In the Palace Gardens

[bentflame]

Azula knew from experience that when Ty Lee said "I'm coming anyway", she meant it- and for once, she wasn't in the mood to argue, or to threaten, or to fight.

She hated viruses.

The gardens were deserted, as she knew they would be- it was a couple of hours after midnight, after all. She didn't carry a candle, or anything that might alert someone to her presence. The full moon was bright enough to see by- and, having grown up here, she knew the grounds well.

She wasn't staying in her room, of course. Servants were working on fixing the bed, and the curtains, and the armoire- all of which had been burned during the... incident with that despicable woman. For the time being, Azula had relocated to one of the palace's many guest rooms, and while it was certainly spacious and comfortable, and and had all the amenities she desired, it wasn't her room.

It wasn't as though she couldn't handle anything less than the highest luxuries, of course- after all, how much time had she spent in the wilderness, searching for the Avatar?

At the moment, however, Azula wanted something familiar.

Comments

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula was slightly uncomfortable, but she resisted the urge to pull away. She wasn't going to let Ty Lee know that her idiotic actions were affecting her at all.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

Ty Lee was confused now, but didn't mind. She'd prefer a reaction but silence was okay. She went on, gently touching the side of Azula's face.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula didn't know why she was allowing this. It was just going to end up making things worse when the virus wore off. She'd probably get accused of molestation again, and taking advantage of Ty Lee. Despite her vow not to move a muscle, she felt her hands clench into fists.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"C'mon..." Her voice was quiet, low, the tone of a child or servant pleading for something. Ty Lee let go, slowly walked around and planted herself on her knees in front of Azula, pouting.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She raised an eyebrow slightly, though the desired affect was somewhat ruined by the tears drying on her face. "You know, you look ridiculous when you do that."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"You make that sound a bad thing." Ty Lee noted the tears...why? She shouldn't be-Ty Lee stopped that line of thinking before it got too...

"Pleease, Azula. You didn't have to walk away. We can find somewhere else, if you want."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula turned away. "Ty Lee, I told you before."

She sighed.

"Don't you think it would be better if you stayed away from me until this is all over?"

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"I need you, Azula. Please, just this once...we don't have to do it again but, just for me. Alright? No one has to know...we'll find someplace else, even."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula shot her a sharp look. "Ty Lee, honestly. This virus is making you think you do, but you don't, all right? You don't. When this is all over, you're going to go back to thinking I'm going to kill you no matter what I tell you to the contrary, and only staying with me because you're afraid." She spat out these last sentences angrily; frustratedly.

"You don't listen to me And... well, you probably would listen now, but what's the use? You'll either forget, or decide that I'm lying."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

There was truth in that. "No..." It hurt, truly. Ty Lee crept on her knees towards her. Maybe Azula would change her mind? That... There was only so much Ty Lee could take, she felt like she was going to cry. No harm in that but...

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Yes." Azula turned away from her.

"I don't think you realize how much this-" She stopped short.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"How much it what?"

Oh, it was harder to stop it from coming. A low sniff, a prelude of worse to come.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula ignored her tears; she didn't even notice them. She was too busy pulling her thoughts together to answer Ty Lee's question- to give an answer that was thorough and truthful through-and-through... and exactly the sort of thing that Ty Lee would never believe if she wasn't under the influence of this infernal virus.

"Imagine this. You discover that your boyfriend-" Ugh. Already this was coming out wrong- perhaps in the past she could have used Mai as an example, but obviously that wouldn't do now. "All right, fine, not your boyfriend, but... well, it's the best comparison I can think of at the moment. But imagine that you discover that your boyfriend, whom you care about, only likes you back because of some virus that has addled his brain. In addition to this, you find that this virus is going to wear off in a matter of days. When that happens, he'll suddenly stop caring for you- in fact, he'll start to fear you immensely. And while fear is certainly an extremely useful tool, on some people it just makes things more complicated, and really, sometimes you just want things to be less..." her voice trailed off. She hadn't meant to go off on a tangent.

"I suppose what I'm saying is, wouldn't that make you... well... hurt?"

Knowing Ty Lee, the only thing she would get out of that whole tirade would be Azula comparing herself to her boyfriend. Wonderful.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Yes...it...would."

Ty Lee sniffed loudly again.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Yes. It would.

"It does."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Well, that doesn't do much good, does it?" Azula herself was crying now- for the second time that night; it was so pathetic.

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"...I'm trying, Azula." Was it that wrong? All I wanted...

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"I just want there to be some way for this virus to not... simply... stop!

"I don't see why you can't... why can't you keep trying, even after it's gone?"

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"I'll keep trying, I promise." Ty Lee had stopped crying for the moment. "Even if the virus ends tommorrow or in a minute or whatever. I...just want to be...with you."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula stared at her for a good long while. Her face was calm. Expressionless. She was good at that.

"I wish it were actually you who was saying that, Ty Lee.

"I wouldn't even care if you wanted to keep the stupid boyfriend, too."

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Can I just...please..." Begging wasn't something Ty Lee liked but...she didn't mind.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula sighed. "Can you what?"

[hotpinkaura.livejournal.com]

"Be near you...hug you. I want to do...something, anything with you."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"... I suppose." She didn't move towards Ty Lee herself; she just waited.