Chapter Text
114 A.G.
The Fire Nation Royal Family, consisting of Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Lady Mai, Crown Princess Izumi, Prince Iroh, Princess Ursa, and Prince Noren, had just arrived before sunset to Ember Island for their annual vacation, opting to stay in their old, family beach house.
With their only companions being their guards, the Rangi Warriors, who were currently being led by Ladies Zirin, Beam, and Chyou, and their closest friend, Lady Ty Lee, who was also the head of the Rangi Warriors.
And as the Royal Family was getting settled in for the night, they soon realized they had a conundrum.
This was because Princess Kiyi, who was currently studying at Caldera City University, was going to join them tomorrow, and combined with the fact that Izumi, who had just turned three, was finally old enough for her own room, meant that they would not have enough rooms for everyone.
That is if they didn’t touch Azula’s old room.
However, no one really wanted to touch the room, especially Ursa and Zuko, so Ty Lee volunteered since she was eager to protect her friends, even though she was technically on vacation.
And this was because she had established the Rangi Warriors to not only allow her fellow Kyoshi Warriors to go back home after spending over a decade protecting the Royal Family, but also to help the Fire Nation reclaim its pre-war history as well.
History that included acceptance of non-heterosexuals since it turned out that not only was the pre-Sozin Fire Nation very tolerant towards such people, but also that several, important figures in history, like Rangi, Kyoshi’s bodyguard, firebending teacher, and first lover, were non-heterosexuals as well.
And so Ty Lee got to cleaning Azula’s old room, where she found it to be eerily well-maintained, despite not having been entered in well over a decade.
Ty Lee started by emptying the closets, making sure to handle the fine garments and shoes with care if Princess Ursa wanted a keepsake.
She then went to the drawer, where she noted, among other hair care products, a fine whale tooth hair brush that she and Mai had given Azula for her eighth birthday.
It turned out that Azula did care about the little things she and Mai did for her.
Not that she cared Ty Lee mused as she nervously chuckled.
Ty Lee then swept the floors, looking for anything that might have been left on the ground, but found nothing, which was to be expected considering Azula’s perfectionism, and how she would never tolerate dirtiness from either herself or the servants who were responsible for cleaning her room.
Ty Lee then went to replace the old bed sheets with new ones, expecting to find nothing again, when she found, after lifting up the comforter, a slightly burned hole in the center of the mattress, and what appeared to be a neatly folded piece of paper nestled in it.
So she decided to pick it up and open it, despite a sudden shift in her aura telling her it was a bad idea. But thankfully her aura was wrong, for it just seemed to be a harmless drawing by a young Azula.
And this was because the brush strokes, despite being better than anything she could ever produce, were sloppy compared to the sure-handed and composed strokes that came to be associated with Azula.
Hence, she decided to take a closer look and inspect the drawing. And she found there was a mutton chopped person behind the fiery veil that had characterized the Fire Lord’s throne room before Zuko’s accession. Therefore, considering this was made by a young Azula, Ty Lee thought Azula was depicting when Iroh would take the throne, and thus the artwork was a depiction of a future that never came to be.
But she was half-right, for while the picture was a depiction of a future that never came to be, the person behind the veil wasn’t Iroh, but instead her cousin Lu Ten, as the Hanzi clearly pointed out, saying, “Fire Lord Lu Ten”.
Thus, Ty Lee quickly deduced that this drawing was not meant to depict the near future, but instead when Lu Ten’s generation took power.
And her suspicions were confirmed when she looked at the right corner and saw Azula's depiction of an adult Zuko and Mai, for they were holding hands with crowns in their topknots, with Zuko’s caption being, “Prince Zuko, War Minister” while Mai’s was, “Princess Mai”.
Ty Lee smiled, for Azula had managed to predict Zuko and Mai’s adult hairstyle, with both of them wearing a half-up, half-down topknot with their long, black hair flowing down their backs. And it was funny that even as a toddler, Azula had envisioned them together; if only she knew how much trouble it would cause her in the future!
Not that it really bothered her in the end Ty Lee sadly remembered.
Ty Lee then shifted her gaze to the left corner and saw her and Azula holding hands with crowns in their hair along with the respective captions: “Princess Azula, Chancellor to the Fire Lord” and “Princess Ty Lee”, causing her to laugh since it must have been a mistake.
For Azula never really liked anyone like that except for that one dude, and that was because she was jealous of the attention Ty Lee was getting.
But as Ty Lee double-checked the picture she stopped laughing, for she noticed that, among other details like the two of them having the same hairdos they had as children, another thing Azula had correctly predicted, Azula had painstakingly made a miniaturized crown for her that would not interfere with her acrobatics.
For when she was still sweet, Azula one day had wanted to give her a Fire Lily to wear in her hair as a "token of appreciation for her companionship". However, she declined, saying that she didn’t like wearing things in her hair since it could lead to accidents while training, and she never wanted to be bedridden in her life. Azula then responded by saying that she had made a mistake, and that she wouldn’t make it again.
And while Azula did give her many more gifts over the years, none were as personal as the Fire Lily. Especially since not only are Fire Lilies a symbol of fiery purity and passion, but also because Azula had mentioned to her and Mai, before attempting to give her a Fire Lily, that she had recently talked to her mother about the meaning of Fire Nation plants.
Meaning, more likely than not, Azula knew exactly what she was doing when she attempted to give the plant to her. Especially since she never did anything without a reason...at least while she had the facade of sanity.
Thus, Ty Lee looked over the drawing over and over again.
“Princess Azula, Chancellor to the Fire Lord” and “Princess Ty Lee”.
“Princess Azula” and “Princess Ty Lee”.
“Princess Ty Lee".
As the reality of the drawing and what it meant set in, Ty Lee started to feel tight as she felt a rush of conflicting emotions.
Pre-Boiling Rock Ty Lee would have been ecstatic that her friend and princess desired her in that fashion. Especially since she had a crush on Azula ever since she first laid eyes on her during their first day at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. And especially since it was further proof that she was truly special and different from the rest of her sisters.
Though post-circus incident Ty Lee would be slightly weary, for it seemed that her friend was slowly but surely losing all the best parts of herself in order to meet the impossible standards of her demented father.
Post-Boiling Rock Teenage Ty Lee would have been utterly disgusted at the person who had clearly taken advantage of her crush to abuse her, and would have chi-blocked Azula on sight the moment she showed any attention, positive or negative, towards her.
For as she laid in her cell with the Kyoshi Warriors and told them her backstory while teaching them the art of chi-blocking, they told her what she had always needed to hear: that Azula was an abuser.
This was because the Kyoshi Warriors, founded to help women to protect themselves, had experience with people in her situation, and Azula was a classic abuser.
For it was not normal for your crush/friend to physically punish you for doing better.
It was not normal for your crush/friend to nearly get you killed so she could get you to “willingly” join her self-centered quest as her “friend”.
It was not normal for your crush/friend to constantly belittle you, insult you, and then expect you to either take it or comfort her like Azula did during their vacation to Ember Island over a decade ago.
And your crush/friend would certainly never put you in the position where you would have to choose between life in prison or seeing your real, best friend, who also suffered thanks to your shared “friend”, die by her hand.
And for what? For having the audacity to save her boyfriend who was doing the right thing by trying to end an immoral war?
But what did the grown-up Ty Lee, with the weight of what she now knew about Azula weighing on her, feel about the drawing? Tired, confused, conflicted, sad, and angry.
There was a nagging voice in the back of Ty Lee’s skull telling her to either place the letter back where she found it or burn it, never to think of it again in either case.
In fact, it was the same nagging voice that had provoked her to leave for the circus, as well as join the Kyoshi Warriors in the immediate aftermath of the Hundred Year War in order to avoid the shitshow she correctly predicted post-war Fire Nation politics would become, among other things.
Though she could admit even her worst nightmares did not come close to the horrors and painful revelations she, along with the rest of the Fire Nation, ended up suffering through.
However, Ty Lee decided not to give into that voice and instead stand her ground.
For if there was one thing her time as a Kyoshi Warrior taught her, it was to confront her feelings instead of running away from them.
And what type of Kyoshi Warrior would she be, or what type of example would she be setting for her Rangi Warriors, if she didn’t at least try to get some closure in regards to someone who had, for better or worse, defined her life for so long and basically set her on the path she was on today?
Moreover, her friends and their family wouldn't disregard her desire for closure just because she wasn't being friendly, fun, protective, or flirty.
For another thing she had learned in the intervening ten plus years was that she was a whole human being with complex, ugly emotions and thoughts. And that she didn't have to hide or disguise them so she could make her friends and family happy, or make her nation proud.
Thus, Ty Lee pocketed the drawing and quickly made the bed so she could go back to the living room and get closure, or at least get some closure. And as she left the room, she thought to herself maybe the letter didn’t mean what she thought it meant.
For maybe it was just a crude drawing by Zuko or Lu Ten to mess with Azula and get a rise out of her since she constantly messed with them, and therefore deserved retaliation in kind.
Ty Lee re-entered the living room at the same time as Zuko and Mai, who just finished putting their daughter to sleep and were wearing the royal robes and crowns associated with the Fire Lord and Fire Lady.
Meanwhile, Ursa and Noren were silently sitting next to each at the tea table, with Iroh sitting next to Ursa brewing hojicha tea in order to help everyone sleep better after disturbing Azula’s old room.
Thus, as she, Zuko, and Mai sat across from the other adults, Ty Lee removed the drawing from her pocket and showed it to her friends, hoping she would find out it wasn’t Azula who had drawn it.
“Uh, guys...do you know who drew this by any chance?” Ty Lee asked as she handed the drawing to Zuko and Mai, who held the edges as they looked at it.
“It's obviously Azula, no one else in this family has that much attention to detail.” Mai said. But as she finally got to THAT corner, her eyes uncharacteristically widened before telling Ty Lee, “I am so sorry Ty Lee.”
“What is there to be sorry about Mai? It's just a drawing depicting a future where Lu Ten became Fire Lord: see how I am War Minister while Azula is Chancellor?”
“Azula could do anything she put her mind to, so why are we acting like she couldn't draw well?” Zuko asked.
Well, almost anything Zuko bitterly thought to himself.
“Zuko.”
“Yes Mai?”
“Did you see who was holding Azula’s hand, and what that person’s title was?”
“No.”
“So why don’t you do that?”
So Zuko took a closer look before telling Ty Lee, “This has to be a complete mistake. I knew Azula thought of you as a close friend, but I didn’t know she liked you like THAT!”
“What about Azula liking Ty Lee?” Ursa asked.
“It is nothing Mother.” Zuko quickly responded.
For even though Zuko knew his mother was unimaginably strong, he also knew his mother still felt pain and anguish about her middle child whenever she was brought up. And he was not about to let their vacation be soured before it even began.
“Well you guys are clearly talking about something. Mai. Ty Lee. Can either one of you girls please tell me what you guys are talking about since Zuko wants to play protector, even though he of all people should know I don't need protecting?” Ursa asked, though Mai and Ty Lee knew she wasn’t asking, but instead was demanding, a similar tactic that was often used by Azula.
“It was a drawing I found hidden in a makeshift hole in Azula’s mattress when I was cleaning her old room implying she wanted me to be her consort. And I was asking Zuko and Mai if someone else other than Azula drew it, though it doesn't seem to be the case. Would you like to see Princess Ursa?” Ty Lee responded.
“Thank you dear for explaining things, and yes, I would like to see it.” Ursa responded.
Hence, after Zuko reluctantly let go, Ty Lee handed the drawing to Ursa, who spent a minute looking at it before she told them with tears in her eyes after putting it down on the table, “This drawing was made by Azula alright. In fact, I had a discussion about it with her.”
“Huh!?” was the reaction from Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee as Iroh and Noren sympathetically glanced at them and Ursa.
“Why did you have a discussion about it? It's just a stupid drawing; it is nowhere as offensive or dangerous as that letter you wrote. Not that I hold that against you.” Zuko quickly responded.
“That’s the thing Zuko, this drawing is just as offensive and dangerous as that foolish letter I wrote, if not more.” Ursa responded.
“That’s crazy talk Mother! How could you say that?!” Zuko shouted, puzzled that a harmless drawing could be compared to that letter of all things.
Ursa sighed and realized she needed to tell them about the discussion she had with Azula about the drawing in front of her, no matter how much pain and grief it caused her.
This is was because she knew it would be another, painful story of how she tried being a good mother to Azula, but ended up failing her in the long run. Not to mention, she would be betraying Azula’s trust by revealing the details of a deeply sensitive topic.
But her old friends and Zuko deserved to know the truth, especially Ty Lee considering the drawing at one point had life-or-death implications for her as well.
Besides, her Water Tribe healer made sure to impress upon her that silently holding onto her emotions and memories about Azula without talking about them would only hurt her and her loved ones.
Thus, Ursa said, “It'll make sense when I finish explaining Zuko. You see, during a rainy night on Ember Island….