Author's Note: I kind of felt guilty about posting chapters 1, 2, and 3 separately since they kind of function as a prologue of sorts, but I didn't want to make it all into one chapter either... regardless, here is chapter 2. Also my Azula tends to be more vulnerable than other iterations, and... this is our first tidbit of TyZula! I also did some minor detail altering in this chapter, but only minor. And upon reread, I just realized that I did some self contradiction in this chapter... let's hope it isn't too jarring and you can still enjoy it! ^_^

She awakened on the beach at night. She was clothed in a casual red shirt and skirt. Her hair was out of its characteristic topknot, mostly flowing down her back while some of it was held at the top of her head by a golden cord.

She knew this was a trick of her mind. When she still had possession of her sanity she had revisited this moment countless times. Whether or not she had been trying to rationalize it all away, desensitize herself to the words said on that night, or whether she thought to bask in the knot of emotions that had been created in her chest, she couldn't decide. All she knew was that this was the last place she wanted to be now.

Knowing even before it happened, she heard soft footsteps from behind her. She jumped to her feet, unconsciously following the events of the night like it had been a script. She found herself slipping into her role easily, the one memory in her broken mind that she couldn't bring herself to loath like all the others.

"Azula, what are you doing? If you sleep on the beach you will catch a cold silly!" Ty Lee scolded her. Her eyes were lit with playful enthusiasm, still high from the night's entertainment.

"You think I don't know that!" Azula snapped back. She knew that was how she was supposed to reply, she didn't know any other way. Why did Ty Lee never leave her alone?

She turned away from Ty Lee and back to the sea. She stared across the vast waters, trying to count as many stars as she could as fast as she could.

The wind suddenly picked up, and her hair was tossed messily in her face. Wretched hair, she didn't even know why she kept it long. She should cut it all off and be done with it, the unruly tresses were only ever manageable in a topknot.

A gentle hand stopped hers as she reached up to brush her hair away.

"I think your long hair is beautiful." Ty Lee said, her face devoid of her usual lighthearted and airheaded attitude. Had Azula really said all of that out loud?

Azula jerked away. Ty Lee always complimented her... but this was different, different in a way she couldn't place. It made her beyond uncomfortable, and all she wanted to do was get away. She turned and strode down the length of the beach, her long strides covering the sands.

She heard a voice behind her, but ignored it, concentrating on putting as much strength into her stride as she could. She only stopped when she reached a group of boulders that were down the seashore from her house.

She stopped, her arms at her sides and her hands bunched into fists. As her breathing slowed she walked to a low boulder near by and sat down.

The weight of a nation, the expectations of her father, the hatred of her mother, the fearful contempt of her friends. She couldn't help but see what others thought of her, even if she had convinced herself long ago she didn't care. After years of manipulating those around her and being manipulated, she had seemed to internalize all of their perceptions about her. Her perfection, their fear of her, even the disdain for a leader younger than those that surrounded her.

She told herself that none of it mattered, that consideration and attachment were a weakness that would never advance her goals. But she felt an uncharacteristic weakness nonetheless... she felt the weight of her father's expectations and a world wishing to see her fail.

She looked up as she noticed the brightening of the sky, and rose to make her way back to the beach house. The last of the stars winked out as she slowly walked the last hundred meters to the porch.

Looking up, she unconsciously jerked her head backwards at the sight before her. The movement might have gone unnoticed by most people except the girl in front of her.

Ty Lee rose to her feet, her eyes sunken from lack of sleep and her hair messy because of the wind.

Azula made as if to walk past her up the stairs to the house. She didn't even bother to glance at Ty Lee as she walked by, but suddenly she found herself falling backwards, unable to explain or stop what was happening.

In the next instant Ty Lee was pinning her to the ground, her hands on Azula's shoulders. Azula made as if to push her bodily off, and was conjuring up something that would surely make the girl burst into tears but she stopped short... the look in Ty Lee's eyes was the same as the one from earlier that night.

"Why do both of our lives have to be lies? Do you want us to lie to each other? Because of you... You are my friend Azula. Why do you always run away?" Ty Lee had done her best to keep her voice steady, but after the first sentence her voice had begun to shake.

Azula had decided to forgo the usual insults, and sat up beneath Ty Lee as she started to push her off, but Ty Lee drew her face so close that her grey eyes were directly in front of Azula's and Azula stopped mid movement.

She could smell Ty Lee over the scent of the sea now. She smelled faintly of flowers, spice and sweat. Her eyes glowed with a light she had only ever seen hidden behind her usually untroubled attitude.

Azula had never really felt fear before, or at least not like this. All the unknown and unwanted emotions from earlier that night came rushing back. She tried to regain control of her limbs, but the arms propping herself up underneath Ty Lee wouldn't move.

"I wasn't the one who ran away from their problems and joined a circus." but her voice lacked its usual bite. She steeled herself and opened her mouth again to speak.

Ty Lee didn't seem to be paying attention as she closed her eyes and put her hands on Azula's shoulders. Seemingly taking the princess's open mouth as an invitation, she pulled her into a kiss.

Azula's eyes remained open, but unseeing, she could feel her pulse pounding in her ears. This was a horrible joke, a way for Ty Lee to get a laugh out of her or an attempt to prove something to Mai.

As Ty Lee drew back, opening her eyes, she muttered something almost inaudible:

"I love you Azula."

Everything came crashing down. She wanted to fight, to fling Ty Lee off her and make her cower in fear... but all she could do was close her mouth.

Ty Lee looked as if she expected something from the princess, even if it was a cutting insult, but all Azula did was stare at her. Minutes passed that seemed like days, and Ty Lee began to shrink back from the princess's eyes. Ty Lee stood up, balled her fists at her sides, eyes shining with unshed tears and ran inside.

Azula didn't even seem to notice. She sat there unmoving, still staring at where Ty Lee had been just moments ago. She fought to calm herself, to stop the drumming against her temples, and to crush the feeling that was eating away at her chest. Finally she pulled her feet underneath her to push herself up from the sand, and turned back to the beach house.

She started to walk towards the steps of the building, but the distance didn't shrink. She kept walking and walking, but it never got closer. Finally Azula looked up from the perplexing distance between herself and the beach house and examined the building again.

Suddenly it burst into blue flame. She couldn't stop herself, she started running. What had happened? Mai and Zuko, Ty Lee...

As she ran faster she began to hear screams. It was Ty Lee who was screaming, but so was Mai... and someone else... Suddenly Ty Lee's face appeared in the impossibly high blue flames. Her features were marred with blood and her hair was soaked, in some parts it had been ripped out completely. Azula almost stumbled, recognizing the scene that was playing out in the flames before her. Knowing the hands that were raised against her friend.

Azula stopped abruptly, trying to cover her face in those same hands, trying desperately to blot out this dream turned nightmare. But she saw that her hands were covered in blood.

It was then that she realized the other voice screaming was her's.

Finally, mercifully, the flames swallowed her up as well.