It's dark and Azula walks through the halls of the palace with a small blue fire in her hand to light her way. As far as she can tell, anyone else is asleep. Good, she thinks, slipping through the darkness, listening carefully for sounds of activity.

She smirks when she hears footfalls behind her.

Her pace slows and the fire in her hand dims. Then she stops and the fire goes out. It's completely silent, except for the almost inaudible breathing behind her. Six meters, she figures. She smiles. Time to play.

"I know you're there," she states. The breathing stops, then starts again. Azula turns around. Her eyes adjust to the darkness, but she still can't see who's standing behind her. It doesn't matter though.

With caution, Azula steps forward. No movement. How brave, she thinks. "Just so you know, you aren't the first person to come here looking for revenge." She lifts her hand and takes another step forward. By her estimate she's a little more than arms length from the intruder. Steadying herself, she turns her wrist and produces a flame, illuminating the woman standing in the hallway. Her mouth drops open, but only briefly.

"Maybe not," the woman says, "But I hope to be the last."

Azula steps closer to her, inspecting her face. She's very beautiful. Nervous, but maintaining confidence.

"What was it that I did?" Azula says in a low, taunting voice. "Did I have your boyfriend executed? Or maybe I sent your family to a concentration camp."

The woman didn't say anything. Her jaw twitched and her throat fluttered.

"No, no, this must be... personal," Azula mutters, stepping to the side of the woman. "What was it that I did to you?"

Again the woman doesn't say anything, only this time she speaks. "Nine years ago you put me in prison and executed my best friend." Her voice is small and quiet but spoken sternly. Azula smiles.

"What is your name?" Azula is behind the woman now. The woman lowers her head, thinking quickly to come up with a fake name.

"What does it matter? I'm here to kill you."

"I'm sure that's what you believe. If you really are here to kill me, what harm can come from telling me your name? Unless deep down you're worried that I'll survive your attempt and use your name to find the people you're working with or worse, your family." Azula whispers the last part into the side of the woman's head. She can feel her shaking a bit. She's doing great.

The woman maintains her silence, staring straight ahead. "My... My name is Isaka."

Azula steps around her front with a deviant smirk. At the woman's side, she puts on a pouty face and leans in.

"Why are you lying to me... Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee opens her mouth slightly, the ghost of a repressed gasp. A moment later she stands up straighter than before, glaring down the dark hall. "How did you know?"

"You didn't think I'd remember the face of the woman who betrayed me, even if it was nine years ago?" She pauses. "Nine years, really. It seems more like five."

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was. I'm here to kill you and end your regime, Azula," Ty Lee states with surprising boldness.

"Then why haven't you killed me yet?"

"Because you won't shut up," Ty Lee retorts with gritted teeth.

Azula suppresses laughter and stands in front of Ty Lee. "Ty Lee Ty Lee Ty Lee. Where did we go wrong?"

"About the time you tried to kill Mai with lightning and then put me in prison and then actually killed Mai with a sword."

"Is all this anger over one traitor and a few years of prison? You have to lighten up Ty."

Rather than lightening up, Ty Lee steps forward. "And forgive you for a lifetime of cruelty and malice? Not likely Azula."

"What would you do? Stab me to death and leave me to die?" She motions to Ty Lee's belt. "Or poison me? Or throw me off a tower?" Azula steps closer. "Ty Lee, you're not a killer. Didn't the Airbender teach you about forgiveness and all that fluffy crap?"

"I'm not working with Aang. And I'm not the same person I was when you threw me away. I've done things. I've killed people. And I'm not afraid of you."

"Then why are you shaking?"

Ty Lee looked down at her hands. "...It's cold in here."

"Ty, do things really have to be this way between us?" In one step Azula closes the distance between them and leaves less than a foot of space between their heads.

"Yes," she shoots back.

Azula clucks and shakes her head. "Do you remember what it's like to live in a palace? To be waited on, to be in control?"

"I don't care."

"It gets lonely, being the Fire Lord. I'm just saying it would be nice to have somebody around." Azula leans inches from Ty Lee's face. She starts to walk around her again.

"I'm here to kill you, Fire Lord Azula, not become your wife," Ty Lee spits.

"Who said wife? I can't marry another woman, imagine the scandal. I could take you as a royal concubine." With expert timing, Azula places her hands on Ty Lee's hips and casts them in darkness. Ty Lee can feel the heat radiating from Azula's left hand. She nearly gasps.

"Azula, no... I have to... I'm here to kill you."

"What if I gave you a reason not to?" Azula sways them back and forth, their bodies pushed together. Ty Lee smells Azula and she smells good. Ty Lee closes her eyes.

She feels the hands on her body begin to turn her and then she's facing Azula and then they kiss.

-Two hours and thirty-two minutes later-

"Holy crap. That's fucking amazing," Ty Lee gasps, sprawled across Azula's bed completely naked and glistening with sweat and various fluids. Azula sets herself down next to her and closes her eyes to catch her breath.

"I'd say that was pretty good, yeah," the princess agrees and they lay in silence for a few moments, staring at the ceiling. The bedroom reeks of sex and some kind of lotion.

"Want to stop?" Ty Lee breathes.

"Yes. I'm completely fucked out."

"Okay." Their breaths slow down and become quieter and finally they simply lay there arms wrapped together and staring up.

"I really liked that one," Azula says.

Ty Lee laughs. "That's because you got to be Fire Lord."

Azula sighs wistfully. "What could have been."

With a happy sigh, Ty Lee settles into a position where Azula's arm is wrapped around her and she can cling to the woman's body. She still smells good. "If you became Fire Lord, would you still be with me?"

"Of course. I'd even make it so that what we just did wasn't illegal."

"I hope we didn't wake Zuko up," Ty Lee mumbles.

"You hope? Ty, if Zuko finds out about us we're done for."

Ty Lee laughs. "Azula, he's not going to execute you over this."

"You don't know him. He might. He's a terrible buzzkiller," Azula mutters rapidly. Ty Lee laughs again and kisses her.

"We're fine. Relax."

They lie there in silence for a while. Ty Lee pushes into Azula, and she can feel her breath against her chest. Their breaths synchronize. Something smells good.

Once, a long time ago, Azula almost became Fire Lord. It's moments like this that make her glad she didn't.