Victory was sweet. Azula rose from the Earth King's throne with a smug smile and a hefty dose of confidence. She decided she would like the one in the Fire Nation better; how she dreamt of the day that the throne room would glow blue. It would fall in eerie shadows and bright cerulean highlights, and perhaps bringing Zuko into her plan might pose an obstacle on her path to the throne.
Then again, father would not make Zuko Fire Lord in a million years. It was not an option in his mind, Azula was certain.
"I can't believe we pulled that off," sang the voice of a retired acrobat.
Azula was met by Ty Lee in front of her as Mai had seized Zuko. It was a moment in which Mai and Zuko seemed to be figuring out if they were them and the only logical next step would be to make out in front of everyone.
"That's disgusting," Azula murmured about her brother and Mai.
"I think it's cute," Ty Lee said before her eyes flickered. She did not intend to disagree with the princess. "But I mean, love is for pretty people."
"Like us," Azula replies, peeling her eyes from the sight. And they fall on the lips of her accomplice.
Azula did it. Impulsively and spontaneously and she was likely to swiftly blame it on adrenaline. The swell of victory in her chest or something painfully poetic like that. That the lips against hers were only there because of the aftermath of the heat of the battle.
But there is more swelter than the crystal catacombs or Uncle's flames that Azula blocked. It is a slow fire, consuming from the toes and higher, higher, higher...
"What?" Zuko interrupted their kiss, finally ceasing eating Azula's best friend. "Are you two...?"
"Oh, we're not together," Azula said as Ty Lee was touching her lips with a confused expression on her delicate features.
"So, she says," Mai murmured with a cocked eyebrow.
Azula shot Mai a silencing glance and Ty Lee could only laugh.
"They are definitely together, Zuko," Mai continued without the approval of the princess.
"I will tell you when we are together," Azula purred confidently and, with a turn of a heel, she walked through the arches of the palace, a small, slender form against the backdrop of the far larger thing she claimed as hers.
Claiming the Earth Kingdom was one thing, claiming a girlfriend was something else entirely.