Ty Lee entered Azula's mind the same way she always did, like a splash of frigid water across the warlord's psyche; and a long-forgotten pain made her burn inside. For retribution, for obedience, for anything. Dreadful, buried memories flooded through the bender, and then disappeared before the brilliant light of the vision intruding upon her: Azula and Ty Lee lay side by side, as they used to before Azula defeated the Avatar, her own brother, and then her father; but now they were more than just friends. Secret fantasies the firebender had long-since kept to herself emerged as Ty Lee leaned over, closing the distance between them, their lips meeting slowly. Azula moaned. It was like everything she'd ever dreamed, such a sweet, honeyed kiss. She was desperate for more, Ty Lee had always been the only person who could shine like the sun despite Azula's cold hatred. Reality gripped Azula, inevitably, nudging at the back of her mind like a nibbling insect. She knew the truth and could never accept a lie, not even one so appealing. Long ago, Ty Lee had left her.
"You're not real," She whispered with sudden startled clarity, staring into the deep gray eyes of an impossibility, soft, gray-brown orbs so full of life.
When Ty Lee just smiled and purred, "What do you mean, Azula?" in a soft, teasing voice, something inside Azula snapped.
The firebender pinned Ty Lee down in a fit of sudden rage, her eyes flashing, and fingers crackling with the glow of blue lightning; Ty Lee's wrists felt so frail within the prison of her hands. "You're not real! You can't be! You abandoned me years ago just like all the other weaklings!"
Despite being forced down, the pink-clad acrobat didn't struggle. She just accepted the harsh treatment and said, "I'd never leave you, Azula." In that damnable, sweet voice of hers.
"That's right. That's what you should've said," Azula hissed in agony, "but you turned your back on me. You…!" Her heart ached. She was speaking to a false image, speaking to herself. Ty Lee was not listening, just as Ty Lee had never kissed her. Hate-filled, Azula raised her hands and lunged; and Ty Lee's eyes widened as she watched Azula's fingers wrap around her neck.
"A-Azula, what are you doing?" She asked, her voice quivering slightly; but despite what was happening to her, she began to smile as she stared deep into Azula. "Well, hurry up and hurt me some more; it's what you're good at."
Her voice was tinged with the same admiration she'd always had for her princess. Bubbly and teeming with genuine affection, it was the voice of the only person who had ever actually cared about her. Gone now - perhaps forever.
Horrified, eyes soaked with sudden, angry, tortured tears, Azula squeezed the delicate throat in her grasp, and burned the monstrous apparition alive.
Fire Lord Azula's eyes shot wide, and she gasped as if breathing her first. Her hands searched everywhere about herself and found ample, soft purchase in the body of another, specifically the curves of the pretty little slave girl lying beside her. Her heart eased its pace in her chest; and she exhaled heavily, sitting up. She was still in the crimson-draped bedroom she'd claimed after she'd executed her father and took control of the Fire Nation for herself. Her bed slave, detecting that her lord was awake, draped herself across Azula, raising her mouth for a needy kiss. The Fire Lord scowled, shoved the woman's face aside, disinterested in such bland sex. She instead cast her legs over the side of the bed and got up. The slave whimpered at the neglect; and then laid back down, waiting to be called upon again.
She'd dreamt of her old "friend" again: the treacherous bitch that she desperately tried to forget. Azula clenched her fists until her knuckles were pale and strode to the balcony leading out from her chambers. Opening the doors in a swift motion, the half-naked Fire Lord stepped out into the cool night. The gentle touch of air, the smell of the nearby blooming garden, did little to soothe her spiked temper, but it was better than laying in bed with her tumultuous thoughts. Trying to touch her bed slave would have only made her ache for the body that had long since been denied her. Azula leaned her head back and stared at the stars, conjuring up an image of the girl she'd once known and loved. She felt a tell-tale throb down below. Picturing Ty Lee's big, hopeful eyes, she undid the drawstring of her pants, carelessly pulling her cock free. The dark-haired pale firebender began to stroke herself, very lightly, her head tilted back. Ty Lee had never touched this part of her, but she could have. She'd never believed she was capable of wanting anything but more power, but then Ty Lee had turned away from her. More than that, the girl disabled her ability to fight with her chi-blocking. Each blow had taken away that which Azula held most sacred, her power. Something precious was destroyed, a feeling she didn't even know existed. When she made it to the top, Ty Lee was supposed to be there. It had never been a question; but just like Azula's mother, she left.
'That foolish, treacherous, worthless piece of -' Azula's hate-filled thoughts turned into a red, warm haze as the pleasure of her ministrations made her head swim.
"I would've uplifted you - given you everything!" She snapped sharply at no one, at nothing; the night-wind battered her long, inky-black hair, the only response. Amber eyes cast toward the star-strewn sky Azula let loose a heavy plume of smoke, the excitement in her body reaching an all-time high as she allowed herself to think about something she usually marked as forbidden. Flashes of Ty Lee's body and voice flickered in her mind, memories, and impossibilities. As she pounded into her own hand, the entire world faded away. Azula breathing was heavy, long ropes of her wild hair hiding her equally wild eyes. It wasn't long until Azula came, soaking her hand.
"Ty Lee, T-Ty Lee!" Her desperate cries filled the night as she flooded her fingers; there was so much cum pent-up, as always.
Cock growing limp in her hand, body throbbing with weak satisfaction, a dark shame soon settled in. She'd made a vow she wouldn't pleasure herself to the thought of Ty Lee ever again, yet here she was. Her seed-soaked hand was her enemy. Humiliated, she walked back into her room, wiping the moisture off on a nearby hand towel. She wasn't headed toward her bed though. Azula's weak orgasm had only made her mood worse. Ignoring the girl on her bed entirely, she grabbed her favorite heavily-brocaded, warm maroon robe and stepped out into the hallway, nodding at the guard posted outside.
She already knew what would make her feel better: ruining that miserable hole she called a wife. Making Mai into a toy was the only activity capable of making her mother, Ty Lee, all the traitors - leave her head.
"Ty Lee, it's going to be okay. Look at me, come on. Look at me."
Hesitantly, she did. Huge ocean-blue eyes stared back at her. A pair of soft dark hands clutched Ty's paler ones.
"I know you're anxious, I can feel it, but don't panic. We've been preparing for this, and... I know you can do it."
The sound of waves crashing against the dock was a vague afterthought, almost drowned out by the chatter of dock workers and seabirds that filled the air with much fiercer measure. Ty Lee stood staring out at the sea in the middle of the port of a distant, Earth-kingdom village, called Tai Shu by the locals. It had managed to remain mostly unscathed by the Fire Nation so far, one of the few places that could boast such a feat.
Ty Lee, dressed in plain clothes much darker than her old standard pinks, turned her face away from the speaker. Her eyes, pale-gray, glittered with youthful vitality, yet true fear was visible in their depths. She bit her bottom lip, and seemed to fold and withdraw into herself, shoulders slouching inward. "It's not about whether I can, Katara. You know that. It's about even having to." Her voice trembled, betraying just how frightened she was at the future that loomed before her like a great preying animal. But even the empathetic, gentle waterbender across from her couldn't understand the depth of what she felt. "But... I guess maybe I am worried I can't do it. So much could go wrong. What-what if she doesn't believe the act? What if she-"
"Ty Lee, there is only one person Azula ever showed weakness around. You said so yourself." Katara gently squeezed Ty's hands. The almost loving touch filled her with a vague sense of comfort; and she exhaled slowly, steadying her rapid-pacing heart. Once bitter enemies, they had survived as fugitives after fate brought them together. Time had made Ty Lee much closer to the waterbender and her few remaining allies. Katara had been the first that could stomach learning to trust Ty Lee, despite her former position as Azula's favorite comrade. Many thought she was Azula's spy, and some still did, but not Katara. Somewhat of a spiritual mentor, Katara was the one who realized the task of toppling the Fire Nation could only be trusted to Ty Lee: years ago, a search warrant for Ty Lee had been made public knowledge across the Fire Nation and the proxy Earth Nation, with many people eagerly anticipating her capture. After years of evasion, Ty Lee would allow herself to be caught. Yep. That was the big plan, their only plan left; so many other attempts had failed over the years. Once captured, the true test would begin. Ty Lee would have no one but herself in the Fire Nation, and maybe a other people but she didn't dare hope. Eventually, her allies would make it to her, but she wasn't optimistic enough to believe she'd make it that far.
Sensing her fear and hesitation, Katara stroked her cheeks like a worried big sister, expression full of warm fondness. "If you return to her, she will suspect you, of course, but her arrogance will allow you to slip right back into her heart. It might take time, but it'll happen, because that is the type of prideful, lustful, evil monster that she is. You said you had something special. That nobody else stood by her side the same way you did. She's just as aware of that. The years, I'm sure, have only made your absence more painful. She'll take you back, Ty Lee. Rest assured."
Ty Lee was hopeful, but not nearly as optimistic as Katara and her brother; she'd long forgotten the innocence and naivete of her youth, and smiled sadly at those words. "That's right. The Princess, the Fire Lord, loves me," Ty Lee said softly, "or she did."
The guilt hit, hard and fast, just like usual. It was so overwhelming that Ty Lee could feel the coldness of her thoughts seeping into her bones. Every day she(for at least a few moments) became trapped in the past, replaying the moment when she withdrew from Azula's side. It was a moment that she couldn't erase from her mind, a moment that would always haunt her no matter what she did. Before that, she thought Azula was invincible, both physically and emotionally. She had always admired Azula and even worshipped her at times, but now everything was different. She'd realized that even Azula had her weaknesses and fears, and Ty Lee was one of them. This realization had completely transformed her life. The guilt she felt was not just about what she had done, but also about what she had failed to do. She had failed to protect Azula from her own demons.
"She's not capable of real love," Katara interrupted in a clipped, cool tone. The waterbender's eyebrows furrowed, "We've talked about that, Ty... she killed Zuko in cold blood. And with his corpse still warm, she made a public spectacle out of her brother's lover. YOUR friend. She even killed her only ally, her own father, all for power."
Ty Lee gasped as she remembered the treatment of her former best friend, who, unlike her, hadn't escaped Azula's grasp. If the rumors about the Fire Nation were true, Azula had put Mai on public display like a trophy. The Firelord had played with her body, and tortured her with shame, excitement, and pain, until the girl gave in, and then married her. Azula had married Mai. The guilt faded. Azula wasn't even thinking about her; and she didn't love Ty Lee, she just loved having an obedient slave. The murderous monarch was incapable of anything outside of herself. She was evil, a dictator, a monster. Ty Lee stared down at her hands, eyes shining with tears.
"Don't worry, Katara. I'm ready. I promise. I'll be able to do what I need to. I'll-" She stared more steadily at the waterbender, her voice had lost its hesitance, become hard and cold. She had to save Mai from what she'd been subjected to, had to serve her nation, it was that simple. "I'll kill Fire Lord Azula, with these hands."
Katara nodded. "That's right, Ty Ty. It's for the best. Remember Aang, remember Zuko, and everyone else we lost. Remember what she did to the world, to my people, what she deserves; you at least have to try. For them."
Ty Lee exhaled heavily. Truly, the weight of the world was on her shoulders, along with the spirits of the lost. Ty Lee's slender fingers, which had once brought joy and pleasure, working out the stress and ailments from her former leader, now had a darker purpose. These were the hands that would steal the life of her sweet princess. This was not a duty she could put aside. Ty Lee had a purpose, and she would fulfill it, even if it tore her apart on the inside.
When the ship came, she was ready for it. Only Katara said goodbye, the others standing off, talking quietly amongst themselves. Theirs was an alliance of necessity, not friendship. Even so, Ty Lee waved from the ship as she was taken away from one of the only safe places left in the world, headed straight toward the heart of the Fire Nation.