The night was still thick and silent when Azula left Ren's room.
She walked a few steps down the hallway before stopping abruptly, leaning a hand against the wall.
Her breathing was ragged, not from exhaustion… but from something she hated to admit:
Vulnerability.
Behind her, almost like a reflection, Ty Lee also came out.
The acrobat's face was pink, confused, her hands still trembling slightly from the contact with Ren and with Azula.
The two stood there, in silence, not knowing who should speak first.
Until Ty Lee broke the ice.
—"Azula… I… —she hesitated, something she rarely did—. What exactly was that?"
Azula closed her eyes for a second, straightened her spine, and regained her princess mask.
Or at least, she tried to.
—"Ren was clear," she replied, her voice contained. "We have a role. Both of us."
Ty Lee lowered her gaze.
—"But do you realize what that means?
What… what he wants from us?"
Azula glared at her, though not with her usual aggressiveness.
It was more… defensive.
—"It means he trusts us.
That we are essential to him.
That's what matters."
Ty Lee took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts.
—"Azula… I've never seen you like this," she said softly. "So… close to someone.
So open."
The princess clenched her fists.
—"Don't misinterpret anything," she said sharply. "Ren is the only one worthy of being at my level.
The only one capable of walking beside me without falling.
The only one who… —she stopped before saying too much.
Ty Lee tilted her head.
—"The only one who really sees you."
Azula felt something uncomfortable crawl up her spine.
She always found such phrases cheesy, unnecessary…
but this time, it struck her deeply.
—"I don't need to be seen," she replied, looking away. "I need results. Power. Clear objectives."
Ty Lee took a timid step toward her.
—"Azula…
Ren doesn't just want that from you."
That comment made the princess tense.
Her shoulders hardened, her jaw set.
—"And what do you know?" she scoffed. "You've always been emotional.
You get carried away easily."
Ty Lee lowered her gaze, hurt for a moment… but then looked up with unusual courage.
—"You're right.
I feel too much.
But that's why… I can notice what you hide."
Azula slowly turned her face toward her.
—"And what do you think I'm hiding?"
Ty Lee swallowed, not out of fear, but because of the seriousness of the moment.
—"That you care about Ren more than you're willing to admit.
That you don't just admire him.
You… —she corrected herself, knowing that saying "love" would be too soon—.
You need him."
The air between them grew heavy.
Azula frowned, but not to verbally attack.
It was the expression of someone who had just been exposed.
—"He is… —the princess hesitated for the first time—.
He's mine."
Ty Lee nodded, without challenging her.
—"And I'm with him too.
Not to compete with you…
but because I've been following him since before I understood my own feelings."
Azula took a step forward, leaving only a few centimeters between them.
The blue fire in her eyes flickered, but not in threat: more in tension.
—"I won't let you interfere," she warned, though her tone was lower, more intimate than usual. "Ren chose me as his flank. His equal. His fire."
Ty Lee didn't retreat.
—"And he chose me as his balance.
His support.
His air."
They both stood there, looking at each other, like two pieces of the same mechanism that finally understood why they were there.
Azula took a deep breath.
—"We're not rivals," she said, almost grudgingly. "We can't be.
Ren made that clear."
Ty Lee smiled slightly, with softness.
—"Then…
what are we?"
The princess hesitated.
A word surfaced in her mind, uncomfortable, but undeniable:
Allies.
—"We are…" Azula lowered her gaze for a second, almost imperceptibly. "…his hands.
Both of them.
At the same time."
Ty Lee felt something warm build in her chest, not from desire, but from the union of two forces that had always been opposed.
—"Yes," she whispered. "For Ren."
Azula lifted her chin and extended her hand toward Ty Lee.
—"For Ren," she repeated.
The acrobat took her hand.
Firm.
Secure.
Without trembling.
And for the first time since they had known each other, there was no tension between them.
No competition.
Only the certainty that they both served the same shadow.
The same fire.
The same will.
Ren.