Work Text:
Ty Lee walked alone down the beaten dusty path. Her petite shoes were beginning to wear out; her pink top had faded with age. It had been a long time since she had worn this outfit; being a part of the Kyoshi Warriors, she was usually decked in the most regal of green and yellow robes. Today however, she fancied something different. Her old wardrobe reminded her of the past, and Ty Lee had worn it simply to remind herself of the memories she had made in her youth.
She had recently been called up to the fledgling Republic City. Her friend and leader Suki had sent a messenger hawk to Kyoshi Island telling of the great attack by the airbender Tagah and the Denied on the city. Suki told of the heroics of the Avatar and his friends that she witnessed from a distance; she told of how she and the other Kyoshi Warriors in the city had helped save countless lives from the disaster. After recounting the details, Suki had asked Ty Lee to come to Republic City to help with the rebuilding efforts.
As she plodded down the road, Ty Lee began to retrace her face in her own mind. It was only yesterday that she had left Kyoshi Island, and there she had stared into the mirror long and hard before she left. She remembered the beauty, the long hair, the generous smile she always wore…but she also remembered the single gray hair she had picked out, the beginnings of the age lines forming around her eyes and mouth.
Ty Lee could only sigh. That great generous smile she always wore, it was nothing more than a curse in times like these. She had always been known for her positive and upbeat demeanor. It had become one of the things she was known for, so much so that if she ever did frown, people around her became all the more unsettled. Her jovial attitude however could sometimes hide something deeper, something darker behind it. Behind her smile, behind her mask, Ty Lee was in pain.
The long dusty road around her began to be littered with trees surrounding it. "What am I doing?" Ty Lee thought to herself. "Suki asked for my help, and here I am taking the long way to Republic City." She hung her head lower in shame as her walk slowed from her regular traveling pace. She wanted to help others, but she could not deny this pain, this hole in her heart.
"It isn't fair…" She seethed to herself, "I should be thankful for my position, why do I feel this thing missing, this longing I can't shake. Suki took me in, the girls became my friends, I chose the right side by the end of the war. Then why do I still feel so…so alone?"
She reminisced back to the hundred years war, to her years growing up. She had so many close friends back then. When she was still a kid, and she played in the courtyard with Azula and Mai; oh how simply fun things were back then. Anytime they could get Zuko to join, they all collectively teased him, and she thought it was great fun. But now when she looked back, she could only see what those relationships had become.
She did not see the signs back then, but they seemed so obvious to her now. The controlling nature Azula displayed, even as a child should have sent alarm bells off in her head. But they were just kids, how could she have known any better. The blushes she would see on Mai's little face anytime Zuko came across her line of sight. It should have been so obvious to her. And Zuko, how the little prince clung to his mother, and how he withdrew within himself when she disappeared. The turmoil that built within him could be rash and violent, but she should have seen sooner what it meant. It should have been clear something was wrong, but she was only a child.
She remembered back to when she ran away to the circus. She thought at the time, the individuality, the attention, and the escape from the real world might be enough to satisfy her in the long run. Things were not as perfect as they seemed, but she did have fun. That was, at least until Azula showed up and all but kidnapped her for her mission. She had watched for years before she left as Azula became more and more of the monster she feared today. At times she would smile, she would quip, she would seem like a friend, but it was all a cover.
Perhaps somewhere deep down there was still a friendship between the two, but she could not forgive Azula for the atrocities she committed, for the horrible things she had forced her to do. Ty Lee could not easily forgive herself for the things she had done, regardless of the terrifying influence of Azula.
Ty Lee remembered that fateful day she finally stood up for what she knew was right. Zuko had left; he, after many years of fighting, went to help the Avatar fight against her nation. But it was not until Mai betrayed the Fire Nation herself by fighting for Zuko that she broke free. In Mai's defiance, she stood up to Azula for her love for Zuko, and Azula was set to kill her for it. In that moment, Ty Lee did not ever remember what thought crossed her mind if any, she only remembered acting; with only a couple quick blows, she immobilized Azula, but she could not escape. Her and Mai were thrown in prison, and thus Ty Lee eventually found her way to the Kyoshi Warriors.
"Love…what a funny thing" She almost smirked to herself. "I just wish…I just wish it would be real…why can't it be real for me?" This was the question that gnawed her insides. She began to think of all the friends she made during the war and shortly after.
Azula was locked in prison alongside her father Ozai, and that was a good thing. Mai had Zuko, the new Firelord and his loyal girlfriend. Ty Lee had met the Avatar; the first few times she fought against him, but after the war she got to meet Aang and found him to be a genuinely wholesome and happy person. With Aang stood Katara, a woman she had bested in combat multiple times, even despite her own lack of bending. Katara too seemed nice, lovely, and kind. Ty Lee only wished she had known them both sooner, had fought alongside them and not against them. Then there was the gruff Toph, she had only met her a couple of times, but she was well aware of how close she was with the Avatar and their whole group of friends. She had heard from Suki that Toph had recently been getting quite close with a handsome young man named Han. Then there was Sokka and Suki. She had befriended the Kyoshi Warriors in prison, and after the war lived with them under the leadership of Suki. Suki had become her closest friend after the war, but that was beginning to fade. It had been over ten years since then, and Suki was spending more and more time with Sokka, the cute water tribe boy that she once had a little crush on during the war.
Ty Lee compared all the friends she had known against herself, and she felt lonely. She was stuck in rut; she had done nothing much more than train for a war that was already over for over a decade now. Mai and Zuko rarely sent any letters anymore, she had not seen the Avatar in years, and now her friendship with Suki was fading.
For a while, she had all kinds of friends amongst the Kyoshi Warriors, but as time went on they began to leave. Some got married, some simply got too old to continue in the warrior lifestyle and left. Whatever the reasons, one by one, the friends she made in prison nearly thirteen years ago were all gone. She was left with only Suki, and she knew that was fading fast. Suki was also getting older and getting closer to Sokka. She knew it was only a matter of time before she handed the leadership of the Warriors to someone else and left too. Then Ty Lee knew she would be truly alone.
Ty Lee was also becoming more aware that her own tenure as Kyoshi Warrior could not last too much longer either. She was fast approaching thirty, and it was showing. She was still a fantastic fighter. Her body, acrobatics, unique fighting style, and intense training meant she was still a fearsome weapon. But she also knew in her joints that she was losing her flexibility fast. Age was beginning to catch up with her. Thus far her experience and knowledge that she continued to gain still leveled the playing field against her declining abilities. But she knew the day was coming soon when her decline would quickly begin to outpace any experience she could gain.
"Then what?" She mused to herself as she continued her slow trek through the forest, "What can I do after the Kyoshi Warriors…everyone else, they've found someone they can spend the rest of their lives with. Why haven't I?"
This was another question that often as of late burned a hole in her heart. She remembered back to her youth, when it seemed there was a never-ending line of cute young guys lining up to try to take her on a date. Now, they seemed to have all dried up as she began to age, and she had yet to find anyone she thought she could build a life together with. She had always thought she would have so much more time to choose, so much more time…but instead here she now stood alone. Forgotten…
"Perhaps Azula was right all those years ago…I am just a tease. No guy would ever really care for me…" Ty Lee was not smiling, not in the slightest. Her mask had slipped away; this was who she was on the inside. Not the happy smiling bubbly gal everyone knew, but a concerned and insecure girl who was feeling as if no one could love her.
"Is it me? Is something wrong with me? Is it my face as I age, have I become that ugly already? Is it my positivity, does that turn them off? Maybe its my own fault, I live on an island full of girls, no wonder I can't make any connections anymore." Ty Lee felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She felt alone, abandoned, and felt as if the world was passing her by without a second thought.
Ty Lee felt within her, she wanted something more. For years now the growing unsatisfaction with her way of life had been pushed down and buried, but now she knew. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't want to live life by herself; she desperately wanted to share it with someone. She wanted a man who could care for her, that could love her. She wanted a family. She had been running for years, trying not to settle anywhere. She had wanted independence, from her family, from her sisters, from Azula, from responsibilities. But now it seemed as if she had wasted many good years of her life, and that now perhaps she was becoming too old and undesirable.
She came to a crossroads in the forest. To the right she could see the path lead back up to the sunlight, the forest thinning again and clearing out to the grassy plains beyond. To the left, the path narrowed and wound back and forth, descending down into a dark and foreboding swamp until it disappeared.
"Should I even go to Republic City? Is it even worth it?" Ty Lee began to sob as she hit rock bottom, she buried her face in her hands as she cried. "Perhaps I could wander into the swamp…forever. No one would even miss me…"
She had lived for other people, and the others had left her behind. Everyone she knew was off creating their own new lives together, and here she was, wallowing in pity. She thought to the devastation of the war, the hopelessness. Then she thought of those like Mai who stood up in the face of certain doom for love, and of the Avatar, who resiliently kept coming back, determined to save the world. She thought of the hope they inspired in those all across the world.
Ty Lee gathered herself up and stood up straight as she took a deep long breath and held it. She glanced once more down into the swamp, then set her eyes on the path leading out and away from it. She exhaled slowly, looking up with resolved confidence. She put on her biggest smile and stepped forward towards the light.
I'm sorry Ty Lee you sweet child. You were the perfect character in my mind to convey this message. To be clear, much of this short story pulls from my own life experiences, many of the pains I have felt. I only wish I could describe it with even more detail.
If you enjoyed this short story, please check out my other longer story I have written for Liberty's Kids. Without it, this story would not have existed. I got back into writing thanks to that show and its little community, and I highly recommend checking out the show, the fandom, or my story. To summarize, the show is a fantastic little show that is set during the American Revolution, focuses on some very dark topics with maturity, and stays fairly historically accurate. Plus, it contains one of the cutest couples/ships I have ever encountered, please check out that fandom if you have time and want a good story/history/romance.