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Several years had passed since the end of the Hundred Year war and a lot had changed. The world was at peace and starting to heal. Nobody knew that better than Crown Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. After her humiliating defeat during the Agni Kai, she had been thrown into a mental hospital by her idiotic brother. She had hated it at the time, but looking back at it she had come to understand that it was all for the best.
It had taken a couple years, but she had gotten better. And Ty Lee had been by her side the entire time. She wasn’t sure that she would be where she was today without Ty Lee. She had been the only one (aside from Zuko) to visit her at the hospital. No matter how much Azula yelled at her and wanted her gone, she always returned with her bright smile. A smile that had kept playing on her mind at night.
When she had finally been released out of the hospital, Ty Lee and Zuko had been there to greet her, the acrobat had wrapped her in a big hug. The old Azula would shoved her away, ignoring the way she made her heart beat faster, hiding in the mission. The new Azula hugged her back and pulled her closer. She needed to be more open with her emotions, her fourth therapist (the only one that had stuck around) had been kept on reminding her.
She blamed her when she pulled Ty Lee into a kiss a couple months later. She had panicked and tried to back out of it, but Ty Lee had pulled her back into a kiss. That had been the start of their relationship. Azula had never been happier in her entire life, being a relationship with Ty Lee felt so easy.
It was also something that was incredibly dangerous for the both of them. The Fire Nation had criminalized same sex relationships at the beginning of the war. It was one of the measures that Fire Lord Sozin had instigated to shore up the population. Any same sex couples would be sent to prison for ‘rehabilitation’. Azula had known this since she was a little girl. Ozai had told her once, and only once, that people like that were disgusting and had no place in the Fire Nation. That simple moment had stuck with Azula when she had gotten her first crush on one of the servant girls.
She didn’t want to be sent back for just loving Ty Lee. She didn’t want Ty Lee to be sent to prison for loving her. Hence she had come up with a system to keep them safe. Nobody would ever find out about them. Absolutely no touching in public. Nothing that could give the indication that they were anything other than friends. No matter how much it hurt Azula’s heart to be so close but not be able to grab her hand, she fought her urges to keep Ty Lee safe.
It worked. For a little while at least. Until Azula had broken the simple rule. It had been late one evening. The palace had been deserted and Azula had been sparing with Ty Lee a little bit. It was something that they could do together without earning the ire of anyone. It was normal, the Princess and her best friend practicing.
They had both danced around each other, a flurry of fists and fire. Azula made sure to never get too close to her girlfriend with her blasts of fire. It was the illusion of danger without any of the actual risks. Azula was sure Ty Lee wouldn’t have minded a more dangerous sparing session, but she just couldn’t bring herself to even come close to actually harming the girl.
She flipped and sprung around all the blasts of fire, using the fan she had gotten from the Kyoshi warriors as part of her technique. She swept a blast of fire away from her, closing the distance and slamming her fingers into Azula’s sides. They both froze, faces only inches apart. Azula’s spine tingled from Ty Lee’s warm breath hitting her face.
“What’s wrong princess,” Ty Lee huffed, “Getting a little slow?”
“Never, just don’t want to hurt your beautiful face,” Azula smiled at her, getting lost in her girlfriend’s eyes. Those soft browns entrancing. Ty Lee’s lips parted into a soft smile.
“You know I could best you in a fight,” she winked before lowering her voice, “You know you loose to me most nights.”
Azula’s cheeks flushed a bright red, her eyes widening and looking around. The courtyard was completely deserted, all the servants having gone home for the night. Azula reached up and cupped Ty Lee’s face. The other girls eyes widened. Her eyes flicked down to Azula’s lips, tongue flicking out to wet them. Azula didn’t think. She grabbed Ty Lee’s collar and pulled her into a kiss.
Warmth and love immediately filled her heart. Their lips danced together. Azula would never grow bored of showing Ty Lee how much she cared about her. She knew that she had hurt her in the past and she was willing to spend the rest of her life making up by it. Azula melted into Ty Lee’s grasp, letting the girl wrap herself in a hug, pulling her close. Their bodies slotted together like puzzle pieces, Azula’s arms reaching around to hug Ty Lee as well.
“Azula I need you t-” Zuko’s voice echoed through the courtyard. The two sprang apart, Azula quickly placing herself between Zuko and Ty Lee. Her brother looked towards the pair, jaw hanging slack. A moment of silence passed between them. Zuko’s eyes flicked between both of their faces, seemingly trying to put something together. The silence dragged on, Azula’s heart beat rapidly in her chest. Finally, Zuko clamped his mouth shut and walked away, not saying a single word.
“Well,” Ty Lee said as he disappeared into the palace, “That could’ve gone better.”
Azula whipped around and grabbed her shoulders, “I need you to go back to my room and lock the door. Do not open it for anyone but me, got it?” Her mind was racing for a solution. Zuko knew. They were in danger. Ty Lee was in danger.
“Wh-”
“I’m going to fix all of this, just lock yourself in my room,” she rushed out. She needed to make sure that Ty Lee was safe before she went to Zuko. Her eyes watered as her grip on Ty Lee’s shoulders tightened a little, “Please...”
“I don’t think we ne-”
“Please...” she pleaded again, “I’ll keep you safe.”
Ty Lee sighed, “Okay. I will.” Azula let out a sigh of relief and turned around to go find her brother. Ty Lee grabbed her hand. Azula stopped and looked over her shoulder. She squeezed her hand, “Stay safe. Come back to me.”
“I-I’ll try,” she tugged her hand out of Ty Lee’s grasp and rushed into the palace.
Her and Zuko’s relationship had gotten better. He had been there for her and helped her get better. It wasn’t perfect but it was only a little rocky rather than a complete wreck. And he had just seen something that could ruin all the progress that they had been making. She scoured the palace, searching for any indication for Zuko. She needed to find him before he did something.
She finally found a flickering light from his office. Of course he had rushed to his office. He was probably drafting up her imprisonment order right now. Even if he wanted her to be his sister, this must’ve been the final straw. He couldn’t have a deviant in the family. She didn’t want to be a deviant, but she couldn’t control it.
Azula took a deep breath. She just hoped that she could convince Zuko to leave Ty Lee out of this. She would do anything she needed to to ensure that Ty Lee was safe. Even if that meant returning to prison. She pushed the door open and stepped into Zuko’s office. He say behind his desk, writing something on a piece of parchment.
“What do you want?” Azula asked. Zuko glanced up from his writing and squinted at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“What do you want to stay quiet about me and Ty Lee?” She swallowed, her confidence wavering. If Zuko wanted, he could have them both imprisoned without a second thought, and there was nothing that Azula could do to stop it.
Zuko raised his eyebrow towards her, “Why would I tell anyone about this? It’s none of my business.”
She was at a loss for words. She had expected him to have her do something, anything that demonstrated the power that he held over her.
“But...um...what? Really, nothing?”
Her brother thought about it for a moment before he asked her a simple question. “Are you happy?”
“Huh,” Azula said, jaw dropping a little.
“With Ty Lee, I mean, are you happy with her?”
It took her a moment to catch her voice. “I-I am. H-happier than I’ve e-ever been.”
He just nodded. “That’s good.”
“That’s it? You’re not going to tell anyone?”
“Yeah,” Zuko shrugged. “It’s not mine to tell.”
She should’ve just left at that moment, but she needed a clear answer. “And you’re cool with us? Even though we’re both girls?”
“I’m just happy you found someone,” Zuko said, “Doesn’t particularly matter the gender.”
“But...” her voice dropped down, “It’s illegal and fa-Ozai would’ve...”
“I’m not him and I will never be him. You’re perfectly safe here, in fact...” he rushed through his drawers and pulled out a scroll, “I drafted this a few weeks ago. I plan on presenting this to the council at the next meeting.”
He held out the scroll for her. She snatched it out of his hands and opened it, quickly devouring its contents. It was a proposition to change the law. It covered several different areas, but one particular law change caught her eye.
“You’re legalizing...me?”
“Not just you, but anyone similar throughout the Fire Nation. So if you ever want to get married...” he gently floated the idea as casually as he could. It almost made Azula laugh. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked back up towards her brother. Her brother that had been there for her when she was at her lowest. Her brother that had helped her get better. Her brother that was fixing the mistakes of their forefathers, making the Fire Nation a better place for all.
“Think you can get this to pass?” She asked.
“I can. If not, I’ll have you by my side to help, right?”
“I’ll be there,” Azula ran her fingers gingerly over the proposed law. Freedom. Not just for her and Ty Lee, but the thousands of other people like her across the Fire Nation. She carefully rolled the scroll back and handed it back to her brother. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Zuko said, tucking the scroll back into his desk.
“Just...being you,” she said, backing away from his desk. She would’ve given him a hug, but they weren’t at that stage yet. Maybe someday, hopefully soon, but neither sibling felt comfortable with that yet. She instead just sent him a curt nod and headed out of the Fire Lord’s office. She had stepped out of the door when Zuko called out her name. She stopped and looked at him.
“I’m proud of you, you know that, right?”
“I do,” Azula smiled, “I’m proud of you as well.”
She left him to keep on working, making her way back towards her bedroom. Her and Ty Lee were safe. She needed to tell her the good news. As she hurried through the palace she found herself thinking about how she would propose to Ty Lee, now that they would soon be able to get married. She had always liked flowers and big displays of emotion.