"I have a surprise for you," I said with a smile. Azula turned around, looking at me. "Remember that necklace you gave me?"
"Um . . . I found that. It wasn't mine to keep."
"Yeah but you had the heart to give it to me. So," I said, raising a closed fist, "open it."
She, still confused, reached out carefully and opened my fingers. In the middle of my palm was a pin. The fire emblem, more detailed than the usual ones, was pressed onto the front. A splash of water ran through it like an arrow.
"What is it?" she furrowed her eyebrows.
"I don't know. It was mine. I never really paid attention to it until now, but I want to give it to you," I said with a smile.
"I uh. . . well, thank you," she said, still examining the pin as if it might snap up and hurt her.
I gave her a hug which she didn't return in confusion.
What was I doing?
I wanted to see into her. I wanted her to trust me so I could trust her. I wanted her to be my friend. My sister.
Zuko came up behind me.
"You look bored," he said.
"I am bored," I replied, letting my feet dip into the pond. "It's so boring here."
"I know," he said, sitting beside me. I realized his hair was still loose, brushing his golden eyes. I smiled as I realized he actually listenend to what I said.
"Why are you stalking me?" I asked, and his jaw dropped as he took a few seconds to realize I was joking. "I'm joking," I nudged him. "For a large palace, it certainly is a small place to find people."
"I know what you mean," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Mai finds me everywhere I go."
"Are you trying to hide from her?" I raised an eyebrow.
The tips of his ears turned red. "No. I am not. I just want to be alone."
"And so you came here. Where you obviously aren't alone."
"Well I know you. So I guess it counts."
"So I'm a nobody basically."
"Not what I was saying." He shot me a look. "I just need some quiet time. Which I am not getting."
"Well sorry." I retorted. "Why don't you go sit somewhere else?"
"Because I am bored." He narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, let me bore you even more. "I grinned. "So, I've been reading books here—"
"Books? Where are the books?"
"In the library, dodo brain," I rolled my eyes. "How do you not know your own home?"
"Must be the latest addition." He scowled. "A library."
"So anyway," I cleared my throat, "There was this book with other worlds in it, and one of them were called parallel dimensions where there's a world, just like yours, but everything is the opposite."
"So?"
"Well what if there really is a world somewhere where there's me and you, and Mai and everyone else?"
"Everything would be the opposite."
"Do you think I'd be with Aang now, or here?" I asked, looking down at my reflection in the water.
He sighed. "Why don't you go there and check?"
"You wouldn't have a scar." I turned to look at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away from my touch as if burned.
"It doesn't matter."
"Would you have left home for three years? Would there be a war? Would the avatar even be the avatar?"
"I said it doesn't matter," he said, his words a little harsher.
"But it does!" I exclaimed.
"Okay then. In the opposite world, would you be nicer? Less annoying? Only a waterbender? Would your parents have died? Would you have found me?"
I scowled at him. "Would your own father have kicked you out?"
"Are you always going to bring that up?" he stood up abruptly. "What is wrong with you? Every time I try to be nice, you go ahead and ruin everything."
"I haven't said anything to you. You mentioned my parents, so I mentioned yours."
He kicked a large stone into the pond, shattering the calmness of the water and messing up my reflection. I opened my mouth but no words came out.
"I am a prince," he said, trying to keep his breath even, "and you will not speak to me that way. Next time you see me, remind yourself that this is royalty you're talking to."
I stood up angrily. "And even I'm more respected than your royal highness."
He curled his fingers into fists at his sides, and then turned and walked away.
And the next time I saw him, his hair was up and out of his eyes, the small prince crown lying his head, mocking me.
I felt bad immediately. I looked at my shoes and walked passed him, and he didn't even look up or acknowledge my presence, Mai by his side. I bumped my shoulder against his furiously and the scrolls in his hands clattered to the floor. He stopped, picked them up, and continued his way.
"He's a tough one," a voice said in my ear. I nearly jumped ten feet in the air, spinning around to see who it was.
"Ty Lee, you nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry," she giggled. "Ignore him and he'll probably end up coming back."
"And how would you know that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Trust me. Don't ever give a guy importance or they'll think they're better than you. You'll never get 'em back."
"I suppose you're right on that one."
"Really?"
"Well you're Ty Lee and you're talking about a boy. There's no reason for me not to believe you." I crossed my arms over my chest.
She laughed. "So," she said as we walked through the hall, "do you want to learn that chi block thing?"
"Now?" I asked.
She looked a little disappointed. "Well it's okay if you don't want to do it now. I just thought—"
"No, no," I cut her off with a smile, "I didn't mean that. I definitely want to do it now. Please. I'm so bored."
She grinned, her face lightening up. "Let's go."
Chi blocking wasn't as easy as it looked. There were certain spots you had to hit someone in sharply or it wouldn't work. The side of the neck was one to shut off or paralyze the nerves for a short time, and around the spine on the back.
I couldn't move for ten minutes, lying on the floor. She sat next to me, waiting.
As soon as I got up I punched her arm gracefully and it went limp. Caught off guard, I did the same to her other arm.
"You deserved that," I smirked.
"I know." She looked down at her arms. "What goes around comes around."
I laughed. "You got that right."
