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The problem with being on Kyoshi Island is that Ty Lee likes Kyoshi Island.
Perhaps it would be easier if she didn't like it. Perhaps it would be easier if she felt like a stranger, unwanted. Perhaps it would be easier if she couldn't stand the climate—much cooler than the Fire Nation, though not quite as frigid as the Poles.
Meanwhile, Ty Lee loves Kyoshi Island.
The island is quite small, with few inhabitants, and the main village is very tiny. But there are plenty of Kyoshi Warriors here, and their fighting style is really interesting, and there are so many things Ty Lee could learn. Besides, Huan and Shan Yu, the Kyoshi Warriors that Ty Lee helped capture, are here, and she spent several months with them in Boiling Rock and became very close friends with them.
So, Ty Lee really likes Kyoshi Island.
No one curses at her—most people, when they look at her, see one of the many Kyoshi Warriors. Most people don't know that Ty Lee served Azula, that she helped conquer Ba Sing Se, that she helped imprison Suki, Huan and Shan Yu. Most people look at her, but they don't see her.
And that's okay.
When Ty Lee was little, she needed something that would make her who she was. She lived among identical sisters, even their parents had trouble telling them apart – Ty Lee needed to be different, she needed to be herself. So she ran away, joined the circus, and then returned to Azula, but she was always loud, always colorful, always different—because she was tired of everyone looking at her and seeing her sisters.
Now, Ty Lee thinks, she doesn't need to be different. She doesn't need to look different, she doesn't need pink clothes. She doesn't need to show the world that she's different, because Ty Lee already knows that. She knows she’s the one charge of her own destiny. It doesn't matter what she looks like or whether others can recognize her. The most important thing is that Ty Lee knows who she is.
Ty Lee loves her stay on Kyoshi Island. She is doing something important, helping others, being herself, even if she looks like everyone else.
Only sometimes, early in the morning, her hands tremble for a moment before she puts on her makeup. She looks at her face, which will soon be the same as everyone else's.
Who are you, Ty Lee? She asks herself.
I am Ty Lee, a Kyoshi Warrior, she replies.
And for now, that is enough.
Ty Lee loves Kyoshi Island.
She loves the freedom that reigns there. She loves the fact that Ty Lee can be herself. That people don't look at her and wonder how they could use her. That they don't see her as Princess Azula's ally, that they don't think about who’s standing behind her, who she’s serving.
On Kyoshi Island, Ty Lee is free.
Ty Lee likes the other Kyoshi Warriors. She likes Suki, who she caught and threw in jail, but Suki forgave her. She likes Shan Yu, who taught her how to apply their makeup. And she likes Huan, who smiles in that special way that makes Ty Lee follow her with her eyes.
Something about Huan catches her attention, but Ty Lee isn't sure what it is exactly.
Then, one day, it's just the two of them, and Huan leans in, and her lips are on her lips, and Ty Lee realizes what it is about her that fascinates her.
It's wrong, and Ty Lee knows it. Girls aren't supposed to be together, besides, Ty Lee prefers boys—too bad that boy from the Water Tribe is taken, he's really cute—but at the same time, Huan is here, and Ty Lee, instead of running away, deepens the kiss.
And she definitely likes it.
“It's okay,” Suki tells her later, some time after catching Ty Lee and Huan in each other's arms. “It's completely normal.”
“But I like boys,” Ty Lee points out.
“You can like boys and girls,” Suki smiles at her kindly. “It's completely normal, Ty Lee.”
“You mean...,” Ty Lee hesitates for a moment, “there are others like me?”
“Of course there are,” Suki says. “There's nothing strange about it.”
“But... it's wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because it's a crime,” Ty Lee says simply. “If I were in the Fire Nation, I'd be either dead or in prison.”
Suki mutters something under her breath that sounds strangely like, “I knew I forgot to mention something to Zuko.”
Then she smiles at her.
“Well, in that case, be glad you're not in the Fire Nation,” she says.
Ty Lee grins.
She is definitely glad she is not in the Fire Nation.
About a year after the war ended, Ty Lee returns to the Fire Nation. This time, she is wearing a Kyoshi Warrior uniform and is here as one of the Warriors personally chosen by Suki.
Things are bad in the Fire Nation. It's been almost a year, but Ty Lee knows that Zuko's position is still uncertain. She sees his dark circles under his eyes, she sees that he hasn't slept in a long time, she sees his growing paranoia, she sees him becoming more and more distrustful, and looking for enemies everywhere.
It's not Azula's level of madness — Ty Lee doesn't feel ready to visit her again — but it's definitely not healthy.
The presence of the Kyoshi Warriors helps him calm down a bit and understand that not everyone wants to kill him. Ty Lee thinks Zuko did the right thing by calling them here—she wouldn't want to be surrounded by people who hate her and want her dead either. She assumes that Zuko trusts mainly Team Avatar — but now they are all far away, having returned home, and only Mai remains by Zuko's side, but there is an unpleasant tension between them, and Ty Lee suspects that they will soon part ways, if they haven't already.
Ty Lee isn't even surprised when Mai shows them her new boyfriend.
Ty Lee doesn't want to take sides, she doesn't want to talk about who's at fault, so she tries not to get involved. She's here as a Kyoshi Warrior, so she should act like one and make sure Zuko survives.
Being in the Fire Nation is... strange.
It's been almost a year since Ty Lee was here. A year ago, a few weeks after Zuko's coronation, Ty Lee announced that she was going to Kyoshi Island. A year ago, everyone looked at Ty Lee and recognized her immediately. Ty Lee heard the whispers, she knew what they were calling her: ally of the Crazy Princess, weirdo, traitor. There were other whispers too: warrior, acrobat, dangerous, still unmarried.
The Fire Nation had been her home for many years. This was where Ty Lee had grown up, where she had spent so much time.
But now, returning to the Fire Nation after almost a year, Ty Lee felt strange. Everything was as she remembered it, but at the same time it was different. Her room was still in the palace, she could still use it. The servants have changed, the guards have changed. Some paintings are gone, some decorations are gone, someone has changed the garden, the palace corridors seem completely different.
Everything is the same and different at the same time.
Ty Lee looks at it all, then looks at herself and asks herself once again: who are you, Ty Lee?
Which country do you belong to? Where is your place? Fire or Earth? Caldera or Kyoshi Island?
One evening, Ty Lee is sitting on the engawa. She is off duty and not wearing her Kyoshi Warrior makeup. She is dressed in a pink dress and feels like Ty Lee from the Fire Nation, not Ty Lee the Kyoshi Warrior.
Somewhere behind her, she hears footsteps.
“May I?” she hears an uncertain voice say.
Ty Lee turns her head and sees a familiar figure. Zuko, dressed in incredibly ordinary clothes, is looking at her intently.
“Zuko!” Ty Lee smiles at him. “Of course, sit down!”
He is not wearing his official robes, nor does he have his crown. Today, Ty Lee is just Ty Lee from the Fire Nation, and it seems that Zuko is not here as the Fire Lord, but simply as Zuko.
Zuko sits down next to her. For a moment, they are both silent.
Ty Lee doesn't know what to say.
In fact, she doesn't know Zuko very well.
At the very beginning, the rules were clear: Zuko was Azula's brother, and Ty Lee was Azula and Mai's friend. Then Zuko was exiled, and Ty Lee didn't see him for three long years. She was his enemy for a while, when Azula had orders to capture him. Then Zuko returned to them, Fire Lord Ozai forgave him, and Zuko ceased to be just Azula's brother and became Mai's boyfriend. For three months between the capture of Ba Sing Se and the Eclipse, Ty Lee spent quite a lot of time with them and began to think of him as her friend.
And then Zuko betrayed them, left Caldera, left Ty Lee. She saw him again at Boiling Rock, and then she became the traitor. She didn't betray Azula for Zuko; she betrayed her for Mai. She spent long weeks in prison, almost expecting news of her execution; but then Ozai was defeated, and Zuko became Fire Lord, and Ty Lee was released. She stayed in Caldera, helping Zuko maintain his power—but eventually she left him because she wanted to be herself.
And now, a year later, Ty Lee sits here, next to him. She doesn't know if they're still friends. She doesn't know if she's just his subordinate, his guard.
She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know where she belongs. She returned to the Fire Nation, but she came back here wearing the clothes of a Kyoshi Warrior. But now she has no uniform, and the palace is familiar and foreign at the same time.
“When you returned to the Fire Nation a year ago,” Ty Lee begins. “How was it?”
These are not the words she should be asking him. It's not her style. She should smile, she should comfort him, because that's the kind of person Ty Lee is.
Ty Lee always smiles. Ty Lee never gets sad. Ty Lee has no problems on her mind.
But who is Ty Lee? Where does she belong?
“I was away from home for over three years,” Zuko says, without even looking at her. “For three years, I dreamed of coming back here. And when I did, I realized that even though everything was the same, the home I wanted to return to no longer existed. It wasn't my place anymore.”
“But you stayed here,” Ty Lee points out. “You left, but you came back.”
“You know, it's not like I always wanted to be Fire Lord,” he says, a strange smile appearing on his face, one that isn't a real smile. “The first time I returned to the Fire Nation, it was because I wanted to earn my father's love. When I returned, I realized that from the very beginning, I had been chasing something that never existed. The second time I returned to the Fire Nation, I did so because I believed that in this way I would right the wrongs of my ancestors. But sometimes the Fire Nation, this palace, doesn't feel like home.”
“Home,” Ty Lee repeats. “I like Kyoshi Island, you know? I like it a lot. But sometimes I feel like it's not my home. Even though Huan is there and–”
She falls silent, realizing she has said too much.
Tiredness appears in Zuko's eyes.
“You don't have to hide it,” he says. “I know you two are together.”
Ty Lee looks at him in shock. She was convinced they were hiding it well.
“How?”
“Suki told me. But don't be mad at her, please. She didn't mean any harm. If it was supposed to be a secret–”
“No, everyone on Kyoshi Island knows about us, but–”
“It's different here, isn't it?” asks Zuko. “Because this is the Fire Nation.”
Ty Lee nods. She can't find the right words. She knows she is committing a crime. If Zuko wanted to, he could order her execution, and Ty Lee wouldn't even hold it against him.
“I will change the laws,” Zuko says after a long moment. “I can't promise it will happen quickly, but I will do everything in my power to make sure it's not a crime.”
“Why?” Ty Lee blurts out. “You know very well that it's wrong. That I'm abnormal.”
“The last time you said something like that, you were proud of being abnormal,” Zuko points out. Ty Lee's memories rush back to that evening on Ember Island, when everyone was full of anger and rage.
That evening, Ty Lee's life was simple. She had Mai, she had Azula, she had Zuko. The four of them were together and were going to stay together.
And now everything has fallen apart. Ty Lee is on Kyoshi Island, Zuko is the Fire Lord, which is a kind of prison, Mai looks at them all with cold eyes, and Azula is locked up in a mental institution.
Ty Lee feels a wave of longing. Who would have thought she would miss the days of war?
“It's okay, Ty Lee,” Zuko says, placing his hand on her shoulder a little uncertainly. “You are who you are, no matter who you like or where you decide to live. And that's okay.”
You are yourself, Ty Lee thinks.
But who is Ty Lee really at this moment?
Their stay drags on, turning into weeks. Ty Lee still wears her Kyoshi Warrior uniform. The number of assassins is decreasing.
War is about to break out, this time over the colonies. Suki suddenly leaves them, reporting everything to her boyfriend, wanting him to stop Zuko from going to the colonies. Ty Lee wants to yell at her—what is she doing, why doesn't she just talk to them?
Ty Lee doesn't know who is right about the colonies. It is Earth Kingdom land, it should be returned to them, the Fire Nation has hurt too many people - but the Fire Nation needs these colonies, besides, half of the Fire Nation grew up in the colonies, never seeing their islands. Some families are made up of Earth and Fire.
Ty Lee goes to Yu Dao and watches the fighting.
She watches Fire and Earth clash, Fire and Earth work side by side, and once again asks herself: what about you, Ty Lee? Who are you?
After the catastrophe that was the Harmony Restoration Movement, Zuko, Aang, and King Kuei embark on a grand project they call the United Republic of Nations—a place for everyone, belonging to none of the nations, yet belonging to all of them.
Ty Lee returns to Caldera, as do Huan, Suki, and Shan Yu. Too many people still hate Zuko, and their protection is still necessary.
Then Zuko takes Azula with him—Ty Lee still hasn't mustered the courage to visit her—and sets off with her to search for his mother.
Some time later, when Zuko returns, Ty Lee realizes that the time is slowly approaching for them to leave the Fire Nation. She sees how the other Kyoshi Warriors look at each other, she sees that they are tired of staying in Caldera. Suki is getting restless, Huan mumbles something under her breath when she thinks no one is looking, Shan Yu is counting down the days until her return home.
So they return to Kyoshi Island, Ty Lee with them.
“You'll always be welcome here,” Zuko says, hugging her goodbye. “Come back whenever you want.”
“Thanks, Zuko!” Ty Lee smiles broadly at him.
Then she turns and doesn't look back.
Days turn into weeks, months, years.
Ty Lee stays in touch with her friends. Sometimes Aang and Katara come to visit, spending some time on Kyoshi Island. Sometimes Sokka comes—mainly to see Suki. Other times, Suki disappears, heading to the South Pole.
Zuko and Mai write.
Azula never does.
Ty Lee learns that Zuko and Mai are together—and then they break up again. A month later, they're together, and two years later, they're planning their wedding.
I don't know if this is a good idea, Mai writes.
I don't know if I'm in love with him, she writes. I don't know if I can be Fire Lady. But I know the Fire Nation needs a Fire Lady. I know Zuko needs me.
Ultimately, it's a political marriage.
Mai and Zuko were betrothed as children. And Ty Lee knows that Zuko would never force Mai to marry him—Ursa never loved Ozai, and Zuko doesn't want to repeat that situation. Zuko and Mai probably talk about it many times, and while there are many reasons why they should be together, there are also many reasons why they shouldn't.
Soon after, Mai is pregnant.
Ty Lee returns to the Fire Nation to welcome Crown Princess Izumi. She looks at Mai, Zuko, and Izumi. She looks at them, Huan standing by her side, and Ty Lee realizes that she is looking at true love. There is no passion between Zuko and Mai, no great emotions—but there is love, old, certain, and solid. And there is new love, the desire to protect their daughter.
I don't know if this is a good idea, Mai wrote some time ago.
But now, when Ty Lee looks at her, she sees the happiness that Mai radiates.
She is happy that Mai's words did not turn out to be true.
“Are you happy?” Ty Lee asks.
“Not always,” she says after a moment. “Being the Fire Lady is hard. Restrictive. And incredibly boring.”
Mai keeps her eyes on her daughter.
“But it's worth it,” she says after a while. “Zuko and Izumi are worth it. They're my family. My home.”
Zuko approaches her, handing her a few sheets of paper. Ty Lee glances at them. She reads them once, twice, then a third time.
“You changed the laws,” she understands.
“I did,” he admits. “It's not much, and I know I should do more, but for now, the Fire Nation won't accept any more.”
Finally, after so many years, Ty Lee can kiss Huan in public without fear of death.
These rights are not enough. They do not allow same-sex marriages, they do not allow them to adopt children, but... but at least same-sex couples no longer have to hide. It is no longer a crime, it is no longer a felony.
The Fire Nation is no longer Ty Lee's home, but when she looks at these laws, she feels as if a weight has just been lifted from her chest.
She hugs Zuko and doesn't let go for a long, long time.
“Thank you,” she says.
She knows he didn't do it just for her. She knows he did it for her, but not only for her. She knows he did it for people like her. She knows he did it for his citizens, the people he wants to protect.
Ty Lee is well aware of this, but she hugs him anyway.
She is happy.
Azula is in the crowd.
Ty Lee freezes when she sees Azula.
She hasn't heard from Azula in a long time. She knows that Azula spent a year in a mental institute and was then freed by Zuko. She knows that Azula helped him find Ursa and then disappeared for a while. She knows that Azula then returned to the Fire Nation.
Azula looks different.
Azula has always been more mature. She always seemed older than she really was. She was always someone Ty Lee admired and feared.
And that's why it was so hard for her to hear about what had happened to her. Ty Lee had heard many rumors—that Azula had gone mad, that she saw and heard people who didn't exist. That she was dangerous, that she wanted to kill everyone.
And yet Azula was here, at the party celebrating Izumi's birth, unrestrained, without guards, without chi-blockers. She was wearing the official clothes of the Fire Princess.
She has changed since Ty Lee last saw her.
Her hair is shorter, reaching her shoulders, though still tied up in a topknot. Her face is mature, her gaze calm. She is no longer a fourteen-year-old girl; no, Ty Lee is looking at a woman.
Azula's gaze wanders toward her, and Ty Lee waits for something. A contemptuous curl of the lips. A smirk. Surprise.
Instead, Azula's gaze slips past her, as if she weren't there, and Ty Lee freezes.
Azula didn't recognize her.
Azula didn't recognize her.
She didn't recognize her because it had been almost four years, and they had both changed. She didn't recognize her because Ty Lee was wearing a Kyoshi Warrior uniform and heavy makeup.
She didn't recognize her because Ty Lee was just one of many faces in the crowd to her.
Returning to Kyoshi Island is almost a blessing.
Ty Lee doesn't feel like she belongs to the Fire Nation anymore. She grew up there, it's her homeland, but it's not her place. For too long, the palace suffocated her.
But now, for some reason, Kyoshi Island is starting to suffocate her.
The island she once loved so much becomes a prison, just like her uniform and makeup.
Ty Lee stands in front of the mirror and does not see herself.
Azula did not recognize her.
Azula saw only the Kyoshi Warrior.
But that's okay, Ty Lee tells herself. This is what you wanted. You don't have to be different because you know your worth. You know you deserve better.
You don't have to be different.
She ran away from home because she wanted to be different.
She ran away from the Fire Nation because she realized she didn't have to be different.
But now, she looks in the mirror and begins to hate her own reflection.
“Are you okay?” Huan asks her one night as they lie in bed.
“Yes,” Ty Lee replies.
“You don't look okay.”
“It's okay,” Ty Lee laughs, leaning in and kissing her. “Have I ever lied to you?”
Zuko writes her letters, telling her how many people want to marry his daughter, even though she is only a few months old. Mai writes her letters, expressing her annoyance at Zuko's annoyance. Ty Lee laughs as she reads their letters.
Azula doesn't write to her, but that's no surprise.
Every day, Ty Lee gets up in the morning, puts on her makeup and uniform. She trains. She protects the village. This is the rhythm she knows. The world she has chosen.
But something is wrong. Since Izumi's birth, something has been wrong.
Who are you, Ty Lee? she sometimes asks herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Who will you be in the future?
She tries to imagine the future—five, ten, twenty years from now. Here, on Kyoshi Island, with Huan. Maybe they'll get married, adopt a child, spend the rest of their lives together.
And while this vision used to be pleasant, now something unpleasant tightens in Ty Lee's stomach.
Does she see me? She wonders. Who does Huan see? Ty Lee or one of the many Kyoshi Warriors?
And suddenly, Ty Lee realizes that she doesn't see her future on the island.
Ty Lee isn't quite sure at what point everything falls apart.
Maybe she should have seen it coming. Maybe she should have known it would end this way. Maybe there were signs.
They talk to Huan less and less. At night, instead of exploring each other's bodies, they sleep curled up together, then with their backs turned. The number of touches begins to decrease, there are fewer and fewer kisses, and their conversations become more and more forced.
Summer turns into autumn. Suki tries to talk about it with Ty Lee, but Ty Lee always finds a reason to avoid conversation with her friend. Everything is fine with her and Huan, it's just that what was between them is dying. And that's okay too, because Ty Lee doesn't have the strength to fight for it.
Huan is silent. She doesn't mention what's between them, what's dying between them. She's the one who moves out of their room into a vacant room first — it's only temporary, she says. They both know she's lying.
Suki receives a letter from Sokka saying that they say the coming winter will be incredibly harsh and that he may not be able to leave the South Pole. Suki thinks about it for a few days, then packs her bags and heads for the South Pole. This has been her life for years—spending part of her life on Kyoshi Island and part abroad, always on the move.
Ty Lee wonders if Suki ever thinks about her future, about what awaits her and whether she and Sokka have a future together.
Suki leaves, appointing Huan as her successor. It makes sense—Huan has served Suki for years, she is practically her second, and everyone knows that after Suki, it will be Huan who will rule Kyoshi Island.
Ty Lee knows that Huan is unable to leave the island. For a while, yes, but for her entire life? Huan is Earth, Huan needs a place to return to.
Their breakup is quiet, completely natural.
“It wasn't your fault,” Huan says, looking at her sadly. “It was just me keeping you here, wasn't it?”
“I don't understand,” Ty Lee confesses. Tears stream down her cheeks, even though she has known for a long time that this would happen. She knew that this was coming, that they had no chance of being together, that at some point neither of them was trying for their future. “How? Why?”
“It wasn't your fault,” Huan repeats in an incredibly gentle tone. “I loved what we had, Ty. But at some point, what we had wasn't enough. Our futures are different.”
“I don't understand.”
“Oh, Ty,” Huan raises her hand and gently places it on her cheek. “You know I won't leave Kyoshi Island. And your place isn't here.”
“What do you mean, it isn't?” Ty Lee doesn't understand. “I'm one of us!”
“You are,” Huan confirms. “Don't think I'm going to kick you out. You are one of us, Ty Lee, but... Ty Lee, you're not happy here.”
Ty Lee freezes.
Because it's not true. Ty Lee is happy here, she loves Kyoshi Island, she loves everyone around her.
Only sometimes the uniform seems too tight, the air too dry and cold, and the makeup too heavy, too indifferent, too devoid of personality. Only sometimes does Ty Lee feel like she's suffocating.
“I'm happy,” Ty Lee whispers. “More than I've ever been before.”
Huan smiles sadly at her. She kisses her goodbye, incredibly gently and carefully, and then leaves.
Zuko writes to her, informing her of unrest in the Fire Nation.
A group of loyalists has freed Ozai and wants to put him on the throne.
Ty Lee doesn't know why this is happening now—it's been almost five years since the war ended, and Zuko has been so careful about the people he surrounds himself with. But the truth remains: Ozai is free, and the Fire Nation is in turmoil.
Ty Lee packs her bags that same day.
Kyoshi Warrior's uniform remains neatly folded on the bed.
She planned to stay for a few days.
She stays much longer.
The situation in the Fire Nation is unstable. Ty Lee stays, without ever putting on her uniform. And although her days are filled with fighting, training, or stopping assassins, Ty Lee feels alive.
The Fire Nation is no longer her home. It is a country that is both foreign and familiar. But the Fire Nation is in trouble, it needs her help—so Ty Lee gives it.
And even though the world around her is falling apart, everything is fine.
Ozai dies.
If she wanted to, she could stay here, Ty Lee is well aware of that.
Zuko and Mai would give her everything she could ever want. She would get a well-paid job, her own room in the palace or an apartment in the city. She wouldn't have to worry about the future. She could spend the rest of her life doing many things. She could protect Zuko, Mai, and Izumi. She could travel the world as their emissary and delegate. She could travel the Fire Nation, gathering information and helping people.
Ty Lee is no longer a Kyoshi Warrior. She spent nearly five years in that role, but Ty Lee wasn't herself back then. Now, wearing colorful clothes—green, red, black, pink, blue, whatever she wants—she knows that wasn't the path for her. She loves Kyoshi Island and she loves everyone she left behind there. It was her home—but at some point, Ty Lee stopped being Ty Lee and became just a Kyoshi Warrior. And while she loved it at first, just as she loved the anonymity, she eventually realized that she couldn't live like that anymore.
Ty Lee is no longer a Kyoshi Warrior. She misses Kyoshi Island, but she can't imagine going back there and spending the rest of her life there.
At the same time, she can't imagine being able to stay in the Fire Nation. It is her homeland, but sometimes everything feels so foreign.
In the evening, Ty Lee glances at her reflection in the mirror, at her pink dress, her long hair, and her face, which is strangely serious this evening.
“Who are you, Ty Lee?” she asks her own reflection quietly. “Where is your place?”
Her reflection, of course, remains silent.
Of all the people possible, it is Azula who offers her a solution.
Azula approaches her one evening, holding a glass of wine in her hand. She doesn't offer her a drink, but stands next to her.
“You won't stay in the Fire Nation,” she says. It's not a question.
Azula has changed over the years. Ty Lee sometimes can't believe she's almost twenty.
As a child, Azula always seemed grown up. Then she had her breakdown, spent too long in confinement, tried too long to regain her mental health.
And when Ty Lee returned to the Fire Nation shortly after Ozai was released, the Azula she met was nothing like the Azula of years ago. She was confident, deadly, and dangerous. During the battles with Ozai's allies, Azula's presence was incredibly important—Ty Lee thinks it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was only thanks to her that they managed to regain control of the northern provinces. Zuko appreciated her support by giving her command over part of his army. Ty Lee expected betrayal, but it did not come.
Now Azula stands next to her, calm and composed, but her eyes show fatigue. The last weeks and months of fighting have had a profound effect on them all.
Ty Lee has been having nightmares lately. She never had them before, when they were fighting against the Earth Kingdom, but for some reason she has them now.
Azula looks at her. Ty Lee realizes she hasn't answered her question.
“I...” Ty Lee begins. “I like the Fire Nation.”
“But it's not your home anymore,” Azula says softly. That tone doesn't suit her. Azula should be confident, cruel, imperious.
“No,” Ty Lee says after a moment. “Not anymore. But I can't go back to Kyoshi Island. It suffocated me.”
Perhaps it was the uniform that was suffocating her. Perhaps it was the anonymity she once loved so much that was suffocating her.
People change. Ty Lee isn't sure who the current Ty Lee is.
“Mhm,” Azula takes a sip of wine. “I would be bored with this island too. Pathetic and full of savages.”
“I liked my life. It wasn't bad.”
“But it wasn't good enough.”
Ty Lee doesn't answer. She wants to say that's not true, but what can she do when it is?
“I'm leaving the Fire Nation,” Azula says suddenly. “I'm tired of looking at my brother's perfect life and the crown he stole from me.”
They both know that Zuko's life isn't perfect. Ty Lee knows that he works long hours, especially now that he doesn't sleep at night, that his position is uncertain, that the country is recovering from a long internal struggle, and that in a few days, maybe weeks, there will be another assassination attempt.
“In a while,” Azula adds. “Maybe in the summer. Or in the winter, if I feel like it. I'm going to the Republic City, eventually. But first, I'm going to scare those pathetic Earth Kingdom people who think they're more important than us. Zuzu gave me some fancy title, so I might as well use it.”
Azula drinks all the wine.
“I'll let you know the day before I leave, if I feel like it,” she says.
Then she leaves without waiting for Ty Lee's response.
She doesn't ask Ty Lee if she wants to go with her. It's not an invitation, it's more of an announcement of her plans—but for some reason, Ty Lee feels like it's an invitation.
Months later, Ty Lee and Azula leave the Fire Nation, heading for a new country, a new city.
Ty Lee smiles broadly as she looks at the place that will be their home for the next few months.
She doesn't know what the future holds. She doesn't know where she belongs, what she should do with herself, or where she should be. She doesn't know exactly who she is.
But right now, Azula is standing next to her, and Ty Lee feels that everything is as it should be.