𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦. 𝗍𝗒𝗓𝗎𝗅𝖺

dinner time

  azula and aang finally touched down on the ground with appa, they were both red-faced and giddy. aang laughed out loud as he hopped off appa and onto the ground.

  "haha! yeah! and katara told me that sokka got pretty high on cactus juice—! ouch!" aang shouted out as he tripped on a rock. but the thing was, the rock had just appeared.

  "nice one, toph!" azula called out, giving the small girl a thumbs up. toph smiled proudly and nodded. she slammed her foot into the ground, making the rock disappear into the dirt below. aang got up and brushed off some dust.

"gee, thanks azula, just when i thought we were bonding," the boy sighed.

  aang made a hurt face, but azula just slapped his back and grinned.

  "don't be a wuss, mister avatar," azula said, as everyone else approached toph, her and aang.

  toph raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms suspiciously, "why is everyone here all of a sudden? you're creeping me out."

  zuko shrugged and smiled. so did everyone else, except azula, aang and toph. the three were so confused.

  "uhm... what's going on?" azula asked, crossing her arms and eyeing everyone. ty lee looked away as azula looked at her, which caused azula to raise her eyebrow.

  "is something wrong with her?" azula asked under her breath as she nudged mai. mai grinned and shrugged.

  "how should i know?" mai replied, trying not to show her smile. azula deadpanned.

  "you know everything that ty and i don't tell each other so spill. right. now."

  "i've got nothing to tell you."

  "that is a big, big lie right there, my friend," toph chimed in, with a smug smile on her face.

  mai cursed, of course. toph could tell whether someone was lying or not by the vibrations of their heartbeat in the ground.

  "curse you, toph," mai muttered.

  azula leaned in on mai. "toph says you lied, c'mon just tell me!"

  mai sighed and backed away a little.

  "fine, but only a little bit. ty lee is excited and crazy nervous about giving you your gift tonight," mai told azula quietly, quiet enough so ty lee wouldn't hear.

  azula nodded and frowned. "that's all i'm gonna get out of you?"

  "yes."

  "wow, it tells me so much, y'know? i can practically imagine ty lee's present!" azula mocked mai, with her signature sneer. mai rolled her eyes and looked up at the sky, it was nearly night time. she glanced at ty lee, who nodded.

  katara saw the acrobat's gesture and ushered everyone inside for dinner.

  "alright, alright, as we all know, it's azula's birthday today. suki, ty lee and i have cooked all of azula's favourite foods. now eat up," katara said, sitting in her place on the floor.

  the dinner table was filled with delicious foods. there were slices of bread and cakes, lamb-bear legs, steamed vegetables and beautiful flowers.

  azula gasped at the sight of the magnificent meal, she hugged katara and suki tightly and thanked them.

  when azula came up to ty lee, the girl simply ignored her, walking away and sitting on the far end of the table, furthest away from azula.

  this made azula slightly sad, but she forgot about her sadness as she looked at the number of spaces around the table. ten spaces?

  there were only nine of them. zuko, ty lee, azula, mai, aang, sokka, suki, katara and toph. out of nowhere, a loud knock sounded.

  toph immediately jumped up and threw her hands into the air. "yes!! he's here!!"

  zuko opened the door and smiled, azula tried to see who it was but zuko's tall, muscular build blocked the new arrival out. all she saw was a red and black robe over a big stomach. big stomach? azula stood up quickly and pushed zuko out of the way, she hugged the new man and blinked heavily.

  "uncle iroh, i thought you wouldn't be coming!" azula exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly, and she moved out the way for iroh to come in.

  ty lee smiled as watched azula, the black-haired girl looked so innocent, how dare ozai try to manipulate her.

  "lovely to see you all. but i am starving... let's eat!" iroh said with a smile, he whispered quietly to azula. "happy birthday, azula."

  iroh sat down, so did everyone else. they all began to eat ravenously, especially azula and ty lee.

  zuko commented on some stupid stuff that aang and sokka did while eating, the two boys retorted by making fun of mai and zuko. but zuko retaliated with the two boys' own relationships.

  "oh, would you three just shut up!" suki shouted, hitting sokka around the head with her chopsticks.

  "ow! why not hit aang or zuko? why is it always me?" sokka shouted, rubbing his head.

  "because aang is the avatar, zuko is the fire lord and you're my property so i can hit you as many times as i wish."

  "too right," zuko butt in. he smiled but that smile quickly faded as mai hit him with her own chopsticks.

  "shut it, fire lord," mai deadpanned.

  "ow, mai!" zuko shouted, also rubbing his head. aang opened his mouth to say something but a death stare from katara sealed his mouth shut.

  ty lee laughed and smiled. "aha, sucks to be you! ouch—!"

  ty lee felt something hit the side of her head hard. she looked down and saw a chopstick laying next to her. that's what hit her in the head. everyone went quiet. ty lee examined everyone, the only one with one chopstick was the birthday girl herself.

  azula sneered and stabbed a piece of meat with her remaining chopstick and put it in her mouth.

  "so suki hits sokka because sokka is suki's property. mai hits zuko because he is her property. and azula hit ty lee because ty lee is azula's property—!" toph declared, even though she couldn't see the events happening at the table, she could hear and feel it.

  iroh chuckled and looked at azula. "is it true? are you and ty lee a thing now?" azula and the brunette went as red as the fire nation emblem.

  "no!" they both shouted in unison. they side-eyed each other before turning to face one another.

  "what's wrong with dating me?"

  "answer me."

  "no, you answer me."

  "no, you."

  "ugh, you're so annoying."

  zuko and everyone else started laughing as the two girls said everything in unison. ty lee huffed and turned to face the wall, azula did the same. toph started singing in a sing-songy voice, "azula and ty lee sitting in a tree, k-i-s—" she stopped when azula pinched her.

  "you better stop singing that song," azula said.

  ty lee turned around and glared at toph. "if you want to live."

  everyone cooed at how the two girls finished each other's sentences.

  azula stood up and waved a hand to show she was going to leave the table, ty lee copied. they both headed upstairs, into their own rooms.

  without even knowing it, they copied each other's movements as they both walked up to their window and gazed out. the silver and yellow lights from the eastside glowed. maybe i should go and visit, the girls' thought.