Mai makes an annoyed sound that isn't a denial, so Ty Lee turns her head on her pillow and smiles at the other girl's disgruntled expression.
"It's all right. I kind of love his sister."
That hits Mai, all right: she struggles upright and folds her arms around her bent legs, frowning. "Why?"
Ty Lee lifts her fingers and bends them down, neatly, one by one. "She's very clever. She's very beautiful. She's very powerful."
"Don't be stupid," Mai says. "That's a very simple way of looking at it."
People have called Ty Lee simple all of her life and she's never thought of it as an insult, so she just shrugs peaceably and touches her lips with her own fingertips, thinking about the curve of Azula's waist under her dark clothes and the economical way her hands return to her side after executing a firebending technique.
~
"Why?" Azula asks, and Ty Lee sighs and gives her exactly the same reasons.
"It might be useful to you," she adds. "I don't know. You can usually find a use for things."
"Of course," and the princess smiles, her mouth creating a cruel and perfect symmetry that makes Ty Lee's heart thump. Love should be simple, she thinks. There are adjectives and more adjectives that can be applied to Azula, but Ty Lee has never found one with enough force to overcome the plain -- simple -- urge to remain within the heat of her influence, and the slightly more complex urge to kiss her and to bend under her clever hands. She doesn't care what Azula chooses to do with her power, and she's accepted the fact that her life belongs to the Fire Nation and its rulers, so why shouldn't she have a little fun?
"I know you don't love me," she tells Azula. "That's fine."
"You're not a threat, are you?" Azula asks, clinical amusement in her voice as her fingers close around Ty Lee's arms with just the slightest suggestion of flames and heat.
Ty Lee knows what to say. She lifts her hand to Azula's neck and kisses her soft, unmoving, uncertain lips. "Keep me close," she whispers. "You can always spot traitors, can't you? You can tell as soon as I start lying."
This time Azula responds to the kiss, fierce and curious, seizing control as though she was the one to initiate the whole thing. "Yes," Azula says, one hand moving to unwind Ty Lee's plait, the other laid firm and expert over her heart. "Yes, I can."
(timestamp = WHO KNOWS)
Mai makes an annoyed sound that isn't a denial, so Ty Lee turns her head on her pillow and smiles at the other girl's disgruntled expression.
"It's all right. I kind of love his sister."
That hits Mai, all right: she struggles upright and folds her arms around her bent legs, frowning. "Why?"
Ty Lee lifts her fingers and bends them down, neatly, one by one. "She's very clever. She's very beautiful. She's very powerful."
"Don't be stupid," Mai says. "That's a very simple way of looking at it."
People have called Ty Lee simple all of her life and she's never thought of it as an insult, so she just shrugs peaceably and touches her lips with her own fingertips, thinking about the curve of Azula's waist under her dark clothes and the economical way her hands return to her side after executing a firebending technique.
~
"Why?" Azula asks, and Ty Lee sighs and gives her exactly the same reasons.
"It might be useful to you," she adds. "I don't know. You can usually find a use for things."
"Of course," and the princess smiles, her mouth creating a cruel and perfect symmetry that makes Ty Lee's heart thump. Love should be simple, she thinks. There are adjectives and more adjectives that can be applied to Azula, but Ty Lee has never found one with enough force to overcome the plain -- simple -- urge to remain within the heat of her influence, and the slightly more complex urge to kiss her and to bend under her clever hands. She doesn't care what Azula chooses to do with her power, and she's accepted the fact that her life belongs to the Fire Nation and its rulers, so why shouldn't she have a little fun?
"I know you don't love me," she tells Azula. "That's fine."
"You're not a threat, are you?" Azula asks, clinical amusement in her voice as her fingers close around Ty Lee's arms with just the slightest suggestion of flames and heat.
Ty Lee knows what to say. She lifts her hand to Azula's neck and kisses her soft, unmoving, uncertain lips. "Keep me close," she whispers. "You can always spot traitors, can't you? You can tell as soon as I start lying."
This time Azula responds to the kiss, fierce and curious, seizing control as though she was the one to initiate the whole thing. "Yes," Azula says, one hand moving to unwind Ty Lee's plait, the other laid firm and expert over her heart. "Yes, I can."