AN: This fic was a challenge for me to write, but I've wanted to write it for a really long time. I think way more in pictures than words, and so it's strange for me to figure out how to describe the images how I see them. I've had these scenes and pictures rattling around in my head since May, when I wrote a oneshot that was a less successful attempt to write them down.

Anyway, I now have a conflict, some plot, and a couple chapters written since I know I'm going back to school in a few days. As for pairings, I have no idea what is endgame at this point, but for the foreseeable future, it's Suki, Azula, Ty Lee and all permutations thereof.

The only warnings are for violence, themes of war, implied torture, and yuri lemons.

The Color of Your Dreams

Chapter I
Time Running Out

Suki meets the love of her life in the barricades of a dying fortress.

She never got used to choking on ash, or looking at the orange that still burns around her even when her rebels win the battle. This is her life now, however, and she knows that she has no choice but to embrace the heat of fire on her cheeks, and to live nomadically.

Her militia collects people as it moves through the Earth Kingdom, through the ashen land that was ravaged by Sozin's Comet a few years ago. People are always willing to join, and while Suki is happy to train them, it bothers something deep within her. Handing weapons to kids makes it difficult for her to sleep at night, she supposes.

Or maybe it is the bodies. Maybe it is because when she walks through these raided fortresses, she does not feel much like celebrating pushing enemy forces back. She just sees the friends she loses every few months. Most of them are new, some of them are closer. All of them are dead.

It kills Suki sometimes, seeing people die because of her orders.

But it isn't you who ordered this war, every single person reminds her, We're fighting what our ancestors started. None of us wanted this.

She is looking for death when she makes these rounds, but, this time, she finds life. Maybe that is why she falls in love with Ty Lee. Maybe it has nothing to do with anything but the fact that Suki sees someone opening their eyes, sees them breathing, instead of Suki closing their eyes, and feeling for a pulse that is not there.

Suki has yet to see someone close among the endless corpses, and she is now in a stretch that is only Fire Nation. But then her stomach twists when she reaches the dead who are not in the prim but bloodied uniforms. Some of them are just little kids, and Suki expends extra energy checking on them.

The leader of the Kyoshi Rebels has low expectations, until she sees the young woman she touches jolt to life, as if Suki's touch were electric. The teenage girl is a little younger than Suki perhaps, but definitely into womanhood, and Suki is looking for words when the Fire Nation girl's hand seizes Suki's arm and pulls her onto her knees.

Suki reaches for her fan but hesitates, giving the Fire Nation girl a chance.

"I..." She does not die, but she has no will to continue, as her beautiful, alive, such alive eyes drift to the bleeding wound her other hand is pressed tightly against. Suki swallows as she sees that she is holding her insides in.

"Come here. I have healers who can help you. Waterbenders," Suki says earnestly and the Fire Nation girl's lips part, as if she wants to object, but does not have the energy.

Suki takes the Fire Nation girl very easily into her arms, but nearly drops her when she hears the squeal of pain when she accidentally bumps the injury. But Suki clenches her jaw and starts walking, passing the other smoking walls and dead bodies. She needs to save at least one, just this one.

Her make-up is melting and flaking, and she tries to resist how itchy it suddenly is as her hands become occupied by her quickly dying rescue. Suki reaches the command tent set up in the middle of the fortress, with Shen, Lai and Song inside discussing strategy while the other several units have broken apart into the usual routine of post-battle clean-up.

Well, the routine after winning is much less usual than the routine after losing.

All three women with varying states of weathered make-up and bandaged skin look up with wide eyes as their Commander suddenly comes in holding a body.

"She's alive," Suki says fiercely and Shen scuttles over to help her. The map the trio has been drawing is immediately rolled up as Shen and Suki lay the Fire Nation girl out on the table.

"She's Fire Nation," Lai replies derisively.

"She's alive," Suki repeats, and no one would dare to protest, because their leader values things like that.

The Fire Nation girl is less wounded than Suki feared, and the Kyoshi Rebel leader slowly can breathe more easily as the healing comes to an end and the girl closes her eyes to rest. Suki's three lieutenants wait for her, but the night is getting late, and there are celebrations being held by the forces, so they postpone the scouting of this fortress until tomorrow.

Suki sits with her fingers on her chin, taking slow deep breaths. The Fire Nation girl is peacefully unconscious, but Suki will not remove her eyes until she knows that this one life pulled through.

Slowly, before sunrise and just as Suki is becoming tired, the Fire Nation girl opens her eyes, and they are just as alive as Suki remembered them. They are dark and glittery and stunning. And then they are afraid, before calm and complacent.

"My name is Suki, and I'm with the Kyoshi Rebels. We took this fortress, and you are the only survivor." Well, Suki's tone is her most professional, but it is probably the best she could have used.

The Fire Nation girl is silent for a minute, pouting her lips. Suki thinks she looks thirsty, and she glances around for water before just grabbing her own pouch and offering it. This would be a picturesque moment for propaganda if anyone were watching; the leader of the only resistance sharing her own water with a Fire Nation citizen.

Suki does see her closest friends watching, and they nod in approval instead of looking in disgust.

That is a good sign.

x

Suki keeps an eye on the girl herself as they begin to set up the fortress. The mistrust for their survivor is very strong, and Suki must admit she shares it. There is no way to tell what kind of background the girl has, since she has not said anything, or even given a name. And so Suki does not let her survivor leave her side.

They go on in relative silence as Suki builds a ramshackle city from ashes and thinks it might be a home that can last. She tries to learn more about her survivor than just her pretty eyes and how she is so meticulous about her hair as she organizes strikes against the Fire Nation supply chains in the area.

The first time the Fire Nation girl says much to Suki other than a quick thank you is on a cloudy day in which Suki has just lost several soldiers in a mission she ordered. Everyone has told her that it was not her fault, and they did not know that the Fire Nation was there in such force, but she cannot help but think that it was.

She is hunting, and it soothes her.

"So," the Fire Nation girl says and Suki nicks her finger on her snare in surprise. "You're really obsessed with saving lives, but you hunt to ease your mind?"

Suki looks up at the girl and sucks in her cheeks. "I... well, I have thought about that... I guess it's... it's justified killing..."

The girl shrugs. "Why isn't killing the Fire Nation justified? They think killing you is."

"You haven't tried to kill me yet," Suki says as she adjusts the trap and slowly stands up. "Which isn't exactly a reason to trust you, so don't push your luck. But it's a little hard to make these choices, when I don't much of a reason other than trying to save the people I love."

Suki has a sudden, vivid memory of people she saw in one town that was a casualty when she and a small group of her raiders were nearly killed and captured in a forest. A mother's corpse protecting her dead child. Fire Nation.

"Do you have family?" asks the Fire Nation girl as she toys with her braid.

"All of these people are my family."

"So, you've got, huh, about a thousand brothers and sisters? Or children?" Neither of them laugh, but it might be a joke. "Obviously you really care about them and that's why you're fighting. Not many people can really say that in this war. I bet that's why people are so willing to follow you."

Suki shrugs. "You talk about me like I'm a cult leader."

"You kinda are. I've been watching you a lot, because I'm really confused about why you helped me. " Maybe she has a point. "You know what your aura is like?"

"My...?" Suki hasn't heard much about mysticism in a pretty long time, except for the homage to the long gone Avatar.

"Like a grey sky. But not a bad way. You're beautiful, even though you really don't seem to want to be." The Fire Nation girl smiles faintly.

Suki has no idea how to reply to that. The survivor returns to her silence, and Suki returns to her snares, still confused. But reassured, all the same. She thinks this Fire Nation girl will be good for her.

x

Two weeks pass before the survivor says anything else, and Suki has had two weeks of decent successes. One person was born and only two died. That's pretty good compared to the usual numbers.

Suki asks the Fire Nation girl a question this time, without really thinking of it. "Do you need soap?" she asks as she enters the tent, before feeling like a fool.

"Not now. If you can even call this gross stuff soap. It smells like... dirt not flowers." The girl frowns for the first time and then sticks her tongue out in disgust.

"Well, flowers grow in dirt," Suki suggests mockingly and Ty Lee scowls. "What's your name?"

"Ty Lee," answers the girl as she emerges from the bathroom. "And yes, flowers grow in dirt, but I would really rather smell like flowers. And you're Suki, the girl who helps everybody else but just keeps hating herself."

"I don't..." Suki trails off because she knows that Ty Lee is right.

"You can't save everybody. And these people, uh, they're lucky to have you and stuff. You know... I was born in Caldera. That's the Fire Nation capital."

"I know," Suki snaps before realizing how rude she sounded.

"I just got stranded here because I ran away. I was like thirteen and had no idea what I was doing. But I've never been as happy as I've been here."

"This place is..." Suki does not want to sound discouraging when she tries to give people hope and protection, but she cannot call the fortress happy.

"My aura has never been pinker. Yours is still the same. I like it." Ty Lee smiles yet again. "I think that the reason you do so good and stuff is because you have... uhh. I'm, hm, don't take this the bad way but... You have all those qualities that make people go to war and commit genocide just because their leader asked. You could be a pretty good Fire Lord."

"That's not a real compliment."

"I'm not done. But, yeah, there are people who were made to lead. Born for that. Everybody just instantly made you leader and have been following you because you're strong, and smart and have a lot of willpower and charisma. And you're really pretty. But you really, really care about these people so much and I think you actually mean everything you say and do."

Suki has no clue what to make of her. She really cannot tell if Ty Lee is smart or not, if she is on one side or the other, if Suki cares about her because she saved her life or because they have a spark together.

"I just wanted to save my warriors and my village. I didn't."

"So you decided to save the whole world instead?" Ty Lee laughs and Suki looks at her feet.

"I'm a warrior, and I know about fans and battles and honor, but it's hard to think about those things when they don't ever seem to be so good. I'm not some royal who can sweet talk people into killing off whole races of people."

"I think the world needs more people who care about fans and battles and honor than people who care about politics."

x

As weeks pass and Ty Lee slowly assimilates into the rebels, although with reluctance about the poor living conditions, Suki cannot quite describe her feelings. But the more she stares at Ty Lee, and the more she takes her on missions, the more she sees the grief and shackles around herself, and the pretty wings that Ty Lee has.

Or maybe Suki is just finally losing her mind from all of the pressure.

Ty Lee is talented at fighting, since everyone in the Fire Nation has mandatory military service, and apparently she has an extensive knowledge of a very rare and ancient art. She and Suki take up practicing together; Suki teaches her the combat of the Kyoshi Warriors, and Ty Lee teaches her about how to take away firebending and paralyze a foe.

More time goes by, they share a first kiss and it tastes like those grey, sweet rainfalls that Ty Lee kept going on and on about. Suki admits to herself that having someone is better than relying on no one.

Ty Lee never talks about her leadership theories again, and she becomes fairly well liked because her talent seems to be assimilating with people. She decides on her war paint once she earns it, and she makes jokes, and uses her fans to keep herself cool in the humid heat.

Suki meets the love of her life in the barricades of a dying fortress.

But while their love brought that fortress to life again, it wasn't enough to keep the Fire Nation away. Especially once Suki's resistance began making real ripples.

Their time starts running out.

x

Azula is in the Earth Kingdom, looking at her plans again and focusing on them instead of her fixation on her home. Instead of what drove her to end up here, in this charred and disgusting place, instead of her palace.

Oh, but she is going back, and she is not going back empty handed.

That is decided, although her father did not want her to take the mission to the Earth Kingdom. Despite her expertise, despite the fact that everyone else failed miserably and Azula is perfectly cut out for the job, and her resume for rule only needs a military feat or two.

Especially since now things have changed.

'It was a political move of mine to clear Zuko's name after his... recent actions. He does not have the throne, Azula. He has a chance of getting it and Zuko is not a lucky person.'

But luck is not good enough for Princess Azula, and she is more than confident in her abilities. She is not going to be killed by a few rebels when she has been trained her entire life for war and the crown. Both of which seem to have been pointless exercises in frustration, now that ZuZu is suddenly eligible to watch over more than a turtleduck.

The stronghold of the Kyoshi Rebels is troubling the Fire Nation, and so Azula goes to take care of it for blood and glory or something else like that. Or maybe just the adrenaline rush of it. She has been informed to focus solely on the leader of the rebels and to let the other soldiers take care of the rest of the nuisances.

She takes her time. It pays off, because she has plenty of it.

x

Suki, Ty Lee, Shen and a few other of the best are prowling through the half-burnt forest. It is dense, despite the fires, and there are many nests of birds and the sounds of animals. They have gotten a tip about an absolute dream.

It is a Fire Nation envoy, carrying messages between two important forts and medical supplies, yet, of course it is guarded by the elite forces. So Suki goes herself, since she is a good leader and therefore is unafraid to do what she asks her people to do.

The ambush starts just with a small sound, and then another, and before Suki can become aware, they are in the trap. A trap that should have been obvious and now she is going to pay for. The first soldiers are strong, but the girls are far from outmatched.

Tides turn with the crash of dry lightning, something none of them have heard before, and then an enemy who is nimble, fast, and whose bending burns unnaturally. Suki pursues her and only Ty Lee remains at her side as they run through the forest, narrowly dodging, trying to fight an incomprehensible and sudden foe.

"Take her bending!" Suki shouts, but Ty Lee is taken by surprise first.

x

Suki is blindfolded and expecting the worst. She keeps her posture straight, her jaw clenched and knows she has always been prepared for this. The risks have always been in the back of her mind, and there is no out right now, with the chains around her wrists, and the knowledge that she needs to understand her situation before she can find a proper way out of it.

Ty Lee, next to her, seems to be pulling all of the stops to escape. It does not sound like it is going well, and she is a very flexible girl.

"Just stop," Suki hisses and Ty Lee's cursing and the gentle slams of her limbs cease. "It's not worth it right now and they'll just use it against you. It's going to be okay and I promise."

They are forced down on their knees, and she can hear the shuffling of soldiers, and the light footsteps of the girl who caught them. The elusive one. The frustrating one who somehow brought them down.

Suki has her blindfold ripped from her, and Ty Lee does too.

"Tell us who you are and where you're taking us," Suki orders and their enemy just looks at her as if she is a cute but weird wild animal. "You're like twelve! How did you...?"

The look becomes much more sour.

Ty Lee whispers, "She's Princess Azula, she's seventeen, defeated us because she is infinitely our greater, and we should probably be really quiet right now and just listen."

Ty Lee does not like this clash of the only two women she has met of their kind. But Suki seems to think defiance is the best way to avoid grisly torture. They trained for this, and acting like that was totally not in the syllabus once.

"Right," Suki replies flatly. She does not move or change her demeanor.

Neither does the princess, who now seems to look a few inches taller and much more severe. "I am addressing you only once because I think it will make our journey much more pleasant and save tedious interruptions later," she purrs in a silky tone and Suki swallows her further remarks. "Seeing as one of you is the most wanted person in the Fire Empire as of now, you are being taken, with all precautions, to Caldera. Your companions that were not killed resisting arrest will be taken elsewhere. Your girlfriend is delightfully useless, but she is a citizen of the Fire Nation whose parents have misplaced her."

Ty Lee looks nervous. Suki is genuinely not. She knows that she will be untouched at least until they get her to Caldera, which is very far away, and if Suki has a say in it, they will not even make it there.

"Why would you even be dumb enough to take us together?" Ty Lee blurts out and Suki cringes.

Princess Azula turns up her palms. "I see no reason not to. As someone I just saw kiss her elbow trying to break free of handcuffs, I am sure you know a thing or two about leverage."

The princess smirks an awful smirk, and Suki sees a glint in Ty Lee's eyes that she has never seen before.