Azula had a very clever plan. And all it took was being accused of poisoning the Fire Lord to set it into motion. She ordered a bowl of cherries, and spent far too long picking out the ones she was dissatisfied with. They all were perfect, rotund and glimmering, Fire Nation red.
She reclined on a stone bench in the courtyard, waiting for her girlfriend to arrive on the date. Ty Lee was, of course, late, because she was Ty Lee and got distracted by absolutely everything. It did nothing for Azula, who was starting to work herself into a panic.
Finally, Ty Lee arrived, looking as carefree and without a cause as usual. Azula swallowed her nerves, tried to be the conqueror of Ba Sing Se and not the girl she had been for so long, and gestured to the seat across from her.
"I remember this..." Ty Lee said with a small smile. Azula nodded once. "This is how we had our first kiss."
"Care for a rematch?" Azula purred, raising a dark eyebrow. Ty Lee sat down and set her chin on her palm and her elbow on the chipped stone. "I've been practicing."
"With who?" Ty Lee teased and Azula just shrugged. Ty Lee bit into a cherry and once she swallowed the fruit, she set the pit aside and the stem behind her coral pink lips.
She removed it, tied intricately and Azula did not move. Finally, the princess chose her own cherry, ignoring her sticky fingers, and slipped something into her mouth as Ty Lee examined the flowers. Azula feigned tying the cherry, as she did to trick Zuko as a child.
Ty Lee waited patiently, a smile growing. Azula reached into her mouth and pulled out not the tied or untied stem of a cherry, but a gold and red ring. The acrobat was instantly glad she had not tried to eat another piece of fruit, because she choked on her own saliva.
Azula smiled faintly. "Will you marry─?"
"Yes! Of course! Obviously! Yes!" Ty Lee screeched, causing birds to vacate a nearby tree. Azula's golden eyes fluttered in surprise for a moment before she slid the ring on Ty Lee's finger. And Ty Lee did not even care that it had Azula's spit all over it.
Ty Lee smashed her lips against Azula's, and Azula gripped her back. Perfection.
Azula, for once, was glad she took Zuko's advice.
And now she was getting married. And was extremely sticky with cherry juice and Ty Lee's chalky lipstick.