Avatar Chapter 17
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Today was a very special day, the cake was ready, the small mountain of presents was here and Ty Lee was oblivious, not an easy task as Azula had to be very careful to keep her emotional state varied. But Azula was proud of herself for coming up with a way to catch Ty Lee off guard, it was in fact two weeks before Ty Lee normally celebrated her birthday.
Azula was aware that none of the Lee sisters knew when they were all collectively born, instead they had their birthday's spread throughout the year as to avoid the stress of accommodating seven different birthdays at once. Azula knew of course, it was surprising that Ty Lee was four months her elder considering her height and attitude but Azula suspected being one of seven children born in one birth had some odd effects.
Azula was also proud that she had engineered a good excuse to go to Ty Lee's large estate, Lord Uzar was planning to invest in some imperial shipping contracts and as Transportation Minister she would be happy to allocate his gold for him. Ty Lee was twiddling her thumbs as the palanquin they were on headed towards her home.
"So, um, Azula how long are will we be staying at my ho- Lord Uzar's home." Ty Lee was obviously nervous, she had not been back home or seen anyone from her family besides her mother for the past eight months.
"Why as long as it takes Ty, you come from a very wealthy family and any time your parents spend even a portion of their fortune it can have large ripples throughout the country." Azula did not mention that Ty Lee's parents had spent a large pile of gold for this day, as they should.
Not only was the Princess making an appearance but Ty Lee's position at her side had caused merchants from all over the Fire Nation to have increased interest in her family. As such the amount spent on her birthday was dwarfed many times over by their recent influx of wealth.
Azula had debated over the last few weeks if she wanted to accept Lady Azita's proposal to throw a surprise party for her daughter but decided that Ty Lee would have to meet with her family eventually. And she had not lied to Ty Lee, Lord Uzar was serious about his offer and she had the papers with her.
She looked out and saw they were here, Ty Lee was pulling her braid and twisting it up. Azula frowned and flicked the girl in head "Ow" TY Lee rubbed her sore spot and looked around, anything she was going to say stopped as she noticed her house. "Calm down Ty Lee, you're going to your house not jumping into a volcano."
"But Azula, I, I don't know, what if people get mad at me I barely talked to my mom at the festival and didn't even try to talk to anyone else, I know my mom said their proud of me but, but, but…"
Azula sighed as Ty Lee's imagination ran wild again, it was cute at times but at others it made her a rambling mess. "Flame it I need her to calm down…hmmm"
Azula leaned forward and gave Ty Lee a kiss right on the lips, she stopped talking and her eyes widened. "Well that shut her up, kissing actually has practical uses, who knew."
The Princess leaned back, and smirked as she looked at Ty Lee's shocked expression. "Well come on, we have things to do and deals to make." She through open the curtain of her palanquin and made her way to the large, gold embellished, doubles doors.
The doors opened as she approached and servants directed her to what she knew was not a study. Azula heard the servants address Ty Lee and unsurprisingly the acrobat thanked them by name.
"Um Azula, this is the main hall" Ty Lee nervously informed her when they got to their destination, Azula kept her face neutral "So it would seem"
She turned around and looked her girlfriend straight in the eye "Open the doors." Ty Lee's eyes widened, she looked at the doors, then back at her, she swallowed hard and moved to open the intricately decorated double doors, Azula, on a hunch, stepped back.
Ty Lee pushed the heavy wooden doors open, and had half a second to let out a surprised gasp before she was tackled by six identical blurs. "TY!" "SISTER!" "PINKY!" "DOPE!" "CLOWN!" "SISSY!" six simultaneous screams were heard as Ty Lee's identical sisters ganged up and hugged the girl, a part of Azula was satisfied that Ty Lee was getting a taste of own medicine.
"Hi you guys, it's been while." Ty Lee managed to squeak out. "A while! It's been way more than a while." One of the girls said, it was hard to tell which one. "Yeah, why don't you write", "Or visit", "Oooh, Does the Princess not let you", "Are you her slave", "She's looking at us"
Azula found all seven sisters looking at her now, it was oddly unnerving having seven identical faces stare at you. "Ty Lee is still wondering why she is here." Azula decided to remind the group, their attention span was as bad as, well, Ty Lee's.
"Oh yeah.", "Happy birthday sis.", "It's going to be great.", "Wait till you see what I got you."
Ty Lee actually looked at something besides her sisters and Azula and gasped as she took in the decoration in the room. The main hall of her home was richly decorated, much of it pink, there was an ice sculpture of a dragon, a table full of food, and an entire troupe of performers spread throughout the large room.
Lord Uzar and Lady Azita came and bowed to Azula, as was proper, before greeting Ty Lee. Ty Lee's sisters released her and bowed as well, probably mortified they had forgotten, while Ty Lee kept looking around in awe.
Lady Azita closed Ty Lee's mouth while Uzar spoke "Ty Lee, I am well aware that surprises strike you speechless but working for our nation's heir should have toughened you up some."
Ty Lee nodded "Sorry father"
Lord Uzar waved his hand "Yes, yes, apology accepted now let us begin in earnest, this is a reward as well as a celebration for you."
Ty Lee tilted her head like a confused puppy-bunny, "Reward?"
"Yeah dummy.", "We're super rich now", "Well more super rich than before" Azula thought Li and Lo were odd to talk to, but she had forgotten how it was listening to the Lee sisters, it was like a chatty hydra that refused to shut up no matter how many heads one took off.
A looked of comprehension came upon Ty Lee's, as if she had just remembered something. Lady Azita patted her head "I expect you remember now, I told you to expect big things today sweetie and I wanted to make it a surprise."
Ty Lee's mother got behind her and began to push the birthday girl towards the table where some of Ty Lee's extended family sat. Azula watched with a smirk as Ty Lee had her cheeks pinched, hair ruffled and the like. "Maybe she will think twice before clinging to me now."
Ty Lee was always clingy but these past few months she had been particularly bold, it was as if she was afraid Azula was going to float away if she did not give her a crushing hug or soft kiss every half hour. "Well at least she has not started crying out of the blue again, I hate it when she's crying and there's nobody I can punish to make it better."
Azula still did not know what caused Ty Lee to sob her eyes out on the journey back to the Capital, Ty Lee simply said she did not want to lose her. "Oh well, she was happy again when I ordered all those chocolates and flowers for her, at least those stupid romance novels had some good information."
Azula saw that Ty Lee would be busy for the next little while as her grandmother was squishing her face so she made her way to Lord Uzar. "Your Highness, let me extend my gratitude for attending this gathering, my wife has been eager about this day for a while."
"Think nothing of it, Ty Lee had proven to be a very helpful asset so she deserves a reward." Azula was aware that she was speaking to her girlfriend's father and wondered what he, and the rest of the family, would think of their relationship. "I suppose they would be overjoyed at the opportunity, though it would make future dealings with them awkward."
She handed the bundle of scrolls tied with red ribbon and bearing the royal seal to Lord Uzar "These are the documents pertaining to your interest in ocean transport, have them signed and stamped by the end of the week." Azula had no doubt he would agree to the terms listed in the document, he would get a good return on his investment and the nations shipping would see a substantial influx of funds."
He took the scrolls and bowed "Thank you Princess, please feel free to enjoy the festivities, we have spared no expense." Azula nodded and looked for Ty Lee, she was traveling around the room and gazing at the different performers, carefully watching in awe as each one did their routine.
Azula attempted to keep herself on the sidelines, it was Ty Lee's birthday and she was sure that a good girlfriend would want it to be Ty Lee's day. And it was very much Ty Lee's celebration, if the presents given to her were any indication.
Her sisters each got her a different stuffed animal, and then another, and another…and another. Azula nearly gagged as Ty Lee now had at least fifty more fuzzy abominations to occupy her already crowded room.
Lady Azita gave her a whole wardrobe of elegant robes, chest full of jewelry, a whole lineup of perfumes and Ty Lee looked in awe at it all, probably forgetting that she had access to the Palaces closets as well. Her various odd relatives got her various odd things. An uncle gave Ty Lee a sword, she a got a book on grammar from an aunt, a grandmother gave her a sweater and a kiss on the cheek and so on.
"Oh my gosh, Azula look." The Princess walked over and saw the present Ty Lee was holding, it was wrapped in ugly brown paper and simply said gift on it, Azula could only think of one person who could have sent it.
And as it was ripped apart to reveal a very long dagger and a letter they both knew who it was from. Ty Lee set the letter aside, Mai's writing was as dull as her personality and it was not something one read at parties.
The final present was from Lord Uzar, and he simply gave Ty Lee a single rolled up sheet of paper in a nicely carved wooden case. Azula wondered what it could be, especially when Ty Lee's mouth dropped and she looked at her father with a baffled expression.
"I have been made aware that you enjoy the performing arts, so a procured for you a suitable place to indulge that hobby." Azula walked behind the shocked girl and read the document over her shoulder, she raised an eyebrow. "Well congratulations Ty Lee, you now own a traveling circus, we will have to make a trip to the colonies one day so you can see it."
The girl was moving her mouth but no sound was coming out, she was steady as a rock and straight as a log which made it an odd spectacle when her eyes rolled back and she fell backwards into the pile of new toys, Azula had sidestepped and looked at the now unconscious girl, "Alright then."
Ty Lee put her mouth under the warm water's surface and blew bubbles as she contemplated what she had done today. "This circus of yours is a very good investment Ty, with the right schedule and advertisement you could make back the amount your father spent on it within a few months."
Ty Lee pulled at her hair "Azula! This is not the time for that, I am dealing with a major crisis here." Azula was leaning back and twirling a blue ball of flame in her outstretched hand, Ty Lee would have been impressed that the fire had not caused the water on her hand to evaporate but was too distressed.
"Oh Ty don't worry about it, a lot of people pass out at their own birthday celebration, and lucky for you I had a good portion of the cake brought back." Azula obviously found it amusing and it was not helping her aura, she knew it was a dingy yellow.
"Zuuula, it was bad enough that people know I passed out in front of the Fire Lord but I blacked out in front of everyone, EVERYONE! Do you know how fast news travels in my family?" Ty Lee could not believe that she had fainted at her own party, nor could she believe that she now owned a whole circus; a large circus at that, with animals, performers and all.
It was a spectacular gift, and the sheer enormity of it was probably why she had passed out. Ty Lee was beyond embarrassed when she woke up in her room, now filled to the brim with her new stuffed animals, with Azula lounging around examining the dagger Mai had sent.
Azula informed her that after she had collapsed they simply came back to the Palace, the servants and guards had managed to bring back most of Ty Lee's gifts but would have to go back tomorrow for the rest. Her girlfriend informed her that she had gotten bored waiting for Ty Lee to wake up so she had read the letter from Mai.
It was a very short, basic and bland letter, happy birthday, hope you like the gift etc. etc. The only really interesting tidbit was learning that Mai had been moving all throughout the colonies, never staying in one place for too long as her father worked on increasing his political standing.
It explained why Mai had not given either of them an address to send letters to, but it was sort of depressing not being able to keep in contact with her. Of course that thought made Ty Lee even more depressed and she had started to squeeze one of her new stuffed toys before Azula sighed dramatically and told her they were going to the spa.
Ty Lee knew the spa was a peaceful place for both of now, and sitting in the warm water was helping her forget her embarrassment. "I honestly do not know why getting your own circus is such a shock, many noble families gift their children much more when they come of age." Azula plopped a grape in her mouth after she spoke.
"But Zula I'm only thirteen, I don't know anything about putting a schedule together or paying people or, or anything about making a circus work." Ty Lee just realized how much of a responsibility this was going to be.
"Oh Ty did you even read that agreement, the original owners are still part of the circus they simply answer to you now, and your father already hired a professional to manage it… in fact I would not be surprised if he himself is taking interest, the entertainment industry is a profitable venture." Ty Lee calmed down some, Azula had a way of explaining things to her that made things simple.
"Besides it is not even the best gift you will be getting today." Azula said casually but Ty Lee perked up, she realized that Azula had not given her anything today, besides that kiss which was a heartwarming surprise.
"Now that I have your attention let's finish up and head back to my chambers, you will appreciate the effort I put into your present." Ty Lee was incredibly curious, and she walked behind Azula to the room she tried to think of what her socially awkward girlfriend could have gotten her. "Let me think, the last time she got me a present was for my ninth birthday…it was a spear used to maim an Earth Kingdom general…oh dear."
But when the doors opened Ty Lee saw no weapons, instruments of torture, terrifying statues, model warships or any other thing Azula coveted…not counting the one's here already. What she did she was a small couch out on the balcony, Azula gestured her to follow and Ty Lee was befuddled. "Maybe it's something I can see from the balcony, like fireworks, or a performance… oh crap I hope it's not the two together.
Azula sat down on the couch, but when Ty Lee moved to sit beside her the smirking Princess grabbed her hand and made her sit between her legs. "Azula!" Ty Lee yelped in surprise.
"Calm down, I need your breathing to be even now try to match your breath with mine." Ty Lee was completely lost, but Azula seemed to have plan so she relaxed and listened for Azula's rhythm. She found it and tried to match her breathing, Azula's was so steady and precise, hallmarks of a master Bender.
Ty Lee felt Azula place her hands over her own "Follow my movements." Ty Lee willed her arms and hands to match the Fire Benders. She looked at her hands, they were parallel and her fingers were spread out and curved in, as if there should be something between them. Azula's hands were on the outside of her own, she felt warmth flooding her.
"Now watch Ty, try not to move suddenly." Ty Lee waited and her eyes widened as between her hands a small red flame appeared. Azula moved her hands and Ty Lee moved with them, the fire grew bigger and began to change color.
"Oh Zula" Ty Lee was amazed, in her hands was a pink flame half the size of head, it was beautiful and even better she could almost feel the flame. "I'm not done yet, move your hands and fingers all you want."
With great anticipation Ty Lee moved her right forefinger gently, she gasped as the fire moved. She moved her hands together and the flame changed into a pillar, she rotated them and the ball of pink flame spun. Whenever she moved her hands Azula's moved with her, like an outer shell, and Ty Lee started to realize that her love was bending the flame through her.
She had no idea how but as she moved her hands she felt, she could actually feel it, the flame respond and it was all due to the wonderful girl behind her. This was beyond a great birthday gift, Azula could have simply shown her a pink flame and she would be content but this, this was different.
"Maybe this is how Azula feels when she Fire Bends, or maybe it's just Zula." The birthday girl was actuality beginning to tear up, she looked back and saw Azula with her eyes closed and sweat on her brow, the effort for this was obviously immense.
"Zula are you ok?"
"Of course, I have not even shown you the best part, now relax and don't flinch." Azula face was a mask of concentration and felt her hands move. Ty Lee looked as their hands came together, the flame was almost touching her skin but she felt only slight heat.
She sat, shocked still, as Azula quickly moved their rights hands through the fire and Ty Lee felt nothing but the warmth. Azula did the same with their left hands and then placed their hands beneath the fire, the pink ball changed shape but this time took on a more intricate from, a tiny dragon was now looking at her in the eye.
The tiny pink dragon soared and swayed in an elegant fashion before it vanished in a burst of flame. Azula removed hands and leaned back onto the couch, she was breathing heavily and the sweat on her brow was dripping down her face.
Azula opened her eyes and looked at her with a proud twinkle in her eyes, "Well Ty Lee, I assume from that look you enjoyed that, it was a very interesting technique that I re-omf" Ty Lee cut off Azula by spinning around and smashing her lips against the Princess's.
Ty Lee was positive she had never loved Azula as much as she did right now, she wrapped her arms around her Princess's neck and pressed her body up against Azula's.
After a good minute of passionate lip lock, Ty Lee broke away and looked at Azula, whose entire face was red. "Yes, well, happy birthday, I suppose, um." Azula was avoiding looking her in the eye.
Ty Lee smiled and laid her head against her loves shoulder, "Thanks Zula, you're the world's best girlfriend." She snuggled into Azula, content with being with her till morning if she could.