Azula was training relentlessly. It never seemed to end, and it was the only way she could clear her mind. Father called it preparation for the comet and preparation to face Zuko if he was sighted. And Azula called it trying to forget. She avoided her friends like the plague.

Maybe they cared. Maybe they did not.

As Azula finished training one day, she lay down on a bench near the throne room, her body damp with sweat. Her training clothes clung to her skin. And she was only aware of that when two bright eyes were focused on her.

"Who let you in?" Azula asked, this time her words harsh and not teasing.

"I'm beginning to think that's how you say hello," Ty Lee said sweetly before realizing Azula meant it this time. She cleared her throat and explained, "My dad is here for some dumb military thing. I thought maybe I could see you after you vanished off of the face of the earth for two weeks."

"I've been occupied. I have to focus on my brother. He needs to be brought to justice," Azula said and Ty Lee could tell the words were rehearsed, but pretty enough to be scripted by Azula herself.

"It had nothing to do with you," Ty Lee said softly, touching Azula's shoulder. Azula pushed her hand away and Ty Lee squeaked like a mouse being poked by something sharp.

"Get Mai," Azula said, sitting up slowly. And something was very different in her eyes, something Ty Lee did not like. They did not belong to the girl she had been dating for so long.

Ty Lee did get Mai. They were in Azula's bedroom. Azula's hair was still wet from the bath, and tied up in a bun she made herself ─ it was easy to tell from how messy it was. Mai was uncomfortable and itching to leave. She was done with this bullshit, Zuko was gone, and she would be perfectly content just staying out of the business of war for a while.

"I want to talk to you about my brother. My father told me that it was my responsibility to reprimand him since..." She hesitated. Mai could tell that Azula was trying to figure out if Mai and Ty Lee were worthy of knowing, which was honestly getting tiring; Ty Lee was leaning towards Azula waiting impatiently. "Since I was the one who... who spared him."

Mai closed her eyes for a moment at the pain in Azula's words. She was unraveling like a ball of yarn dropped from a tall table and there was nothing that could be done. It was Ozai's fault, and maybe a bit of everyone's.

"Azula, anyone would've done it," Ty Lee said and Mai cringed.

"Don't talk. I'm saying something important," Azula said coolly and Ty Lee had genuinely never been addressed by Azula that way. It made her infinitely uncomfortable. "I want to make sure I can count on you both. Mai, could you slit his throat?"

Mai paused and Azula did not like the silence. "I wouldn't like to if I had the choice. But I guess I would." She shrugged. Azula searched for a lie but was too late; Mai's expression had vanished before she could read it properly.

"And you," Azula said and Ty Lee swallowed. "Can you set aside your feelings to join me this last time?"

No. "Yes."

"Excellent. I'll see you both at training tomorrow at sunrise," Azula stated and Mai opened her mouth to protest. But she quickly changed her mind.

Mai exited as quickly as she could. Azula was a firework with the fuse nearly gone. And Mai had just been told by her parents exactly who she was supposed to marry now that Zuko was branded a permanent traitor. The contract made between she and Zuko when they were youths had to be fulfilled, and Mai was... she was lost in it. Her life was over and Azula's teetering psyche and abusive father were not priorities.

But they were priorities to Ty Lee. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong," Ty Lee said as firmly as she could. Azula just shook her head, pulling up her slipping sleeve.

"Nothing," Azula said, stepping towards Ty Lee. She pressed her lips against the acrobat's fiercely.

Ty Lee pushed on her for a moment, but then she realized Azula was too far gone. And so she set her hands behind Azula's back and pulled her closer into the kiss.

It pained them both.

But it was the last pleasure before the Boiling Rock.