014. Hostage
"You are not leaving," Azula says in that voice.
"Well, I'm your humble hostage, so I guess I have to figure out something else to do," Ty Lee says, unable to hide or stop her smile. It's impossible not to find this funny.
It probably would have been scary at one point, but being Azula's pseudo-prisoner is not as bad as it should be. But Ty Lee abruptly stops laughing.
"What is it?" Azula asks, somewhere between accusatory and compassionate.
"I've seen what you do to your real prisoners, princess."
"Well, then you know how much I l-like you."
"Yeah…"
015. Tiara
"That's not a crown; that's a tiara," Ty Lee says and Azula cocks an eyebrow.
"It is a crown. It is called a crown. I have worn a crown for my entire… most of my entire life. I know what a crown is."
"But it's so tiara, you know? Like when you were a kid it was really a tiara," Ty Lee muses, holding the gold up to the light.
"What even is a tiara?" Azula asks.
"A kind of crown," Ty Lee says, not realizing the trap.
"You see. It is a crown. You said it yourself." Azula smirks.
016. Impure
"My father would hate you so much more if you stayed with me," Azula says. "Although, if I think about it, it is entirely your fault that his empire fell and he lost everything he loved. But don't say that, of course."
Ty Lee stares with her mouth open. She just became more terrified, because Azula's idea of being comforting is awful.
"What. Could. Be. Worse?" Ty Lee asks quietly.
"You could be a boy," Azula says. She smiles as if that is helpful.
"But if I was a boy, your dad would have killed me way before this suffering."
017. Flavor
"Your lips taste good," Ty Lee says.
"Tell me about your conversation with my father."
"But your lips taste so good that I forget."
"Someday, Ty Lee, I will teach you how to lie. You are a terrible liar, and you are always telling me to redeem myself with honesty." She gags. Ty Lee sighs. "Do not be a hypocrite or I will murder you."
"That's a really steep punishment for hypocrisy," Ty Lee whispers to herself.
Azula of course overhears. "I know. This is why no one lets me make the rules, because they say things like steep punishment."
018. Careless
"I love you," Ty Lee says quietly. She has said it many times before to Azula through this dreadful process, but she never has meant it so romantically. It always was just reassuring them both that they would make it through this.
"Of course you do. It is obvious," Azula replies, which is not what Ty Lee wanted to hear.
But it is the kind of thing Ty Lee expected to hear.
"Do you love me?" Ty Lee asks like a fool. She knows she shouldn't.
"I do not throw comments like that around as carelessly as you do."
"Oh."