Work Text:
Azula wasn't the spying type.
...
ok, that was a lie.
Azula wasn't the type to peruse. When she spied, she did so with a purpose. A concrete goal. A logical goal. Something that forwarded her interests.
How rifling through Ty Lee's diary forwarded Azula's interests... well, she'd figure that out later. She wasn't perusing though, she was looking. Following her instincts! And instincts didn't always provide a conscious reasoning for their actions, not in the moment.
Dear Diary,
I asked Azula if she'd come with me to the gardens today, and she said yes! I thought she'd say no because of the last time, but this time she said yes and even smiled a little. I'm thinking of buying her a gift to thank her for coming, but I can't think of anything. What can I give a princess that she doesn't already have?
Azula was terrible at lying to herself. Which was a surprise, because she was so very good at lying to others. Maybe it wasn't that her lies were bad, but her ability to tell them was good.
It didn't matter, Azula caught herself skimming over everything else, from academic troubles to acrobatics to sibling battles, only to stop and carefully read over the parts that included her name. Azula. Written in a cutesy-curly script that was just distinct enough from the other characters that Azula could tell work had been put into it, but not so different it felt as though it didn't belong.
Ty Lee talked about Azula a lot. From things she wanted to do with her, to things she admired about her, to crazy fantasies where the two of them would run off into the sunset (Azula read over those more than once). And whenever Azula found one of those entries, her heart began to beat a little faster, her palms felt warmer than usual. Each entry felt like a small spike of adrenalin mixed with the ecstasy of eating your favorite food. Azula was hooked.
Dear Diary,
Azula wore the dress I gave her at the gardens today. She looked gorgeous! I'm so happy she liked it. I was worried that she might have thought it was a strange gift for a trip to the gardens. I'm thinking of getting her a matching scarf for the Fire Days.
Azula suppressed a blush. Ty Lee had called her every synonym of beautiful in the dictionary and yet reading it like this, in a private journal where she had no incentive to make her feel good about herself, made it feel more real somehow. As though she had heard the compliment for the first time. Ty Lee thought she looked gorgeous.
Azula was just about to read the next entry when something fell out of the book and landed with the characteristic crackle of paper. A loose page perhaps?
She picked it up.
Dear Azula,
The ink on the page was in various states of neatness, intensity, and elegance. Different sentences and even words were slightly out of alignment, slightly higher or lower than one another despite being on the same line. Unlike the entries in the journal, Azula could tell the writing on this piece of paper had been made across many days, perhaps weeks.
You're my favorite person in the whole world. You're confident, you're strong, you're beautiful, and you're perfect. When I'm with you, I'm just happier about everything. I know you don't believe in auras, but when I'm with you my aura becomes more colorful too. So much pink, with tinges of crimson and purple, swirling around in a big happy cloud. Almost as pretty as you are.
I've met other people who are confident, and other people who are pretty. But when I'm around them I don't feel like I do when I'm around you.
I like you, and I was wondering if you liked me too. I was wondering if you'd like to have sleepovers with just the two of us, and if you'd like to go on hiking trips, and if you'd like to go to the gardens more often. And maybe I was wondering if you'd like to play dress up and bake cookies. Maybe I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me, if you would watch your favorite plays with me. If you'd like to share more of your life with me.
And I was also wondering if you'd kiss me.
Sincerely,
There was a blank spot where normally a signature would be, which caused a nearly imperceptible pain in Azula's heart. Had Ty Lee decided against sending this to her? Or maybe she'd ruined it by reading it prematurely, and Ty Lee was going to send it after looking it over a few more times?
Azula read the letter again.
And one more time after that.
I would like that, Azula decided, after a long pause of staring at the page.
Maybe Azula would invite her over to a sleepover.
Maybe they'd dance.
Maybe they'd kiss.
Azula would put an end to Ty Lee's wondering.