Of Fire
Chapter 2
The months that followed were too slow and somehow too fast to count. Azula watched as the monster grew inside her woman. She had done her research on the changes Ty Lee would be experiencing; she was nothing if not diligent. Against her better judgment, Azula even asked Mai what she went through when she was pregnant with her son, Lu Ten. After days of studying, she felt safe that she knew the things that Ty Lee was supposed to go through, everything from the odd cravings to the lack of energy to the achiness. It was true she didn't care for the thing growing in her woman but she still loved Ty Lee, and she would be there for her when she needed her most.
But as months past Ty Lee showed no symptoms. There were no cravings, no swelling of the feet, no morning sickness. Her breasts and butt, along with her waist line, did grow larger. Also, her hair grew faster and silkier, but that was all. Her appetite did grow, but that was only normal. She was feeding two, after all. And as the time grew closer for the thing to be born, Ty Lee seemed have more energy than she did before her pregnancy. It baffled everyone; it seemed that Ty Lee got all the pros and none of the cons out of being pregnant. What the hell was going on? Most left the subject alone, but Azula poured over scrolls to try to find the solution. There were no documentations of this ever happening in the whole history of the Fire Nation or any other civilization known to man, it seemed. Ty Lee had informed her ex-captain, the Kyoshi warrior, of her pregnancy. A couple of days after that it seemed that all of 'team avatar' plus their collective three little rug rats (Azula didn't bother to remember their names) were in the palace congratulating the young mother-to-be. Azula had been present when Ty lee explained the circumstances of her pregnancy and about her symptoms – or lack thereof. The group looked just as baffled as everyone else had, all except Aang. A light seemed to go off in the Avatar's head when Ty Lee finished explaining, but he said nothing about it and only congratulated Azula. For her part, Azula scoffed and rolled her eyes.
And when that day finally came, the day the monster was to be brought into the world, a storm broke in the Fire Nation capital like none other in the history of the world. Lightning cracked the very sky in large white lines, scarring the earth when it touched. Thunder shook the ground like an earthquake, causing the smaller houses of the lower class, middle class and business district to crumble in on themselves. And the houses that remained standing were mercilessly pelted with hail the size of baseballs.
Azula watched the weather outside from the safety of the birthing room, the dark ominous clouds twirling around one another. The window in front of her shook as thunder roared in the sky. It was a premonition of the thing that would be born today, a bad one. Ty Lee laid on the bed, her legs spread, Mai standing beside her, looking bored but still holding Ty Lee's hand. The acrobat's water had broken an hour ago; the same time the sky broke out with a vengeance. "Azula!" Ty Lee called, reaching out her free hand to her wife.
Azula turned from the window and walked over to Ty Lee, taking her hand as the younger woman smiled up at her. The midwife had informed them that the contractions were getting longer, but Ty Lee felt no pain, gave no sign of discomfort. The only thing Ty Lee was worried about was the weather. Lightning struck the ground in the palace garden, temporally filling the room as the midwife told Ty to push. The reverberating sound of thunder filled the air as the creature was pulled into this world. And there was silence.
A bundle was shoved into Azula's unwilling hands, looking down as the monster in her arms cried, but no sound offered forth from its lips. It stopped making the motion of crying and looked up at her with large golden eyes. She had looked in the mirror long enough to know the royal golden hue of her eyes, a color no one other than the royal family had. A color she shared with the thing in her arms. Her lips twitched in disgust as she handed the thing to its mother and walked out of the room. Ty Lee cradled the baby to her chest and watched as her wife stalked out of the room. Mai was the only one who noticed that the baby's golden eyes did the same, following Azula as she left, and she didn't say anything.
Ty Lee sighed sadly and leaned back against the pillows she was laying on, looking out the window at the clearing sky as the sun filtered through the window. Her grey eyes turned back to the baby as its small hand fisted into her pink silk shirt, and she smiled. "It's a girl." The midwife announced as she lightly patted Ty Lee's hand.
The young mother nodded as the midwife smiled and left the room. Mai examined the child closely as Ty Lee held her. "What will you name her?" Mai's monotone voice asked as her hand ventured out to run her fingers gently through the baby's short, stark white hair.
Again Ty Lee sighed, "I was going to let Azula name her, but I don't think she'll want to." Mai nodded. The baby closed her eyes and nuzzled against her mother. Ty Lee thought for a second for a name.
'Detia.' The name echoed in Ty Lee's mind, from where she had no idea, but she liked that name and smiled.
"Detia." She said aloud with a smile as she looked down at her daughter. "I'll name you Detia."
"Detia?" Mai repeated with only a small smile as a knock rang on the door.
Both women looked at the door as it was opened by an old water bending man, the doctor. He smiled warmly at them and replied, "Hello, there. Strange weather we're having." He chuckled then his face turned serious quickly. "The midwife said that your new baby may have some problems."
"Problems?" Ty Lee looked at her child with a confused expression. "What kind of problems?"
"It may be nothing, may I see the child?" he asked as he held out his hands.
Tentatively, Ty Lee handed Detia to him, waking the baby from her little nap. The child wrinkled her nose but made no sound. Carefully, the doctor checked the baby, spending a little bit longer at her neck than Ty Lee liked, then sighed as he handed her back to her mother. "Is there something wrong with her?" Ty Lee asked worriedly, looking down into her daughter's bright golden eyes.
Again the doctor sighed. "I'm afraid she's mute." He announced lightly.
"Mute?" Ty Lee exclaimed. "Can you cure her?"
The doctor shook his head, "I'm afraid not; the damage to her vocal cords is too severe for me to heal. I'm sorry."
The acrobat looked down at her daughter, who had fallen asleep again. 'It could be worse.' Ty Lee thought to herself with a defeated sigh. 'Though this won't sit well with Azula.'
Grey eyes looked to the door where her wife had exited. Despite how the princess tried to hide her feelings for the child from her, Ty Lee knew. She had hoped that once the child was born Azula would come to her senses and realize that the child was hers. For a second, as Azula held the baby and the two's eyes met, Ty Lee noticed a softening of Azula's hawk eyes. That alone sparked a small flame of hope in the acrobat. But this news that Detia was mute would not help the child's chances with Azula. Ty Lee already knew Azula would use this flaw in the child as a reason to deny her.
She sighed, "Thank you Doctor that will be all."
The doctor nodded, though he had more to say. He was smart enough to see that the young mother needed time to think.
"Will you be okay?" Mai asked, reading her best friend's feelings easily.
The acrobat nodded, nuzzling her daughter, "I'll be okay. I'm just tired," she lied terribly, but Mai didn't call her on it. "I'm sure your son and husband are waiting on news; you know how excited they were. Could you tell them for me?"
Mai nodded with a slight smile, "Sure."
It had amused Mai that, as Ty Lee's child grew inside her, her husband seemed to be thrilled to be an uncle. Almost as thrilled as he was when he found out he would be a father. And of course, because he was so excited their son, Lu Ten, was just as excited. Lu Ten often informed his family that he couldn't wait to have someone other than his dad to play with. Not that his dad was bad or anything. Though the small boy would be disappointed that his cousin was a girl and not a boy, but Mai was sure it would only dampen his spirits for a second before becoming excited again. The Fire Lady patted her best friend's hand before leaving the room, again noticing as Ty Lee forced a smile for her sake.
Exhaling deeply, Ty Lee laid completely on her back, staring up at the ceiling as she felt her daughter's heart thump evenly against her chest. Her eyes slipped closed, fighting back the tears and praying to whatever gods or spirits who would listen that her daughter wouldn't grow up unloved by her other mother. The small baby patted her shoulder slightly – as if reading her thoughts – the pressure barely felt over her clothes. Ty Lee laughed lightly at the gesture, patting the child's back lightly in return. "It'll be okay, Detia," Ty Lee whispered. "I'll think of something."
~x~
Night fell quickly over the Fire Nation. Detia was safely placed in the crib in her room, sleeping soundly as far as anyone could tell. Ty Lee slept restlessly beside Azula, tossing and turning as her fears manifested in her dreams. Azula feigned sleep, unable to rest with her lover moving around so harshly. Though, she was also unable to find it in herself to pull the acrobat against her and tell her everything would be okay. "No, Azula, she's…" Ty Lee mumbled in her restless sleep, giving the Fire Nation General an idea of what her wife was dreaming about.
The princess had promised never to lie to Ty Lee and she was going to keep that promise, even if Ty Lee was only dreaming, which is why she didn't comfort the woman. Suddenly, a shrill little wail rang through the walls, causing both women to shoot up in bed wide awake. "I thought you said it was mute." Azula scowled and covered her ears, though it did nothing to drown out the sound.
"I did." Ty Lee replied as she slid out of bed.
Azula grabbed her wife's wrist. "Come back to bed, the wet nurse will get her, that's what she was hired for."
"But," Ty Lee offered weakly, "she's crying."
Azula's golden eyes met Ty Lee's grey ones, silently pleading with her wife. "Let her cry." Once the words left her mouth Azula knew she should have phrased that differently. If she didn't already know that, the uncharacteristically cross look on Ty Lee's face as she wrenched her hand free was a big clue. "Ty Lee, that's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant, Azula." Ty Lee replied and walked to the door. "But she's our daughter."
Azula bit down on her tongue to stop herself from correcting her lover and averted her gaze to the bed. That thing was in no way a part of her. She heard the acrobat sigh and open the door to their room. With a heavy mind the Princess of the Fire Nation fell back to the bed and tried to get some sleep. The crying had stopped shortly after Ty Lee left the room, but she didn't return. And after three hours of waiting, Azula finally got up to see what was taking her so long. Making sure her robe was correctly secured, she left her room and headed to where it was staying.
The door to Detia's room was closed, but Azula dare not knock for fear of waking it up again. So, she opened the door slowly, and as light from the low candles filtered into the room, a pair of large, innocent golden eyes met hers and she froze, only for a second. Azula stared back at the baby, who was curled up on her sleeping mother's chest. She broke contact first as she examined her sleeping lover. Finding that she was fine, Azula turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
~x~
A week passed. Ty Lee had started her stretches again, quickly losing the fat being pregnant produced. Whenever Azula saw her she would notice the monster sitting in a small baby chair not far from her, watching with rapt interest as Ty Lee's body bent in an almost unnatural way. It would giggle happily as Ty Lee walked towards her on her hands, her feet resting soundly on her shoulders, and Azula would scoff and storm off.
Though the days were calm, the nights were another thing. In the early hours of the morning, that wretched little parasite would cry, and apparently, no one but Azula and Ty Lee could hear it. They had woken the wet nurse once when Detia was crying, and the older woman couldn't hear a thing. On the very last day of the week, while both adults were sleeping, the familiar cry woke them with a start. Ty Lee groaned. "Azula," she complained groggily, "you go get her."
"What!" Azula almost hissed.
"Please." Ty Lee whined. "I'm so tired."
Azula groaned, knowing it was true. Her wife had over-exerted herself that day, pushed her limits further than what she should have and somehow ended up on the ground unconscious. Unfortunately, the only one with her at the time was Detia. Azula, who was in a meeting sitting at her brother's right, had heard Detia's shrill little wail and ignored it as best she could, which was pretty well. It stopped after a minute, and Azula almost sighed. The princess started to say something to one of the other generals in the meeting when her head suddenly felt like it was splitting apart and an image of Ty Lee on the ground, accompanied with the panic and fear that was not her own, caused her to scream as she held her head, gritting her teeth to stop from screaming again. 'Help' the one word voiced by the disembodied person she had heard the day they found out about Detia echoed through her head.
Everything was silent when the image and voice and feelings went away. She found herself on her hands and knees, breathing erratic, blood dripping from her nose. She ignored it and the stares from everyone in the room as she stood; steadying herself on her brother's shoulder before bolting to the garden she had seen Ty Lee in earlier that day – Zuko right behind her. Faster than even she thought was possible, Azula made it to the garden. She didn't see Ty Lee anywhere but a much softer voice than the one before, but still the same person speaking, said, 'behind the trees' and that's where Azula ran.
She found Detia first, almost allowing amusement to show on her face when relief washed over the baby's features. Ty Lee was on the ground, unconscious but breathing. Azula rushed to her wife, lifting her head slightly while calling to her. Ty Lee didn't respond. 'Will she be okay?' the voice asked.
"She'll be fine." Azula answered aloud.
"Who are you talking to?" Zuko asked worriedly as he approached his little sister with two guards flanking him. "Spirits, what happened?" he exclaimed when he noticed Ty Lee's prone form on the ground.
Azula shrugged and picked her wife up easily as she eyed the baby, whose golden eyes never left her own. That little monster was smarter than she let on. She broke eye contact and looked towards her brother. "Why are you just standing there!" she yelled at him and the two guards, all three tensing visibly. "She needs a doctor!"
The two guards saluted and quickly ran off to retrieve a doctor. Zuko only sighed, saying nothing as Azula walked towards the castle, completely ignoring the baby. Smiling down at the one-week-old, he knelt and rubbed her head. "Mommy's going to be okay," he said reassuringly as he gently picked her up out of the chair then followed his baby sister.
The doctor hadn't said much, but ordered Ty Lee to take it easy for a few days and to get a lot of sleep. While Ty Lee slept and Mai took Detia, Azula thought about the voice she heard and the little monster. Azula was by no means a stupid person, and she could put two and two together better than most. She knew without a doubt that she was no longer crazy; she hadn't heard a single voice for well over a year until the day they found out about Detia. And apparently, the little demon could speak with her mind. True, the only thing she had done was cry, but it wasn't a far stretch to believe that the week-old child could do more than cry. Then there were the relief and facial expressions that a baby that young shouldn't be able to do so clearly. It wasn't hard for Azula to realize the frightened voice she had heard was that of the little monster.
So now, at about four in the morning, Azula threw her legs over the side of the bed. She reasoned that she did owe the brat a thank you. If it wasn't for her, Ty Lee could have gone missing for hours before someone found her. She stroked her wife's cheek lightly, causing the younger woman to smile. "What if she's hungry?" Azula asked.
"She's not." Ty Lee said in such a reassuring, final tone that Azula almost believed her.
Azula snorted, but Detia's wail stopped whatever she was going to say and she stood. "I'm coming," she said angrily as she stormed out of her room to the baby's.
Before entering, she breathed deeply, pushing the door open. The little monster's eyes glowed when the firelight touched them. Azula walked over to the crib, picking Detia up and holding her at arm's length. Detia's wails calmed slowly till they stopped altogether, and the two just stared at each other. "Well," Azula started and looked around for something to sit on.
Easily, she spotted a small white couch and walked towards it, still caring the baby at arm's length. She sat uneasily, slowly placing the baby on her knee, and refusing to admit that she didn't know how to hold a baby. With a flick of her fingers, Azula lit the many candles, turning the room a light blue before the fires cooled to an orange color. Detia watched in wide-eyed amazement as Azula did this. The firebender looked down and almost smiled at the baby's wide eyes. "This does not change anything between us." Azula replied, getting the little monster to look up at her. "I'm only here because Ty Lee needs her sleep." The baby made a sound much like a disheartened mumble of agreement. "Also, what happened today when Ty Lee fainted, don't you ever do that again." A small white eyebrow lifted slightly. "Don't give me that look. You know very well what you did." The little monster nodded very slightly. "Good. Now, this is what I want you to do." She paused. "At night, we need our sleep, and you need to stop waking us up. Tell me now why you feel the need to cry every night."
Innocent golden eyes looked up at the woman who should be her mother and a small voice replied, 'nightmares.'
"Nightmares?" Azula repeated and the child almost nodded. "You wake us up early in the morning because you have nightmares? I'm guessing you want to be comforted?" Again the monster nodded, almost. "I see." There wasn't really much she could do to stop the nightmares. "Well, then just try not to wake us up unless you absolutely must." The monster confirmed. "Good. Now, I'm going to put you back in your crib, and you're going to go sleep and, I don't know, think happy thoughts." The princess said with a roll of her eyes.
Detia did not reply or move as Azula placed her back into the crib, covering her with the silk red cover and turned away. "Go to sleep," she said firmly before leaving the baby in the crib, flicking her wrist to snuff out the candles.
The princess returned to bed, slipping under the silk covers and pulling Ty Lee against her. "That was fast." The sleepy acrobat replied as she turned, wrapping her arms around Azula's thin waist.
"Of course." Azula replied. "Go to sleep."
The acrobat nodded slightly, confirming with a soft sweet 'mm' sound.
~x~
After that day, Ty Lee assumed – wrongly – that Azula had warmed up to Detia, if only a little. Azula had not, and though the princess would occasionally comfort the little monster late at night when she cried, which only happened about once a week if not less now, she felt no attachment to the baby. But that didn't stop Ty Lee from hoping. She kept telling herself if Azula spent enough time with Detia that she would realize how much they were alike. Azula constantly refused to spend this time with the child, always having something 'better' or 'more important' to do.
Six months, six slow months passed in this fashion. Ty Lee was losing hope fast. The acrobat was sitting with Mai, watching Lu Ten play with his baby cousin. Lu Ten put his hands over his eyes and removed them quickly, saying, "Peek-a-boo." A smooth white eyebrow lifted at him, innocent golden eyes clearly saying what she thought of her older cousin. "Aw, come on Detia," the little boy complained.
Detia tilted her head slightly, then reached over from her sitting potion and smacked her cousin on the forehead. He fell back dramatically and groaned, rubbing his head. "And Azula thinks Detia isn't hers?" Mai questioned as she watched the scene before her with a half-smile. Ty Lee nodded. "They're so much alike."
"I know," Ty Lee remarked and giggled as Detia made the motion of laughing, though Ty Lee could hear the sound in her head, at Lu Ten's actions.
The little boy had stood, looming over the small baby with a mock cross expression on his face. "I'm crown prince of th-" he started and she threw a small rubber ball at him, hitting him square in the head.
He fell over again, which only caused her to laugh harder. "She has good aim, too." Mai noted.
"Mom!" Lu Ten whined. "You're not supposed to be taking her side."
Mai smiled. "I'm not. I'm merely stating a fact."
The boy frowned; then suddenly his expression lit up as he stood and ran into another room, coming back with a basket. He placed it about three feet away from Detia, who was looking at him curiously. He smiled, picking up a couple of balls that lay around the floor, before sitting down beside his cousin. Lu Ten handed her a small ball and she took it, barely able to wrap both of her hands around it. "All right, Detia," he said. "We're going to play a game. Let's see who can get the ball in the basket the most without missing." Detia blinked and put the ball in her mouth. Lu Ten quickly took it from her, "No Detia, you have to throw it in the basket, like this." He tossed the ball at the basket, but it hit the rim and bounced out. Detia laughed and he smiled. "See, I don't expect you to be able to make it, just try."
He handed her another ball, and she tossed it, making it into the basket where it bounced but stayed in, a small smirk crossing her lips. "Beginner's luck." He handed her a third ball. "Try again." Detia threw the ball again, it hit the rim of the basket and fell in. "Wow! Did you see that! She made it in a second time. Do it again." Detia was handed a ball and she threw it in the basket, quickly becoming bored with this game, but loving how proud it made her mother and cousin. "Wow!" Lu Ten exclaimed and patting his cousin on the back. "Good job."
"I was wondering, Ty." Mai asked, getting her friend's attention, and when the brunette's grey eyes were on her, she continued. "Has Detia started crawling yet?"
"No, why? Should she have started by now?"
Mai chuckled at her friend's worried expression. "No, no, nothing like that. I just thought that, considering she's your child, you couldn't stop her from moving."
"Oh." Ty Lee sighed in relief and looked over to her daughter, who was staring at her.
The child's gaze broke as she turned her head towards one of the entrances where Azula walked in, the princess' golden gaze drawn to a scroll in front of her not paying attention to her surroundings. So, when Detia lifted her arms to be picked up as Azula passed and Azula didn't, no one thought much of it. But when Detia used her seat to push herself to a standing position, everyone, aside from Azula, gasped. Azula stopped at the sound and turned to find the six month old clutching onto her leg with one arm, raising the other arm in a motion to be picked up. The princess only looked at the child, then at Ty Lee. "How did she get here?" she asked, silently praising herself for saying 'she' instead of 'it'.
"She walked." Ty Lee answered pride clearly evident in her voice and eyes.
'Up,' the now familiar voice rang in Azula's ears, but she ignored it and only looked down at the small child. 'Up.' The voice came again.
Azula sighed, rolling up the scroll in her hands and placing it under her arm before leaning down and picking Detia up. Only to place her back down on the ground, turn, and walk away. Detia watched silently, blinking rapidly before falling on her bottom to the ground. "Did anyone else think that was mean?" Lu Ten asked as his aunt rushed pasted him to her daughter.
Detia looked back at her mother, lip quivering as tears leaked from her large eyes. "Oh, sweet heart," the acrobat cooed as she picked the baby up and hugged her tightly. "She'll come around." She whispered then threw the baby up in the air slightly only to catch her, which made the baby smile. "Who's my smart little baby? Already walking!" Detia giggled as Ty Lee kissed her cheek. "I'm so proud." She placed her daughter on the ground. "Do it again for mommy?"
Detia looked up, smiling slightly as she slowly walked across the floor to her cousin.