Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.


During a warm and sunny day within the Fire Nation continent... Zuko and Sokka had traveled to the Boiling Rock in hopes of rescuing Chief Hakoda. But, they also had discovered another person that they were not expecting.

After Sokka had reunited with his distant Kyoshi Warrior girlfriend... Zuko had sacrificed his own cover, unintentionally revealing himself in order to save Sokka's. He was soon arrested and thrown into the cooler cell. Then, he had been approached by the Warden of the Boiling Rock prison. WHom happened to be his ex-girlfriend, Mai's uncle. Afterward, Zuko had been taken into an interrogation cellar by two Fire Nation prison guards. There was nothing, but a chair inside.

"You can't do this to me! I didn't do anything wrong!" Zuko yelled as he watched the guards leave the room and closed the door. He heard the sound of a door locking, which meant that the guards had locked the cellar door from the other side trapping him inside of the cellar. "uuooargh!" Zuko had soon groaned in disappointment as he had realized he was stuck inside of a cell with no way out.

Zuko remained in a cellar for about ten whole minutes. He walked around the cellar for a few minutes to see if there were any keys or objects hanging around the cellar so that he could use to escape, but realized that there weren't any. There weren't even any windows. As soon as he realized, he sat in the interrogation chair and disappointingly sighed. He then thought about what was going to happen to him, whether he stayed in the Boiling Rock Prison or if he gets taken back to his father, Ozai as prisoner. Or maybe even worse. Execution.

Zuko thought about his new friends, Aang, Katara, Toph, Appa and Momo, whom were still at the Western Air Temple. He thought about Sokka, who's working on escaping the Boiling Rock. Then suddenly, he thought of his uncle Iroh, whom he regret treating horribly wrong. And most of all, he thought about his ex-girlfriend, Mai. He didn't want to drag her of all people down with him, so he left her behind with a note.

As Zuko had coped and reminisced about his past, he suddenly heard sound of the door unlocking. He quickly looked up and saw the cellar slowly opening in front of him. As the door had fully opened, he surprisingly gasped as he saw a familiar face.

"Hi, Zuko."

Zuko had stared at the person with a mild look. "T-Ty Lee?" Zuko had called Ty Lee by her name as he stared at her.

"Long time, no see." Ty Lee chuckled, then closed the cellar door behind herself.

Zuko had tried to rise from the chair he sat, then had stopped himself when Ty Lee closed the door behind herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were thrown in this cellar, so I came to check on you." Ty Lee had said.

"No, I mean... what are you doing here?" Zuko pointed his index finger downward at the metal floor. How did you know that I was here in the Boiling Rock?"

"Oh, "that" here. Well..." Ty Lee said as she had realized what Zuko meant. "Mai's uncle-"

Zuko had interrupted Ty Lee. "The Warden?"

Ty Lee replied with a nod. "Yes. He contacted Fire Lord Ozai-as soon as he learned that you were in here. Then, Fire Lord Ozai had ordered us to come and take you back to the Fire Nation as a prisoner." Ty Lee informed Zuko.

"Us?" Zuko asked.

"Mai and Azula and I." Ty lee had replied.

Zuko gasped, surprisingly. "Mai's here?"

Ty Lee nodded. "But, she's still upset with what you had done."

Zuko had frowned, disappointingly. He remembered the letter he wrote to her when he left. "I know. I still blame myself for it. Where is she now?" Zuko asked, feeling concerned for Mai.

"She's with Azula and her uncle. As far as I know..." Ty Lee answered Zuko's questioned.

Zuko sighed and lowered his head. "She's safe, then." Zuko muttered under his breath, then thought of something. "That's a relief."

"Yes." Ty Lee said.

Zuko had let out a sight of relief, then thought of something. "Wait a second." He said, catching Ty Lee's attention. "If Mai is with Azula and er uncle, then... why are you in here with me?"

Ty Lee had gasped for a second. Then, her eyes met the floor, temporarily. "Because, like I said, earlier. I wanted to check on you and see if you're okay."

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed... I'm not okay. I'm locked up in this cellar. Mai hates me, and there's no way that I can escape from this prison." Zuko said with a bit of a snippy attitude.

"I see." Ty Lee said as she turned her head slightly to the left.

"And if you're here to try and get a confession out of me, you're wasting your time. I won't talk." Zuko told Ty Lee. Not trusting her in the slightest. He moved from the interrogation chair and sat next to a wall.

Ty Lee had chucked a bit. "I figured you would say something like that, but, no." Ty Lee shook her head, no, afterwards. "I want to ask you..."

"Go ahead. Ask away." Zuko gave Ty Lee permission to ask him a question.

"Thank you." Ty Lee cleared her throat and was starting to feel serious. "Are... are you..." Ty Lee paused a bit, until she had gotten her grip together. "Are you still angry at yourself?"

Zuko looked to Ty Lee with a bit confusion and shock. "What?"

"Sorry..." Ty Lee gently slapped her own face cheeks. "I just wanted to know, if you still were. Like when you admitted it back on Ember Island."

Zuko suddenly gained a small flashback in his mind after Ty Lee had mentioned Ember Island. He remembered his Azula, Ty Lee and his then and now ex-girlfriend pressuring him to answer, whom was he angry toward. He ended up coming out and revealing that he was angry with himself and gave a reason why he was angry with himself. Zuko had then let out a sigh. "No. I'm not. At least, not anymore." Zuko confessed.

Ty Lee clapped her hands together and smiled. "I'm glad."

"Why are you asking me this stuff?" Zuko asked, curiously.

"Because, I know you, Zuko." Ty Lee simply answered.

"Nngh-" Zuko was about to deny Ty Lee, like he did on Ember Island, but stopped himself. He remembered once telling Ty Lee. "No you don't! You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's great, all the time!" But after going through any emotional journey and being forced to reveal why he was angry and confused, there was no way he could deny Ty Lee.

Ty Lee saw Zuko groan a bit and looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

Zuko had sighed. "I'm fine."

"Can I sit down with you?" Ty Lee asked.

Zuko looked at Ty Lee a little weird. "Why?"

"Because, I want to, silly." Ty Lee gave Zuko a friendly and innocent smile.

Zuko had then breathed through his nose. "Fine." But before Ty Lee could take a step forward, Zuko felt like he needed to add something. "But, don't try anything funny-like blocking my Chi or anything else."

"Thank you, Zuko." Ty Lee said then cartwheeled over toward Zuko and crossed her legs. Zuko flinched a bit after her legs almost hit him, when she cartwheeled and sat down. She sat down right next to Zuko, leaving a two feet gap between them.

There was nothing but silence inside the cellar for a total minute.

"This is nice." Ty Lee commented.

"What is?"

"Two of us. We're alone, sitting together. Peace and quiet all around. No one coming in to interrupt us... This is like it. Just between us two friends." Ty Lee happily smiled.

"Yeah, you can say that, again." Zuko almost let out a smile until he thought of something. "Wait... what did you just say?"

"What?"

"Did... you just call us friends?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, I did." Ty Lee replied. "Is there something wrong?"

Zuko gave the word "friend" a moment of thought. Within his mind, he started thinking of the times that he met and encountered Ty Lee in the past. Most times, he would remember Ty Lee teasing him along with Azula. But, he couldn't think of a memory of when he and Ty Lee had spent together.

"Sorry but, I've never thought of you as my "friend." Zuko said, honestly.

"Hm? But, we've known each other since we were kids..." Ty Lee said.

"I know that, but..." Zuko then stood up on his feet. "When we were younger, you would always hang around Azula and you both would constantly tease and pull pranks on me." Zuko had stated as he remembered some pranks.

"That's because Azula and I are girls. We like to-" Ty Lee

"Pull pranks on me, then?" Zuko said, cutting her off from her sentence.

"No. We like to hang out and do things, together. Because, we're girls." Ty Lee then stood on her feet and stretched a bit. "And the reason that Azula like to pull pranks on you is because she-!" Ty Lee started walking fast towards Zuko, but her right foot tapped part of the interrogation chair, causing her to trip and lose balance.

Zuko saw Ty Lee about to fall and quickly gasped. "Careful!" Zuko stretched his right arm toward Ty Lee

"Uwaah!" Ty Lee yelped as she had lost balance. She knew that she was about to fall at any second. But, before she could hit the ground... she felt herself being grabbed. Her eyes were shut when she nearly fell. And when she opened them, slowly, she found herself standing on her feet and her shoulders grabbed by the traitor Prince, Zuko.

It turned out that Zuko had quickly moved his body toward Ty Lee's, and caught her by bending his knees and grabbing Ty Lee's shoulders. In another moment, Zuko then stood both himself and Ty Lee on their feet.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked in concern.

Ty Lee slowly nodded as she kept looking down. "Um... yes."

"You have to be very careful in here." Zuko yelled, in a worried tone. He said it while holding Ty Lee in his arms. "You could've gotten hurt."

Ty Lee blinked, twice, then looked upwards to Zuko's face. "Sorry, Zuko. I..." When Ty Lee saw Zuko's face, she had lightly gasped.

"Hm?" Zuko noticed that Ty Lee was gazing at him. "What's wrong?"

Ty Lee did not answer Zuko when she asked. As she continued gazing at Zuko... she suddenly imagined small white sparkles and a pink background around him. His hair flowed a tiny bit from an imaginary breeze. She had formed a small peach-fuzz on her face.

Zuko locked eyes with Ty Lee as she kept blushing in front of him. He didn't know why Ty Lee was blushing, though. "Um, are you okay?"

Ty Lee kept staring at Zuko, blushing and gazing into his eyes. And within the next two seconds, Ty Lee had smooched Zuko on his left face between the cheen and Zuko's left lower lip.

Zuko was in complete shock as he felt Ty Lee's lips against his face. His left eye barely widened and his right had widened, completely.

"W-what the heck was that?" Zuko yelled, then quickly covered his mouth.

"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asked, while a peach-fuzz was still visible on her face.

"You j-just kissed me on my face, just now!" Zuko stated and placed his left hand on where Ty Lee had kissed him. "Why would you do that?"

"Because..." Ty Lee looked down at her hands and started twiddling her fingers. "I'm going to be honest with you, Zuko. I... I have a small... crush on you."

"Wait, what?" Zuko stuttered in a quieter tone.

"I said... "I have a small-" Ty Lee said, looking at him and making eye contact.

Zuko had cut off Ty Lee as he waved his left hand toward her. "I heard what you said, but you really had a crush on me? Like, seriously? Since when?"

Ty Lee nodded and smiled. When we were kids."

"But, why?" Zuko asked in a confused manner. "I barely treated you right, since I met you again in Ba Sing Se. How can you still have a crush on an angry person like me?" Zuko asked, feeling confused.

"Because, deep down in your heart, you're a kind person. Also, you're always honest and brave and caring. And most of all, you know what it's like to be weak, but you pick yourself and do what you can to make yourself stronger." Ty Lee said as she grabbed his face with her soft.

"Ty Lee, I... I appreciate the compliments, but-" He gently removed Ty Lee's hands from his cheeks and sat down in the interrogation chair. "I don't really know how to respond..." Zuko had sighed and started thinking of Mai.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know if the two of us would work out, honestly. I'm just starting to see you more than just as Azula's friend. And also... I still have feelings for Mai. Even if we're broken up. I hate to say this to your face, Ty Lee, but... I have better chemistry with Mai." Zuko said, before turning his back on her. "I'm sorry."

Ty lee had frowned, disappointingly.

"And the reason for why I broke up with her in the first place, during the Solar Eclipse was because I didn't want to drag her down with me." Zuko admitted.

Ty Lee understood what Zuko was saying, but at the same time, she felt her feelings being hurt. She can probably imagine Zuko thinking about her best friend, Mai. "Are you saying, that... you want to get back with her as soon as possible?"

Zuko glanced at Ty Lee. "I believe I do. Yes." Zuko answered, plainly.

"I see." After hearing Zuko's confession of him wanting to get back with Mai, Ty Lee felt a bit depressed. As if her emotional heart was plunged with a dagger. She then turned her body away, hunger her head a bit and began walking to the door.

Zuko watched Ty Lee walk to the door and gripped the door knob. He kind of noticed something was off when hearing her voice. She didn't sound optimistic to him. He also watched her closely and noticed something was off about Ty Lee. He usually saw Ty Lee act cheerful and optimistic, except for when everyone was revealing their emotional journeys on Ember Island and now. He saw Ty Lee's hand trembled when she tried to open the door as if she was upset.

In the next ten seconds, he suddenly saw two small drops of liquid touch the ground by Ty Lee's feet. She looked at the back of Ty Lee's head and noticed something was off. "Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee paused when she heard Zuko call her name. "I'm fine. You..." Ty Lee turned her head around and gave Zuko a false smile. "You don't have to worry about me, any longer." her eyes were closed when she responded to Zuko. "It was nice knowing you, Zuko."

Zuko saw small bubbles of tears forming in Ty Lee's face when she delivered a false smile to him. And hearing her words and seeing her current facial expression made him remember something.

Brief Flashback

Ty Lee sighed. "I know you." She she claimed that knew Zuko well than he thinks and she knew what he was going through.

"No you don't!" Zuko turned to her. "You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's great all the time, but it isn't!" Zuko decided to mock her as he flipped onto his palms on the sand.

"You don't know that..." Ty Lee looked a little sad.

"Zuko. Leave her alone." Mai ordered Zuko, whom refused to listen."

"Hey, look at me. I'm so pretty, I can walk on my hands. Woo!" his back had landed on the light sand as he flipped over. "Circus freak!" he said in a cold manner.

End Brief Flashback

Zuko's right eye widened as he remembered that moment when he berated her on Ember Island. He now realized doing it was a mistake. He never once thought of her feelings when he did that.

Ty Lee then twisted the nob and begun to walk through the door with a false happy expression on her face. But the second before Ty Lee could take her first step out the cellar door, she felt herself get turned around, then pulled into an embrace. Ty Lee then gasped as she realized she was being embraced..

Zuko had twisted Ty Lee's body making her face him, then pulled her in a warm hug. He wrapped his arms around her upper back. "I'm sorry. For everything." Zuko said in a humble voice.

After hearing Zuko's apology, Ty Lee had released her false smile. She then started hearing Zuko's own heartbeat as part of her face contacted with Zuko's chest. She gasped when she discovered that his heartbeat was strong and calm. She softly gritted her teeth and let tears stream down her adorable face. "Zuko..." She had sniffled.

"Yes?" Zuko looked down to Ty Lee as he held her.

"C... can I go with you?" Ty Lee had sniffled when being embraced in Zuko's arms.

Zuko's right eye widened a bit, then he realized what she meant after a moment. "Yeah."


Author's Note: This is a Ty Luko story.