Chapter 10: Perfect
"How's he doing?"
"Well… It's a good thing he has such a thick skull, since that was a heavy fall… But he'll be fine." Suki answered with a smile.
Zuko sighed in relief. "That's good…"
All things considered, the reaction to those two's little show was better than he expected… That was until Sokka decided to pass out.
It also didn't help that everybody was too focused on his sister and his best friend that he and Suki were the only ones that noticed right away…
And so, he was forced to carry him to his carriage to lay him down.
Suki stayed with him inside, while he left to deal with the aftermath of their fight…
"But to kiss right in front of everyone…" Suki said with awe in her eyes. "It's just so… romantic! To not care what other people think and just love each other…"
Maybe it was his imagination, but he noticed some longing in her voice that he wasn't sure how to interpret…
And he was too exhausted to ask about what she meant anyway.
Although he guesses that love will always be difficult no matter who it is… He'd know that, for sure.
"I would've rather them not doing it right after a fight like that one… But at least everyone got out of it relatively unharmed."
And they also managed to capture a bunch of those New Ozai Society people, so he would consider his plan a pretty good success.
"Yeah… too bad their leader got away." Suki said with a disappointed sigh. "We'll have to question the ones we got and see if they spill anything… but somehow, I'm not too optimistic about it."
"I'll have to remain vigilant then. Who knows when they'll strike next."
Suki looked at him weird. "You don't want our help anymore?"
"W-What? No, that's not it!" He stammered out. "It's just that, you guys have done so much for us already that—"
"Don't worry about that!" She said with a laugh. "We're friends! And besides, I also grew to worry about your family's safety."
She then stood up and joined him outside the carriage. "We'll be happy to stay by your side for as long as you need us, Fire Lord Zuko." She said with a noble bow.
He didn't know what to say.
He already owed her so much for all she has done, and even now… He wasn't even sure how he was going to repay her…
So he just bowed in return. "Thank you, Suki. I'll be forever in your debt."
At the very least, he could rest easier knowing they would still be there for him and his family…
And a smaller part of him was happy that she would be staying for longer in the Fire Nation.
Though he wasn't really sure what to make out of that…
"Well if you're going to keep insisting on that whole debt thing then… I'm looking forward to it." She said with what he could only describe as a playful tone.
Something was happening for sure…
But before he could properly give his thoughts some time to form, a throat clearing noise caught their attention.
"Am I interrupting?" Mai said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll go see how Katara's doing!" Suki said before quickly leaving him alone with her.
"Uh… No! Not at all!" He said nervously.
Something about her piercing glare was making him break into a sweat… But why exactly would she be mad at him for?
"Is something wrong?" He decided to ask with as steady of a voice as he could muster.
She glared at him for a couple seconds more, making him squirm internally.
"Wrong? How about you letting your psycho of a sister out freely without even considering telling me about it?"
Oh… that made sense.
He sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that. But I just couldn't let her stay any longer in that institution… And she deserved to be there to find our mother."
He had his concerns when he first thought of his plan but… He was more than glad that he had gone through with it.
Dealing with Azula's torment didn't bother him that much if it meant she could be part of his family again.
"I would've told you but… well, you know…"
But Mai didn't look convinced. "So just because we broke up it means that you couldn't care less to at least send a letter?"
"Well, it's not like you made it any easy to find out where you are." His voice carried an annoyance he wasn't sure where it came from… "And besides, Azula is my family. I don't need permission from anyone to try and help her."
Okay, he was definitely feeling some inner frustrations coming out…
Maybe he hadn't gotten over their break up like he had thought.
"And what about what she did to me? About what she did to Ty Lee?" Her tone was becoming angrier with each word. "You don't think we at least deserve to know that she's free to come back and take revenge on us?!"
"She won't do that!" He retorted with equal fire. "She's better now. You have nothing to worry about anymore. I promise."
He then took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his nerves. "I know that she did some terrible things to you guys… And I'm not going to ask you guys to forgive her or even agree with my decision…" He then gave her a resolute look. "But as the Fire Lord, I'm going to make sure she gets to live freely from now on."
Mai studied him for a minute. "And you seriously trust that she won't go back to how she used to be?"
"I do." He said without missing a beat, which seemed to catch Mai relatively off guard.
"I'm guessing that has something to do with it?"
That…?
Oh, that.
He nodded.
"How that'd happen anyway? Ty Lee told me she was acting crazy right before you guys left to find your mother."
He shrugged. "I guess Aang simply saw something in her that no one else did… And it managed to reach her."
Mai laughed dryly. "Reach her sounds like an understatement, considering that I've never once seen her act with someone the way she's acting with him."
She then sighed in defeat. "But fine. If you really do trust her to change, then I'll hold you to that."
She then started walking away from the carriage back to where the others were…
Or actually… She was walking right towards Kei Lo…
Did they know each other?
He did mention that they had a mutual friend…
She then looked back over her shoulder. "Sorry about interrupting your little flirting session by the way!"
What?
"That was not—" He tried to reply, but she wasn't looking at him anymore.
He groaned.
What did she even mean?
Did it looked like he was flirting with Suki? He definitely felt incredible grateful and cared for her deeply but…
No! There's no way!
She was with Sokka, anyway.
Speaking of…
He turned around back to the carriage.
He sighed in relief.
He was still sleeping.
He couldn't let him get the wrong idea, after all.
Katara was spacing out.
Even now, she wasn't sure if this was a dream or not…
Or a nightmare for that matter.
She wasn't naïve enough to think that Aang wouldn't have moved on in the time they were apart… But the fact that it was with her of all people was driving a stake through her heart.
It didn't make any sense…
What could've happened during their trip that could've led to this?
"How you holding up?" She heard a voice coming from in front of her.
She was sitting on one of the tree stumps that were cut down by the New Ozai members, so when she looked up, she saw Suki walking towards her.
Behind her was the carriage where her brother was currently recovering from his little… incident, where Zuko seemed to be talking to someone.
And to their far right was… Ty Lee talking to those two.
"I'm…" She began but stopped halfway.
How was she holding up?
She was the one who broke things off so… why did she feel so betrayed?
Her head was a mess…
"I don't know…"
Suki then sat down beside her. "Well, that makes sense… I wouldn't know what to think either if I was in your shoes."
"Are you fine with this? Letting Azula just free like that?" She decided to tackle the question, considering what happened between them both.
"Surprisingly, yes." Suki answered nonchalantly. "Maybe it would've been different had I not been there to witness what happened, but who knows?"
"What did actually happen?"
Did she even want to know?
"Well… a lot definitely happened…" Suki trailed off. "But I think it'd be better if you talk to them first. It was a pretty stressful three days that even I don't have the entire picture."
The entire picture…
She then looked over at Aang and Azula… He definitely looked happy to say the least. And so did Azula.
Did he ever looked that happy when he was with her?
She got so caught up with rebuilding back her home that most of their relationship those last few months are more of a blur than anything…
She'd like to think that what they had was good, but…
"Hey, Katara?" Suki spoke up. "I don't know exactly what you're thinking but… don't be too hard on yourself. I mean, there's a reason why you guys broke up, right? Isn't that still important?"
A reason…
Yeah, she was right.
Even now, she didn't regret actually staying back home with her family after what felt like an entire lifetime of never seeing her father or Gran Gran…
And Aang had his own responsibilities…
Although she could never really settle her own feelings for him… or her guilt for how they ended things.
She was going to have to talk to him at some point… about a bunch of things…
She then smiled at her friend. "You're right…Thanks."
Suki smiled back. "Don't mention it! And again, I think it's fine to be upset about it. I mean, it is Azula who we're talking about here… But at the very least I think her feelings are genuine here, so don't worry about that end."
Right. She didn't really think Aang as one able to be seduced easily , even for as forgiving and trusting as he can be.
But even then…
"I'll have to talk to her… just to make sure."
Because despite everything, Aang was still her family.
Speaking of family…
"How's Sokka doing?"
She still felt guilty for not realizing he had passed out until after he was carried off...
"Sleeping like a rock right now." Suki said with a laugh.
She sighed in relief. Although...
There had been something nagging at her for a while…
"Are things between you guys okay?" She decided to ask straight out.
This seemed to catch Suki off guard. "H-Huh? W-What do you mean?"
"Well… He's been trying to hide it… But I've noticed him being in somewhat lower spirits as of late."
And that was an understatement.
His usually unbearable personality seemed to be gone these past few weeks...
Especially when she asked about Suki specifically…
"I see…" Suki lowered her gaze. "Well, it's no secret that I've pretty much spent the last year and a half here in the Fire Nation… It's just been kinda difficult seeing each other with how hectic everything's become."
"Hm… Well, that makes sense…"
It's in a way the same thing that happened to her…
She thought life would've gotten easier after the war but… it's only managed to get more complicated. She was of course glad that it was over, but having a clear goal that they had to be constantly focused on was much less confusing than all the things they had to worry about these days…
And despite the whole nations united image they had during their time together, that only meant that now they all lived in different parts of the world… And seeing each other only got harder...
It'd be nice if they had somewhere they could all meet each other more frequently. Like a city made for everyone…
Kinda like what Yu Dao is becoming…
But she had to focus on the matter at hand.
"So are you guys…"
She didn't finish but she's sure she got the message across.
But Suki shook her head.
"We haven't talked about it."
She then sighed. "Why does everything suck?"
"Tell me about it…" She shared her sigh.
Their love lives were a mess, her brother was unconscious, Aang was making questionable decisions and Zuko was being threatened by some weird cult…
And Toph was who knows where forcing her students to do whatever insane training she's come up with.
It all sucked...
And then it clicked. And she knows it clicked for Suki as well.
Then they looked at each other.
And they burst in laughter.
Because worrying about things like these was so much better than the complete helplessness and fear they experienced during the war… They didn't have to worry about food, sleep, some insane eclipse plan, or just simply surviving each day...
Their lives have definitely gotten better, after all.
And for that, she would always be grateful.
"Blink twice if you're being forced against your will!"
Aang stood dumbfounded.
"What?! C'mon! That's not funny, Ty Lee!"
"I'm not joking!" She yelled back.
He groaned. "Well, that's not what happened!"
Ty Lee narrowed her eyes skeptically.
He got her concern, but he realized he was getting irked by others doubting Azula… His feelings had only grown massively ever since they reached the mainland, and with it his protectiveness of her. It was sappy, but he wanted to show off what they had without others doubting her to the world.
So, he just returned her glare with one of his own.
They stayed like that for a while… until Ty Lee finally relented with a sigh.
"…I just don't get what she'd see in you…"
"Gee, thanks…" He said annoyed.
"I don't mean it like that!" She retorted. "It's just… the only time I've seen her interested in someone was that prick Chan back in Ember Island…"
Right, she did happen to mention something like that before they left Hira'a.
"And she only really liked that he was the most popular guy there… you know, that whole power and control thingy she has…"
Yeah, he could see that to be fair.
"So... You think something like that is going on here?" He asked unconvinced.
But she shook her head.
"Well… no, that's why I'm confused." She answered while scratching her head and grimacing. "Chan was an ass, and you're like the nicest guy I know… You help others before yourself and you've never once tried to flaunt your power..."
"Well, it's not like it wasn't hard getting to were we got you know." He said. "Dealing with what happened back in her mother's village was eye opening to say the least… both to her and to me."
And he's pretty sure seeing each other at their lowest only solidified the bond they had now that they had each other.
"Yeah, Suki told me the gist of what happened…" She then smiled teasingly. "Which I gotta say she made it sound so romantic! I didn't know you had it in you! I'm almost kinda jealous!"
The change in demeanor took him aback, but he recovered quickly.
This was Ty Lee after all.
"Yeah, well she didn't see how many times she tried frying me with lightning…" He said with a laugh, which only prompted Ty Lee to give him a knowing look.
"And yet you still look head over heels for her…" Her face turned pensive. She then raised a finger as she reached some sort of realization. "Maybe you ARE perfect for each other."
He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say the exact opposite of that a few seconds ago?"
"You know, I don't doubt that her feelings are genuine… Her aura is THAT pink for a reason, after all."
He nodded. Even though he didn't know what any of that meant.
She then fixed him with concerned eyes. "I'm just worried that she might have some hidden motive behind them, like she always has with everything else she does." She said with a frown.
He sighed.
Forgiveness and whatnot has always been easy for him, considering what he was taught by the monks in the temple…
But obviously that wasn't the case for most other people…
So he put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for worrying about me… and for her…"
Ty Lee looked surprised at this but didn't retort.
While forgiveness may come hard, Ty Lee has always been one of the kindest people he's known. And he could tell that whatever happened between Azula, Mai and her was deeper than what he knew…
At the very least, he knew it wasn't a simple falling out.
"But I'm choosing to trust her, just like she trusted in me…"
Ty Lee still looked concerned. "If it's you then…" She muttered quietly.
He didn't really hear the rest of her words, but then she looked up at him and smiled. "Please take care of her."
"You can count it!" He gave her a thumbs up. "But I think you guys should talk it out at some point too."
"I-I know… But I don't know if I'm ready for that yet… And I don't think she'd be happy to talk to me either…"
"You don't know that!" He said reassuringly. "In fact, something is telling me that she does…"
Ty Lee's face turned to confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, she's been listening in to us from that tree over there!" He said as he signaled to said tree behind him.
She had gone to scout for any remaining stragglers but sensed her coming back just before Ty Lee approached him.
"I can't believe I forgot you're an earthbender..." They heard a familiar voice say with frustration.
And then, Azula came out from behind the massive trunk.
"A-Azula?!" Ty Lee's body physically tensed. "H-How much did you listen?"
Her voice was shaky and apprehensive.
Maybe she was right, and this was too soon for her… But they're both here now, so nothing he can do about it anymore.
He just hopes words are the only thing exchanged here.
"Around the part where you asked my boyfriend if he was being blackmailed into being with me…" She said venomously. "Which you should know better by now. I don't need tactics like those to get what I want."
"I-I was just worried about him, because I know how you are!" Ty Lee decided to stand her ground as best she could.
"Oh? And how sure are you of that?" She approached menacingly.
Ty Lee seemed taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Azula glared at her. "You were always too scared of me to really get to know me and both of us know it."
Her words were harsh, and they seemed to tick off Ty Lee.
"Well, it's not like you made an effort not to treat us like you did!"
"What I'm saying is that you both clearly hated me, that's why you betrayed me so easily." Azula's voice was rising now in volume.
But Ty Lee remained steadfast.
"You think that was easy for me?! You were about to kill Mai, what else could I've done?!"
Azula narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. Clearly, her words had some effect in her.
But he decided to remain quiet, letting them get out whatever it was they needed to get out.
Azula scoffed.
"Even then… Don't act like you care about me now, when you clearly never did. You guys hated me all the time, and only followed me because you were scared."
Her voice was steady and piercing... But her eyes betrayed what he knew now was sadness... and guilt.
Ty Lee gaped in disbelief.
She seemed hurt. And it was clear as day.
"That's not true!" Ty Lee's voice matched Azula's, while tears started forming in her eyes.. "Mai and I did care about you! Sure you were scary and sure you weren't nice, but you still accepted us and trusted us to be by your side!"
She then turned around with her fists clenched. "If you never realized that, then it was you who never cared!"
And with that, she ran off quickly away from them.
The screaming match definitely attracted the eyes of a bunch of people... But he only worried about the girl in front of him.
Azula looked over with gritted teeth.
But again, she didn't say anything.
She just let Ty Lee's words run through her head. She had her overthinking face after all.
She then glared at him. "I hope you're happy."
Hm... maybe not happy but...
"All thing's considered that wasn't bad at all." He shrugged nonchalantly. "After all, you guys did manage to speak without holding back. And THAT is the first step towards healing."
And it was a lot better than them not talking at all, which he wanted to avoid at all costs if he wanted her to reconnect with her friends.
And judging by they way she reacted to Ty Lee's words, he was sure she wanted that.
Azula raised an eyebrow. "You manage to get through me once and now you consider yourself an expert on helping others… Well, I'm sorry to say, but it doesn't work like that." She huffed.
"C'mon, I'm the Avatar!" He said with a laugh.
"And?" She asked unamused.
"Helping others is like my thing, you know! And I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself..."
Azula tried holding it back, but he noticed the way her lips quirked slightly upward. "Oh right, how could I ever forget…" She said sarcastically. "I don't know how you fooled everyone into thinking you're some humble and selfless savior, but I happen to see right through you."
"Oh yeah? Well, don't act like you don't like it." He said while slowly approaching her. "Because I know you do…"
"I think you're getting a little too full of yourself…" She grabbed a fist of his tunic. "I'm going to have to put you in line…"
"Yeah? Then go ahead. I'm not stopping you…"
She then let out a small giggle before starting to pull him towards one of the tree's shadows.
He had to give it to himself. He was definitely good at this cheering up stuff, at least when it came to Azula.
But they were quickly interrupted by a shout coming from Zuko's carriage.
"DID THEY JUST KISS?!"
That's right... Sokka had been sleeping all this time.
"I think we better go deal with that…" He said as they both laughed brightly.
She was smiling widely now, and he always did treasure every time she did.
It was shining and beautiful. Maybe he WAS getting too full of himself, but knowing that he's probably the only one she's shown it made him way too happy to care about anything else.
"Lead the way then…" Azula said as she held out her hand.
So he took it, before making them run off towards where they could see every one of their friends scrambling for something.
Probably trying to calm Sokka down.
But running through everyone else present while holding hands was giving him the warmest feeling he's had in a while…
Maybe forever.
Guess Ty Lee was right.
She was perfect for him. And he'd work the rest of his life to be perfect for her.