Archive of Our Own

“Azula! Pssst, Azula!”

Ty Lee was stood some fifteen feet under the princess’s balcony, trying to get her attention. She didn’t want to rush or stress the firebender – she knew Azula was going through a lot, right now – but she also didn’t want to linger here long, and risk getting caught by a guard, which the palace grounds were swarming with.

It had been nearly two fortnights since the passing of Fire Lord Azulon, and the ascension of his second son, Ozai. She knew lots of citizens were pleased with the strong, competent Prince Ozai succeeding his old, ailing father. Her own parents were ecstatic. The parades were endless. But as far as she was concerned, Fire Lord Ozai’s reign already sucked. That was because anything that kept her away from her best friend sucked automatically.

Prior to the upheaval, her and Azula spent hours of each day together. At the academy, at the palace, at all the forbidden places they would sneak off to. They had been thick as thieves, completely inseparable, since the day they met. But once Azula’s dad became Fire Lord, everything changed. They had only seen each other a handful of times since. The princess, who maintained a spotless attendance record for years, was now only attending school sporadically. She didn’t have time for playdates anymore, and she berated Ty Lee for calling them that. It was childish for them to use that word, she said.

And okay! Fine. Maybe it was childish, but they were only eleven. Ty Lee was okay with being childish.

“Azula! It’s me, Ty Lee. You wrote for me to visit,” she whispered loudly, as if Azula might’ve forgotten the letter she penned less than an hour ago. “Princess Azula! Can you hear me?”

“You’re stomping around and you don’t know how to whisper,” came Azula’s voice from above. Then came her head, peeking over the balcony railing. “Of course I hear you.”

“Great!” Ty Lee grinned. “Are you coming down, or do you want me to climb up?”

In response, a manila rope was thrown over the balcony, stretching all the way to the manicured lawn below. They had stolen the rope from the docks, and it was meant for hauling cargo, not climbing, but Ty Lee always managed to make it work. 

Ty Lee looked up thoughtfully, mentally mapping out her route to the top before embarking. Flicking her tongue out in concentration, she grabbed onto the rough hemp and began to shimmy her way up to the princess.

Azula watched, transfixed, not bothering to help by pulling on the rope. She had been smuggling Ty Lee, and to a lesser extent Mai, into her chambers after curfew for years. It was a time-honoured tradition among the friend group, but there was no need for the cloak and dagger anymore. Her mother was gone, and the Fire Lord was far too busy to concern himself with anything so trivial.

But while she could’ve just sent a servant to summon her friend, she derived great pleasure seeing the lengths Ty Lee would go to spend time with her. It seemed that everybody else couldn’t leave her soon enough. Meanwhile, as soon as Ty Lee received her vague letter instructing her to come by, she snuck out of her family’s estate, dashed through the capital, and trespassed onto the palace grounds.

And now Ty Lee was enduring the final trial to see her princess – climbing fifteen metres up with no harness and no assurance she wouldn’t get caught by an armed guard. She was getting better each time; her movements more precise, her footing surer, and her ascent quicker. Azula loved watching her climb. What she lacked in elegance, she made up for with gumption.

“It’s very bold, making a princess wait on you,” Azula said, as Ty Lee neared the top.

“Sorry! I rushed over as soon as I got your note, but security was just so tight,” she said, her hands coiled tightly around the rope and her feet wedged in a precarious gap between bricks. “There were so many guards, and they were all being so rah-rah about it! Nobody’s sleeping or playing pai sho on the job anymore.”

“The lazy ones who did that have been sent to labour camps in the colonies for re-education. Father’s made it clear to the captain of the guard he won’t suffer fools the way his predecessor did,” Azula explained. “Did you have to paralyze anyone this time?”

“Nope!”

Ty Lee wrapped her fingers around a baluster, but in her excitement at being near the summit, she nearly lost her footing. She squealed, but Azula grabbed onto the gymnast before she could tumble to the grass below.

“That’s a shame,” Azula said evenly, hauling her up over the railing. The moment Ty Lee landed on solid ground, she launched herself at her best friend, wrapping her up in a bearhug.

Azula’s arms remained at her side throughout, and she fussed with her clothes as soon as she was let go. At least she didn’t fling fire to defend against unexpected displays of affection anymore. “What was that for?”

“Well, ‘cause I miss you! Duh,” Ty Lee said, warm and sweaty after her climb. “I haven’t seen you all week! It’s like I’ve only been half-alive, without you. Did you miss me too?”

“Don’t be absurd.” Azula folded her arms to her chest, as if she couldn’t trust them to not reach out. “So, how are things at the academy?”

“It’s been sooo boring,” Ty Lee complained, leaning an arm against the railing. “The headmistress wrote my mom because I kept zoning out in history and screwing up the dates. And today, Mai was sick with her allergies again, so I had no one to eat lunch with or copy homework from. It sucked.”

“That’s good. You shouldn’t have too much fun without me,” Azula said, pleased. “Are those upperclassmen behaving themselves in my absence?”

No, they weren’t. Once it became clear the princess was not returning anytime soon, they started to pick on Ty Lee again. They were, if anything, more vicious, now that she was known as an interloper, and the princess’s favourite. They called her all sorts of horrible names she couldn’t repeat aloud. Not only did she eat lunch alone today, but she did so while being heckled and pelted with fire flakes.

“Yup! They don’t bother me anymore,” she lied cheerily. “You really scared the daylight out of all of them.”

The last girl who harassed Ty Lee in Azula’s presence ended up being rushed to the royal infirmity with third-degree burns, so the acrobat decided to take the harassment on the chin. It was flattering Azula wanted to protect her from other people, but it meant Ty Lee had to protect other people from Azula.

“I bet you’ve been having way more fun than I have,” Ty Lee said brightly. “Whatcha been up to, princess?”

“Better things than idling around the academy,” Azula said haughtily. “Father’s Fire Lord now, and I’m his trusted aide. He needs my help to rule.”

Azula was a prodigal firebender and Ty Lee knew she was very capable. Still, she had to wonder what need the Fire Lord had for an eleven-year-old that was so urgent she had to be taken out of school. And though she wondered, she knew better than to ask.

“Things are changing quickly around here,” Azula went on. “It’s caused me to think seriously about my place and the future.”

“Sure, that makes sense,” Ty Lee said agreeably, though it didn’t. “Were you not thinking seriously before…?”

“That’s why I wrote to you, in fact. I wanted to discuss something with you, in person.”

“Okay! Anything,” Ty Lee said, bouncing on her tippy-toes, elated to be included in whatever the princess was plotting. “What’s up?”

“It’ll be easier to show you. I got you something,” Azula said evasively, opening the door to her chambers. “Come in.”

Ty Lee followed Azula indoors, where her attention was directed towards a small velvet case, that Azula produced from her pocket and presented to her.

“Oh! Wow, okay.” Ty Lee took the box, cautiously optimistic. “Thanks! But… what’s the occasion?”

“You’ll see,” Azula said, rocking slightly, trying to temper her excitement. “Open it.”

Ty Lee bit her lip nervously. This could be anything, from a genuinely thoughtful gift to a dead garden snake to turtleduck feces. All were gifts Azula had given her before.

The present, however, seemed too small to contain anything overly diabolical. Hoping for the best but fearing the worst, Ty Lee snapped open the hinged box. Inside was a soft plush bed and atop laid the most resplendent necklace Ty Lee had ever seen.

The white gold chain gleamed under the waning light of the room: a series of short, uniform links followed by a single elongated oval, then more short links again. Ty Lee stared at the necklace for a moment, enchanted by the opulence, then picked it up to get a closer look, employing the most delicate touch she could manage.

The pendant suspended on the chain was a deep red ruby carved in a teardrop-shaped, forked flame – the emblem of the Fire Nation. The surface of the gem caught the torch light in layered gradients of crimson, scarlet, and orange. Snaked around the flame, as if guarding the fire, was a finely-detailed dragon, the scales paved from countless shimmering diamonds.

“It’s so nice! It’s too nice,” Ty Lee mooned. “Azula, you can’t give me this. It’s too much.”

“I can do whatever I please,” she replied firmly. “And it pleases me to give you this necklace.”

“Did you commission this?” Ty Lee asked, astounded. She held the necklace in the air, and watched in amazement as the pendant rotated and twinkled in the dim light.

Azula shook her head. “Fire Lord Taiso did. My great-great grandfather. It was for his wife, before they were married. It’s been in my family since then. It belonged to my mother, most recently.”

Ty Lee frantically put the necklace back in its presentation box, feeling as though she hadn’t had any right to have touched it at all. She was only putting up a token resistance before, so Azula wouldn’t think her vain, but now she actually couldn’t accept it now.

Azula had sticky fingers, and it wouldn’t be the first time she swiped something from the late Fire Lady to give to her friend. But this necklace was an heirloom of the royal family; it was way too much heat for Ty Lee. She would never be able to wear it publicly, and trying to hide it in her family’s estate, which housed a dozen nosy servants and half dozen even nosier sisters, was a nightmarish prospect.

“Well. Do you like it?” Azula asked, trying to hide her eagerness, though her alert eyes darted between her friend and the necklace, ravenous for a reaction.

“Of course I do. I love, love, love it! It’s gorgeous. But I… you know I can’t take this,” she said fretfully. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

As if Azula would be the one who would be punished, if Ty Lee was caught with stolen property of the royal family.

“I don’t suggest strutting around the palace with it around your neck, but Mother’s long gone. She won’t miss it,” Azula insisted. “Father gave it her when they were courting. It’s a betrothal gift. A promise necklace, passed down from generation to generation.”

“That’s weird.” Ty Lee gazed upwards, raking her brain. The Fire Lady had been exceptionally beautiful, radiating a purple-blue aura of graceful elegance that enamored the acrobat. Azula was the prettiest girl in the world, while her mother was the prettiest woman. As such, Ty Lee always took notice of whatever finery Ursa was wearing. She had impeccable taste. And yet…

“I don’t remember her ever wearing it.”

“She never did,” Azula lamented. “A beautiful, priceless artifact, but it’s been sitting at the bottom of her jewellery box since far before I was born. She never appreciated it. I thought you might.”

“I do! But, um… won’t Zuko come looking for this, when he gets betrothed?”

“Please. He doesn’t even know it exists,” she replied, annoyed. “Zuko will bumble his way to the royal jeweller and get his own inferior piece crafted for whatever hapless girl Father picks for him. That is, if he somehow keeps his crown long enough to get betrothed.”

Azula’s attempt to persuade her only made Ty Lee more nervous. What frightened her even more than getting caught for thievery, however, was upsetting Azula. Ty Lee had a finely tuned internal barometer for the princess’s temperament. She could tell she hit the acceptable limit of resistance that Azula would allow on this particular topic.

Any more protesting was going to anger Azula, and an angry Azula would ruin Ty Lee’s night very quickly.

Not wanting to push her luck, Ty Lee smiled brightly and pulled Azula in for another full-bodied hug. The princess anticipated this one better than the last one, but she still lacked the faculties to properly reciprocate. Her arms hovered around, but never touched, Ty Lee’s back.

“Thanks so much, Azula,” Ty Lee said as she released her. “I can’t believe you got this for me. This is so unexpected! And really sweet, too.”

“It’s not,” Azula said, adverting her eyes. “It’s basic decorum. I had to get you something.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Azula ignored her. She instead took the box out of Ty Lee’s hands and picked up the necklace. “Turn around. I’ll put it on you,” Azula said, opening the clasp.

Ty Lee did as she was told, and held her braid over her collarbone to get it out of Azula’s way.

It became apparent to Ty Lee as Azula struggled that she had never clasped a necklace in her life. Ty Lee knew better than to intervene, and contented herself by watching her best friend’s intensely focused expression in the distant mirror as she repeatedly tried and failed to close the clasp.

In her efforts, Azula accidentally grazed the nape of Ty Lee’s neck. They hugged, roughhoused, and sparred all the time, but this touch was strangely electric, and the foreign pleasure travelled down the acrobat’s spine with buzzy delight.

It was a weird feeling, but good-weird, just like they were.

“Are you cold?” Azula asked, unsure why else Ty Lee would’ve shivered.

“Nope!”

After another beat of silence, Azula spoke again. “Got it. Turn back around now.”

Ty Lee obeyed and faced the firebender.

Azula liked what she saw so far, but she wasn’t done yet. “Here. Watch this.”

With a sweep of her arm, Azula extinguished every flame in her room in an instance, plummeting them into darkness. Then, just as quickly, she conjured up a steady flame in her palm that flooded her chambers in a warm, orange glow.

“Don’t move,” Azula instructed, as she brought the fire closer to her friend’s neck, the outer tendrils of the flame lapping at Ty Lee’s skin.

Ty Lee fought to not squirm, though it got easier once she realized Azula wasn’t trying to burn her. Instead, the princess used her free hand to hold the pendant up to the light.

Illuminated by Azula’s flickering flame, a wonderous kaleidoscope of colours burst forth from the rubied pendant. Ty Lee watched in reverent awe as overlapping patterns of fire-red, azure blue, and spectral rainbow flashes spun across the pendant’s surface, then bounced all around the room.

“Whoa! That’s so beautiful, Azula,” Ty Lee marvelled. She craned her head around the chambers, and laughed as the pendant responded to the movement. Brilliant prisms of light danced and flared along the darkened walls. “It’s like a magic show!”

“It’s a simple trick of the light,” Azula corrected, suppressing a smile. “I’m not sure why Fire Lord Taiso allowed the jeweler he commissioned for the necklace to design such a kitschy little gimmick. But I knew it would amuse you.”

She snuffed her flame with a clenched fist, smoke rising from the gaps between her fingers. Then with a flick of her wrist, the lanterns in her chambers were lit once more, and the magic was over.

The warmth had been extinguished from Azula’s expression, and she looked at her friend severely. “I don’t have to tell you to never show this necklace or breathe a word of its existence to anyone else, do I?”              

“You can tell me anything you want,” Ty Lee assured. “But yeah, I see how that could make a big fuss. I’ll keep it quiet, and take it off as soon as I leave. I promise.”

“For your sake, you better keep that promise," she said threateningly. “Store it someplace safe your sisters won’t look.”

Then she met Ty Lee’s brown-gray eyes, which were filled with hurt and confusion due to Azula’s sudden change in mood. The firebender softened slightly. “In return, I'll make you a promise. One day, you’ll be able to wear it freely.”

“When?”

“Once we’re married, obviously.”

“Oh!” Ty Lee exclaimed, clutching the pendant and holding it to her skipping heart. “We’re getting married?”

Azula rolled her eyes, frustrated but not surprised she hadn’t been keeping up. “Didn’t I just tell you it’s a betrothal gift? Why else would I give it to you?”

Ty Lee stood there, mouth agape, as she processed the news. Marrying the princess was a better fate than she ever dared imagine for herself, but this was all happening so soon.

“But – but I’m not ready!” she protested. “My dad is in the Earth Kingdom on business, and my sisters will want to plan a huge bridal shower, and I don’t have anything nice enough to wear–”

“Get yourself together, Ty Lee. It’s not going to be tomorrow,” Azula hissed, clutching her shoulder. “It’s not going to be for many years. We’re getting betrothed now because I refuse to waste time courting a bunch of foolish interlopers chosen by Father, like Zuko has to.”

Ty Lee breathed a sigh of relief. The prospect of having a royal wedding and marrying her best friend was like a fairytale come to life. As much as it excited her, however, she was only eleven. She was glad they had some time. She took a seat on the princess’s bed, enveloped by the layers of feathery down.

“Cool! That sounds great,” Ty Lee said agreeably, her feet dangling off the ledge of the bed. “I’m good with being betrothed, but courting seems kind of fun, too. We could go dancing, and go on long walks, and have fancy dinners together. Maybe we could do both...?”

“There’s no point in debutante balls or chaperoned walks through the palace. I already know you, and you know me,” Azula explained. “I figure we should get all that pointless nonsense out of the way and commit to each other for all of eternity now. Why wait?”

Ty Lee considered that – as much as a child could consider all of eternity. Her lack of immediate assent troubled Azula. The princess folded her arms and glared at her friend, wondering if she had misjudged her. “Unless you think you can do better, with someone else.”

Ty Lee recoiled as if she had been punched, wounded by the implication. “What?! No, there’s nobody better than you.”

“Wonderful. Then it’s settled,” Azula said, glad to close the page on this tedious chapter. The courtship was over, and now she was betrothed. Why was Zuko forced to spend years courting noblewomen, when it was this easy all along? “Now, we’ll have to keep it quiet for some time.”

“Okay!”

“Perhaps over a decade, even. It’ll happen when I’m already Fire Lord and Father’s passed. Nobody will be able to tell me what to do then.”

“Oh!” Ty Lee exclaimed again. “You? You’re gonna be Fire Lord?”

Azula hadn’t been shy about her egomaniacal ambitions, of course, but this was a lot to process all at once. Prince Ozai only ascended to the throne to become Fire Lord Ozai last month! Already, the young princess was preparing for the reign of Fire Lord Azula. She really had been thinking seriously about the future. It stunned Ty Lee that she had been factored into these plans at all.

“Yes, me,” Azula said, seething with understated indignation, fire prickling at her fingers. “Do you have somebody else in mind that’s better suited, Ty Lee?”

Ty Lee dug her fingers into the quilted duvet anxiously. Azula had never been particularly chill, but she had become a lot more heated since her mom took off and her dad became Fire Lord. The acrobat was worried about her friend, though she was equally worried about herself. The wrong answer here, or the right answer delivered unconvincingly, would carry enormous consequences.

“Of course not! You would be the greatest Fire Lord to ever reign,” Ty Lee said fawningly. “But… what about Zuko? Not saying he would be better, ‘cause he definitely wouldn’t! But isn’t he technically your dad’s heir?”

“For now. But so much can change in such little time. For years, Iroh was my grandfather’s heir and yet, he didn’t succeed him in the end,” Azula said restlessly, playing with a flame in her palm as she spoke. “It’s going to be years until Zuko’s old enough to marry and reproduce. Until then, I’m his heir. And you know how Father and the Council hate Zuko being the next in line. He’s too weak, and Mother’s not here to save him anymore. It’s only a matter of time until some terrible accident befalls the Crown Prince.”

“Oh… Okay.”

Ty Lee wasn’t nearly as close to Zuko as Azula, but they still grew up together. The idea of something bad happening to him bummed her out. Azula, however, didn’t seem bothered in the least, and continued to plot, with fire dancing in her hand.

“We’ll have to keep the engagement between us until then, but once I’m strong enough, we’ll be wed,” she decreed, with the weight of a royal proclamation. “You’ll be the Fire Lady. My Fire Lady.”

Ty Lee gaped at her, befuddled. She didn’t claim to be nearly as smart as Azula, but she was pretty sure the laws of their country didn’t allow same-sex marriages, nor did the laws of biology allow them to have offspring. On top of all that, Ty Lee was the youngest daughter of a minor lord, and lacked the noble pedigree to hold such an esteemed position.

“Out with it, Ty Lee,” Azula urged, sensing her hesitancy, and latching onto it.

“I… I mean, wow! It’s just a lot to think about,” Ty Lee confessed, then tittered. “Doesn’t even seem real.”

“It is real. I’m telling you it’s real,” Azula said nervously. “Are you questioning me?”

Ty Lee shook her head quick enough to snap her neck. She was uncertain, but voicing that would strike the princess as a sign of doubt. Either Azula had ironed out all the details and would tell her as they became relevant, or this was all an elaborate lie, meant to test Ty Lee’s loyalty. Either way, Ty Lee knew she couldn’t afford to waver.

“No. I’d never question you. You know that.”

“So, what then?”

“I’m questioning myself,” Ty Lee said, with another nervous laugh. “I mean… you know my family. We were only raised to nobility by Fire Lord Sozin, at the beginning of the war. I’m not exactly Fire Lady material.”

That self-effacing response was enough to momentarily soothe Azula, who put out her flames and sat beside her betrothed.

“It’s no matter. I’ve already worked it all out. Your father’s not of noble stock, but he’s a very rich man. An alliance between him and the Crown would prove very lucrative for everyone.”

Azula gazed at Ty Lee as she spoke. She envisioned a grownup version of her oldest and only friend, who would dazzle courtiers and commoners alike. Everybody said that she was identical to her sisters, but that wasn’t true. Azula had seen them all, and she was certain she picked the most charming and beautiful one.

“I’m sure the old guard wouldn’t be happy with a mongrel as Fire Lady,” Azula conceded. “But they wouldn’t dare interfere. I’ll keep them in line. And you’ll win them over, in time.”

Ty Lee looked at her, eyes shining with hope and wonder. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes. For whatever reason, people have always liked you,” she said, resentful and admiring in equal measure.

That was fortunate, because Ty Lee didn’t much like herself. And even though they had been best friends for years and were apparently now getting married, she wasn’t sure Azula liked her much either.

She knew she should just be grateful she was getting to marry a princess at all, let alone one as wonderful and powerful as Azula. But she couldn’t help it – the idea of marrying someone who didn’t like her was devastating, be they royal or not.

“But do you like me?”

“I wouldn’t marry somebody I didn’t like.”

A lie – Azula would do as her father commanded. She had always been subservient to him, but since he had ascended, Azula had began to realize how utterly helpless she was. She was only saved from the doldrum of courtship because she was the spare, not the heir. If the need arose, he wouldn’t be opposed to marrying her off.

But being with Ty Lee made her feel otherwise; she made Azula feel powerful in her own right, like she could be the master of her own fate. If her father did command her to entertain some suitors, even if she had to marry one, she could at least rest easy knowing that none of it was real. She would know that she would have her real bride – one that she selected, one that was loyal to her, one that belonged to her – once she took the throne from him.

“But I mean like-like,” Ty Lee said, with a shy smile. She was, as usual, on a totally different wavelength than Azula. “The way Mai likes Zuko.”

Azula shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “You ask the strangest questions, Ty Lee.”

“Sorry…” Ty Lee thought it was a reasonable inquiry, but she dropped it. “Wait. So, is this gonna be my room too?”

“What? Why would the Fire Lord and Lady sleep here?” Azula asked, puzzled. “These accommodations are not fit for a ruler. We’d be in the grand chambers, where Father is now.”

“Really?!” Ty Lee brightened; they had snuck into the grand chambers many times before, and she left dazzled after every visit. “The bed there is massive! It’s big enough to get lost in. We’re gonna wake up there and not be able to find each other in the morning.”

“I’ll always find you,” Azula said solemnly.

“We are going to build the most awesome pillow fort in the Fire Nation!” Ty Lee grinned and fell back onto the bed, already daydreaming about their married life. “It’s gonna make the one we made last summer in here with Mai seem like a sad colonial outpost.”

Azula laughed lightly and shook her head.

“I’ll miss this place, though,” Ty Lee said, tracing the pattern on the quilted duvet with a finger. “You, me, Mai. We’ve had so many good times here.”

“I’m not going to demolish this wing, Ty Lee. This room will still be here,” Azula assured her, laying down by her side. “Zuko’s room will be for my heir. And this one will be for whatever princess or prince comes second. You do want children one day, don’t you?”

“Sure! That would be awesome,” Ty Lee agreed. “We’re gonna have kids?”

“You’ll have children for me. I’ll have nothing to do with those little snotmonsters until they’re old enough to begin their training,” Azula said. “Even then, childcare is the Fire Lady’s duty. It’ll be your job to keep them away from me. You rule the household, I rule the known world.”

Ty Lee nodded eagerly. She really didn’t understand the logistics of babymaking or how it would even be possible in their case, but raising little princelings in a palace with her best friend sounded pretty great to her. “Sweet! How many do I get?”

“Two, as is customary. The heir and the spare.”

Ty Lee gasped. “Only two?!”

“Yes, two,” she confirmed. “Any more provide no value; they just increase the risk of scandals and a succession crisis.”

“Only two…” Ty Lee repeated, now with melancholic resignation.

Azula studied her, intuiting her future wife would like more than that. Moved, she allowed a rare concession: “If one dies, I’ll let you have another. How’s that?”

“I don’t want any of them to die!” Ty Lee protested, her eyes glistening.

“These things happen, Ty Lee. The world’s a cruel place. That’s why you need me.”

Ty Lee pouted, not pacified by the compromise. Azula waited a moment, waiting for her betrothed to get over her disappointment. In the rare event Ty Lee pushed back, her resistance was always short-lived and quickly forgotten; that was one of the reasons she had chosen her.

But Ty Lee continued to mope. Azula had to laugh. “What are you, a dog? You want to pop out a whole litter?”

“I have six sisters, Azula,” Ty Lee reminded her. “I wouldn’t want to have as many as my mom had, but only two? I just think it would be so lonely for them, only having each other for company. Why not three? Three’s a crowd, right?”

“You’ve misunderstood that expression, Ty Lee.”

“I just feel like two isn’t enough. At least three would be nice,” she said wistfully.

“Hmm...” The princess paused, seriously considering her proposal. “I suppose more children introduces greater scarcity. They will have to fight more for attention and validation from us, which will foster jealousy and competition between them…”

“Yeah! And they can hang out and have crazy adventures together,” Ty Lee chirped, already cheering up. “Just like you, me, and Mai!”

“Yes. And three’s an odd number. That creates the perfect conditions for asymmetric warfare. They’d take turns forming alliances and ganging up on the odd man out,” Azula thought aloud. “That would start their political education early.”

Ty Lee nodded, her head now wedged underneath her hands as she laid on her side, facing the princess. “And that’s like… so important. Isn’t it?”

“Very well. I accept your counteroffer. You can have a third child but no more after that.”

“Yay! Thanks, Azula. You’re the best,” she beamed. “But where will they sleep? There’s Zuko’s room, and your room. Is there gonna be a room for the third one, or will they have to double up?”

Ty Lee knew from personal experience how much sharing rooms with siblings sucked.

“They won’t have to double up. This is a palace. I’m sure we can figure something out,” Azula said wryly.

But the acrobat had already lost interest in that topic. “Oh! Do I get to name them? I already have the biggest list of baby names at home.”

“I’ve read your stupid list. Burn it. This is serious, Ty Lee,” Azula reprimanded. “We’re talking about the future rulers of the Fire Nation. The heirs to the greatest empire the world has ever seen. You are not going to be naming them Meadow and Amethyst.”

“Those aren’t the only ones! I have a bunch more that are way better than that,” she said defensively.

“No, you don’t. They’re all equally terrible,” Azula declared, with a dismissive hand wave.

Ty Lee’s eyes smarted with tears, and she looked away, dejected.

“And it doesn’t matter anyways,” Azula said, more gently. “Princesses and princes aren’t named to please their parents. One must be named after my father, and another named in honour of whichever ally I most need to curry favor with at the time.”

“That’s two… What about the third?” Ty Lee asked hopefully.

Azula sighed. She couldn’t fathom any activity that would interest her less than naming babies, but it seemed to mean a great deal to her betrothed.

“I don’t see why not, provided you choose a proper name befitting a royal,” she said wearily. “There’s many in my family tree to choose from. I’ll have the fire sages lend you our genealogy tome and you can prepare me a list with the ones you like.”

“Oh, okay! I can just go to the temple and ask? They’ll just… give it to me?”

“They’ll do what I say,” Azula replied. “I’ll write them tonight, and you can pick it up at the High Temple’s library in the morning. Just be discrete, and don’t blab like you usually do. I’ll tell them you’re doing research for a school project.”

It was a good thing none of the fire sages knew Ty Lee personally, or else they would know how implausible that cover story was. She was a lazy student; her teachers begrudgingly passed her, only because of her closeness to the princess.

“Oh, okay,” she repeated, with less enthusiasm this time. “That’s really nice of you. But… can’t you just bring me the tome?”

“Absolutely not. Do I look like an errand boy to you?” Azula asked, her nose scrunched up in disgust.

“No! No, but you’re so brave. And the fire sages are so creepy. They scare me. I get the willies everytime we have to go to the temple,” Ty Lee confided.

“Everything scares you.”

“And nothing scares you!”

Azula reached out to touch the necklace, the ruby flame pulsating in the waning light of her chambers, like a raw, beating heart.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of anything either, Ty Lee,” Azula told her. “As long as you remain true to me, there’s nothing for you to fear.”

“I know,” Ty Lee said, then nuzzled her head against Azula’s shoulder and leaned into her, like a pleased cat. The princess stayed stiff as a board, though her fingers remained wrapped around the pendant. “I know I’m a big scaredy cat. That’s why I’m with you. Why I need you.”

Azula jolted up suddenly on the bed. A cold sweat dripped down her forehead, like she had awoken from a bad dream. Ty Lee sat up too, bemused.

“Fine. I’ll… get the tome as well,” Azula said.

“Really?”

“Yes. You talk too much. I can’t risk you saying something stupid to the sages and ruining everything.”

“Alright!” Ty Lee said, triumphant. Her sisters always teased her for being dumb as rocks, but she must’ve been doing something right. None of them had princesses wanting to marry them and checking books out of the creepy library for them. “Thanks. You really are the best, you know.”

“I know.”

“And marriage is gonna be awesome. Every night’s gonna be a slumber party, and we can stay up as late as we want,” she said dreamily. “We’ll have a whole palace to ourselves. No sisters to bug me. No mom and dad to mix up my name, and not notice anything I do, and act like I don’t even exist…”

Azula rolled her eyes. Ty Lee often complained about parental neglect, but Azula had hoped the betrothal would be enough for her to finally get over it. Azula’s mom disappeared just last month and never liked her anyway, but she wasn’t whining.

“Stop worrying about them. You’ll become their favourite once we’re wed.”

Ty Lee’s eyes lit up, realizing that Azula was right.

“But honestly, who cares? You have me – what does it matter?” Azula asked, in an accusatory tone. She couldn’t understand why Ty Lee would need anybody else; it infuriated her that she did. “Your parents are filth. Your sisters, too. You’re the only one of them worth anything.”

“But I love them…”

Azula looked at her. Ty Lee’s soft, cherub face was illuminated by the moonlight slipping through the windows, lending her an angelic glow. She loved her family, loved her friends, loved Azula. Love came so easily to her, she could afford to waste it because she had so much of it.

That was the girl’s nature; she was a lover. Azula was as drawn to it as she was repelled.

“Waiting’s gonna suck. I wish we could just skip forward to marriage,” Ty Lee said, then reconsidered. “Well, actually, to the wedding. I definitely don’t want to skip past the parade. But also, I don’t want to miss dress-shopping either. Me and Mai pinky-promised we’d choose dresses for each other. Maybe that was a dumb thing to promise, but when we did, I didn’t know I was gonna be Fire Lady! Oh, man. I hope she doesn’t pick something super depressing…”

“There's no need to get worked up over it yet. None of this will come to pass until my father does, and long may he reign,” Azula said, sitting primly on the bed. “I’m only telling you about our future to keep you in the loop, so you know what your place is here. I wouldn’t want you running off on me.”

Ty Lee knitted her brows. “You’re my best friend, and I love you. You’re so beautiful, and strong, and smart, and you always think of me when nobody else does. You chose me, out of every girl in the whole world. Why would I ever run off on you?”

“I don’t know. People do crazy, unreasonable things sometimes,” Azula said bitterly, staring at the wall. “They leave, when they were meant to stay. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand why, but I’ve seen it.”

“Don’t worry, Azula. We’re gonna see all kinds of magical, beautiful things together, but you won’t ever see me leaving you,” she vowed. “You can count on that.”

“That’s good. Because you know it would end badly for you. You know you’d get hurt,” Azula said, with urgency. “You know I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you either. So, I never will,” Ty Lee said simply. “I promise I won’t leave. I pinky-promise.”

Ty Lee held out her pinky, ready to pledge her troth.

Azula scoffed and slapped away the acrobat's arm. “Pinky-promises are meaningless, Ty Lee. They’re not binding. We’re discussing the future of our nation, which depends on your loyalty. You need to be serious.”

“Pinky-promises are super serious to me!” she objected. “But okay. I got a better idea to seal the deal.”

Ty Lee scooted towards her and planted a quick peck on Azula’s cheek, before she could psych herself out of it. “There. Is that binding enough?”

“This is ridiculous. I have things to do.”

Azula stood up in a huff and paced around, trying to find something to busy herself with, occasionally massaging the reddened cheek her friend had kissed. Ty Lee laid on her stomach as she fondly watched her settle at her writing desk and open a book on military strategy she’d read several times before to a random page.

It amused Ty Lee to no end; how Azula could very seriously discuss the prospect of marriage and children, then be so befuddled and overwhelmed at the scantest displays of affection. Did Azula even realize what married couples did in private?

Ty Lee honestly wasn’t too sure herself – there was a veritable dearth of sexual education in their country – but she eavesdropped on her older sisters enough to have a rough idea. Surely, they would do more than cheek-kissing, one day.

“Are you just going to stare at me for the rest of the night?” Azula asked from her desk.

“Maybe…” Ty Lee giggled. She would happily watch Azula pretend to read until the sun rose, if she could.

But she couldn’t; not yet, at least. She leapt from the bed to her feet and stretched. “But I guess I should start heading home. I have to be up super early for gymnastics tomorrow, then I have an algebra test first period. I think I’m gonna fail. Will you be in class, at least?”

“No.”

“Oh, shoot! Then I’m definitely gonna fail,” Ty Lee said miserably. She only ever passed math tests when Azula let her cheat off of her.

“You don’t have to wait to stay over, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“For us to have a sleepover and stay up as late as we want,” Azula said. “We don’t need to be married to do that. I know it’s a school night, but things are different now. Mother’s gone. Father doesn’t care so long as I don’t miss my training in the morning. The servants are all terrified of me. They won’t bother us. Will your mother care?”

Ty Lee shook her head. As they both well knew, her mother was unlikely to even notice her absence.

“Well, then…” This was, to Azula, far more frightening than proposing marriage had been. She had to ask, rather than tell. She had to accept Ty Lee might say no. That she might leave, if Azula let her. “Do you want to stay over tonight?”

Ty Lee laughed and bellyflopped back onto Azula’s bed, sinking into the sheets as though they were a fluffy cloud. “Do I want to? I thought you’d never ask!”