A/N: Happy New Year to you all! Hope you're all having a fun and safe celebration and wish you all a great 2022! Hope you enjoy the chapter, the next one might take more than a week to get to you all but that depends (plus it is one of my favourites I've written). Anyways, hope you enjoy and as always, let me know what you think!

Word Count: 6501

11. The Beach (Our Campfires were Much More Fun)

Ty Lee stood in the corner of the room. She'd been around the party a little, talking to some of the Ember Island girls. They seemed nice, if a little short with her. The boys though, they hadn't stopped looking at her. It was unnerving and creepy.

She hadn't so much as looked in Azula's direction since they'd been out on the balcony. Ty Lee had seen her come in at some point, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the princess sulking by a post. But she was done.

If Azula couldn't even admit why she was acting like she was, then the gymnast couldn't see a point in trying to help her. She'd tried so hard to show her kindness, but only receiving anger and spite in return… Ty Lee could only keep it up for so long.

The princess was so close, so very close, after her trip to look for Percy, but she still couldn't do it. And now, Ty Lee was seeing it as more and more of a lost cause.

"So how do you know Ty Lee?" One of the guys from the beach asked another one, snapping her from her thoughts.

She was already trying to move away from them, but more guys moved over towards her. A bunch of the girls were looking at her. Some in pity, some clearly, spitefully jealous, but it didn't matter. None of them moved to help her.

"I met her at the beach today. She was pretty impressed by my sand pagoda that I made for her."

No, I wasn't! You just offered to fan me and asked if your sandcastle was good!

"Well, I met her first!" The guy who helped with her bag said.

Some more boys moved, surrounding her in the corner. They kept getting closer and closer to her, and she began to feel more and more worried. They didn't take their eyes off of her, looking over her, making her skin crawl.

Ty Lee tried looking for Mai, but couldn't see her over the taller boys. In a last desperate attempt, she tried looking for Azula. Scanning between the kids surrounding her, she saw the golden eyes. But they weren't looking at her.

"Look," she started, nervously, "i-it doesn't matter who I met first, cause I like you all."

"But which one of us do you… like?"

The boy who gave her the shell said. He moved even closer, to the point where her back was pressed flat against the wall.

"I don't like any of you like that." She told them.

Of course I don't! I like someone else. And that shouldn't even matter!

That got a whole bunch of scandalised looks from the boys.

"But I helped you!"

"I gave you a shell!"

"I fanned you!"

"You offered it to me!" She replied, defensively and shyly.

Ty Lee was shrivelling in on herself as the boys crowded ever closer.

"You have to like one of us."

"Yeah! We were nice to you."

"I didn't ask you to do that!" She yelled at them. "And I like someone else."

The gymnast tried to push her way past two of them when the boy who gave her the shell grabbed her wrist. She tugged at it but he held strong. When she tried to pull it away again, her wrist twisted and a pain shot up her arm. Her heart was beating fast and she felt more of the boys moving around her.

Ty Lee, seeing the position she was in, jumped and kicked off the boy's chest. Ripping her arm free, ignoring the stinging pain in her wrist and shoulder, she landed against the wall. As she pushed off the top of the wall, she saw Azula moving over to her.

I'll do it myself.

She landed in front of two of the guys. They looked at her, shocked, as she landed hit after hit on them. Each strike hit their nerves and numbing them. Two more came at her, seemingly to 'defend' the other boys. As the first two fell over, the next two were struck by Ty Lee's hands. They fell over just as fast.

The few that were left came from the sides, and Ty Lee just spun in a handstand, legs in the air kicking them in the head successively. They all fell to the floor unconscious, and she sprung over them to the approaching Azula. She was surprised to see slight concern in the eyes of Azula, but it didn't last very long.

"I'm glad you're here Azula. Those boys wouldn't leave me alone."

"Come on, Ty Lee." She replied, in what sounded to her like disapproval.

"What?"

"You can't be this ignorant on why they like you."

"What do you mean?" She asked, getting defensive again.

Her other hand came over and covered her wrist reflexively.

"Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. You're not a challenge. You're a tease. It's not like they actually care who you are."

"I know they don't actually care about me! But I didn't do anything to deserve that."

She pointed back towards the corner. Hurt flashed across Ty Lee's eyes.

Does she really think that was my fault?!

"You're a tease, Ty Lee. You can't think that this wasn't going to happen."

Her grey eyes widened as tears began streaming out. She turned to run away, hopefully to Mai but she didn't really know. She just wanted to get away. Away from Azula, away from the stupid party, away. The princess interrupted that.

"Wait, okay. Ty Lee. Calm down."

Azula reached out and grabbed her wrist. The chi-blocker pulled her arm away from the firebender quickly, holding it into her chest. It stung with the shooting pain same as before. She saw her friend look down at her arm and Azula seemed to have some kind of recognition in her usually unfeeling gold eyes.

The princess moved her arms away from Ty Lee but gestured to the balcony once more. The solemn girl followed her royal friend outside.

She heard a different boy begin to follow the two of them outside. Azula turned and set her hand ablaze with her blue fire. The kid immediately started sweating and looked like he was about to feint. No one else tried to follow, although most of the party wasn't looking at them.

Ty Lee wanted to smile, being friends with Azula did have its benefits, but she couldn't find it in herself to do it. They both moved over to the railing.

"I'm…" Azula began, pausing to look at her. "I'm sorry."

Well that's a surprise.

She did her best to hide her shock.

"I didn't really mean what I said. I guess, the only reason why I said it was, because I was a little… jealous." Azula finished in a whisper.

The gymnast was squealing internally, although she still felt horrible. Her wrist was still clasped to chest protectively. The princess slid a little closer to her, always keeping a little space between them.

"You're jealous of me?" She asked, quietly.

Already knowing that she was a little jealous of the attention she got at the party, she was wondering how much she could get out of her friend.

"Yeah. For some reason, when I meet boys, they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them. And the one that doesn't," She mumbled the last part, looking out to the ocean. "I can't do that anyway."

Hmm I wonder who that one boy is? Maybe Chan?

Ty Lee was just happy she'd gotten something from Azula.

"Well, you probably would do something horrible to them. I'm sure they're just intimidated by you."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Azula said, smiling slightly. "And I'm… sorry, about your wrist."

Well, it's progress at least. She only winced slightly when apologising.

Ty Lee looked down at her wrist, the red marks of the twisted hand felt burned onto her skin. She rubbed it tentatively without thinking.

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault."

"I know. But it still isn't good. And it wasn't your fault either. They suck."

Ty Lee hummed softly in agreement.

There was a lull in the conversation as they both looked out at the dark horizon, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks below them.

"Well," Ty Lee began, "if you want to be able to talk to boys, I can help? If you want?"

Azula turned to her and, not for the first time, the chi-blocker was surprised to see a vulnerability to her friend.

"Why would you do that?" Azula asked, slightly suspicious, but Ty Lee got the impression it wasn't about her, just about the princess' own insecurities.

"Because I'm your friend, Azula. If you need my help, I'm going to be there for you."

The princess looked at her with an appreciation and warmth that she rarely felt from her. She took that as acceptance and began to teach her.

"Okay, so if you want a boy to like you," she smiled as she sidled up to Azula, feeling a lot more comfortable. Her hurt hand dropped to her side as her other one landed on the railing next to her friend, "just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says, even if it's not funny."

Her friend smiled back at her. "Well, that sounds really shallow and stupid… Let's try it."

She bumped her good shoulder lightly. Ty Lee returned the favour, before turning to face the princess.

"Okay." She then began imitating a boy's voice. "Hey there, sweet sugar cakes. How you liking this party?"

Azula just began to laugh immediately and loudly. The sound carried well over the background noise of the party, infiltrating it and making a lot of heads swivel their way. With all the attention on her, the firebender seemed to feed off it, turning back to Ty Lee with a smile. The gymnast hid a cringe as best as she could.

I mean, it's progress. Let's see what else we can do.

Mai was sitting by the side of the party. Zuko had been following her around like a lost puppy, not giving her any space the entire night in the worst possible way. It was entirely too clingy for Mai's liking, and seemed different from how Zuko was normally. He also seemed to be shooting glares at anyone who even looked like they'd come over.

Suffice it to say, Mai's bad mood from the beach was continuing throughout the party. She just wanted some space, a conversation with someone who wasn't just… ugh.

"I'm bored." Her voice as monotone as ever.

"I know."

She rolled her eyes at his response, his arm still draped around her.

"I'm hungry."

"So what?"

"So, find me some food."

"Sure." He replied, standing up and walking away.

As soon as he did, Mai felt herself able to breath. She still did like Zuko, but it was hard when he clearly had so many things on his mind that he was projecting onto her. She saw Ruon-Jian approaching and it felt like fresh air. She definitely wouldn't ever do anything, but the space she had, and the new conversation being given to her was blissful in comparison to her day by the beach.

She was just getting into a good, interesting conversation with him when Zuko spun him around.

"What are you doing?" Ruon-Jian asked.

"Stop talking to my girlfriend." He replied.

What? So I can't just talk to people now?!

Mai stood up aggressively, about to give her boyfriend a piece of her mind.

"Relax. It's just a party." Ruon-Jian said, walking over calmly.

Mai kept seething though, glaring daggers through the back of her boyfriend's head.

Almost too fast for her to react, Zuko palmed the Fire Nation noble boy in the chest, sending him flying into a vase on the opposite side of the room. Mai grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

"Zuko, what is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me?

"YES! Your temper is out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're hot-headed, impatient and angry! Oh, and don't even start with your jealousy and possessiveness."

"Oh yeah?! Well, what about you?!"

"What about me, Zuko?" She asked, scathingly.

"At least I feel something. As opposed to you-"

"NO! I opened up! I've been trying and I'm done! You have no right to say that. We're done. It's over Zuko."

Azula strode through the party, her target directly in her line of vision. He was talking to another girl.

Inconsequential.

She cut in front of her, speaking directly to him, feeling more confident than she had in a long while. She smiled inwardly thinking about her talk with Ty Lee.

"Chan, I'm ready for a tour of the house."

She smirked at his response, giving his drink to the other random girl. She placed her drink on top of the girl's head, enjoying the dirty look she got as she walked away. Chan walked out towards the balcony.

Perfect, just like my practice.

They both leant on the railing.

"Is this your first time on Ember Island?"

"No. I used to come here years ago." She replied to his question.

Azula moved a little closer trying to avoid any follow up questions, but felt a lot more uncomfortable compared to when she did it early. He shuffled closer still, and she felt the need to back away.

"It's a great place, if you like sand."

The princess forced herself to remain where she was.

Well, now is as good a time as any. Hope you were right, Ty Lee.

Azula laughed, probably too loud for what the comment deserved.

As if it deserved a laugh in the first place.

"Yeah, it's like, welcome to Sandy Land." He continued.

Both of them laughed, though hers was entirely, disgustingly fake.

Ugh, so dumb. He's a Fire Nation noble. You could be the strongest couple in the entire world.

Azula found herself disagreeing wholeheartedly with the voice in her head. For the same reason she'd thrown lightning at Junsik. She tried to disguise herself retching at the thought of pursuing anything with him. The idiot she was with seemed solely focused on other parts of her to notice though.

Ew. Also… I am pretty sure I know who'd make me be in the strongest couple in the entire world.

Chan moved even closer to her, interrupting the raging debate in her head.

Well, here's nothing. How about compliments when flirting? That was something Ty Lee had helped her with.

"Your arms look so" Yuck "strong."

"Yeah, I know."

Well, at least I know that works.

He moved in to kiss her and she felt like throwing up. Azula's hands clenched the railing. She felt something pushing her into it, subconsciously. Almost like a learned memory. As soon as their lips connected, Azula wanted to punch him in the face. She pulled away immediately but he moved his hand to the side of her face.

"You're pretty."

His words passed straight through her ears. They were the words she'd wanted to hear, but not from him. And not here. She pulled her face away from his hand and stared once more out at the open ocean. The moonlit water flashing a face at her, the eyes as deep as the sea. The mirage lasted momentarily, but it shook her to her core. She knew exactly who's face it was.

Chan moved once more for another kiss, but Azula recoiled with a grimace.

"Thanks, but I'm good, Chan. You're not for me."

"But what was all that about my strong arms?"

"Leave me."

She didn't bother explaining it to him.

At his petulant whine and weak attempt to move closer to her, she turned to face him. Her eyes narrowed to slits, giving him a moderate glare. He cowered under it.

Pathetic, he would never.

"I said, leave me." She snarled.

She lit her hand ablaze once more, just because she found it fun to watch him sweat and stumble his way back into the party.

Azula looked out at the ocean, watching the waves crash onto the shore and its colour shine beautifully in the darkness.

"Why did you have to do this? Why did you come here?" She whispered out into the cold night air.

She was interrupted in her questioning by a crashing sound back inside. The princess left the balcony turning her back on the sea that called out to her.

Azula re-entered the main party room to see a still quite frazzled Chan running up to a boy on the floor.

"Who broke my nana's vase?"

The boy on the floor pointed over at her brother, who was standing in an aggressive position, as was Mai.

What's gone on there?

Chan ran up to Zuko.

"That's it! You're out of here!"

Azula still stood over by the balcony door. She spied Ty Lee across the other side of the party talking with some girls. The gymnast, along with most of the room, had turned to focus on the drama between her brother and the host.

"I was just leaving." Was all Zuko said, before storming out of the house.

"Have fun by yourself, loser boy."

Azula winced at the comment from Ruon-Jian. The 'by yourself' stung her deeply, as she stood there, silently. The princess watched as her brother slammed the door behind himself. When she turned back to the party, Azula saw Mai standing there, obviously not happy.

Her dagger-wielding friend turned away from the door and walked back into the party. It seemed Ruon-Jian wanted to talk to her some more, but the girl blew him off. Azula followed her friend through the crowd and towards the other one in their trio. Ty Lee, seeing the two approach, excused herself from her conversation.

The three girls moved over into a quieter corner of the party. If Mai was surprised that Azula was there with them, she didn't show it.

"I just… argh." She began, gesturing wildly. It was the most expressive Azula had seen her friend ever. "I tried so hard!"

"I know you did. And you did nothing wrong." Ty Lee said to her. "Zuko just needs to sort some things out."

Azula didn't miss the quick glance towards herself from the gymnast, but she didn't really know if she was the subject of what he needed to sort out or just unaware of what it was.

"But I just wanted a nice trip. I told him so many times, but he just doesn't listen!"

Azula listened to her vent and found that she really enjoyed it. Not the obvious discomfort and frustration of her friend, but the involvement in her life that was purely for Mai's benefit. She found all thoughts of using any of this information for her own gain to have disappeared, which was unusual for her. The princess was just solely thinking about helping her friend with her problem.

Before long, it seemed that Mai had ran out of energy with complaining and Ty Lee had given her sufficient reassurance and moral support. Then Azula had an idea on how to help.

"Hey, how about we go down to the beach?" She looked around at the party. "This party is boring anyway. I can go and get Zuzu and you two can… I don't know, talk?"

She trailed off towards the end, uncomfortable and not knowing if she was doing the right thing. Azula received a surprised look from Mai, but a genuine, appreciative smile from Ty Lee.

"That sounds like a great idea, Azula!"

Her gymnast friend was beaming at her and it gave the princess an unexpected warmth within her. She found she didn't mind it.

"We don't know where Zuko is though." Mai intoned.

"I know where he went. There's only one place he'd be." Azula replied. "Just meet me down on the beach. I'll bring my brother."

She started walking towards the door, followed by Mai and Ty Lee.

"You girls are leaving so soon?" Chan asked.

"Yeah, you should stay. Now that the loser has left. We can have some fun." Ruon-Jian said.

Azula levelled them with a glare. They both immediately backed off and let the three stride out of the house. She was tempted to show off her fire some more but she felt that it was unnecessary. They didn't deserve even that marginal amount of her attention and effort. Both her friends hid their smirks at that interaction before they split off for their respective destinations.

The princess headed for their family's old holiday home.

She began walking up the sandy pathway towards the entrance. As she got there, she saw her brother sitting on the front steps.

"I thought I'd find you here." She said, softer than usual.

"Those summers we spent here seem so long ago. So much has changed."

Azula fought not to go into her own memories of the time. The last time she could even remember that traitorous woman a good way…

No, it wouldn't do any good to go into that. It was most likely just a dream anyway.

Instead, she focused on her plan to help out Mai and her brother.

"Come down to the beach with me. Come on. This place is depressing."

She gestured for him to follow and was pleased to see him get up, leaving behind his baby stone hand print. The princess remembered her own one of those.

Oh to be able to destroy that.

Her brother followed her down to the beach below their house where she knew Ty Lee and Mai would be waiting for them. As she walked up, she saw the hope in Mai's eyes.

"Hey." The girl said, softly, to Zuko.

"Where's your new boyfriend?" He asked, spitefully.

Azula cringed again and saw Ty Lee do the same. The firebending girl slumped her head, realising exactly what Mai had been talking about earlier. She continued to watch, surprised, as Zuko seemed to flip completely. He moved to sit next to her friend.

"Are you cold?"

His arm started to move around her, but Mai slapped it away.

Understandable.

Ty Lee spoke up next.

"I sure am. Can someone start a fire?" She requested.

It seemed to somewhat diffuse the situation and the girl seemed pleased about that.

"I'll do it." Her angsty brother replied. "There's plenty of stuff to burn in there."

He looked up at their vacation house and she couldn't help but agree.

(-)

Azula was watching the small fire she created burn when Zuko returned with all the wood and kindling. As he sat down, he threw the old family portrait into the fire. She watched as her family turned to ash and looked at her brother.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He asked back.

"But it's a painting of your family."

"You think I care?!" He asked back, angrily.

"I think you do." She said, sombrely.

"You don't know me, so why don't you mind your own business?" He asked, walking away from the fire.

The girl scoffed at him before reply.

"I know you."

"She does, Zuko. And so do I. She's right." Mai said, annoyed.

He turned aggressively towards them.

"No, you don't. You," he pointed at the gymnast, "you're just stuck in your little 'Ty Lee world' where everything's great all the time."

"Zuko! Leave her alone!" Mai stood up and looked at him. "You've been overreacting and angry this whole trip!"

He walked away from them again, ignoring her.

"'I'm so pretty. Look at me. I can walk on my hands. Whoo!'"

Zuko mocked Ty Lee and did a handstand himself. He collapsed to the ground, laying in the sand with his hands behind his head.

"Circus freak."

Azula turned to look at her friend. The cold voice in her head laughed, but she could only feel concern.

"Zuko!" Mai said, seemingly preparing herself to walk over to him.

"Mai." Ty Lee's head dropped. "It's fine."

"No, it's not fine. It's-"

"I know." Ty Lee said calmly. "But there isn't anything I can do about it."

The gymnast lifted her head and stared directly at the prince. Her hand moving to cover her wrist again.

"Do you want to know why I joined the circus?"

Azula found herself quiet, knowing the answer but still wanting to hear it.

"I joined the circus because I grew up without something that I could call my own. I barely even had a name, not least one my parents could remember to call me. I have six sisters, all who look exactly like me."

Zuko seemed surprised by the calm power in her voice as he was looking at her from his position on the ground, his head tilted back.

"I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. But you know what? A friend taught me that knowing myself, and being myself, were so much more important than any insult you could ever throw at me. So fine, call me a circus freak, but at least I know who I am now. I think that's more than you could say about yourself."

Ty Lee looked directly into the firebending boy's eyes while a quiet settled over the whole group. Azula saw Mai looking at the gymnast with a proud smile. A similar feeling settled over the princess, although she did feel a bit enviously towards that little speech.

"Hmph." Mai snorted after a while. "She told you."

The girl smirked down at the boy who sat up quite defensively.

"At least I can still feel things, Mai." He said. "Unlike you."

Azula looked at her friend and saw a wall of rage behind her eyes.

"I, what?" Mai said, quietly.

The near silent words made even the princess pause. Zuko could only look at her.

"I don't feel?" She seethed. "I've been telling you this whole trip how I've felt and you've done nothing but ignore it. I was happy, I was getting somewhere. I was telling people how I felt because even though I'm not as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you, I still feel!"

"I wish you would be high-strung and crazy for once. Instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside."

"Zuko," Ty Lee jumped in, "did you not-"

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!" Mai stood up, incensed. "I can't believe I even thought opening up to you was a good thing. I've been telling you how I've felt this whole time but you just. Won't. Listen! I could tell you about how hard my childhood was, being an only child who had to behave all the time and sit still, and not speak unless spoken to, and think of my dad's political career over feeling anything but you'd only ignore it, just to be angry. I opened myself up to caring and you threw that away."

They all just sat there and Zuko seemed to back-off slightly. After a couple beats of silence, he moved back over to where Mai was sitting. Azula winced pre-emptively.

"I like it when you express yourself." His hand moved to her shoulder.

"If you so much as touch me, Zuko, you won't be able to use that hand for weeks."

His hand miraculously stopped short of her shoulder before returning to its place at the prince's side.

Azula just sat, watching the fire. She hadn't felt the need to butt into any of the conversations, but she did see a figure sitting there in the flames. An image of her mother, in the same position as their family portrait, sat still in the flickering red. The princess watched, unable to move her eyes away, as the fire slowly ate away at Ursa's form. The burning embers gave way to the cold detached face of her father. It peered at her through the flames and seemed to watch her every move. The harsh voice in her head was screaming at her and she clenched her fists, digging her nails once more into her palms.

"I'm still mad at you, Zuko." Mai said, breaking Azula out of her hallucination.

"My life hasn't been that easy either, Mai."

"I know. But that's nowhere near an excuse for the way you've been acting."

"Calm down, you guys." Ty Lee piped up, obviously wanting to diffuse the situation again. "This much negative energy is bad for your skin. You'll totally break out."

"Bad skin?" Zuko asked, rhetorically.

Azula grimaced as did the other two girls.

"Normal teenagers worry about bad skin. I don't have that luxury. My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson on my face!"

He pointed to his scar and while it had faded substantially, it was still clearly visible. In the dancing firelight, his old injury seemed to meld onto his face as the princess saw the young teen boy being burned by their father.

Azula would usually dismiss the scar, but after her very own Agni Kai, it came as a stark reminder of what could've happened. There were questions she was too afraid to answer, like if it had been her father, what would have happened? What would she have done?

"Sorry, Zuko. I-"

"For so long, I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy. I'm back home now, my dad talks to me. Ha! He even thinks I'm a hero. Everything should be perfect, right?"

It was odd for her, but she found herself relating to everything he was saying. The hollow feeling of returning to the Fire Nation. It all came flooding back to her, not that it had ever really left her.

"I should be happy now, but I'm not." Zuko continued. "I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!"

"But who are you angry at?" Azula prodded.

She didn't really know the answer to her own numbness, but maybe he could help provide her one.

"No one. I'm just angry."

"Yeah, who are you angry at, Zuko?" Mai said, looking all too intrigued to push an answer out of her brother.

"Everyone. I don't know." He replied.

"Is it Dad?" Azula asked.

Is that who I'm angry at? No! How dare you? How could you?!

"No, no."

"Your uncle?" Ty Lee asked.

She also looked too interested in the answer. The gymnast's gaze also kept flicking over to the princess.

Why is that?

"Me?" Azula asked him.

"No, no, n-no, no!"

"Then who? Who are you angry at that's made you act this way all trip?" Mai asked.

"Answer the question, Zuko."

Tell me who I can be angry at.

"Talk to us." Ty Lee's sympathetic voice piped up.

"Come on, answer the question." Both Azula and Mai said.

"I'm angry at myself!" He yelled, slamming his fists down.

The campfire erupted into a pillar of flames and Azula watched as the golden eyes of her father glowed. They bore down on her making her clench her fists even more. As quickly as the pillar of flame came, it dissipated into the frigid night air, the glowing gold irises going with it.

"Why?" Azula asked.

That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear for herself.

"Because I'm confused. Because I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore."

Pathetic. That's weak.

But the harsh voice in Azula's head couldn't convince her that she was the one in the right. Not this time. Mai stood up though, seemingly very pleased with what he said.

"Well, finally. I'm glad you've admitted that to yourself." She said. "And like I've been saying, I do care about you."

She leant forward and kissed him. Azula felt that same churning in her gut. The same feeling to seeing them watching the sunset. A similar feeling to watching Ty Lee get all the attention. A feeling that had yet to be satiated.

"Well, isn't that wonderful." She said, rather sarcastically, interrupting them.

The princess just wanted them to stop. It was physically hurting her. Ty Lee looked at her, curiously, but Mai turned to her annoyed, as did her brother.

"I guess you wouldn't understand any of this, would you, Azula?" Zuko sneered at her. "Because you're just so perfect."

Azula met her brother's gaze and was surprised to see some curiousness.

"You're right. I don't have the sob stories you all do. I could sit here and complain how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care."

Her eyes drifted towards the embers of their fire. She felt the phantom comb brush through her hair once more as she heard the waves crash against the beach. Two spots of gold pierced up at her from the burnt wood. She felt the eyes of her friends and brother on her but she couldn't stop herself speaking.

"My own mother" she paused, "thought I was a monster."

She watched as the leftover embers blazed a bit brighter, but it just felt cold.

"All I've ever done in my life was train. For my father, for the Fire Nation. I became perfect. But there were a few people I wanted love from, and I barely got any. Father did, but then he wanted to marry me off and punished me by sending me here. Mother hated me and left. And he… well he'll never like me back. Not with who I am. So my mother was right, I am a monster."

The princess heard herself echoing around the open area and she could practically feel the despair with which she talked. Azula didn't look up for fear of seeing the pity in the eyes of her friends. The only sounds she could hear were the crackling of embers and waves hitting the shore. Her fists were clenched as hard as ever, but all she felt was the numbness.

"And only one person could ever love a monster." She finished.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard footsteps in the sand approaching her. She felt a weight sit down on the log next to her. Her head got pulled onto Ty Lee's shoulder by a surprisingly strong and firm sidearm hug.

Finally, she raised her head. She saw her brother looking at her in shock. There was no small amount of suspicion in his posture, but she knew she hadn't lied. That was the worst part for her. The cold voice inside her head screaming at her that she was betraying her father, betraying their nation. The gold eyes in the dying fire pained her, shot straight into her head. It was all quietened by her friend though, who's arm tugged her even closer.

Mai was looking at her with an understanding that made Azula uncomfortable. Like even when she'd tried to hide who she was talking about, the girl knew exactly who she meant. It unnerved her but at the same time, she was happy that at least someone knew.

Her friend's gaze turned to the friend next to her and they seemed to be having a silent conversation. It was something she hated, not being part of it. After a few seconds, and right before she was about to put an abrupt end to the silence with a well-placed ball of fire, Mai spoke up.

"Alright, Zuko, let's go."

Quickly, Mai wrapped her arm through her boyfriend's and pulled him away from their extinguished fire. Zuko seemed to not want to go for a second, but acquiesced with little to no struggle. They wandered away down the beach, leaving the two girls on their own. The cold chill of the night and winds were only buffeted by Ty Lee next to her.

Suddenly, everything felt too focused on her, and too quiet. The loss of the company only highlighting that even more. Ty Lee turned to her and lightly grasped her hands with both of her own.

"It's Percy, isn't it?"

There was an accepted sadness that permeated through her question.

"Wha…"

Azula trailed off with the disbelieving look she got from her friend. She hung her head.

"Yeah."

The gymnast next to her sighed.

"Well, that sucks."

Azula almost felt like chuckling at Ty Lee's understatement but couldn't find it within herself.

"Yeah, it does."

Their words became frigid into the darkness that began closing in on them, as the embers lost more and more of their fuel. The waves kept crashing onto the sand, giving her at least some respite in its repetition.

"You're not a monster. You know that, right? Azula?" Her friend interrupted the silence.

"You don't have to say that. I am. It's better that everyone accepts that."

Ty Lee sighed once more, this time more exasperatedly.

"No, you aren't, Azula."

There was a firmness that she had only really heard from her on Ember Island.

"You don't have to be something you don't want to be. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. And I don't see you as a monster. Scary, yes."

Azula chuckled slightly with her friend.

"Powerful, absolutely. But definitely not a monster."

Her friend's words rang around her head. The princess let herself sit with it, being comforted by Ty Lee who had once again wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

Who do you want to be? You are your father's daughter. The Princess of the Fire Nation. What more could you want?!

After a few minutes of voices screaming in her head, and not many answers found, she nodded into Ty Lee's shoulder. As they separated, she began talking again.

"But you do know that Mai and I are right with you, right? We're on your side."

Azula let a small smile appear on her face, as both her brother and Mai appeared out of the gloom a ways down the beach. Ty Lee shifted away from her and held her wrist again.

I may not know what I want to be, or what I want to do later, but I know exactly what I want to do now.

As soon as the other two returned to the now completely cold fire, the princess spoke again.

"You know what would make this trip really memorable?"

The group walked back up to Chan's house.

"We've got some bad news, Chan."

"Party's over." Zuko said, turning dramatically.

The girls and Zuko set about destroying his house and Azula smiled watching them. Mai destroyed all the furnishings, Ty Lee taking down the lighting and Zuko just smashing things.

They left behind the burning wreckage, with Ty Lee pulling them all into a big hug as they walked back to their little place.

A/N: So that was the completion of 'the Beach' story line. Some big character changes from canon with a lasting impact into the next few chapters as well as the whole story in general. A lot of Ty Lee and Mai, seeing how they've grown with Ember Island showing who they really are to both the royal kids. Also Azula is finally starting to understand her feelings. Ty Lee's realisation at the end there is also big for both of them, although Azula might not understand just why yet. I like showing how people (especially Mai) regress when faced with Zuko making his problems hers. It was never going to be easy for any of those four. Let me know what you think.

Also, a sneak preview at the title of probably the best chapter I've written to date (the next one)...
'Azula Alone'

Thank you all for your Christmas well wishes too! Appreciate it! That's all from me, now for some review replies:

Time Emperor: I am! Hope you're enjoying it!

GameknightPJOfan: Thank you! I have indeed, a lot of editing and rewriting, glad it seems to be paying off!

A-gods-flame: Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and both these chapters!

HellRaiderS: They will keep coming as I'm still writing quite a ways a head, though they might slow after this one.

Jctherebel: Glad you are all caught up! Thank you and hope you continue to enjoy!

CRUDEN: And this one too! Yet another Azula chapter with quite a bit of her girls as well! Hope you enjoyed!

WildMan98: Thank you! Yeah, me too. It's such an interesting dynamic to me that the island 'showing who they really are' makes Azula want to not be known as the princess at any point. Appreciate it and belated Merry Christmas to you too!

Death Fury: Thank you, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to yourself!

-PS