Chapter 20: In which I went home (Patreon)

Three Years and Ten Months Ago

“Move it, prisoner,” snarled the Fire Nation guard.

Tyro watched the guard shove the boy with long black hair that hung in a shaggy curtain around his head across the deck. Tyro noted absentmindedly that there was a strange white streak in the boy’s hair.

The boy moved, but it was a rather more graceful motion than the guard had tried to provoke. The boy’s eyes, a blue-flecked gold, were on the ground, possibly indicating some water tribe ancestry, not uncommon for an earthbender, and he said no words, allowing himself to be pushed with seemingly no concern.

Tyro’s face broke down slightly as he caught a glance of the slightly younger girl who followed after him, taking careful, measured steps until she grasped the back of his shirt, her lips a thin, pale line, her pale green eyes staring unseeingly ahead of her.

The boy continued walking at a slow, almost languid pace, allowing the girl to follow behind with ease.

Another batch of Earthbenders had been captured to be kept in this metal prison, though unless the boy’s eyes were completely misleading, he wasn’t from the Earth Kingdom. Evidently the Fire Nation hadn’t bothered to sort him from the others.

The two teens were notably different from the other Earthbenders around them; while they didn’t look pleased at their situation, they didn't yet have the helpless, broken forms of Tyro’s other kinsmen.

They were beaten and shoved up the deck of the rig, with particular attention being paid to the young boy. The soldiers seemed by some instinct to know that he was not as broken as the rest of the prisoners.

Yet at the same time, they did not seem to feel the need to target the more helpless girl.

There the Warden stood, his dark mustache bristling as salt and pepper hung about his head in a top knot that trailed down his back.

When the group came to a stop in front of him, he began to pace the deck before them with the casual footsteps of someone who had long realized they were in charge of all that was before them.

“Greetings, prisoners. Today marks the first day of your stay aboard Mo Ce Sea Prison. You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth. No one has ever broken free of this prison and positioned as you are; without your element, it is impossible for you to do so.”

The Warden continued, and Tyro wished he could not hear these words even as he felt the duty to observe these new arrivals.

Still, despite his wishes, the man’s words carried in a high, cruel manner across the deck. “You may think of yourselves as guests for the foreseeable future; I hope that our relationship will be amicable,” the man said, smiling pleasantly.

The Warden purposefully gazed into the eyes of an older man a bit down the line, and the older man’s gaze averted to the metal below the assembled group instantly.

The boy remained standing at ease, calm, not overtly challenging, but his posture remained unbent, unlike those surrounding him; the girl seemed to be warring with herself on how close to stand to him, a hand still firmly latched onto his shirt that was trimmed with emerald green.

The Warden’s eyes fell upon the boy, finally seeming to process the strangeness of the boy’s posture, and something gleeful surfaced in them, and he stepped in front of the boy.

“Something to say, Prisoner?”

The boy smiled blandly. “Nothing polite,” he said calmly, and Tyro winced as the prisoners around him stiffened, even as the other imprisoned earthbenders sitting by Tyro consciously averted their gazes from the new prisoners.

The Warden sneered, and Tyro could already see the next move from his posture as he stepped away for a moment before he turned and then rapidly spun, swinging a fist into the boy’s gut.

Instead of keeling over, the boy raised an eyebrow, seemingly completely unbothered by the strike; he did not flinch, did not so much as shift his stance.

The Warden looked surprised, and Tyro saw the consideration flicker through his eyes as if attempting to determine how to deal with this unexpected setback.

Tyro already knew what his next action would be.

“Throw him into the cells,” he snapped to one of the guards.

Both guards stepped forward, circling their arms around the boy’s own, and began to attempt to drag him away, but the girl's hand was still latched onto the boy’s clothes, and Tyro could almost see her shaking with rage.

The boy looked at her calmly, not saying a word.

Her hand released.

The two guards grabbed the boy between them, attempting to heave him away.

The boy did not resist, but he was not dragged; he walked calmly at his own pace even as the guards strained to move him.

The guards walked him across the deck until they disappeared through a door.

The Warden glanced at the rest of the Earthbender prisoners before he turned away, walking with seemingly calm steps across the rig, disappearing into its depths.

Tyro glanced at the girl who walked away with somewhat unsteady feet and sat herself against one of the walls.

He glanced back at his normal group, who were watching with grim faces, before he sighed and then walked across the metal to stand before the girl.

“That was your friend?” Tyro said quietly.

The girl looked up, then sneered, “He’s a womanizing asshole,” she grunted out, and despite himself, Tyro’s lips lifted in unfamiliar amusement.

“I’ll keep that in mind. You shouldn’t worry too much; the Warden likes to make a point, but he’ll be released within a couple of days.”

The girl shrugged her shoulders, drumming her fingers across the metal for a moment. “Who’re you?” she asked bluntly.

“I’m Tyro,” Tyro said, smiling. “And I’m what passes for a leader around these parts; if you need anything, you can ask me.”

The girl nodded seriously. “Right then, you can move; you’re getting in my sun.”

Tyro blinked and then shook his head, amused; nevertheless, he walked away.

Tyro did not see the boy again until two days later, during which his companion did little more than eat and nap.

He was released back onto the deck by two more guards in the same manner he had left.

The boy looked remarkably the same, his hair still falling in a black curtain down his back, interspersed with the strand of gleaming white, and he did not so much as flinch at the sunlight as he was forced outside.

He looked about and then his eyes locked again on the girl who was currently curled up sitting against the railing, a dish of rice in her palm.

As he got within a couple of steps of her, the girl looked up, and Tyro noted the smallest amount of tension disappearing from her shoulders.

“Asshole,” she greeted, only the quiet of the deck and the fact that Tyro was listening making her words audible.

The boy chuckled and then turned to look at Tyro and his group of men, and Tyro’s eyes locked with the boy’s own strange blue.

He knelt down, and the girl’s hand lashed out and latched onto his sleeve like a viper's strike and he pulled her to her feet. Before, together they began to walk over to them.

Tyro did not give any visual indication he was surprised, merely continuing to eat what passed for food in the prison.

His comrades stiffened beside him as the boy came up before them.

Tyro’s eyes flickered over him again, attempting to determine what they had done to him, but he looked none the worse for wear.

The other men looked at him, and Tyro saw the question in their eyes, and he knew what they wanted him to do.

He grabbed a bowl of rice, then held it up to the boy and smiled softly.

“You’re a brave one, boy,” Tyro said, and the boy grabbed the bowl, settling in front of him, the girl making the motion with him. “But bravery here won’t help.”

The boy frowned. “So you think I should just submit?”

Tyro found himself taken aback, caught off guard by the look in the strange blue eyes, with flecks of gold visible from this distance staining them.

The girl elbowed him in the side. “You just sat two days in a cell.”

“I’m saying to pick your battles,” Tyro said reprovingly.

The boy shook his head. “I can handle it,” he said calmly.

The girl growled and seemed to visibly restrain herself from punching him, though her fist rose.

Tyro sighed, shaking his head; the boy reminded him so much of Haru.

“What’s your name, son?”

“Hakoda,” the boy said. “She’s Toph; what’s yours?”

“Tyro.” Tyro let a small smile curve his lips as he turned to Toph. “You’ve got a good name, a strong one.”

Toph looked befuddled for a moment, before something approaching a smile flashed across her face, only to be smothered in the next instant.

He turned back to Hakoda. “And that name you have, it’s Water Tribe, isn’t it?”

Hakoda nodded, grinning.

“Where are you two from? I assume you have some relation?” Tyro asked.

Hakoda chuckled. “It’s a long and uninteresting story,” he admitted. “I’m a son of the Northern Water Tribe, and I met with Toph here on my travels. But the reason why we’re here might interest you. I heard there was an issue of a plague, so we made our way to an Earth Kingdom village where they rounded us up in a sweep.”

“A Healer?” Tyro asked curiously before glancing back to the other men he had been sitting with, and he found himself warring internally; it wasn’t appropriate or polite, but…

“I’ve got some sick older men; could you take a look at them?” Tyro asked

“Of course.” Hakoda nodded and stood up, placing his dish off to the side.

“Bolin has been feeling poorly the last several days; can’t keep much down,” he said gruffly.

The older man that Tyro had pointed to smiled weakly. “It’s nothing,” he said quietly, though his face was rather pale.

Hakoda nodded and knelt down. “May I?” he asked.

Bolin looked at Tyro for a moment, a question in his gaze, before he slowly nodded.

Hakoda made a flickering gesture in the air, and liquid swirled around his palms, drawn from the air itself.

“You’re a waterbender?” Pei murmured, seemingly bewildered, mirroring Tyro’s own shock, and Hakoda smiled in amusement before pressing his palm to the man’s chest, the water gently pulsing a warm glow.

Tyro glanced around, making sure that they wouldn’t be noticed. There was some solidarity among the prisoners, but one could never be too sure.

Several moments passed before Hakoda smiled a grim smile. “It’s been too long since you’ve touched earth; your bodies have weakened. It’s a cold, but it’ll be difficult to fight without earth near you. I can stimulate your chi, though, and you’ll get better, but long-term you won’t regain your strength till you're near Earth again.”

Bolin chuckled grimly, “Well, with the Warden in charge, that seems rather unlikely, doesn’t it?”

Hakoda gave the man a soft smile. “It must be hard being away from your element so long regardless,” he said quietly.

Bolin grimaced and looked away. “We survive,” he said grimly.

Hakoda looked at the man with quiet blue eyes that darkened a bit. “Don’t you think there’s more to life than survival?” he asked.

Pei sighed and shook his head. “We have no other choice; there is no earth, there is no hope; we remain on this forsaken ship and hope that the spirits will accept our bodies even when we are tossed into the ocean.”

Hakoda did not reply, but he did not move away.

Pei sighed and reached out, patting Hakoda on the shoulder. “You’ll soon get used to it.”

There was a low growl, and the group turned to look at Toph, who had her arms crossed. “You’re all a bunch of losers, sitting here; you won’t fight, and so you’d rather die a slow death on this rig. I don’t know why you want to help them- " She turned to glare at Hakoda, and her words were abruptly cut off by some nonverbal exchange between them.

How exactly that occurred when Toph was seemingly blind, Tyro had no idea.

Pei was stiffening, his emerald eyes flashing as he opened his mouth, only for Hakoda to interrupt.

“Toph is passionate,” Hakoda said quietly. “But she has a point, don’t you think? You sit in this prison because you have no hope, but the reason you have no hope is you’ve all long acknowledged that you will never be free.”

Pei looked surprised, now frowning at Hakoda. Bolin looked thoughtful.

Toph growled and then picked up her bowl again, seemingly intent on ignoring them.

Tyro felt an oncoming headache.

Hakoda walked over and settled by Toph’s side, and Tyro noticed that she pressed slightly into him almost unconsciously like a cat.

Deciding to move the conversation to a safer topic he asked, “So how long have you two been betrothed?”

Hakoda blinked, and then something like amusement flickered over his face. In contrast, Toph’s face rapidly began to redden.

Hakoda opened his mouth, but it was Toph who spoke first.

“Have you lost your spirits dammed mind? Marry him? Do you have any idea how many-“

A hand gently settled over Toph’s mouth, stalling her speech momentarily.

Hakoda looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow, “Toph,” he said in an almost plaintive voice, weary from long use.

The girl, despite being blind shot the most searing glare that Tyro had ever seen at him, and then-

“Toph, those are my fingers; please don’t bite them,” Hakoda said calmly.

Toph’s face became incandescent, and seemingly realizing teeth wouldn’t be enough, she physically launched herself into Hakoda and began to slam hard fists into his torso, “Asshole, asshole, asshole.”

Hakoda locked eyes with Tyro, who could only stare at the other boy, befuddled.

Courtship rituals must have really changed at some point.

Maybe Haru would know more, at least if he saw him again.

-

Toph sucked in a deep breath as she came awake, the air spiraling through her lungs in a cool current, telling her where it had been and where it wanted to go in an instant.

Toph would be fucked if she said it to anyone, but sometimes she didn’t like it- being blind, that was.

Yet she had been blind for years. Now, when she was awake, the world was fully laid out to her: the insects that crawled through the earth, the birds in the trees.

The fact that the girl who called herself Sokka was training, or something close to that effort, in a copse of trees, even though when she came back she would say she had been hunting.

And Toph felt absolutely nothing for the fact that she could tell by the air that her breasts were wrapped as tight as ever, making her chest flat.

Which, if that’s what she wanted, whatever, but Toph’s big issue with the girl was that she reminded her of the worst Earth Kingdom nobles; Katara had been on edge the entire time Toph was in the massive flying beast called a Sky Bison's saddle, seemingly ready to leap across if Toph was about to fall out.

Frankly, in Toph’s opinion, the girl could stand to worry about herself more; she wasn’t a martial arts freak like Zuko, but she had fought the bastard enough to know that Sokka couldn’t hope to match him in even simple unarmed combat, much less any of the Kyoshi Warriors.

Of course that just reminded her that perhaps, maybe, her estimations of strength weren’t entirely fair or even related to rational concepts anymore.

After seeing Hakoda freeze an entire Fire Nation ship in a wave, even she had to admit that if she’d stayed as she was, she wouldn’t be half the earthbender she was now.

And she wouldn’t be an airbender at all. Wouldn’t have felt Zuko’s presence drip through her in warm, caring channels as he reached within her chest to-

Toph shook her head, shaking the memory away.

She didn’t even know why she was thinking of the asshole. Well, she did, because Toph Beifong was self-aware as fuck, but she didn’t know how to talk about it to anyone, much less Zuko.

She didn’t have much to offer him now without going back to the Beifongs in the first place, and that wasn’t something she wanted to do, not after how she had left it with her parents. Plus Zuko didn’t need another girl mooning after him.

And she wouldn’t have been that girl in the first place because Toph Beifong was also independent as fuck. She didn’t need anyone.

Even soft-smiled, pretty golden-eyed boys who would massage her feet for no other reason than that she shoved them into his lap.

Even pretty golden-eyed boys who knew everything in her heart already.

The truth was that all Toph needed to do was reach for him, and despite the distance, she knew exactly where he was. The air he breathed, the soil he turned as he paced through his morning routine.

She could go back right now, and she knew he wouldn’t say a single word. That was what she hated most about him. He just accepted it; he never asked anyone to be more than they were.

It was absolutely nauseating, and it had made her soft and weak in ways she didn’t understand.

She felt the Avatar walking up from behind her, her breaths uneven and nervous.

“What?” she grunted out.

The Avatar startled several feet into the air and Toph felt the currents bend around her before she came back down with a thump.

“Well,” Anya hesitated, causing a long silence, “I just, well, I have questions,” she finally got out quietly.

Toph chuckled, “Yeah, I bet you do.”

Anya took several steps forward before she finally settled beside Toph, and Toph had to force herself to not react because this was far closer than she let anyone but-

She wasn’t even going to finish that thought. Seriously fuck that guy.

“Your friend,” Anya said quietly, “He reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago.”

The words instantly registered as true, but not.

“You’re evading,” Toph grunted out. “Talk plainly or don’t talk at all.”

“Okay,” Anya sighed. “Then what I mean to say is he looks exactly like an older version of a firebender I knew, though I mean I guess his eye color is different and-“

“Zuko, right?” Toph interrupted.

Anya paused, then nodded. “None of you gave a straight answer,” she said.

“You think we’re lying?” Toph asked, amused.

“I think that you know somehow I would be able to tell you were lying.”

Huh, you wouldn’t know it by looking at her or from her decision-making, but Anya had kind of a decent head on her shoulders.

Toph nodded her head. “Honestly, no clue what’s going on, I know Hakoda is also called Zuko and the boy’s got his share of secrets but I don’t know why any of them would specifically concern your Zuko.”

Anya released a breath, crossing her arms across her stomach, and didn’t say anything.

Was she… moping?

Toph resisted the urge to groan and began to attempt to figure out the best way out of this clearing without having to hear whatever nonsense that was about to come out of her mouth.

“Zuko was the last friend I made a hundred years ago,” Anya said quietly.

“What?” Toph said blandly.

Anya blinked, looking surprised, before she grimaced. “I was kind of frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years. I was told to run from the Eastern Air Temple by Zuko. He came to me at night, and I did it. At the time, it just felt like I had to, but now I’m too afraid to even go back to it because I don’t know if I’ll come across his body. Or worse, the bodies of the nuns who raised me.”

Toph nodded her head slowly, wondering what exactly she had done that had labeled her as the person to tell this emotionally traumatic story to.

Was Zuko rubbing off on her?

“That’s rough, buddy,” Toph finally landed on the perfect phrase.

Anya looked at her, surprised, and then laughed, seemingly surprised. “Wow, nothing really affects you, does it? I mean, you're exactly like your element.”

Toph raised an eyebrow at Anya, not contesting her reading yet not feeling the need to elucidate the girl on the pressure that roiled beneath her surface.

“I,” Toph enunciated clearly, “Am the best fucking Earthbender in the world, if you actually learn anything from me, you might edge out number two.”

Anya laughed brightly, and something in Toph crackled; there was something so light in that laugh, it honestly made her kind of sad.

Toph immediately crushed the feeling; that was some nonsense Zuko would worry about.

“Alright,” Anya said, “How exactly do I earthbend?”

Toph was flummoxed for an instant; how did one teach earthbending?

Well, she would start from the basics, she guessed.

“Stand up,” she barked out, and Anya shot to her feet.

“Make a stance, hard on the earth; you will not be moved,” Toph called out.

Anya spread her feet across the ground in something like a stance if that stance had been designed by a drunken dog-monkey.

Toph let the earth push her to her feet, and she regarded Anya with her arms crossed, or at least she appeared to regard her.

“Brace your stance more,” Toph corrected, and Anya pushed her heels against the dirt, but Toph didn’t feel a snap of connection at all from the girl’s chi.

“Keep trying,” Toph said, and yawned as she made herself an earthen stool to settle upon as she regarded Anya lazily, her chin propped up on her palm.

Honestly, Toph didn’t consider it likely that the Avatar would be succeeding in a time frame she cared about; she seemed unable to brace herself properly, and it was almost like her chi was allergic to the earth itself.

It reminded her of something Zuko had said once about when he had gotten his ability to waterbend and how it related to her own airbending.

Opposite elements… something?

Toph grimaced to herself; maybe she should have paid slightly more attention to Zuko’s words; there must be something ironic about ignoring the boy whenever she pleased and only now, when he was gone, to still be wondering what he would have said.

Spirits….

Anya bounced on her feet several times. “Ugh,” she groaned. “This isn’t working! Don’t you have a special track or method?”

Toph sighed and ignored the Avatar.

Anya seemed to notice and began edging towards her. “Hey, come on, there’s got to be something I can do.”

Toph realized the limits of her patience had already been reached, so she did as Zuko always recommended; she stood up and walked away.

“Hey,” Anya called out after her, surprised.

Toph did as she did best and ignored it.

-

Ty Lee stirred awake slowly, which surprised her. Normally she rose as well as any firebender, but right now she was nuzzling into something warm and firm, breathing a deeply familiar, slightly smoky scent.

Ty Lee stiffened, and her head shot upward as she looked into shocking pale gold eyes that were staring at her, a small turn of amusement on his pale lips.

“Zuko,” Ty Lee said quietly, not sure what she even meant by those words but saying them nonetheless. “Um,” she hesitated, “Last night was fun?” she said somewhat questioningly.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at her and Ty Lee felt herself flushing and looking to the side, “It doesn’t have to change anything,” she said quietly. She pressed her arms to her stomach and then stopped as she realized she was pushing her breasts upward, which, while she enjoyed doing as a tease with clothes on, now the movement felt too exposed.

“Do you not want it to?” Zuko asked.

Ty Lee smiled a bit bitterly. “I don’t-“ she hesitated, then shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but we’re in a war; isn’t it kind of, ya know, unimportant?”

Zuko’s arm unexpectedly curled around her waist, and Ty Lee squeaked softly, “Don’t talk down to your feelings, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee kept her gaze averted. “You know I could never be anything more than your concubine, Zuzu.”

And she was okay with it, really she was, but still…

Zuko released a small, pained breath. “You know I would be more than happy to marry you-“

Ty Lee chuckled a bit dryly. “And then our children are legitimate, and we just started a succession crisis.”

Zuko hummed. “That is if I become Fire Lord,” he pointed out dryly.

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. “Zuko, who exactly besides you would become Fire Lord?”

“And maybe this world doesn’t need a Fire Lord.”

Ty Lee looked up at Zuko, a bit surprised, and her arms raised unconsciously to circle around Zuko’s neck lightly.

Finally, she spoke, “Azula expects-“

“I disagree,” Zuko said quietly. “I’m not removing this world's dependence on the Avatar to replace it with the Fire Lord. As far as I’m concerned, Fire Prince Zuko will not reemerge.”

Ty Lee released a long breath, idly twirling the air through Zuko’s hair, ruffling it as she thought over Zuko’s statement that he had held to for the past four years.

“Hakoda of the Water Tribe isn’t you either,” she mumbled into his neck.

Zuko chuckled, and it was a tired sound. “Then who am I supposed to be? How about a Fourth Identity?”

Ty Lee frowned and smacked his chest lightly. “That’s not funny, Zuko.”

But Zuko was already getting into it.

He lifted a hand with four fingers. “No, it’s a great idea, Zuko. Hakoda and the Blue Spirit will all die, and now there are no issues whatsoever.”

Ty Lee scowled, her stomach twisting painfully. “No, Zuko, it’s not funny. Stop.”

Zuko's small smile faded, and he frowned. “Ah, sorry, Ty Lee; that was out of line.”

Ty Lee nodded slowly and pushed herself further onto Zuko’s chest, cheeks coloring as she felt herself pressed against him in a new and still somewhat unusual way, though it did feel good. “You know I would be sad, right?” she said quietly. “I would be sad if you died, Zuko. You know exactly how I felt the first time.”

Zuko grimaced and opened his mouth, but Ty Lee pressed her finger against it.

“No, listen, I know you felt it when you gave me my airbending; you saw all of me, please, Zuko.”

Zuko hummed as if he was thinking, but Ty Lee immediately knew it was a lie.

“How about this,” Zuko finally said, “I’ll work on not dying, and you work on asking me what it is you want.”

Ty Lee’s cheeks puffed out in frustration, and Zuko smiled, amused.

“You know I know you’re lying,” Ty Lee said quietly.

Zuko laughed, “Forgive me, but I am hoping that if I do so for a while longer, it might become the truth.”

Ty Lee sighed and buried her head in Zuko’s neck, deciding to just take a moment because she knew the bitter, plaintive words that wanted to come out.

The morning stretched on by in their quiet huddle of warmth before Ty Lee eventually dragged them to the river to train before they spent the rest of the day riding.

Zuko’s blue fire interspersed her own golden yellow-hued blasts as they danced across the dirt clearing. Ty Lee’s limbs would contort with her absurd flexibility, sending spikes of flame towards Zuko’s vital points.

They worked together for some time before they took their bath with steaming hot water courtesy of Zuko.

They washed each other quickly, these movements familiar and soft because it wasn’t like it wasn’t something they had done before.

They then, after saying farewell to the encampment of deserters, moved through the trees for some time till they came across a heap of familiar red scales.

“Druk,” Zuko said, and the Dragon stirred its massive head and looked at them.

A low rumble stirred throughout the ground as Druk let loose a massive rumbling purr, and while Ty Lee didn’t understand anything, Zuko evidently did.

“Yeah, we’re going to see your sister. You up for a flight?”

Druk uncoiled his body, revealing his scaled back where a long saddle rested, though it was wide enough to seat several people across, considering how massive Druk was.

Druk’s golden eyes flicked to her before he released another growl, and this one somehow sounded amused.

Zuko shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, I don’t need to hear that from you.”

Druk chuffed.

Ty Lee leaped lightly into the air and landed on Druk’s back, followed by Zuko, who used a burst of flame to send himself rolling into the saddle cleanly.

“You know where she is better than us,” Zuko said.

Druk needed no further instruction and leaped into the sky, a ribbon of crimson against the air, twirling through the currents with ease.

Idly, Ty Lee wondered if it was similar to what her ancestors with gliders were able to do.

Anya might be able to give an answer to that on further reflection, if she could stand to be around the other girl for that long.

They drifted through the sky, the air blowing around them in a gentle stream as Druk coasted across the air.

Druk’s wings flared widely, catching an air current; the morning sun warmed the flame in Ty Lee’s chest, which further caused her own chi to stir the air around her.

Not that she needed to, but Ty Lee found herself burrowing into Zuko’s side, enjoying his warmth. There hadn’t been a lot of talking last night, and she found herself wondering what exactly Zuko thought of her now that they had… well, been intimate.

It was a sort of thrilling sensation, making her giddy, but at the same time she felt incredibly nervous.

She noted that Zuko was humming softly to himself; his somewhat raspy voice cleared to a warm, round sound.

“Leaves from the vine-“ he trailed off, seemingly thoughtful.

Ty Lee frowned at him before she snuggled a bit closer to him; there was something quietly sad about Zuko recently. His aura would trail off to more muted colors in quiet moments; his smiles wouldn’t reach his eyes.

“Watcha thinking about?” Ty Lee asked bluntly, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

Zuko didn’t startle, but he did stiffen slightly in surprise, and for a moment he seemed to wrestle with himself. “I just kind of wonder sometimes if this was worth it,” he finally said.

Ty Lee did not verbally respond, but she maintained her attention on Zuko, waiting for him to speak.

Zuko rolled his head to the side. “We’ve saved lives,” Zuko said. “We’ve freed people, but I sometimes wonder how much of your choices I’ve taken from all of you; you’ve all followed me well past what I could have expected.”

Ty Lee sighed and rolled her eyes. “You act like we all didn’t make decisions every step of the way. We didn’t join this fight just because of some feeling of affection for you.” Ty Lee hesitated. “Well, not all of us. We’re fighting because we believe in your vision: a world that is free of the rule of either the Avatar or the Fire Lord, where decisions are made by the people.”

Zuko laughed, “It seemed easier at the start, I think.”

Ty Lee nodded, wondering about the way the air twisted around his words before she decided that she needed to finally break into what was truly bothering Zuko.

“Sosha isn’t mad at you,” Ty Lee said matter-of-factly.

Zuko stiffened slightly, and Ty Lee felt him consciously choose to deflect. “Why would Sosha be mad at me?”

Ty Lee groaned, “You still can’t give her second bending; I know you both tried again recently.”

Zuko sighed, “She asked me to, and I didn’t know how to tell her it wasn’t going to work as long as she’s closed off as she is.”

“Hiding the truth from her isn’t going to help,” Ty Lee pointed out. “She’s scared of showing you herself; it’s not something Toph or I had to deal with. Yue and Azula, for obvious reasons, were completely able to as well. You need to show her she can be open with you.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Zuko conceded lightly.

Ty Lee jabbed a finger into his cheek. “You need to spend more time with her, not as the Blue Spirit or Hakoda, but as Zuko. She doesn’t know that part of you.”

Zuko didn’t respond, but his quiet was contemplative, so Ty Lee let it go for now. This kind of direct confrontation hadn’t come easier to her before Zuko had given her firebending, but now…

Well, she could feel the flame burning in her gut that pushed her onward constantly, pushing her, challenging her.

Iroh would have remarked about the effectiveness of positive jin on negative jin, but beyond the academic, Ty Lee knew it had changed her aura, made her… more.

The scared floating girl now burned quietly, and she would never change that part of herself. Not just because it was a part of herself that she had been missing.

But because Zuko had given it to her.

-

Yue hummed to herself, “Brave Soldier boy-“ she trailed off softly as she turned to see Azula looking rather cross indeed, staring at the table in their clearing, scrolls splayed across it in a seemingly haphazard way, yet Azula seemed to be able to gain something from the assembly.

“What is it, Sister?” she asked, and Azula looked up, seemingly surprised, before a warm smile spread across her face- nothing faked whatsoever about it, the private smile Azula reserved for others she cared for.

“It’s nothing,” Azula sighed. “General How wants us to work with the Southern Water Tribe fleet in clearing the Serpent Pass of its Fire Nation presence.”

“I don’t know how much contact we have with the Southern Water Tribe,” Yue sighed, rubbing her head. “My Father might be willing to send forces, though.”

Azula shrugged. “How wants the Southern Water Tribe, their Chief apparently asked to be made useful, and he doesn’t want to turn down a further alliance.”

“Is there further word of Ba Sing Se at all?” Yue asked, finally putting her ink brush to the side and looking at Azula curiously.

Azula shrugged, but the shrug said everything. “You know how that city is,” she replied dryly.

Yue did indeed ‘know’ much to her own great dismay and consternation.

Still, she would rather look on the bright side, as Azula was often the voice of negativity in the first place. “Losses are down, though,” Yue remarked. “The attrition rate of the Earth Kingdom Army has notably declined since Zuko started attacking the military outposts directly.”

“The Blue Spirit you mean,” Azula said dryly, and both girls shared a look before they began to laugh dryly.

Yue picked up another scroll and realized instantly it had been misplaced because of who exactly it was from; still, it wasn’t something Azula would mind her reading, so she did.

Daughter,

I do not know what you believe so important to ignore my summons so repeatedly, but I will remind you that you have your duty as Fire Nation Princess to-

Azula snatched it from her and didn’t even glance at it before she tossed it into the fireplace.

“You don’t think you should read those?” Yue asked with an amused smile.

Azula giggled. “I already did, silly. I just wait sometimes before I do a burning; it’s rather cathartic.”

“What exactly does he think you’re doing now?” Yue asked.

Azula smiled and pasted on her noble airs. “I am reaffirming our ties with the world; the trade deals I’ve made have enriched some of the more noisy members of our court. With the war stalemated, there’s simply no point sending me to the frontlines. He likes to continue to request to bring me back into his control, but he can’t do anything more than that because two-thirds of the court would summarily lose all those nice trade deals that I made for them.”

Yue smiled down at the slightly younger girl before reaching down and then heaving her into the air in a massive hug. “I’m so proud of you, Azula.”

Azula hung limply in her grip, but Yue could feel the pleased warmth coming off her.

“Yes, well, I am the best at what I do,” Azula said with aplomb.

“You should still be proud.” Yue narrowed her eyes into Azula’s pale gold, and the younger girl sighed before looking almost pitifully at the floor.

“Can you put me down?” she asked.

Yue sighed but did as asked, though she didn’t miss the opportunity to ruffle her sister's hair in all the ways that mattered.

“You think Zuko will be back soon?” Azula said, picking up a teacup that had been steaming for the last ten minutes, as if she didn't understand it should have cooled long ago.

Yue closed her eyes for a moment, and she reached out, not with waterbending, not with earthbending, but with the sixth sense that always told her where Zuko was, that connection that shimmered across both their hair.

“He’s just coming down to land,” she said and grinned brightly at Azula, whose face had brightened considerably. “Let’s go meet him.”

Azula blinked, then looked at the papers scattered on the table before she nodded fervently.

Together they exited the royal purple tent into an empty encampment aside from two other equally empty purple tents.

A snorting sniff drew Yue’s attention to Tia, curled in a slumbering pile of blue scales, and she restrained her amusement as she saw Azula had immediately drifted over to her dragon and begun to stroke underneath the dragon’s chin, causing her to purr a long, interrupted rumbling sound.

Yue turned to see Druk come down with a soft thump, and his two riders immediately slipped off.

Zuko’s pale golden eyes seared into her, and Yue’s breath caught in her throat, and ruthlessly she tried to suppress the swooping sensation in her chest.

“How are my Princesses?” Zuko asked with an amused curl to his lips.

Yue rolled her eyes, but an unwilling smile appeared on her lips. “Why don’t you come here and find out?”

Zuko rapidly crossed the clearing with quick steps, wrapping his arms suddenly around Yue’s waist, and Yue felt her heart stutter for a moment as she looked up at Zuko in a bit of surprise.

“I need to tell you-“ he said quietly.

Yue pressed a finger to Zuko’s lips even as she took a deep breath of his scent, noting Ty Lee’s own scent lingering with his.

“I told you to sleep with her.” Yue rolled her eyes even as she said the words. “As long as you both take precautions to make sure there’s no succession crisis, you more than have my blessing.”

Zuko frowned down at her. “I don’t understand.”

Yue rolled her eyes and then went on her tiptoes, letting her arms fully cross around Zuko’s neck as she brushed her own lips gently against his, feeling her toes curl slightly at the sensation.

“I don’t need you all to myself,” Yue murmured quietly against him. “As long as I have a moment of your time and a fraction of your smile, I am happy beyond words.”

Zuko gave her a long, searching look, but Yue knew he would only find the truth in her.

Their relationship was… abnormal. Even as far as royalty went, but in truth, Yue would have it no other way.

Every member of Dragon Lily was precious to her. When Azula mothered Tia, Yue saw her own self; every member of Dragon Lily was hers. They walked the Earth filled with her Chi; they drank the Water that responded to her call.

If Yue had known at the time Zuko’s healing would have triggered her own connection to the Earth, she would, of course, not have refused.

She would be dead otherwise.

But now that she felt the Earth with every step, a part of her grieved the fact that she could never truly go home. She could not abandon the Earth like that.

Even as she rejoiced, because with water and earth she had never felt more connected to life.

Yue felt Azula shift a bit on her feet and drew back, allowing Azula to step forward. She looked Zuko over for a moment before something soft emerged on her face, and she looked at Ty Lee. “You kept him safe.”

Ty Lee smiled broadly and crossed her arms in an authoritative stance. “You think that I would let a single thing happen to him?”

Azula gave Ty Lee a small smile and then stepped forward, wrapping her in a tight hug, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

Ty Lee blinked, then her face became a searing red, and she squirmed free in an instant, looking at Azula in shock, then at Zuko in worried horror.

“No, you need to understand, it’s not like-“

Zuko held up a hand. “It’s none of my business,” he said with a chuckle.

Azula frowned and then stepped forward to Zuko, curling her arms around Zuko’s chest. “Oh, Zuzu, don’t you know sometimes a girl wants a guy to be jealous? You’d think after spending so much time with girls you’d realize that by now.”

Zuko visibly rolled his eyes and then pressed a gentle kiss to Azula’s lips, and the girl stiffened a moment before she melted against him.

Yue smiled happily, her family was back with her.