#I really chose zuko violence huh

[that-was-anticlimactic]

22 with Zukka for the prompt list? Also hi :)

"Give me a brush. I'll fix your hair for you." + zukka

Zuko was angry.

He supposed that wasn’t that shocking—he was angry a lot—but the amount of genuine anger and frustration he was accumulating due to his hair, now that wasn’t fair nor normal.

It was stupid—he had to attend some dumb public event since he was the Fire Lord and stand at the side applauding politely, then say a few words. Really, he’d been through more stressful times in his life than that.

Even still, there was an hour left before he had to arrive, and he was getting ready in his chambers. Or, he was supposed to be getting ready. He was still in his sleeping robes, aggressively pulling a brush through his hair

Honestly, at this point, he was just beating his scalp.

No matter how carefully or slowly he ran the brush through his hair, it was still tangled. It still looked greasy, and even when he said “screw it” and just threw his hair in a top knot, he nearly chopped it all off because it looked terrible. The bumps at the top of his head were so large it looked like he hadn’t even brushed his hair in the first place!

Logically, he knew that his dad was far far far away right now and would in no way, shape, or form be attending the same event or see said event, but he couldn’t block out Ozai’s voice in his head telling him how big of a disappointment he was due to the state of his hair.

Zuko grunted, throwing the brush across the room and leveling the cursed object with a furious pout. It’s what the brush deserved.

“Hey, Zuko! I can’t decide whether I should wear my cobalt robes or my lapis robes. I know you don’t think there’s a difference, but I swear to you—are you okay?”

The angelic sound of Sokka’s voice caused Zuko’s face to shift from fury to a soft smile. He turned around, his fingers twitching when the brush left his sight because it needed to know how angry he was, and shot Sokka what he hoped was a soft look.

His boyfriend was also wearing his evening robes, something far too casual for the event they were attending, and it took everything in him to focus his gaze on Sokka’s face rather than his shoulder where the fabric was slowly slipping off.

In his hands were two tunics which absolutely looked the exact same color-wise, but he just chalked that up to Sokka being picky about his wardrobe (no, he wouldn’t acknowledge that he was unsure whether it was that or the fact that he couldn’t see properly out of his left eye).

Sokka’s hair looked impeccable, tied tightly in a wolf tail, much unlike his own.

“Sunshine?”

Oh, he’d been staring, hadn’t he?

“Sorry,” he mumbled, running a hand over his face and collapsing onto his bed. “I’m just trying to get ready.”

He watched as Sokka’s eyes flickered between Zuko’s tapping foot, his hair, and the brush on the floor behind him.

His face morphed into understanding and he carefully draped his clothes over the back of Zuko’s vacant chair, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Give me a brush. I’ll fix your hair for you,” he said gently, nudging Zuko’s foot with his own.

“Get it yourself, Lazy,” Zuko muttered, but either way he shifted his position so he could roll onto the other side of the bed and reached, swiping the brush off the floor and tossing the cursed object at his boyfriend.

Sokka poked at him with his finger (and Zuko tried not to melt at the way Sokka tapped in patterns of three—it was the nonbender’s favorite type of pattern, he did everything in three’s. It became Zuko’s favorite number as their relationship developed and became not only a form of comfort for Sokka when he had his bad days, but also for him) until he got the signal and turned so his back was to Sokka.

“Your hair is very pretty,” Sokka remarked, gently grabbing a small chunk of his hair and starting at the edges.

“It’s greasy.”

“No, it’s really not. You know I don’t like touching greasy hair. I wouldn’t touch it if it was greasy.”

They both knew that was a lie—Zuko’s hair was an exception.

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Sokka asked, twisting the edges of the now brushed section of Zuko’s hair while separating it into a second section.

“My hair.”

“I got that.”

“It’s not… it’s not perfect…”

And that was it, wasn’t it? The event wasn’t that big of a deal—in fact, it was so insignificant to him that he wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was, but when his hair wouldn’t work the way he wanted, he started getting stiff and on edge.

If his dad saw him like this… Zuko couldn’t help but shudder at the mere thought.

“Babe, Sunshine, light of my life,” Sokka began and oh how Zuko practically melted, “you don’t need to be perfect.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Zuko shot back. “But I do have to be perfect. Everyone’s watching me—I’m the Fire Lord! If I don’t look perfect then…” he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut and attempting to focus solely on the feeling of Sokka’s fingers in his hair.

“Oh, I get it,” Sokka said softly. “This isn’t about your hair, is it, baby?”

Zuko just sniffed.

“I know I’m not the best person to talk to about being okay with things being imperfect, but something I’ve begun to learn over the years is that there’s never a time when everything’s perfect, no matter how hard you plan… or brush…”

Zuko chuckled.

“But something that you can always count on is me being there; you know I’ll always be there, right? Because I will be,” he continued. At this point, Zuko was certain Sokka had set the brush down and was just using his fingers, which was somehow more comforting despite the slightly uncouth method.

“Besides, you’re already perfect to me. You don’t need to try and please everyone else anymore. Quite frankly, they’re all idiots.”

Zuko laughed. It was quiet and more half-hearted than anything, but it was a laugh all the same. He could feel water beginning to pool in his eyes, and Zuko let out a choking gasp. “Sorry.”

“Shush, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I just… I saw my hair and it wouldn’t—it wasn’t right and I didn’t know what would—“

“Shhh.” Sokka coaxed him into silence, purposefully taking deep breaths along the way to remind him to breathe (which was really helpful since he had forgotten).

“It’s just me. No one else is here—he’s not here. It’s just you and it’s me. And I, personally, think you have the prettiest hair in the entire world, even when it’s greasy.”

Oh, what did Zuko do to deserve someone like Sokka in his life?

Sokka stopped running his fingers through his hair, and Zuko felt the bed shift as Sokka adjusted his position. The nonbender flung his arms around Zuko’s neck, holding him close.

“You’re going to have the best public appearance in the history of pubic appearances today,” Sokka informed him, and Zuko hummed, allowing himself to fall back into Sokka’s embrace. “And if anyone complains about your hair, they may have a run in with my boomerang.”

“Thank you.”

Zuko opened his eyes, allowing his face to fall into its natural frown, but prayed to Agni that Sokka could see the appreciation and adoration in his eyes.

He slowly rose, pushing himself off of his bed and turning so he could see his reflection in the mirror.

His hair it… it wasn’t bad. But it still made his muscles clench and his breath hitch. There were some strands tumbling out of his top knot, falling out of rhythm with the rest of his demeanor.

It was so insignificant, but that’s what Zuko thought when he was younger.

(There was nothing insignificant when it came to Ozai.)

He felt more than saw Sokka stand beside him, and together they gazed in the mirror.

Despite knowing he was being self-conscious, Zuko found himself biting his lip in anticipation as Sokka looked at him. He knew Sokka didn’t think he was disfigured or that his hair was an awful mess, but that wasn’t enough prevent his heart from racing and his fists at the ready to raise to block his—

“You’re beautiful,” Sokka breathed, his eyes so wide that Zuko thought they could contain the depths of the entire ocean, encompass the entirety of the night sky. What made his face flush was that the stars in Sokka’s eyes were directed on him—focused solely and only on him.

“Oh.”

It pained him that that was all he could say. Sokka could compliment him like it was nothing, but Zuko couldn’t do any more than reply with one word.

Sokka frowned and no, that wouldn’t do. Zuko didn’t like when he frowned—more so, he hated being the reason his boyfriend’s smile vanished.

“Are you still…” He cut himself off, his neck jerking and lips pursing, then he waved his hands around for emphasis, as a way to finish the sentence.

Shamefully, Zuko nodded.

Without warning, Sokka grabbed hold of Zuko’s hands and placed them on the top of his head. He intertwined their fingers, almost as if they were holding hands, then started moving them.

For a moment, Zuko held his breath because what was this idiot doing? His hair was the definition of perfection—no strands were loose, he looked regal, the blue and red beads in his hair were perfectly placed… and here Sokka was, guiding Zuko’s hands around his head and messing it up.

Zuko tried to pull away—tried to free his hands from Sokka’s grasp because they couldn’t do this—they couldn’t mess up is hair! The Fire Nation was already terribly critical towards Sokka, being Water Tribe and all, not to mention being the Fire Lord’s boyfriend meant more publicity than either of them were comfortable with… the public would tear Sokka apart if he walked out with messy hair.

“What are you doing?” Zuko hissed through grit teeth, still trying to yank his hands away to no avail. “You’re messing up your hair—I’m messing up your hair!”

Sokka ignored him, but Zuko couldn’t find it in himself to glower at his idiot because his tongue was sticking out of his mouth the way it did when he was concentrating and it was so authentically Sokka and so adorable and—

“There,” Sokka said, interrupting his thoughts. “Now we match!”

It was then that Zuko realized his hands had been released, and he clutched them close to his chest defensively.

Sokka was cheekily grinning at him, his eyes shining, and his hair… oh. His hair was a travesty. His wolf tail became undone and half of it was falling out. The top of his head looked like someone build hundreds of tiny bridges with the way his hair had been tugged at.

As terrible as it was, Zuko was basking in the absolute adorableness of his boyfriend.

“It may not be perfect,” Sokka started, locking hands with Zuko once more, “but we’re doing it together. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Penguin.”

Sokka leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Okay, then: should I wear the cobalt or lapis tunic? I feel like lapis is a more luscious color, but cobalt brings out my eyes…”

Most of what Sokka was saying made absolute no sense to him, but Zuko knew Sokka so he knew that his feeling weren’t being brushed aside. Sokka was just trying to distract him—to make him laugh.

So, Zuko sat back down and listened to Sokka ramble about the pros and cons of each color, even though they had to be at the event in half an hour.

Sokka was right (he always was)—it was never about his hair (maybe it was a little about his hair, whenever Ozai was involved, it was about everything). He spent the majority of his life trying to live up to the standards of everyone else—his hair had to be perfect, his back had to be perfectly straight…

The Fire Nation thrived on the idea of perfection. So much so that Zuko knew if Sokka had been born and raised here, he would have been isolated or forced into muteness due to his imperfections, or his tics. It was a terrible thought that was proved true by the looks he saw shot his boyfriend’s way by some elders—from the way that some people would address Zuko rather than Sokka when they were together or ask Zuko why he hadn’t fixed Sokka or what places he took Sokka to to do so.

But they weren’t imperfections, Sokka’s tics. Zuko reminded him countless times that they were just a part of who he was, something that made him as special as he was. And he supposed that’s what Sokka was trying to show him… though through his unorthodox and irritatingly charming methods.

Zuko never did fix his hair for the evening—he wanted to continue matching with Sokka.

[this can be seen as a mini prequel to threshold of eternity hence why zuko gives azula the advice about how to 'handle' her hair and toe kind of inspired this one hehe]

'101 ways to say i love you' prompts

[freshtomatoesddd]

An Extra chapter i wrote for my TyZula fanfic.

The chapter I've been writing is surprisingly depressing so. So take my mind off it, as well as practice slice of life stuff, I wrote this extra chapter.

TW! MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND RAPE. NOTHING HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTERS, but Azula and Ty Lee talk about a book that contains such elements. They're about 14 at this time, and Ty Lee has started to realize her feelings for Azula.

FLOWERS

The Fire Nation royal garden was one mesmerizing sight to behold to anyone blessed enough to ever graze its beautiful path, let alone one star struck Ty Lee. Though it wasn’t her first time visiting the royal palace, it had been her first time seeing the garden in full. The girl had a grin on her face as she trailed across the garden, observing in detailed delight the many sorts of flowers the Fire Lady had so patiently cultivated. They came in all sort of colors, most being some shade of red and yellow, though there were a few whites and even purples scattered about. The scent of the flowers took Ty lee by surprise, most bearing a fragrant and pleasant smell she seldom came across her own home, intoxicating the brunette with their soft yet pleasurable scent.

“As you can see, I have the best garden,” Azula stated, loud and proud as she usually was.

Ty Lee’s attention laid still on the bunch in front of her, scarlet red petals peeking at her, it’s thorny stems nearly drawing the girl to at least poke it. A bit stupid if spoken out loud, however, Ty Lee always had an urge to at least press her fingers against such thorns. Certainly not enough to draw blood, but only out of curiosity, to see what would happen, how it would feel.

“Yeah, congrats,” Mai said, Ty Lee hearing her footsteps as she walked around the garden.

“Where did the Fire Lady find all these flowers?” She asked.

“From all corners of the Fire Nation, some as far as Ember Island,” Azula said.

Ty Lee turned around, her gaze met Mai, the girl’s fingers fiddling with the leaves of a bush.

“Huh, that’s pretty cool,” Mai said.

Azula scoffed as she crossed her arms. She raised one brow and pursed her lips ever so slightly, annoyance covering her face as she spoke. Her golden pupils stared at Mai with such intensity, as if they were to pierce through Mai’s body. Even in the midst of what seemed to be a rather casual conversation, Azula looked so serious. Ty Lee wondered what it would be like to have such a ferocious stare placed on her.

“I don’t see how. Anyway, let’s go play hide and seek,” she said.

Mai groaned. “Please, not that, you always make us hide and chase after us like some hungry tiger monkey.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be chasing after you if you’re hiding spots weren’t so easy to find, obviously,” Azula said.

Ty Lee looked off to the side, wondering how nice it would be for Azula to chase after her, how frustrated the princess would get if she couldn’t reach her. Surely, Ty Lee thought, the look on her face would be priceless, cute even.

“Yeah, Mai, you should be more creative with your hiding spots,” the brunette jumped in.

Mai turned to her. “Don’t tell me you’re siding with her.”

Ty Lee waved her arm. “Nah, it’s not that. I’m just saying, you know, if you don’t wanna be chased around then you should probably look for hard to find places.”

“Well too bad I don’t know any hard to find places.”

“Yeah that’s what I mean, you should try and find them, you know?” Ty Lee said.

“You’re precisely correct, Ty Lee,” Azula said.

The brunette turned to the princess. “Wait, really?”

Azula quirked up a brow. “That’s what I just said.”

Ty Lee’s eyes widened for a split second. She quickly looked away, knowing that she might risk burning up at the sight of Azula, after she had agreed with her as well. Ty Lee pursed her lips, knowing full well how ridiculous her feelings were. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way, not for any girl, and most definitely not Azula. She wondered why she had even developed such feelings for the young princess, only to be met with more than a dozen answers. From her intellect, to the way she spoke, her determination and single-minded drive, Ty Lee admired all of it and more. Ty Lee sighed, wishing the boys around her were as cool, as driven. Perhaps then, she’d be able to feel about them the same way she did Azula.

Ty Lee’s grey eyes pranced around the garden as Mai and Azula argued over the intricacies of hide and seek, the brunette eventually spotting the crown prince walking beside the Fire Lady. As per usual, they were engrossed in conversation, Zuko stuck close to his beloved mother. Ty Lee didn’t blame the boy, for the Fire Lady had a certain poise and charm to her. From her warm gaze, her inviting smile, down to the way she carried herself, Ty Lee wondered how one person could be so graceful.

“Hey, isn’t that Zuko?” Ty Lee asked, a smirk growing on her face.

Mai whipped around, her eyes locking onto the boy at once. She grew red as an apple, Ty Lee and Azula giggled at the sight, the former struggling to keep laughing once she heard the princess’s laughter. Clearly, Ty Lee was no better than Mai.

She jostled her friend, though stammered as the brunette tried to speak. “Hey—hey, why don’t you make a move?”

Mai frowned. However, Azula stepped in and added fuel to the fire.

“Ty Lee’s right, Mai. You should advance while you can, before Zuzu gets matched off in an arranged marriage.”

Ty Lee looked away for another brief moment, unable to handle the pace of her beating heart. It was fast and rapid, pounding against her chest as if to break free. Ty Lee took in a small breath, turning back to her friends as she repressed her desire to run away and scream.

“You don’t know that,” Mai said, crossing her arms.

“Well, he is the crown prince, after all. Once he gets older, it would make sense to marry him off.”

Mai turned to Azula. “Well, does that mean you’re going to get married too?”

Azula smiled, laughter slipping past her lips. “Don’t be stupid, Mai, I don’t need to get married.”

“How do you know that?” Mai asked, her face still flushed red.

Azula laughed once more, finger pointed towards the flustered girl. “Oh please, the only reason for me to get married is to create alliances. But since the Fire Nation is about to dominate the entire world, then what sort of alliances would we need to make?”

“But Zuko,” Azula’s golden pupils looked to the side, paying close attention to her brother as she placed a finger on her chin, “He’s the crown prince and needs to make heirs. You need to get married to do that, at least, for the heirs to be legitimate.”

“Well, duh you need to get married to have kids” Mai said.

The princess chuckled. “You don’t need to get married to have children.”

Ty Lee quirked up a brow. “Really? Actually, how do kids even, you know, happen? Do they like, come out of bamboo stocks? Or large peaches?”

Azula rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, scoffing at Ty Lee’s ignorance. “Not even close.”

Ty Lee pursed her lips, chest aching at Azula’s words. Once again, she knew it was ridiculous, stupid even for her to get hurt over such trivial insults. It was ordinary for the princess to act as such, and Ty Lee would normally brush off her remarks as nothing to be given a second thought. However, over the course of the past few days, she’s had little else to think about other than Azula. Ty Lee sighed, looking off to the flowers at her side. Perhaps, her feelings would fade away in time, nothing more than another one of her plentiful crushes. But even then, she wondered if she’ll ever feel such intensity for another person in her lifetime.

“Don’t be so upset,” Azula’s word cut through Ty Lee’s thoughts.

“I’ll make you two a deal. If you can successfully hide from me for fifteen minutes, I’ll tell you where children come from,” she said.

“Really?” Mai asked, her words laced in doubt.

Azula nodded, hand placed on her chest. “Of course, a princess always sticks to her promises.”

“Right…Anyway, let’s just get it over with.”

The young princess promptly turned around and covered her eyes. Quickly, she counted down from ten, giving Ty Lee and Mai little to no time to find and secure their hiding spots. Ty Lee immediately began running towards where Azula was facing, unconcerned to where her friend chose to hid herself. Thankfully, the princess hadn’t specified where they were allowed to hide, and so Ty Lee ran towards the garden’s walk way.

She ran past red pillars which held up its tiled roofs, her footsteps muddled by the sturdy stone under her feet, no matter how hard she sprinted. Ty Lee ran and ran, not exactly sure of where she would end up. The girl whipped her head up, thinking as her legs kept barreling her forward, nearly causing the girl to crash into a few of the walkway’s tall pillars. Much like the pillars, the wood which held up its roof too was made of strong, crimson colored wood, strings of rosy wooden patterns stretching across each pillar.

Eventually, Ty Lee ended up inside the royal palace. She ran still, running around the dizzying array of hallways, each covered in the same soft carpet, coated in the same bold colors of red and yellow, tall doors at each side of every corridor, it’s doorhandles made of intricately designed metal of lion heads. Before she knew it, Ty Lee had reached the monument which marked the academic section of the palace. Towering pillars held up a pagoda style roof which scratched the heavens, a dragon coiled around each pillar as they pointed towards a statue of Fire Lord Sozin, an inscription written under him Ty Lee couldn’t afford to stand still and read. The road forked off into three paths, Ty Lee opting to take the right most road as she figured that Azula would have a fondness for the library.

As the girl dashed down the stone path, the only thing indication that she was moving forward being the red ribbons tied unevenly around the stone fences, she witnessed a rather large pair of doors. Unlike the library, they had already been opened, no doubt swung as they flew all the way back to the other side of the maroon wall.

As the girl stepped inside, she saw a wide rectangular table at the very center of the room, scrolls, leather books and brushes littering its clear glass covering. Some were stacked on top of one another, ink splattering a few parts of the sleek wood. The table itself was fairly standard for the royal palace, made of no doubt expensive, regal wood painted with a dark finish. The chairs, however, Ty Lee took a liking to them. Not only were they tall, they were also comfortable. Surely, she figured that sitting was much better then kneeling, and wished that sitting too was granted the ‘proper’ status that kneeling did.

Of course, being the nature of the academic section of the palace, bookshelves covered both sides of the room, the wall facing Ty Lee’s front spared as it only had a painting of Fire Lord Sozin hanging on it. Gently, he swayed with the wind, Ty Lee nervous that the late Fire Lord might fall at any given moment. Next to the wise man were two tables, both of which were empty, save for a random brush and some scattered scrolls, some even unrolled to the ground as Ty Lee wondered if someone accidentally stepped on it.

As the brunette leaned back against her rather comfy chair, she wondered what sort of a person, or rather, persons were busy enough to turn the study area to such a mess. The girl placed a finger on her chin, wondering if a few generals gathered just a few hours earlier and forgot to clean up. Perhaps, in their super serious meeting, they were re-searching the best way to destroy the Earth Kingdom, or something along those lines. However, Ty Lee noted that such an idea wouldn’t exactly make sense, as such issues would be addressed in war meetings, not study areas. Another thing which didn’t add up was the mess. If generals or anyone that wasn’t apart of the royal family left the place in such untidy disorder, Ty Lee was sure that the Fire Lord would banish them as soon as he found out. And seeing as the doors were wide open, she figured that he already knew.

Ty Lee snapped her fingers as she was reminded of the gaping doors. “Darn, I forgot to close them.”

Jumping off her chair, she approached the large doors. However, Ty Lee was not intimidated by their size, for she placed her palm in the wood and pushed hard. Unfortunately for the girl, she lacked the physical strength required to close one door without using both hands, along with her body. One door closed, another still open. Ty Lee took in a breath, sighing as she walked towards the other. With much the same bone aching struggle, she finally closed both, sliding to the ground in exhaustion. Ty Lee leaned against them, sighing once more as she wondered why the royal palace needed to have such unnecessarily heavy gates acting as the entrance to almost every room.

“So annoying,” Ty Lee huffed.

Somehow, she got on her feet and sauntered back to the same chair, sitting on it as she leaned back.

“Ah man, this seat feels so nice, I should probably ask mom to buy us these.”

Ty Lee thought for a moment, of her mother, and if she’d even be able to talk to her that day and the next. Realistically, she knew it to be untrue, for her mother and father were busy people. They had fellow important people to meet and mingle with, leaving her with only her servants and sisters at home. Ty Lee looked off to her side, eyeing the tall stack of books beside her, wondering what sort of a madman would read six books in one sitting. And judging by the amount of paper scattered about the table, how many brushes and ink trays were stacked on top of one another, the person was supposedly studying them as well.

She leaned forward, grabbing the top most book from the pile. “Well, if I’m gonna be stuck here I might as well do something.”

Ty Lee opened the book and flipped to the first page. In it, there was a brief description of a nameless kingdom, seemingly under political turmoil from within, its citizens suffering as a result. So far, it was a typical ‘intellectual’ book Ty Lee would see scholars argue about. She flipped to the next page, introduction of the supposed protagonist. He had no name, other than his given title as king. The man looked to unite his kingdom, to reach his country’s true greatness, whatever that meant.

As the brunette quickly grew invested in the story, she realized that though the king had good intentions, he was not a good man. He would attack his enemies without a second thought, killing his prisoners and pillage any village that laid between him and whatever army he was fighting. He would make a point to deliver swift devastation to any one population or person which got in the way of ‘achieving greatness’, by any means necessary. To say the least, the man was a monster, for he didn’t even feel pity when beating his pregnant wife when she pleaded for him to end his bloody crusade. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be reading such horrid tales, but she couldn’t look away, riveted by the story’s graphic accounts and deep plot.

So invested was Ty Lee to the plot that she had neglected to use her ears. Entrenched in the story, Ty Lee failed to recognize the sound of wood dragging open. It was only until a hand landed on her shoulder did she realize she’d been caught, Azula staring at her with the same fierce glare she gave Mai. Ty Lee froze, unsure of what to do or say. She had yet to recover from the gruesome tale, and she was now facing the rather annoyed looking princess. She gulped, feeling to be under the microscope that was Azula’s stare. Nowhere near as exciting as she thought, rather, it was terrifying to be scrutinized by means of a single look. Her hands shivered as a chill traveled up her spine, Ty Lee pursing her lips as she did little else than look at Azula.

“What are you doing here?” the princess asked in a low voice.

Ty Lee stammered as she struggled to for words, dropping the book entirely.

“Oh, me? I was…um, uh, I was uh—reading, and stuff.”

Azula quirked up a brow. Slowly, her hand approached Ty Lee’s direction, the girl wincing as she questioned what Azula would do. However, the princess grabbed the book and dusted it off, neatly stacking it on its original pile.

“You should refrain from mishandling my books,” she said in a stern voice.

The brunette’s eyes widened. “Wait, that was your book?”

Azula scoffed. “I just said that.”

Ty Lee looked around. “Does that mean that all of these books belong to you?”

Azula nodded. “Indeed.”

“So, like, all of this stuff belongs to you too? The books, the scrolls, the brushes and the ink too?” Ty Lee motioned her hands to the objects listed, disbelief clear in her eyes.

Azula shrugged. “What of it? In fact, why do you care of what I do in my spare time?”

Ty Lee gulped. “Ah, you’re right, sorry about that. But I mean, it’s pretty cool that you study super hard in your spare time. Like, I can barely do my homework right.”

The princess chuckled, Ty Lee’s heart pounding fierce against her chest once more. Unlike last time, she could not look away, it would be rude. So instead, the brunette smiled along, repressing her urge to flee form the immediate vicinity and do breathing exercises.

“Hilarious as always, Ty Lee. This is not for school, I’m studying things far more advanced than what you or Mai will ever learn in your lifetime,” the princess said.

Ignoring the insult, Ty Lee placed a finger on her chin. “Wait, if it’s not for school, then why are you studying?”

“I’m not studying, I’m learning.”

“Yeah, learning what?”

Azula leaned in, Ty Lee taking in a breath as she did so. Faintly, she could smell Azula’s fragrant shampoo. Ty Lee resisted the urge to shake her head, noting how creepy it was for her to even think of something like that.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the princess said.

Ty Lee turned away, unable to meet Azula’s eyes. She pursed her lips, heat creeping up her neck. She clung on to the table, her fingers clawing at its wood to take her mind of the situation. But she knew, better than anyone that it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, to ignore and run, there was no denying the physical proximity between her and Azula. The princess was so close, so much so Ty Lee could practically hear her breathing, their faces only just a slight finger away. She wasn’t sure why Azula was doing such a thing, whether it be for her own amusement at Ty Lee’s expense. But whatever it was, the brunette hoped for it to end soon.

“Why are you so red? Are you sick?” Azula asked.

Ty Lee turned to the princess. She opened her mouth, though shut it as soon as her eyes met with Azula’s. Once more, she struggled for words, her attention stuck onto the princess. But soon enough, Ty Lee was able to force herself to speak.

“What? Me? Sick? No way. Nah, I’m totally fine,” Ty Lee said.

Azula was silent for a brief second. “You’re a horrible liar.”

The brunette sighed. “Yeah, I am.”

The princess spent another second or so staring at Ty Lee, much to the latter’s painful displeasure, her pounding heart practically cracking her ribs open. However, soon enough, Azula sat next to the brunette. With her arms crossed, she closed her eyes.

“Mai’s gone home, that’s how long it took for me to find you. How annoying,” she said.

Ty Lee couldn’t help but smirk, proud of her accomplishment. “Does that mean you get to tell me where kids come from?”

“I suppose. It depends, would you like to know?”

The brunette nodded. “Yeah, tell me.”

“That book you were reading, have you gotten to the section where the King met his future bride?”

Ty Lee scratched the back of her head. “Yeah, but I kinda skipped that part. It was getting…weird.”

Azula sighed. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The princess reached for a brush and paper.

“When the King first met his bride to be, he was so overcome with lust that he couldn’t contain himself. And so, in the dead of night, he snuck into her room.” Azula dipped the brush in ink.

“His bride had no knowledge of this, so she was fast asleep,” Azula folded the paper.

Ty Lee had absolutely zero idea what the princess was talking about, for the concept of lust and whatever strange happening Azula was talking about was completely new to her. And so, the brunette willfully listened to what Azula had to say, her ears wide open.

“The King spread the woman’s legs,” Azula placed the brush’s inked edge against the paper, “And went inside of her.”

The princess pressed brush through the paper, tearing it as Ty Lee winced. Now dirtied and torn, Azula set them aside.

“And that is how children come to be.”

Ty Lee furrowed her brows.

“So, basically, you…need to…uh,” the brunette couldn’t finish her sentence, unsure of what to say.

“I know what you’re going to say. And no, you don’t need to be in a bed. In fact, you can do it most anywhere, with anyone. It doesn’t really matter who or when, or even how it happens. So long as it does, there’s always a possibility for a child to be conceived,” Azula said.

Ty Lee leaned back against her chair, confused on what to do with her newly gained knowledge. She certainly couldn’t tell her parents about it, nor anyone she knew. So perhaps, she would carry it along with her, keeping it to her lonesome. But then again, the question arises once more, what exactly was she to do? Ty Lee fiddled her thumbs, staring off into nothing as she thought about what Azula said.

“Um, did the, uh, did the bride know what was happening to her?” she asked.

“No, not at all,” Azula said.

The brunette furrowed her brows. For some reason, what Azula said left a sour taste in her mouth. “Uh, I don’t think that’s okay.”

“In the eyes of the King, anything is fair game so long as he’s the one pulling the strings.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s pretty much his whole character. But, like, I don’t think you should just do that to someone without them knowing, you know? It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Since when did you start having opinions on literature?”

“Uh, since I read that book, I guess.” Ty Lee played with her fingers as she turned to Azula.

Much to her surprise, Azula had some semblance of a smile on her face. Not her usual snide smirks, or patronizing grins. Rather, perhaps, it was one of genuine amusement, how she didn’t expect Ty Lee of all people to take up the moral nuances of her book. The princess kept her smile as she leaned forward, resting her head on one hand, her golden eyes fixed on the brunette.

“What do you think of the King?” she asked.

“Well,” Ty Lee searched for the right words, “He’s a pretty bad person, so I don’t really like him. I mean, if he really wanted to unite his kingdom and achieve greatness and stuff, why couldn’t he just, you know, do it peacefully?”

“Well, his country has been stuck in a civil war for over a century, any chances of alliance between the warring sides was a mere dream,” Azula said.

“Yeah, you’re right. But still, even if he had to attack all those armies and villages, couldn’t he at least spare the innocent people? I mean, they had nothing to do with the war or the political plot, but they were massacred like animals. It just, doesn’t seem fair to me, you know? He wanted to help his people, but they became worse off under his rule.”

The princess smirked. “And how’s that?”

Ty Lee was taken aback by Azula’s smirk. “Um, you know, the economy and stuff. Since he burned downed and killed all the people in the farming villages, they had no crops or really any kind of food. He also destroyed the ports to stop his enemies from trading, right? So, he also can’t get any help from the outside.”

“What would you do if you were in the King’s position?” Azula asked.

“What? Me?” Ty Lee pointed at herself.

“Yes, who else am I talking to?”

Ty Lee stayed silent. She thought long and hard of what she was to do had she been in the King’s shoes, if there was even anything she could do to bring peace and ‘greatness’ to her kingdom. She knew that for one, she’d have to stop the civil war. But as Azula said, an alliance between the warring sides was impossible. She could try and try, and her calls for negotiations would fall on deaf ears. So perhaps, rather than trying the peaceful way, she’d have to bring them down herself to keep order. But then again, that would make her no better than the men who instigated the civil war in the first place. She would be just like them, a person who thinks of what she’s doing to be great and good, operating by her own moral compass.

Ty lee shook her head. “I…I don’t know, it’s complicated.”

“How so?” Azula asked.

“If I try the peaceful way, nothing will happen and innocents will die. But if I try the war way, more people will still die. There’s no winning.”

“So, is that what you see as winning?”

“What?” Ty Lee asked.

Azula leaned against her chair. “You want to bring peace to the kingdom with as little lives lost as possible.”

“Well, yeah, obviously.”

“I see,” Azula crossed her arms. ‘Well, however you see it, the King won in the end.”

Ty Lee raised a brow. “What? How?”

Azula clasped her palms. “He sought to unite his kingdom no matter the cost, and so he did. Even after his kingdom fell apart and crumbled, he had by definition achieved his goal, and so won. I don’t deny that his actions are near sighted and foolish. However, the one admirable trait I found within the king was his drive, his resolve.

“He had made it his purpose to unite his kingdom, and by proxy cause it to achieve greatness. Throughout the entire story, he stopped at nothing to inch closer towards that very goal. Not even after his wife’s death did he bother to reconsider his plans, or even so much as think of possibly ending his crusade. No, rather, he had the resolve to see his plan through. And by the end of it all, it was he who sat on the throne, it was he who brought his country to unified glory, even if only for a brief moment.”

Ty Lee furrowed her brows. “So, you like the King? As like, a person?”

Azula chuckled. “As a person, I’d have him executed if he so much as grazed my presence. However, I can admire his traits, even if they belonged to an idiotic psychopath.”

Ty Lee had nothing else to say or add, and so the girl merely nodded. The two of them spent the rest of their evening talking, about the book, and of other things. Whatever they were, it was not important to Ty Lee, for she was far too busy savoring every moment she spent with Azula. For once, she was able to speak with the princess in a way that made her feel good. Yes, her chest ached at the very thought of her, heart pounding as if she were to be chased down by a hungry tiger monkey at any given moment. But through it all, Ty Lee was still happy. Quite honestly, that was all that mattered to the girl, and she wished the princess felt the same way as well—no matter how unlikely it was. A/N: Hey there :) If you've enjoyed this little chapter, consider reading the actual fanfic here Anyway, thx for reading, and have a nice day.