Chapter 22
Ty Lee awoke the next morning with a splitting headache. The hint of light filtering through the room was enough to make her eyes water and sent fresh throbs of pain through her skull. Oh spirits, oh never again. Never, ever again.
She sat up slowly, vaguely wondering what time it was and if she'd be late for work. Then she sighed in relief and flopped back down into Mai's pillow, remembering that her little old boss had given her the day off.
Ty Lee lounged in bed for another hour, wishing her head would stop pounding, before she decided to get up and see what Mai was doing.
Glancing properly around the room, she started recalling what happened last night. Fell asleep, took a bath, cried about Azula, kissed Mai, got Zuko's letter—
Wait, what?! Oh no. No, no, no. Did I really do that? The memory of seeing Mai shiver as she bit into her neck caused Ty Lee to bury her face into the pillow and let out a short scream of disbelief. Ugh, really, Ty Lee? Did you really need to go that far? "I'm just curious," you idiot!
She stood up and felt a tiny heat rise to her cheeks. Well it certainly wasn't anything like kissing Azula. The thought of the princess brought her back to the letter that started last night's spiral of unplanned behavior. Zuko had written to her about… What was it? She rubbed her eyes. I have to read it again.
Ty Lee spotted her clothes on the table near the bed and got dressed. She folded her borrowed pajamas and placed them atop the towel covered hamper by the door. Unsure if Mai was awake yet, she quietly opened the door and set off down the stairs to the kitchen for some water. Definitely no food though. Her stomach wasn't quite ready for food yet.
Entering the study, she spotted Mai sitting cross-legged and reading in front of a small fire. The young woman heard Ty Lee enter and looked up at her as she approached.
"You look awful. Sleep okay?" Mai couldn't help the amused smirk that crossed her face.
Ty Lee saw her reflection in the shiny surface of a lamp. Her hair was crazy disheveled and her eyes were heavy with lingering sleepiness. She crossed her arms, "Aren't you nice? I feel awful, but I slept like a rock. Thanks for letting me stay."
Mai shrugged, "Sure." She returned to reading her book.
Awkwardly, Ty Lee stood, unable to look at Mai's face directly, "Ah, um, about yesterday… that kiss, I… Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." She fiddled with her hands, feeling too uncomfortable. No more drinking.
A book snapped shut and Mai turned her eyes towards the fidgeting Ty Lee, "I know."
Ty Lee met Mai's eyes for one second before she looked away. Well, she doesn't look mad, so that's good. For once, Ty Lee was appreciative of the older woman's silence. She usually perceived it as sort of rudely uncaring, but in the context of this particular event, Ty Lee was grateful. She grinned and bent down to hug her. As she pulled away, she noticed the letter on a little table.
"Oh! Hey!" Ty Lee snatched it up and piecing it together, read it quickly to jumpstart her memory.
Mai snorted from her seat on the floor. She stood up and placed her book back on its shelf, "You forgot what it said, didn't you?"
"No! Of course not, I just needed a refresher," she laughed before the melancholy subject pierced her temporarily good attitude. Ah, that's right, Zuko doesn't want me to see her anymore.
She felt a hand at her shoulder, "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Go talk to Zuko today, he can tell you more about his reasoning for doing this."
Ty Lee tucked the letter into her pocket and nodded. Mai's right. No use panicking when you don't even know the reasons. She bit her lip. But I guess last night was pretty panicky.
The two friends made their way to the kitchen table where Mai had a small tray of fruit as a simple breakfast. Ty Lee made a face at the food and Mai snickered, "You can stick to water for now."
They settled in. Ty Lee soon filled the quiet morning gushing with praise about her amazing boss, "Really, she's so kind. She saw I was having a tough time and gave me the day off. I feel bad though, this isn't exactly the first time something like this has happened. Oh, what if she fires me? No, she wouldn't, she's too nice. I just have to be more considerate."
Mai blinked, totally uninterested in this conversation. But she let Ty Lee ramble on for another few minutes. When she paused to breathe, Mai interjected.
"Will you tell me what's been going on with Azula?"
Ty Lee was shocked, "What? Really? But you've never cared before! What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything." She was excited. Excited to unload the weight of this information on someone who might, maybe, understand.
Ty Lee launched into a long retelling of all of the events that had happened concerning Azula since she'd begun visiting in early summer. Azula's initial coldness, Dr. Liu's assessments of her behavior, the bad hallucinations and nightmares, the burns, the freezings, her tense meeting with Zuko, Azula's increased mood recently. She didn't disclose anything about Kai letting Azula out of her room, the gifts she'd brought for her, or the lightning episode. Ty Lee trusted Mai completely, but she didn't want any of that to somehow make its way back to the Fire Lord.
She briefly and somewhat ashamedly told Mai about the argument she and Azula had. She was sure to mention that she knew it was a bad idea to bring up Mai and Azula's past actions, but she had to hear the reasoning from the princess herself. Mai sat and listened intently.
"I think that's everything. It's been all over the place, that's for sure," Ty Lee took a deep breath and sipped at her water. Her stomach was begging for more sustenance, but water would have to do for now. She didn't want to risk solid food yet.
Mai folded her arms across her chest, "Sounds more like prison than mental rehab to me."
Ty Lee felt a surge of hope inside her, "Y-yeah, that's what I thought too! She's still a princess, but they keep her confined in there with nothing to do. Dr. Liu and I have wondered why Z— uh." She stopped, unsure if she should proceed in telling Mai what they thought of Zuko's role in all of this.
Mai huffed, "You've wondered why Zuko has been letting this happen?"
She's smart. Why do I always forget that she's so smart? "Yes. Like I said, last time I saw him, he said it was to keep her confined. He's afraid she'll escape somehow, even with all the guards and security and everything. I don't know if I believe him, but he must still care about her right?"
"He does. He's not showing it in the best way, but he cares," Mai looked out of the little window facing out the back of her house. She thought of Zuko's determination to do whatever he could for Azula right after she was admitted to the institution, even though Mai thought he was being absurd. She supposed he'd lost that fervor the longer his sister stayed in there, and that eventually morphed into this "containment" strategy. "But I don't blame him for being overly careful. If that doctor thinks she hasn't lost any of her intelligence, then you better believe she's thought about getting out of there."
"You really think so?"
"This is Azula, so yes, I really think so. She's not built to stay in one cell for years. And if she knows Zuko has been doing those freezings, then her resolve to break out from under his control will only get stronger."
Ty Lee frowned. She hadn't really thought of Azula escaping before, but now that Mai mentioned it, she supposed it made sense. No one would like being in that place for long, let alone nearly five years. Azula was cunning and persuasive, useful traits for organizing some kind of plan. Ty Lee felt a weight settle in her gut, but she couldn't quite grasp its cause.
"Anyways, it sounds like whatever Zuko's been doing so far to keep her in there has worked," Mai stood and cleared the table. She dumped the tray in the sink to be washed later.
"R-right…" Ty Lee wasn't so sure of that. But she let it drop and steeled herself to finish this next subject once and for all. "I guess I was jealous of you guys, you know. That's why I kept thinking about you two together whenever she and I were… together. I heard what she had to say about it though. You guys never really… you know. I should have believed you when you told me a long time ago, but it just sort of stuck in my mind. I wanted to be sure. And then I was dumb and asked Azula about it and then we had that fight."
Mai sighed, "I told you, it was never love or anything like that. And she told you herself, she wanted you. I should have known better than to agree to do something like that with her."
"Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't drop it. When it comes to Azula, I don't think so clearly," Ty Lee played with her braid to hide the bit of shame she was feeling.
"It's fine. Now you know for sure that it wasn't anything. I hope you really believe it, this time. For your own mind's sake."
Ty Lee knew Mai was right. She had been worrying about nothing for several months now and like Mai, hoped she could put it behind her for good.
"I think I'll be able to," she smiled softly in her seat. Suddenly, she was struck with the desire to see Zuko right away to know what sparked his letter. "Do you have to work today?"
"I have a few documents to read, but other than that, not really. I'm leaving soon for Omashu, so I just have to prepare for the next few days."
"Oh. Do you want to come with me to the palace? I think I want to go now. If Zuko's in meetings, we can explore a little bit!" Ty Lee picked their glasses up off the table and put them next to the tray in the sink.
Mai leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. Do I even want to see him? She bent her head, closing her eyes in thought.
"Alright. I'll go with you," Ty Lee's face cracked into a wide grin at the unexpected acquiescence and she clapped her hands together as Mai continued, "This is not a chance for you to force Zuko and I back together." She glared at Ty Lee, "I need you to know that."
"Fine, fine, I won't do or say anything weird," she looked up towards the ceiling, still smiling. But if something happens naturally, I won't stop it!
They finished cleaning up in the kitchen and then Mai went upstairs to change. Ty Lee followed her and splashed some water on her face in the bathroom to get the hangover look out of her eyes. Mai let her borrow a pair of dark colored pants so Ty Lee wouldn't have to go to the palace in pajamas. She redid her braid and straightened her clothes as best she could, before heading back downstairs to wait for her friend.
She wandered around the study, browsing Mai's many books. Most were boring. Some touched on Earth Kingdom relations from the past until present, others were encyclopedic and cited numerous important events in the Fire Nation's history. Geez, this is probably what Azula was hoping for at the hospital, not those light hearted fun books.
Upstairs, Mai carefully selected an impressive outfit from her wardrobe. A blood red floor length dress, embroidered with gold thread in an abstract pattern over the left breast, vaguely resembling tongues of flame. She tied a thick black belt around her waist and pulled on a wide-sleeved, deep maroonish-black formal robe to complete the look. Hidden up the sleeves were several knives. She never left the house unarmed.
Sighing and distantly questioning why she was putting in so much effort, she quickly powdered her face and tied her hair back into a low bun, spritzing on a dab of perfume. Even if I don't really want to go, I should look presentable.
A bit of the perfume stung a small burn on her fingertip that she'd gotten last night when she accidentally grabbed the metal of her tea kettle. She winced and was reminded of Ty Lee's information about Azula's self-inflicted burns. Mai was bothered by them. There was something seriously odd about it and she couldn't pin down why. Azula never does anything without a purpose. She wouldn't be so careless to inflict burns just for the sake of doing it.
Deciding to keep this suspicion quiet for now, Mai looked herself over in her mirror and deeming her reflection passable, she left the room.
Ty Lee continued to pry around the study until Mai returned. She could have sworn Mai came downstairs with shinier hair and just a touch of makeup on her face. Don't get me started on that outfit.
"Did you get all dressed up for—?" She was quickly silenced at a look from Mai.
Ty Lee giggled and followed her to the front door. They put their shoes on and walked out into the streets of the capital, heading for the palace.