It was going to be easy. That much was evident. It was not as if they could pull off a full scale invasion after what Azula did to Ba Sing Se. And the ample forewarning was fantastic; it was the first thing the Earth Kingdom told them. It was for that reason that it made sense for the Fire Nation to reign. The Earth Kingdom was weak.

Azula stared out of the window, gazing at the courtyard below. Her room always had the nicest view. Lattices and gold statues... and the endless patrol of soldiers keeping people out.

And keeping Azula in.

The sun set and Azula decided she would miss it greatly for the few minutes it would be gone the next day. That gave her a small lurch in the stomach that was unfamiliar. Fear of failure was normal, but Azula simply could not fail at the task her father allotted to her. Well, the task she came up with that he quickly snatched up and took credit for.

But tolerating her father was the only way she would get the throne. Particularly with Zuko home.

Azula stood to go to bed, deciding she should at least try to sleep before the second most defining moment in her military career. But the moment she turned around, something cracked outside. A small noise, one that only someone constantly attentive could pick up.

She spun around to see a shadowy form running across the lattices and hedges, directly over the heads of soldiers Azula decided she was going to have banished when she became Fire Lord. Some job protecting her they were doing as the shadow danced right over their heads.

Azula lit two fingers before the shadow became crystalline clear and leapt from the edge of the courtyard to the windowsill of the room below. And as Azula waited for a moment, blinking several times, a slender hand seized the golden sill and pulled a familiar body up.

The princess opened the window, nearly knocking Ty Lee off of her careful perch, and she climbed inside.

"Okay, I can't sleep," Ty Lee announces quietly as Azula shuts the window.

"So you ran all the way across town and illegally snuck into the royal palace?" Azula asked slowly, each word sharp and deliberate.

Ty Lee shrugged in response. She was not quite articulate enough to snap anything back.

"I wanted to see you before it starts," Ty Lee said after catching her breath. Her voice was still breathy after all of her panting.

"Someday gravity is going to get very angry at you and you'll suffer a deadly fall," Azula remarked, looking out of the window at the courtyard Ty Lee treated as a simple obstacle course.

"Well, until then, I think I'll keep ignoring it," Ty Lee replied with a smile.

"Consoling people is a waste of my time." Azula tugs at the sash of her kimono robe and tries not to look for too long at Ty Lee. This is a devastating distraction.

"I just wanted to see you," Ty Lee said and Azula could not full fathom it. No one would risk that much simply to visit her when they were having an insomniac night. "Are you going to be sleeping tonight?"

"Probably not," Azula replied with a careless shrug. "I can't slip up tomorrow for a second."

"As if you will," Ty Lee said with a laugh. But her laughter was quickly silenced by how serious Azula looked. "Was that not a joke?"

"I guess it was," Azula lied and Ty Lee believed her entirely. How Azula could be dating someone so gullible, Azula could not comprehend.

Ty Lee could not imagine Azula having a weakness. And that, looking back, was likely why things went so awry. She did not know Azula until it was almost too late. But that night, the night before the Invasion, they could pretend they were not kidding themselves.

Azula did know better; Ty Lee should have known better.

But they did it anyway.

Ty Lee said, "You know what I heard enhances physical performance in women?"

Azula paused. She felt as if she should know the answer. She knew every answer.

Ty Lee noticed she did not know and simply said, "This."

And there was a kiss that led to much more.