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Ty Lee had no idea what was happening at first. She’s heard of dancing, but never in anything beyond very derogatory terms, even if she never understood why people talked about it like it was somehow a crime.
But with Ozai gone, that means time in the Earth Kingdom, and the entire place is happily celebrating the end of the war. Which means… all of team Avatar, and it’s a wild, city-wide party – and they’re in Ba Sing Se.
Ty Lee is actually a little happy to watch the city freed back to where they’re supposed to be.
But anyway, then the music part starts and the dancing is just a thing now, and Ty Lee is staring, stunned at the motion and everything. Sokka grabs Toph’s hand and drags the whining girl into the mix to show her how to do it, saying “her parents think blind means you can’t dance, that’s crazy” and that lasts until Katara comes to rescue the poor girl.
Aang airbends over everybody, airbending a lot to make his own little thing fancier – his and Katara’s own dance was really fun, Ty Lee will admit, especially when someone threw bending into the wild mix – and lands right beside her.
Aang, the Avatar she’s never really fought or anything, but she knows about him.
And he’s not even up to her shoulder, he’s that small, but this is the Avatar that the Fire Nation has been so terrified of for years, so small and smiling brighter than anyone she’s ever seen. “I know you don’t do that in the Fire Nation anymore,” he offers, “But I still know a few moves from before I went into the ice. I can teach you.”
Because this kid was actually alive in Fire Lord Sozin’s time. It’s crazy, but Ty Lee smiles back, lighting up with excitement. “Yes! This sounds fun.”
She lets the airbender grab her hand and pull her into the mix.
It actually is really fun, though Ty Lee thinks it’d probably be a lot fancier with some kind of dress.
Azula would’ve loved this if she could get over her fear. Ozai is in prison, and he’s human now. He can’t hurt her. But Ty Lee really doesn’t want to think about Azula too hard and let her ruin her mood. She brings up too many bad memories.
“This is really fun,” she tells Aang after turning a few unasked cartwheels.
“Yeah!” The boy grins back widely. And then it falls fast. “I can’t believe how much Fire Lord Sozin erased about your history.”
“You can teach Zuko and I all about it,” Ty Lee replies hopefully. “I can’t believe they stopped dancing. This was fun!”
“I know. And this is just one of many.”
The boy seems slightly more dejected. His aura’s been a little murkier ever since they got to Ba Sing Se, like the world is moving on and he’s struggling to pick up where he used to be.
“Thank you for bringing this back to us,” Ty Lee tells him, heartfelt. “We owe you a lot, too.”
“I’m glad I could help,” he replies, shoulders rising a little as he offers a small, shy smile.
It strikes her then that she barely even knows the boy – she spent so long chasing him that this must feel really weird, but Aang’s already let everything go. Whoever spent her life telling her that he was something she needed to be terrified of had no idea what they were talking about. Aang is amazing.
The happy feeling she has is definitely not a crush, it’s just pure relief and joy on meeting someone else so kind, who really doesn’t do the killing thing.
“I had no idea the Avatar would be non-violent,” Ty Lee tells him later in the day as they keep talking. “Everybody in the Fire Nation used to be terrified of you.”
“The monks always taught me all life was sacred,” Aang replies.
Ty Lee lights up. She's tried telling her friends that so many times, but no one ever understood. “I learned chi blocking because I didn't want to kill. I tried to tell Mai so many times, but she really never understood.” It’s just that – having knives meant having a real, living target and Mai would never kill anyone by accident, but Ty Lee just doesn’t even like the risk. “And at least blocking somebody’s chi still wins, and I don’t really have to hurt anyone.”
“You’re right,” Aang says back with a bright smile. “It doesn’t. Katara says being without bending is really scary… but plenty of people survive without it. I mean, Sokka’s amazing, and he’s not a bender!”
“I heard what happened with the Fire Lord. It was cool! I didn’t even know energy-bending was possible.”
“I didn’t either,” Aang replies with a slight shrug, “But –”
“At least you didn’t have to hurt anybody,” Ty Lee finishes. Aang is such an amazing little bright light of cheer, and if he actually had to hurt somebody, she has no idea what it would do to him. That’s… really just too sad. “I’m glad you found another way.”
“Me too.”
There are a lot of other things she doesn’t really know how to say, that she’s grateful beyond words for what he did for her people, for getting Zuko in power and getting the entire world a chance at something new. Because if there’s anyone who can change the world and teach anybody that there’s another way, if there’s anybody who gave her hope that the rest of the world might finally see the light Ty Lee always tried to give it, it’s Aang.
She figured that out in the last five minutes or so.
Ty Lee has no idea how to word it, so she doesn’t. She just bolts forwards and throws her arms around him in a tight embrace, that gets the feel down better than any words could. Aang will understand, right?
Something about the way his arms wrap around her in return makes her think he does.