Chapter 13
Alone with her thoughts, Azula reached out to pull the gap in the curtains shut and sat back against her pillow. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time after that little escapade with Ty Lee. Unfortunately, her mind was making it difficult to remain that way for long.
I shouldn't have done that. I need to stay distanced from her. It's wrong. She betrayed me. I can't forgive her just because of temporary physical relief.
It's tempting though. She brings me nice things and seems to want to help. But how can I trust her ever again? I can't. She could be playing her own games. I can't forget what she did.
She closed her eyes, conflicted. Stupid Ty Lee and her convincing charm. Nothing but inner turmoil would come from that endless thought cycle, so Azula switched her focus to the more delightful discovery of the day: lightning.
She was still shaken from the experience last night, but felt elated about the lightning. Now that she was alone, on the ground floor, in a fairly warm room, Azula quickly bent a flame to test her abilities.
Delicious warmth coursed through her veins and a calmly flickering flame blossomed to life in her palm. A blue flickering flame. Azula felt relief as a weight lifted from her mind. She still had it. She hadn't known how terrified she was at the thought of losing her bending signature. Sitting in the bed, she stared at the dancing blue light for several minutes. It reawakened an old sense of pride and confidence in her abilities that she hadn't felt in years.
But now… she quelled the flame. Her heart beat quickly in anticipation for this next test. Lightning was all about energy and a clear mind. In the past it came naturally to her, somehow even during the comet, and apparently it came naturally during undesired times as well.
She took a breath to calm herself. Mind blank. Eyes open, focused. She felt the positive and negative energies separate. And when they rejoined, she saw the sparks emit from her fingertips.
Azula grinned madly. She played with the small but dangerous current, glancing around for a place to shoot it. Eventually she released the little bolt at the exposed corner of her bedframe. It sizzled and sparked, but did not erupt in flame.
Again she leaned back against her pillow, conjuring the cerulean warmth in her palm. Lightning generation was primarily about separation and reunion of yin and yang. Fire power was clearly influenced by temperature and obviously one's breathing, which was why she was so weak in the cooler. But the energies of yin and yang were always present, be it in the palace courtyard on a bright day, or a cold cell six floors underground. Azula was certain that was why she was able to conjure such a blast under those conditions.
This was a magnificent discovery. If they allowed her back in her old cell and the iron bars showed signs of weakening, Azula was confident she could break them with a well-placed lightning strike. Her ludicrous scheme was looking more plausible with each day. She only had to make sure she continued eating and training. And to somehow keep hallucinations away.
She brought her flameless hand up to gently touch her neck. Perhaps Kai could offer some remedy to keeping them away. She regrettably hadn't been able to do anything on her own. If it improved her chances of escaping this place, then maybe she should try. No matter how much it made her stomach churn. Trust is for fools.
The curtain around her bed was pulled open suddenly and Azula quickly put out the fire in her hand. Ty Lee was too focused on setting down a tray towering with food to notice the action.
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just asked for some of everything!" she smiled happily.
Azula eyed the stack of plates and bowls, "I said I was hungry, not that I wanted to eat the entire kitchen."
"Yeah, yeah, but you're so thin, I think you could use a big meal," grinning, she sat next to Azula again and rapidly pointed at all of the various dishes she had ordered.
"This one's just plain rice. This one is spicy rice and flame roasted komodo chicken. This is a bunch of vegetables, green beans and cabbage and carrots and peas. This is bread. There's a little spicy pepper dipping sauce, it's really hot though so maybe don't eat that. There's water and tea. This is some weird cold soup, but you can always heat it up if you want, you know, 'cause you're a firebender."
Azula was staring at Ty Lee as she listed the food and couldn't help a slight scoff at that obvious comment, "Oh I am? I had no idea. Better alert the guards, I don't think they knew they were dealing with a firebender."
Ty Lee scrunched her nose up and put her hands on her hips in mock anger, "Don't be rude. I just brought you enough food for like three days."
The princess rolled her eyes, "Yes, I can see that." She reached out to take a pair of chopsticks and begin nibbling away at some rice, but Ty Lee caught her wrist. Azula raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"No 'thank you'? I came all the way out here to make sure you were still alive, I gave you a pleasurable little present this time," she smiled as Azula shifted uncomfortably, "and I brought you a pile of food. I think I deserve a thank you." She tilted her head and pouted.
Azula glared at her. Her tongue was holding back a thousand retorts, including the thank you that Ty Lee wanted for whatever reason. She clenched her jaw and instead of saying anything, briefly kissed the girl in front of her. Ty Lee momentarily froze. Kisses from the princess always left her a little shell-shocked. Azula seized the opportunity and yanked her wrist back, clutching the chopsticks. She grabbed the bowl of rice and meat and started eating before the other woman could steal it away.
Ty Lee pouted again at Azula's diversionary tactics and took up the second pair of chopsticks to pick at some of the yummy looking food. They ate with Ty Lee inserting comments into the silence about the meal and whatever else came to mind.
Azula admittedly was not paying much attention. She was still thinking about the lightning and what happened last night. Her eyes grew distant as she mindlessly chewed whatever new dish she selected. When Ty Lee shook her shoulder after a few moments, Azula looked up and found Kai, and who she assumed to be the healer, standing at the foot of her bed.
"It's good to see you're awake and responsive. With an appetite too," Kai's mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he held back. "Minah is here to examine your leg and provide another session of treatment. Would you mind, uh," he gestured to the stack of dishes on the tray in her lap. Azula didn't move and continued eating from the bowl of vegetables in her hand. Ty Lee took the hint and quickly picked the tray up, placing it on a little side table.
Minah approached Azula's bandaged leg and gently began undoing the extensive gauze wrappings. The rustling of the material sent shockwaves through the princess's nerves. Her face remained impassive, she'd been through worse.
Azula's eyes narrowed in distaste at the obvious waterbender caring for her. The dark skin and blue eyes were out of place in the Fire Nation.
"Why haven't I seen you before?" Azula spoke harshly.
"I've worked here for two years, but you've never had serious enough injuries to warrant a visit from me," Minah's voice was as fluid as the element she bent. Azula hated it.
"So why are you here?"
The healer paused in removing the bandage. She pulled over the same cart of supplies she had used on the princess last night and checked to make sure everything she needed was there, "Because now you have a serious enough injury. I'm afraid Dr. Liu isn't quite qualified enough to heal deep tissue wounds. Superficial scratches are more up his alley." She smiled kindly at the doctor.
Azula handed the now empty bowl to Ty Lee, who looked nervously at her. She knew Azula wasn't the biggest fan of waterbenders. And she could sense the clear dislike slowly permeating the air.
"No. I mean why are you here, in the Fire Nation?" The princess's voice was cold.
Kai interrupted, "We don't have to talk about this now, let's proceed with the healing."
Minah straightened her back and looked Azula in the eyes for the first time. Dark blue versus gleaming gold. The healer couldn't help thinking how entrancing the woman's eyes were, how much power and intelligence they hid. The stories she'd heard about the princess all seemed plausible at that moment.
"It's alright, doctor, I don't mind. After the war ended, the Fire Lord sent out an offer for professionals from other nations to come join the workforce here. My skill set proved to be a valuable enough one and I was hired at a small hospital in the colonies. I gained attention through my abilities and this facility requested I join them. So here I am," Minah stood her ground, but she felt like shrinking away from Azula's gaze. For just a young woman, she gave off an awful presence.
Azula sneered in disbelief. Her brother invited their enemies to work for them. Who knew how many had already found places in the capital? Or worse, in the palace. Spreading around like little leeches. Mingling with the Fire Nation. And all at the hand of dear Zuzu. Azula glared at this woman and was pleased to find that she looked away first.
The gauze was finally off and Azula got a good look at her leg for the first time. It was strange. There were several thin, dark red zigzags originating at her toes and fading up past her knee. Her foot was beet red, but the color faded into a lighter, splotchy pink above her ankle and up her calf. She frowned at the injury. Ty Lee was right: this was just a contact wound, if she'd taken the full blast, it would have been much worse.
She glanced over at the former acrobat, who was staring wide-eyed at Azula's leg. It looked like a weird, twisted sugar flame cane. The thought was unsettling and Ty Lee averted her gaze while Minah bent some water out of the vase on her cart.
Azula clenched her teeth at the feeling of her leg being enveloped in cool liquid. It felt wrong. So incredibly wrong. Her heart beat faster and she could feel her throat tighten at the sudden memory of being encased in ice on the day of the comet.
Wildly, she glanced all around the room, reminding herself that she was fine. This peasant was healing her in the same hospital she'd been in for four years. She certainly wasn't in an arena trapped in the ice of a different water peasant.
Kai was watching her closely. He saw her body stiffen and her breaths quickened. She looks on the verge of a panic attack.
Ty Lee noticed as well and took Azula's twitching hand, moving closer to her side. A warmth was gathering there that warned what Azula was thinking of doing. Ty Lee quickly squeezed and shook her head, whispering so the others wouldn't hear, "Don't. You're alright, she's not going to hurt you."
Azula shut her eyes tightly and sat stiffly upright on the bed while Minah worked the glowing blue water over her skin. Ty Lee thought she could feel Azula's heartbeat pounding through her hand. But the princess did not attack. She endured the healer's waterbending and within another ten minutes of absolute tension, the water was guided back into its vase and Minah took out fresh ointments and gauze to wrap the now considerably less pink leg.
"I'll do it," Ty Lee held her hands out to take the materials from the healer. She didn't want to risk Azula lashing out.
Minah hesitated but eventually passed the jar and roll of gauze over to her, "Be gentle applying this. Put a thin layer over the entire leg and wrap it completely in gauze to keep the injury concealed."
Ty Lee nodded and Kai dismissed Minah. He noticed Azula tilt her head back in obvious relief at being out of the waterbender's presence. The creeping bruises on her neck were exposed for a moment and Kai wrinkled his brow, having not seen them the night before.
"What happened to your neck?"
Azula looked back at him, "Father choked me. Or rather, I choked myself."
"I didn't notice those marks last night."
"Well, that's the interesting thing about bruises, they take a little time to show up," she rolled her eyes. "I suspect they'll become even more visible within the next few days. Now, where did I leave my doctor's license?" She mimed patting herself down. Ty Lee suppressed a laugh.
Kai did not react, "I see. Minah could have healed those for you too. At least taken the tenderness out of them—"
"No," Azula cut him off and eyed him with a look of pure venom. The thought of water surrounding her neck was almost enough to send her back into a panic.
Kai shrugged, "I suppose they'll heal just fine on their own. Now, I do have a few questions for you about last night. Do you mind if I begin?"
Azula considered, tapping a finger on her lips, "Yes. I do mind. You may talk to me once Ty Lee leaves."
A look of annoyance briefly crossed the doctor's face, but he supposed he understood. He doubted she would forget the details of last night anytime soon.
"Alright. Ty Lee, please alert me before you leave. I will be in my office." He turned and left the two girls alone once again.
Ty Lee walked around the bed to settle in a chair on the princess's left side. Azula sighed and watched Ty Lee dip her hand into the clear, odorless jelly that she began to spread over her foot. It was cooling. An odd feeling, like there was a constant breeze on her skin.
Ty Lee scooped up some more jelly and applied it gently along the jagged lines where the lightning spread. The smooth skin felt hotter than normal, like the bolt still lay dormant beneath it. Ty Lee frowned. She's had too many injuries in this place.
And the princess had wanted to inflict some of her own on the healer. Ty Lee supposed that was because of the water girl on the Avatar's side. She'd only heard rumors of that day. After all, Zuko and the waterbender were the only ones present during the comet fight and they didn't exactly share what had happened. So no one had ever told her details about Azula's takedown. And she didn't dare ask the princess, no matter how curious she was. Focusing on massaging the gel into Azula's damaged leg, she cleared her mind.
Azula lay back into her pillow and relaxed at the touch. It was not unpleasant, though she would never say that out loud. She was surprised Ty Lee wasn't blabbing about something. The unusual silence was welcome and Azula took the chance to rest.
Oh. Eyes fluttered open after a few minutes. Ty Lee's hands had made their way up her leg and now she was massaging and rubbing her thigh. Very high up on her thigh. Above where the ointment needed application. She shifted at the gentle touches.
Ty Lee hadn't meant to make this sexual. She really hadn't, but the further and further up the princess's leg she touched, the further and further her mind sank into the gutter. Earlier she'd dipped her toe into the dangerously addicting pool of sex with Azula. Hours later she was already in over her head, desiring everything and anything they'd missed out on for years.
She scooched her chair closer to the head of the bed and stilling her hand on Azula's thigh, pressed her lips to the princess's. Azula barely responded, mind racing with the conflicting opinions from earlier. Don't give in. It's wrong, but… Twice in one day doesn't matter, right? It just can't happen again after today.
Ty Lee was pulling back, sensing the disinterest in Azula's body language, until she was suddenly yanked forward by her shirt, kissing a much more engaged princess. She smiled into the kiss and clambered on top of her, straddling her waist. Ty Lee grasped the back of Azula's head and slid her tongue along the woman's bottom lip.
The kiss deepened, the room grew hotter, and the women were latched onto each other like it was their last day alive. Ty Lee groaned when Azula ran her tongue along her neck, grazing teeth along her collarbone. She could feel the heat rising through her body.
"Azula, can you…?" she felt a little guilty asking to be repaid for her actions earlier in the day, but Ty Lee hadn't been able to shake the arousal since that morning. And now, she found it impossible to ignore.
She felt Azula's hand leave its place at her hip and trail lower. Ty Lee moaned softly, leaning backwards as she ground her hips into the touch. Azula's hand quickly moved beneath her pants, finally making that sinfully sweet skin on skin contact.
Ty Lee threw her head back, eyebrows knit in delight. She moved against Azula's hand and shuddered when the princess bit at her neck and shoulder. Azula had never been all that gentle with respect to bedroom activities, and Ty Lee was glad that the hospital kept her nails short when she felt two fingers enter her.
Another moan from the woman clad in pink. Azula moved up to reclaim Ty Lee's lips, tugging at the bottom one with her teeth. She continued pushing Ty Lee towards that inevitable ledge, mouth traveling from lips to neck and back again, hand exploring every inch of the young woman's most intimate places, places she hadn't been able to touch for a long time.
Soon Ty Lee's hips ground faster, more desperately, as she clung to her princess. Breathy whispers and pleas found their way into Azula's ear and she sped up the pace of her fingers, sliding out and up to rub a certain spot. Ty Lee was panting slightly now, eyes half-shut. A few more minutes of the princess's quickening fingers and Ty Lee thrust her arms back to steady herself. Letting out a series of little moans that were much too loud, she hit the release she was craving.
Her head cleared from its cloud of bliss and she looked at Azula, horrified to find the princess pale and wincing with her eyes squeezed shut. Confused, she sat up and removed her hands from where they grasped Azula's legs.
Oh no.
She turned to look at the princess's injured leg and saw little half-moon marks where her nails had dug and scratched into the strangely patterned flesh, "O-oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize…" Her skin burned in embarrassment and she took Azula's face into her hands to kiss her forehead and cheeks, "I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine, I'm fine, get off," she grumbled and Ty Lee hurried back to her chair, smoothing her clothes as she did so. Azula reached down and brushed her fingers over the nail marks, trying to rub some of the ointment already on her leg into them.
"I'm really—"
"I know. Stop, just… just finish wrapping this up," Azula slumped backwards, annoyed.
Ty Lee was still tingling slightly from the high she so recently experienced, but she sobered quickly while covering Azula's leg in the gauze. She sighed to herself. Something always happens to wreck the nice moments.
She gently rolled the bandages around Azula's leg, tucking in the ends so it wouldn't come undone. When she finished, she rested her hands on Azula's knee. The mood in the room had rapidly soured.
Despite herself, Ty Lee desperately wanted to talk about what happened between Azula and Mai, to know more specifically what they had done. Even though she knew the princess would certainly be annoyed at her bringing it up. Even though she trusted Mai's word about them not sleeping together. Her brain couldn't help picturing her two friends doing all sorts of things, especially after what she and Azula had just done. Ty Lee opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted before she could begin.
"Why did you leave Kyoshi Island?"
Azula was lying in the bed, eyes lazily staring at the ceiling. Her long hair was faintly disheveled from when Ty Lee was gripping her head in the heat of the moment. She was trying to look uninterested, but Ty Lee could tell she wanted to hear this answer. She ignored the thoughts of Mai and responded honestly.
"I guess I felt like my time there was over. There wasn't anything new to learn anymore after four years. At first we spent a lot of time rebuilding the village and harbors of the island. And then my role there was basically just to maintain and patrol the town. It's turned into a little trading port now that the war is over. But it got boring, I guess. Train. Build. Patrol. Sleep. Over and over again. The girls were really nice and accepting, but..."
"You were part of a matched set again."
Ty Lee looked away, "Y-yeah." She picked at her nails and continued, "I got a few updates about you from Zuko while I was on the island. It brought up all kinds of old memories and things... I started to worry. I tried so hard to move on, but obviously that didn't work out. Eventually I knew I had to come back."
Azula didn't move, but her eyes drifted from the ceiling to Ty Lee's face.
"You were my best friend, Azula. Even after everything that happened, I couldn't just leave you to rot in a mental institute. I had to at least see you," Ty Lee smiled sadly.
Azula's mind raced. Confliction. Indecision. Betrayal. Hurt. Ty Lee came back to her because she cared about her. But if she cared about her, why betray her in the first place? The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.
"But you did leave, just like everyone else."
Ty Lee quickly shifted her gaze back to Azula and saw the same look in her eyes that she had at the Boiling Rock. Pure hurt. It made her guilt flare up again.
She clasped Azula's hand, "I had to stop you. In a fight between you and Mai? You could have killed her. I care about both of you, I had to do it for both of you."
Azula looked away, "I wouldn't have killed her. Injured her probably, but not killed her. What good would that do? It wouldn't teach her anything. Prison was a better punishment."
Ty Lee was a bit shocked at that. She knew Mai had always assumed that if Ty Lee hadn't intervened, one of the two of them would have ended up dead. Hearing that Azula didn't plan on killing Mai was surprising. Then again, the princess had conquered a previously unconquerable city without taking any lives. Ty Lee forgot that Azula's practicality and calculative nature usually won out over the more bloody solutions one might expect.
"No one knew that. I couldn't take the chance," she squeezed Azula's hand before the princess hastily pulled away.
"No. Of course not," she withdrew into herself, all signs of vulnerability gone.
Ty Lee sighed quietly. She stood and walked around the bed to where the tray of food rested on a little table. Tearing off a piece of bread, she sat on her original chair and chewed in the heavy silence of the room.
She was still saddened to find Azula so affected by these issues of the past. But, had the same thing happened to her, if she was a princess of the Fire Nation, she supposed she could understand. Not to mention the even worse thought that Azula was right: everyone in her life seemed to just be idle passersby. An innocent enough start of bonding with her, being in awe of her skills, but soon turned off by her personality and cruelty, enough to walk out of her life, leaving her alone again.
Azula didn't even have the support of her own family anymore. Her mother's whereabouts were still unknown, though most suspected she died years ago. Her father turned her away, giving her the throwaway title of Fire Lord while apparently crowning himself Phoenix King, and now he spent his days powerless in a prison cell. Her Uncle, from what Ty Lee saw, never really cared for Azula, clearly favoring Zuko. She heard he had visited his niece once or twice, but those quickly halted.
Her brother… Ty Lee wasn't sure. She knew deep down, Zuko had to still care about Azula. They'd both been raised by the same power hungry man and so he had to sympathize with what she probably went through. Though while Zuko had Iroh to fall back on, Azula only had Ozai. And now Zuko had the title his sister had craved for her entire life. It only rubbed salt in her extensive wounds. Ty Lee wondered if they'd ever be able to reconcile.
She finished the bread and took a sip of some now very cold tea, "Do you, um, do you ever want Zuko to visit?"
Azula raised her head and instantly her brows furrowed in distaste, "No. And I think he's made it very clear that he doesn't want to see me either."
Ty Lee said words that she hoped wouldn't get her burnt to a crisp, "But you never really made an effort to try and get along when he came here—"
Azula's mouth fell open in incredulity. She let out a strained laugh, "You're not serious? You can't be serious. He doesn't deserve an effort. He turned on my country multiple times. He blamed me for all of his faults with Father. He threw me in this place with no intention of ever letting me out. And now I know he's endorsed freezing as some sort of just punishment for a few burns. As far as I'm concerned, Zuko and I were finished as soon as he left the Fire Nation before the comet. He was never on my side."
"He's your only brother."
"He's an idiot and I don't need him," she exhaled, briefly entertaining the idea of shooting more lightning at Zuko and adding to his collection of scars. "Any other questions?" she spat out.
Might as well. "Why do you burn yourself? I know it isn't for sexual release," Ty Lee rolled her eyes at the memory.
Azula didn't want to get into this topic. She hadn't wanted to have such a seriously terrible conversation with Ty Lee at all. She wished she'd been ruder with her answers. Perhaps Ty Lee would have gotten angry and stormed out earlier, but she was being annoyingly persistent today.
Azula decided to stick with her previously crafted story, "I already told you. They're accidents, from nightmares."
"Oh come on Azula, you're a better liar than that."
"Obviously. So why would I make up a terrible lie?" she looked annoyed.
"I don't know," Ty Lee narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the princess. She supposed that was sort of true. Azula wouldn't waste her time with stupid lies like that. Right? Unless the stupid lie was also a lie, meant to throw her off some unknown trail. Ugh, why does she have to be so confusing? She's up to something, I just don't know what it is.
"Exactly. They're just burns, nothing serious," and now to seal the deal, "Perhaps I'll talk to Kai, maybe he can help the nightmares stop."
Ty Lee perked up at that and Azula inwardly rolled her eyes. Easy.
Wanting to get away from this topic, the princess continued, "Or if we're really going for terrible lies, I could tell him the burns are my own little tattoos."
"Oh again? Look, I couldn't come up with anything else in the two seconds I had to think. It was the first reasonable thing that popped into my head! Besides, it worked, didn't it?" Ty Lee pouted.
"Miraculously. And only because that guard drools over you at every chance he gets."
"Whatever! You're still jealous over the attention I get from boys, aren't you? Even at that awful party we went to years ago…"
The tension of the room faded with familiar, easy talk. Ty Lee remained with Azula for several more minutes, before getting up to leave, chiding the princess gently to take care of her leg. She left the room and walked down the hall to Dr. Liu's office, sticking her head through the door to say she was leaving, and then set out to catch the ferry. Uncertainty over this most recent visit clogged up her thoughts and upon reaching the capital, Ty Lee decided that a visit to Zuko was in order.
A/N: Surpriseee, another little M scene! Anyways, I looked up a bunch of stuff about lightning generation in this universe (before the events of Korra, which I never finished watching… :x ) and the yin/yang/energy/clarity of mind stuff is really all I could find. What I wrote falls within those pretty vague guidelines and I figured it's believable enough, so I went with it. But the real mystery is: how did that messenger hawk in the last chapter know where Ty Lee lived? Classic Hogwarts owl magic.