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The first time Ty Lee had met Azula, she had refused to look the Princess in her eyes, had refused to do anything other than duck her head and stare at the floor, as the girl sniffed at her before looking around their set of suites given to them and their deadly silent third, at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.
She kept her head down, emulating the ways her mother had taught her and her sisters, knowing that even if she were to make a friend, there was no way that the Fire Nation Princess would ever want to be hers.
***
Ty Lee watched out of the corner of her eye as a teacher entered into the classroom, taking in the way that Azula slouched down in her chair, her posture shifting from attentive student to impertinent royal. She focused on her work, half-heartedly filling out the sheet in front of her, as she watched Azula leave sooty fingerprints in place of answers and heard the muffled chuckles from other students around her, all amazed at her arrogance.
She followed after her timidly once class had ended, tucking her narrow-eyed suspicion into the back of her head, as she watched Azula shove people around and laugh with the worst of the bullies, before she stepped into their suite. She stepped silently through the doorway, doing her best to imitate Mai, to catch Azula letting out a sigh and lowering her face into her hands.
Ty Lee stood in the entranceway for a moment before coming to a decision. She nodded to herself once, before stepping forward, letting her feet be as loud as they wanted as Azula's head rose, and her strange scared-nervous-angry expression wiping away at the sight of Ty Lee.
Ty Lee dropped to her knees before her, and beamed, reaching out towards her before deciding to drop her hands to her knees instead. "You don't have to be mean," she said as earnestly as an eight-year-old could. "Not to me!" She nodded at Azula's stunned look. "Besides," she added, her smile slipping slightly. "I know you really don't want to."
Azula scoffed, staring at her. "You don't know anything about me," she sneered. "Go be dumb somewhere else."
"See," Ty Lee said, shaking her head. "You don't have to do that here." She bit her lip, staring hard at Azula, as she stared incredulously back. "I won't tell anyone if you want to be nice," Ty Lee whispered, her eyes wide, as she slowly inched closer on her knees. "I know - I - sometimes I don't want to be quiet," she said. "I want to talk and talk and talk but- but Mother says that I must be quiet, that I must be like my sisters." She shook her head again. "I don't want to be like my sisters."
Azula blinked at her slowly, before narrowing her eyes. "I'll only be nice, if you'll talk more," she said. "And I'll only be like that in here," she decided, her eyes angry. "Nowhere else."
Ty Lee grinned, and reached out, gently cradling Azula's hands, as the girl froze at the touch. "It'll be our secret," she said, before looking over her shoulder to the doorway to Mai's room, where she was standing. "Well," she amended, nodding at Mai. "Ours and Mai's."
***
Ty Lee hummed to herself, glancing over her shoulder to see Azula fast asleep on their shared couch, the bags under her eyes darkening with each day. In the small kitchenette, Mai prepared their daily afternoon tea, her face scrunched in concentration as she perfectly measured out the correct amount of tea leaves.
Ty Lee smiled at her and bounced out of the living room, snagging her letter from her sisters from her room, and returning, settling herself beside Azula on the floor, as she gently lifted Azula's dangling arm and placed it next to her, back on the couch.
Mai sighed as she entered into the room, the steaming scent of jasmine filling the space as she set the teapot down, her dark eyes worried as she looked over Azula much like Ty Lee had. She glanced at Ty Lee and arched a brow.
"She's exhausted," Ty Lee whispered, half-heartedly scowling when Mai rolled her eyes in response. "She's-" Ty Lee cut herself off, her eyes flicking to their closed-door back to Mai's. "I think she'll be bored at home," she settled on, grimacing at the way the lie felt in her mouth, Mai's eyes steady on hers, as she tried to figure out how to say what she actually meant, without saying a single incriminating word. "I think she has a lot to do, but I think she'll miss how things were here."
Mai nodded, her brushing a quick finger through her bangs. "She doesn't have the power she deserves at home," she said quietly, Ty Lee's face suddenly stricken with worry. "She can't be in charge, as she should be, aside from our Lord," Mai finished, watching as Ty Lee's shoulders slumped and she nodded.
"It's a change to be apart after being together for so long," Ty Lee said, serving them all tea, and twisting to look to see if Azula was still asleep, before turning back to look at Mai. "I already can't wait to see you guys next year."
"There's always the summer," Mai pointed out quietly, as Azula let out a quiet whisper and turned, curling into a ball. "I'll have to see if Father and Mother let me attend to her at the Palace."
Ty Lee nodded. "I'll have to ask too," she said. "I wouldn't want her to be left unattended."
The two of them nodded at each other, their minds set, their duty decided. They'd never let Azula be alone, as long as they could help it.
***
"You have to go," Azula whispered, panting as she looked at Ty Lee, her face clearly in agony as she watched Ty Lee. "You can't stay here," she said, rising from her stretched position, the two of them practicing their forms against each other. "Father-" she cut her eyes away, looking out to the sea, from the docked boat, as Captain Jurik supervised his crew with the loading of the warship.
Ty Lee bit back her frustration, and pressed her lips into a flat line, unwilling to look anything other than vaguely athletically strained in the view of the Palace and the Fire Lord's constantly watchful eye. "Why do I have to go?" She asked, quietly, sliding into another form and holding the position for a beat, as Azula mirrored her.
"You're too-" Azula sighed, her face contorted. "Father has- It's been noticed that you’re nice," she settled on, rocking back onto her heels as she breathed deeply. "I can't have nice- you can't- I would ruin you," Azula said, looking away at the sea. "I would - it would - there are forces that would make me ruin you to keep you," she said very quietly. "And I will not have that."
"What about-"
"Mai will be staying," Azula said, the lie slipping easily from her mouth, as she remembered that her father was sending, Ukano, Mai's father to oversee Omashu's capture within the next few months. "I won't be alone, don't worry."
Ty Lee flipped into a handstand, studying Azula for a long moment. "Okay," she finally said, her face as serene as she could make it. "I believe you."
***
Ty Lee re-read the scroll again before she let out a muffled cry, her noise hidden by her hand snapping to cover her mouth and the clangs of the tents as the circus around her began to get set up.
Agni damn you, she thought, her eyes catching on Mai's single line of beautiful calligraphy.
She's alone again.
***
Ty Lee couldn't tear her eyes away from Azula, didn't even feel the flickers or heat from the flames that burned beneath her. She locked eyes with her, read the sorrow and apology, saw the worry and fear, tucked behind the malice and anger. She blinked once when she flipped herself, the cacophony of animals filling the tent as Azula demanded more danger, more potential pain.
She ran her tongue over her teeth behind closed lips, steeling herself for the hurt she was sure to spill from Azula's mouth, praying to any God she could think of, that the single tear that slipped down her cheek in worry for her best friend, was hidden among the sweat dripping down her face.
***
She watched Azula curl up on her bed, her head pillowed in her lap, and gently tucked a tendril of hair behind her head, glancing up as the door cracked, Kurna's head peering around the doorway, her face softening at the sight.
"That's the first time my Lady's slept since we left, and I suspect for a few nights now," Kurna said, her gaze fixed on Azula for a long moment before she dragged her eyes up. "I know it's a lot to ask-"
Ty Lee cut her off, a fierce expression on her face. "I'm never leaving her again," she whispered, her brows furrowing as she shook her head. "I didn't want to the first time."
Kurna clucked her tongue, coming closer to smooth a gentle hand across Azula's forehead and then Ty Lee's. "I know miss," she said, shaking her head. "We all know."
Ty Lee nodded, her face set. "I promised," she said, her gaze darting down before returning to Kurna's warm face. "I'm not breaking it again."
***
Ty Lee stood at the helm of the ship, the warm ocean breeze a balm to her nerves, before she turned to look at the slowly fading sight of the Fire Nation Capital. She heaved a sigh, half-grinning as she slid her hand into Azula's, her stern face softening at the touch, Mai standing on her other side, her face the most open Ty Lee had ever seen.
"Well then," Ty Lee said, her tilting her head onto Azula's shoulder and watching as the stars began to creep across the sky. "I'm glad that mess is over with."
Mai let out a muffled laugh, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at Ty Lee. "I stand corrected," she said, pulling her hand away and smirking at her. "You have a gift for overstatement and understatement."
"Doesn't that mean that she's just a normal person?" Azula said, smirking back, Mai beginning to laugh again, the sound echoing up and across the water.
Ty Lee hummed, her face content, as she watched the stars, and swore, against the backdrop of Mai and Azula's gentle teasing, for the second time in her life, that she would follow Azula to ends of the earth. She lifted her head off of Azula's shoulder, pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, and danced backward, flipping out of the way of the gentle puff of fire Azula sent after her.
"C'mon," she said, her eyes wide and innocent, before she stuck out her tongue. "Betcha can't get me in five minutes or less."
"Oh really?" Azula said, narrowing her eyes in contemplation as she began to smile, Mai's daggers glinting in her hands as the three of them studied each other, the gentle challenge rising through the air. "I think I can."
Ty Lee winked at her, ducking the quickly thrown knife, and pushed herself off the deck, twirling through the air. "Prove it then," she said, grinning as both Azula and Mai gave chase, the three of the running across the decks as if they were children again, their laughter and shrieks loud and bright under the beautiful moon.