-How would we even start to work with friendship, let alone romance?
-The same way she works things out with her family.
Azula grows to… enjoy her uncle's company almost as much as her time with her mother. They're small things, compared to what she's used to wanting. Meals with her uncle and her mother aren't nearly as grandiose as the thrown of the fire nation or achieving the "Dragon" title in firebending.
But it is easier thinking about visits from her family than about ambitions that are never going to happen. It's simpler to enjoy the present than regret failures. That's her reason for enjoying their company.
That's what she tells An anyway and the woman isn't buying Azula's words at all.
To everyone's disappointment—except, maybe, Azula—Zuko refuses to visit her. He refuses to give her another chance, despite the pleas of almost everyone in his family. And An.
Either way, Azula doesn't really notice.
What Azula does notice is that Ursa and Iroh slowly cease to visit her at night. When she asks why, her mother explains that she is just so tired in the morning and Iroh is too old to be out that late. In short, they are both old.
Azula knows she shouldn't be angry about it. This is the Fire Nation, land of sun, land of day. Of course her family needs to sleep.
But she is angry. She is because at night, she gets scared. Maybe it's because her fire is not at its full power or the fact that the darkness promises her terrifying hallucinations (she still does get visions, but since Ursa returned, Azula has managed to understand what's real and what's not real).
She ceases to sleep and before she knows it, she is a walking zombie, which doesn't particularly help with her mental state.
It's one night that she is awake, staring at the ceiling, terrified to go to sleep, that someone crawls through the window. To Azula's shame, she screams, running to the corner of the room like a helpless non-bender. She tries to light her fire, but it comes out red, not blue. Anybody skilled enough to scale the side of this building isn't going to have a tough time with red firebending.
So she just looks up to see the person who crawled through the window. "Ty Lee?" she says in shock. But she releases a sigh of relief.
"Hi Azula," he friend greets, a noticeable sad edge to her tone.
"What… what are you doing here?" Azula asks uncertainly. She thought she would never see Ty Lee again.
"I heard that you're alone," her friend replies, walking forward. She is dressed in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, though not wearing the makeup, "I came to keep you company."
Both girls stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what the other is thinking. After all, their last meeting wasn't particularly… peaceful. "Why?" Azula asks suspiciously. She was probably sent by Zuko.
Ty Lee puts up her hands, "Because you're my friend."
"That's not what you were thinking when you paralyzed me," Azula retorts bitterly.
Ty Lee, calm and collected, replies, "I did that to you because you were going to attack a disarmed Mai. I would have done the same to her if the situation were reversed. I was only protecting her."
"I thought you were loyal to me."
"I am loyal to Mai too," Ty Lee says a little more viciously, "You're acting like I chose a side. I didn't. All I did was protect my friend."
Despite Azula's wild emotions and delicate mind, Ty Lee's words make sense. Still, Azula says, "Well after where I put you, I'm certain you would never choose to return to me."
Ty Lee rolls her eyes, "Well, obviously you're wrong. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."
Azula looks back at her friend, "Zuko obviously sent you."
"He did," Ty Lee admits, "But I could've said no."
Azula just stares at Ty Lee, not saying a word.
"Now c'mon," Ty Lee gestures with her hand, "We're going out."
Azula raises a brow. She isn't technically supposed to leave… "Where are we going?"
"It's Agni Day, silly. There is a huge celebration going on right now," Ty Lee replies, her voice becoming a little more playful, a little like what Azula is used to, "Do you really want to stay cooped up in here on the biggest day of the year?"
Azula blinks. A year ago, she couldn't have cared less about such stupid drivel. It didn't do anything for her. But now… now the idea is the most attractive one she's heard in a while. "On one condition," she replies.
Ty Lee smirks, "What?"
"Please take off that ridiculous uniform."
Ty Lee looks down at her attire and grins a bright smile. "Deal," she says, looking back up at Azula. The acrobat ends up borrowing some of Azula's clothes. Then they crawl out the window, Azula using the escape plan she had made the night of Iroh's visit.
Except she forgot to take into consideration that her muscle mass isn't what it used to be. So by the time she touches solid ground, her hands are shaking and her body is covered in sweat. But that doesn't stop her from going.
Ty Lee and she walk towards town and slowly they begin to relax around each other. By the time they reach the gates leading into town, they are actually smiling together. Stands are set up around town. Games and food. Throughout the night, they munch on fire flakes and other assorted snack foods while playing so many games. Azula can remember watching teenagers from her balcony when she was around five. She remembers wanting to go down there and join them, to be a little free, to enjoy herself.
But she was a princess. She had to set an example. That meant not stooping to the amusement of commoners.
But, technically, she isn't the perfect princess anymore. So who the fuck cares?
She has fun. She and Ty Lee laugh and talk and act like normal teenage girls. It's almost like they are not high-class, that so much isn't required of them. It's almost like the pressure of being perfect isn't even there.
By the time the fireworks light up the sky, Ty Lee and Azula have crawled on top of a building. They sit shoulder-to-shoulder, looking at the brilliant show of sparks. Azula had always seen the fireworks from afar but never really as a spectator, up close, among hundreds of other people. Ty Lee has probably seen it a million times, but that doesn't really bother Azula. "It's beautiful," Azula says, smiling.
"It's odd that you're a firebender and you've never seen fireworks this close," Ty Lee comments.
"Oh, I know," Azula agrees, "It's ridiculous, isn't it?"
"Not really," Ty Lee replies, "I think it's more than probable actually."
Ty Lee's words manage to make Azula peel her eyes away from the fireworks and look at her friend, "What do you mean?"
"Well… your father tried to make you his tool, Azula," Ty Lee explains, "Of course he would try to keep you from something that gives you human curiosity."
Azula's blood suddenly runs hot. "My father was just trying help me succeed," the princess snaps, "He was trying to help me achieve perfection. My father was helping me."
Ty Lee usually cowered at Azula's wrath. She usually faked agreeing with her to keep her skin from being burned off her face. But… something pushes Ty Lee. Something makes her talk back. "Everyone knows your father is selfish, Azula," she says calmly, but firmly.
"Not towards me," Azula retorts.
"Yes he—"
"NO!" Azula suddenly screams. She scrambles to her feet and glares furiously at Ty Lee, "MY FATHER LOVES ME! HE WAS NOT USING ME, HE WAS HELPING ME!"
"Azu—"
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING TY LEE!" the princess shouts over the fireworks, "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN FUCKING THING!" Then she turns and walks swiftly off of the roof.
Ty Lee wants to chase after her. God does she want to. But she can't; Azula has to figure this out for herself.
Azula runs so fast, she is confused for one moment if she is using her firebending unconsciously to propel her or not. She is still running a good twenty minutes after the fireworks end.
Finally, she comes to the prison, the same one that housed Iroh; the one that now houses her father. She takes a few minutes to catch her breath.
In those moments, she thinks. There are plenty of guards, but she doesn't have to worry about them. She knows where they would be keeping him—underground. After recovering, she worms her way through a hole in the bottom of the building and stealthily walks through the darkness until she finds her father's cell. She checks for guards and then opens the door leading into his cell.
"Who's there?" her father demands calmly, but bitterly.
"Father," she calls, "It's me."
"Azula?" There is a distinct tone of hope in his voice. "Is that you?"
Azula walks out of the darkness into the light shining through the window in the door, revealing herself.
"It is you." The hope in her father's voice, she realizes, makes her calm slightly. He does care.
She smiles at him, "I missed you, father."
"You missed me," he says as he crawls into the light. His face is thin and pale, gaunt from his time in jail, "That's odd."
Azula furrows her brow, "Why?"
"You usually don't miss anyone," he replies. "It's no matter, though. I've missed you as well, my darling."
Azula smiles at him again, "How are you?"
"I've been worse," he replies, "The Avatar… neutered me."
"I heard they took your bending away," she replies. "But it can't be gone… permanently."
"Oh it is, my dear," he replies, the bitterness clear in his face and voice. But when he speaks again, he has resolved to change the course of the conversation. "How have you been?" he asks her.
"I've been…" she takes a deep breath, "I've been—"
"You're hesitant," he comments, "That's very odd."
She looks up at him, suspicious, unsure of him now. "Why?" she asks.
Ozai pauses, thinks for a second. Then he just says, "Continue."
Still suspicious, Azula continues, "I have been in a mental institution, father. After the fall of the Fire Nation in the war, I… lost it."
Ozai just stares at her, unblinking.
"There were certain factors that contributed to my… breakdown. But I've been getting better," she explains confidently, "in many ways."
"Are you recovered enough to continue your mission?" he asks.
"My— What?"
"You took a little vacation, Azula. That's fine. But now that it's over, are you ready to take up your mission again?" he asks rather impatiently.
"My… my mission?" Azula snaps louder than she meant to, "I just told you that I had a mental breakdown and I've managed to recover—in three month's time, no less—and all you can think about is the mission?"
"You should be Fire Lord, Azula," Ozai replies coldly, "Not your disappointment of a brother."
Azula is used to agreeing with her father on this point. Zuko has always been the weak one, the soft one. But when she opens her mouths, she responds, "Zuko's the one who kick-started my recovery."
"Well that's good," Ozai says almost mockingly, "But he has made a mess of the rest of the kingdom. You must take the throne Azula; for your country, for your people, for—"
"You."
"Yes," he agrees, "You must avenge my defeat."
"No," she retorts, "You want me to "complete the mission" only because of you. You don't care about the country or the people. You just care about your own personal gain."
"You're being ridiculous," Ozai retorts.
Azula stares back at him. "I love you," she says for the first time in years, "Do you love me?"
"Of course I do."
Azula reads his face carefully, his eyes carefully. "You know," she starts, "the Avatar has this friend who can tell when people are lying. She can feel the vibrations people give off when they are reacting to their own lies."
"What is the point of this little fact?" Ozai asks, less than interested.
"The point is, I can tell when people are lying too," Azula says, "It's an ability I've always had. I just never told you about it."
"So?" he asks, not really caring that she didn't tell him.
"You're lying to me," she answers, "You're lying about loving me."
"What? That's… that's…"
"Completely rational," she responds. Then she stands, "Goodbye father." She turns to walk out of the cell.
"Azula?" he calls, "Azula!"
She continues to walk away.
"Azula, I need you!"
She stops and turns her face just far enough to look at him over her shoulder, "You need me, but I don't need you. I'm the Fire Nation princess. You're just a prisoner."
"And I'm your father!"
For some stupid reason, the words hit her full-force. She turns away from her father, her bottom lip trembling, but with her head held high. And she walks out of the cell like the princess that she is.
But that persona finally fades when she is a good mile away from the prison. She leans against a tree and places her hand over her chest, taking deep breaths, trying not to cry again.
That's when Ty Lee shows up at the end of the street. She had decided to follow Azula, after all. As much as Ty Lee tries, she could never leave a friend alone in a time of need. When she sees Azula, the princess's face is covered in tears, and though shame for her weakness is clear on her face, the pain is obvious pain in the way Azula hugs herself.
Ty Lee can't even imagine how much this hurts her.
She walks up to the princess and asks softly, "Can I hug you?"
Azula stares at her through teary eyes and barred teeth behind her lips. But, she nods slowly to Ty Lee. In turn, the acrobat walks up to her and takes Azula's entire body in her arms as the princess leans into her. She sighs into Ty Lee's shoulder as she cries silently, biting back on her sobs because she is sick of sobbing. And Ty Lee rubs her back, trying her best not to cry despite being who she is—not a comforter, but a sympathetic cryer.
But Azula needs someone strong, someone to be her rock.
And Ty Lee will try her damned hardest to be that.
After Azula has cried herself out, they walk slowly back to the hospital in silence. They climb the wall sluggishly because Azula is tired out. When they finally crawl through the window, Ty Lee is standing in the middle of the room. Azula falls onto her bed from the window, lying down on it. She's never… felt this way before. She's never felt tired from simple emotional expression.
She's never been… numbly tired before.
"I'll be going," Ty Lee says.
Azula looks at her.
"It was nice spending time with you Azula," Ty Lee smiles. She has a nice smile, Azula observes. She's never really noticed anything about anyone except their flaws. That's another reason she always used fear; people always just tended to suck. But… Ty Lee seems really nice tonight… and she looks really nice. And she is walking over to the door to leave.
"Ty Lee," Azula calls.
The acrobat turns back to the princess.
"Could you—" Azula cuts herself off.
Ty Lee turns towards her, "Yes, Azula?"
"Could you…" she takes a breath, "This is an awkward request but could you… stay with me."
"Of course!" Ty Lee replies happily. She skips over to Azula's bed and sits at the foot of it, taking the princess's hand. Ty Lee's skin is very… smooth. "And it's not awkward," Ty Lee assures her.
"Well actually, I was wondering if you could…" Azula takes another deep breath, "if you could… um…"
"Spit it out!" Ty Lee teases.
She might as well, "."
Ty Lee blinks, trying to decipher her words. But Azula takes it as disgust and starts spluttering out an explanation, trying to defend herself, trying in any way to make this less awkward, to make it less of a chance of her losing Ty Lee all over again.
Then, the acrobat covers Azula's mouth with her hand. And she lies next to Azula, her front pressed to Azula's back. "Of course I'll lie with you," Ty Lee whispers, unwittingly sending shivers down Azula's spine.
But with the warmth that comes with Ty Lee wrapping her arm around Azula, the princess begins to relax. And as she is drifting off into what will most likely be her first dreamless sleep in months, she whispers to her friend, "Thank you."
And the two girls drift off into peaceful sleep, the tension that existed between them vanishing in their mingled breaths drifting off into the warm night air.