasive retorts to offer. She lay next to Ty Lee, just watching her without speaking.
After the shampoo selection retelling, the two fell into a comfortable silence. Ty Lee brushed her thumb over Azula's cheek and stared into a golden abyss.
"You gotta stop scaring me like this."
Azula looked away, uncomfortable, but she didn't push Ty Lee out of her space, "You scare too easily. I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You struck yourself with lightning. You burn yourself. And they freeze you," Ty Lee was concerned. "I worry about you all the time. I'm scared I'll get a letter one day saying you went too far."
Azula snorted, "That won't happen. I'm not stupid."
"Of course you aren't, but… last night could have been really bad. What if you took the full force of the blast? It was an accident, and you didn't realize you were doing it, but that's what makes me the most nervous," Ty Lee turned Azula's face back towards her. "I don't want to lose you for good. Dr. Liu can help you with this stuff more than I can."
Azula stiffened under Ty Lee's touch, "I'm not going to share my feelings with some peasant doctor."
"He just wants to help you get better. Don't you want to get better?"
The princess thought. A life without vicious hallucinations and realistic nightmares wouldn't be a bad thing. But the price at which that might come was steep. Communicating her innermost feelings to someone working directly at her brother's hand? Foolish. Besides, she didn't even know what her innermost feelings were half the time. And who knew if cooperating would really keep these occurrences at bay? Or for how long?
"Please, won't you just maybe try a tiny bit with him?" Ty Lee's eyes plead at her. Azula was disheartened to find how much she wanted to give in.
"I am not talking to him about feelings. I will only talk about what I hallucinate."
Ty Lee pouted, "Well I guess that's okay." She changed the subject quickly, not wanting Azula to get too angry. "You've got a healing session soon, I think. Do you want me to stay for it? Or I could go find some lunch, I haven't eaten yet."
Azula placed a hand on her stomach, "I'm hungry, bring some food back."
Ty Lee smiled and pecked Azula's cheek, "Okay, I dunno where the kitchen is. Hopefully I can find a guard, there's only like two up here!" She sat up, pulling her shirt on.
Azula absorbed that tidbit of information quickly. She lay on her bed and watched as Ty Lee bounded away to find food.
A/N: Congratulations! You've found one of the elusive M chapters in this fic :P Have a good weekend, readers!