Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of it's related characters or themes.
"Tell me the reality is better than the dream, but I've found out the hard way; Nothing is what it seems!"- Slipknot, "Duality"
The evening sun saturated the landscape with a burning amber hue. As Azula leaned on her windowsill, enjoying the tranquil beauty of the imperial city at sundown, she couldn't help but let the serenity of the evening wash over her. A deep sigh of contention escaped her lips as a cluster of stray hair swayed in front of her eyes. Upon settling, she attempted to blow it out of the way, but to no avail. After multiple failed attempts, she resigned herself to accepting her hair's decision, and a minute smile crossed her lips. Still defiant despite what happened last time, huh? As the thought ran through her mind, her faint smile suddenly disappeared. She had reminded herself of that horrific day once again. The princess bowed her head and clenched her eyes tightly, as if to bar the memory from entering her mind. She couldn't allow herself to continue being haunted by the past. The constant everyday battle to regain her sanity was hard enough without all these depressing memories. Dead memories she told herself. Nothing but dead memories in my heart. Azula's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden light knocking at her door. She gathered herself, taking one last glance at the serenity of the setting sun, before walking calmly to the door.
"Azula?" The girl's voice came from the other side, immediately telling Azula who it was before she could open the door.
"Hello Ty Lee." Azula greeted her lifelong friend as she opened the door. Any lingering memories of the past were now all but washed away as she looked upon her dearest friend. Ty Lee's beautiful, big, soft blue eyes and ever cheery demeanor were always enough to cheer the princess up. Her very presence was to Azula akin to a full, luminescent moon on the darkest nights, an unbreakable light that pierced through the enveloped darkness of her soul. Where would I be without you, Ty Lee? She wanted so badly to tell her friend how she felt, how the very thought of Ty Lee was enough to keep her warm on the coldest nights, and was the sole motivation for her regaining sanity. How could I ever tell her, especially after all I did to her? Azula fought once again to keep the words from escaping her lips.
"How have you been?" Ty Lee asked, cocking her head just slightly, enough to tell Azula that she sincerely cared. Azula always could read Ty Lee like a book, from her words to her body language, Ty Lee could never keep anything from the princess.
"I've been recovering, piece by piece every day. You've helped a lot with that." She gave Ty Lee a sheepish smile, hoping secretly that her friend could read her the same way she did. Azula knew she couldn't.
"Thanks Azula, that really makes me happy to hear. I've been worried about you, you mean a lot to me you know." The sincerity in Ty Lee's voice forced a warm feeling of comfort to race through Azula's body. She knew Ty Lee cared about her, but she couldn't be sure if it was in the same way the princess cared for her.
"You mean a lot to me as well, Ty Lee. I never could have made it through all this without you, I hope you realize that." Azula half stated, half asked, silently praying her friend would hear the plea in her words.
"Do you really mean that?" Ty Lee's brow furrowed empathetically at her friend's words. Did she really mean that much to Azula?
"Of course Ty Lee." Azula replied softly. "You mean more to me than anything else in the world. You're the reason I get up every morning, the motivation that keeps me going forward. You bring joy to me on even the hardest days, your face brightens the darkest nights. I know no matter how hard I fall, you will always be there at the bottom with a smile and a hand to help me up. Ty Lee, I can't help myself, I lov..." She stopped suddenly, eyes widened in shock, only now realizing that she was still talking. Her thoughts had finally forced themselves out, her feelings escaping her without her even realizing it. The princess' lip trembled. Agni, what have I done? Why did I say that! She's going to run in terror! She must think-
"Oh, Azula!" Ty Lee squealed as she grabbed her friend tight, cutting Azula's thoughts off. The princess couldn't move a muscle, couldn't muster a single coherent word or thought. The look of shock turning to one of amazement on her face. "Azula," Ty Lee whispered to her dear friend's ear, "Why did you wait so long to tell me?" The question came out along with tears of joy.
"You mean..." Azula was stuttering, still trying to recover from the shock of her friend's reaction. "You knew?" Those last words coming more as a sigh than anything else. A tighter hug and muffled laugh were answer enough. "How, I mean, how long have you known?" Azula plead, longing to know how long she had hid her feelings needlessly.
"Silly," Ty Lee giggled, "I can read you like a book." Her smile beaming larger than ever, she gave her friend a wink, infecting Azula until she broke into a half laughing, half sobbing fit. The princess returned her friend's embrace, longing to never have to let go. Ty Lee felt so warm in her arms, Azula couldn't bring herself to let go.
"Ty lee, I want to ask you-" She was cut off by her friend's warm, moist lips pressing sensually against her own. At first surprised, her body responded for her. Her eyes closed as she succumbed to the lusciousness of Ty Lee's lips, their sweetness overwhelming Azula's every taste bud. Ty Lee's finger faintly traced a line up and down the small of the princess' back, her touch so light and delicate that it felt to Azula as if a butterfly of silk were batting it's wings against her soft skin, a sensation that sent waves of warm pleasure pulsating throughout her body. A soft moan escaped the princess' lips, whilst Ty Lee's other hand effortlessly worked it's way into Azula's robe, caressing her inner thigh. The hand that was tracing a line of pleasure up and down the princess' back now glided thoughtlessly toward her neck, pinching it ever so slightly and causing Azula's body to go almost completely limp. She wasn't sure if she was even standing on her own two feet anymore, or if in fact Ty Lee was the only thing keeping her upright. She decided it was the latter.
Azula hadn't noticed their lips parting, having completely lost herself to the feeling Ty Lee's hands provided her. Ty Lee now cradled the princess' head in her hand, and leaned in to tenderly kiss the silken soft skin on Azula's neck, all the while her other hand cautiously and delicately caressing the tender flesh on the inside of her thigh. Azula's lips parted, whimpering a sigh of lust audible only to Ty Lee. Somehow her arm found the strength to wrap itself around Ty Lee's body, and with a sole finger she traced a line up her friend's back, forgetting completely the length and sharpness of her own nails. Ty Lee moaned audibly at the unexpected sensation, and Azula, with the sudden epiphany of what she had done, drew back abruptly. A look of terror flushed over the princess' face, the thought that she had just hurt her precious Ty Lee being too much to conceal.
"I'm sorry-" The princess began, but Ty Lee only giggled.
"It's okay," She whispered, "I liked it. Your whole life has been pain Azula. I want you to share it with me." Ty Lee gazed into Azula's amber eyes, now glistening with tears at the touching sincerity of her friend's words. Ty Lee gave her a comforting smile.
"Stay with me tonight." Azula whispered, pleading with Ty Lee not to leave.
"Oh, Azula," Ty Lee whimpered in response, "I'll stay with you forever." Azula held her tight, allowing a tear to fall and disappear in Ty Lee's soft, auburn hair.
Drip. Azula twitched. Drip. She awoke from her warm sleep, an unnaturally loud dripping noise pulling her from the sweet slumber she had been so happily enjoying. Drip. It was coming from the window. She turned her head to see Ty Lee still asleep, a look of complete contentment emanating from her face. Azula sighed, reluctantly getting out of bed to close the window. Drip. It was growing louder the closer she got. As she approached the window she noticed a faint orange glow coming from outside. Could it be dawn already? She asked herself, unsure of exactly how long she and Ty Lee had stayed up. Drip. The sound was unnerving, growing ever louder. She finally approached the window, and a look of absolute horror washed over her face. Outside her window, to her complete disbelief and astonishment, the entire imperial city was ablaze.
No... She couldn't believe what she saw. Refused to believe it, and yet there it was still. An unrelenting inferno of hellfire ravaged everything in site, the deafening roar of the merciless flames drowning out all other sounds, dwarfing even the bloodcurdling screams of terrified citizens. Her lip trembled, eyes ripened with terror. DRIP. Still there was the dripping sound, louder than ever before, snapping her out of her daze. She turned to wake Ty Lee, only to find a more horrifying sight than the first. The entire room was ablaze in a furious torrent of orange and red. Tapestries on the wall incinerated in seconds, the wood in the walls and floor crackling painfully, crying out for mercy, only to find none in those pitiless flames. Azula instinctively began bending flames out of her way, desperately trying to reach a now fully awake and terrified Ty Lee.
"Ty Lee!" She screamed as she made her way towards the bed.
"Azula! Save me, please save me Azula!" Tye Lee cried out to her princess for salvation. Terrified and completely cut off by the flames, the girl could do nothing but curl into a ball and cry out, both out of fear and pain, as the flames rapidly found their way to her. Azula was bending like she never had before, somewhat true, as she had never practiced Firebending with the intention of saving someone, only ever destroying. Tears began swelling in her eyes, she couldn't bare the thought of losing her precious Ty Lee.
"I'm here Ty Lee, don't worry, I'll never let anything happen to you!" Azula shouted to her love as she reached the bed. As she prepared to bend the flames away, a sudden, deafening crack broke her concentration momentarily, and all the room seemed to shift violently.
"Oh Azula, I'm so grateful! You saved me Azula! You saved my li-" Before Ty Lee could finish her sentence, the entire floor beneath the bed collapsed, sending the bed, with Ty Lee still trapped on it, down into a scorching inferno below. Eyes widened in horrified astonishment, mouth unable to close, her entire body trembling uncontrollably, Azula could only stare into the blaze below her. I... failed her. Her own thoughts choking inside of her head, the only thing she could feel was a bottomless pit in her stomach, an aching of the heart that would never release her. Ty Lee... She thought, as the tears began streaming down her cheek.
"AZULAAA!" Ty Lee's agonizing scream pierced through the flames, striking Azula's very soul with their utter helplessness and pain. The princess knew there was nothing she could do, nothing she could possibly even try that would save Ty Lee from the inferno she had been engulfed by.
"TYY LEEEE!" She awoke screaming. She sat silent and still for a moment as her scream echoed all about her in the darkness. As her eyes adjusted to the light (or lack thereof), she looked about the room she was in. Cold, concrete floor, pitiless brick walls. That massive, emotionless, iron door towering over her on one end of the room. It all came back to her then. Still in prison. Still alone. She couldn't stop herself from breaking down into tears. She curled her legs into her chest and wrapped her arms around herself, bowing her head into her knees. Sobbing fits rocked her entire body, and she found herself gasping for air in between. "Ty Lee..." She whispered into the desperately lonely, desolate darkness that was her existence, but the only response was the dripping of water somewhere in the dark recesses of her cell.
"All I got is insane."