Author's Note - So, I haven't seen a Tyzula firsts story. So I'm going to claim it. I've wanted to write this for a while and I'm on break from school now so I'm doing it. They should be very short chapters around 2,000 words, and there will be seven of them, with the first half taking place in present day and the second half taking place in the past. I shift tenses to show it. It will go up to M rated for their first "time". Which is Chapter 5 right now, I think.

first day

"I think I'm going to throw up," says the small voice of a little girl named Inzai.

"Don't throw up on me."

"Stop being insensitive, Azula," Ty Lee snaps with flashing eyebrows.

"It's a valid request." Azula rolls her eyes. "You're going to be fine. They're all going to be nice to you because your uncle is Fire Lord. You can pretty much just do whatever you want. Skip class, cheat on─"

"Azula. Sh." A slender, floral scented finger presses against Azula's rouge lips. "You're going to be perfectly fine. I met your mother on my first day of school."

"Oh, yes, don't cheat on tests Inzai but absolutely look for your soul mate at seven years old. Ugh." Azula crosses her arms. "Alright, don't cheat or lie or bring home a boyfriend. Simple rules. Happy?"

"You think we're soul mates?" Ty Lee responds with wide, sparkling eyes.

"Just finish doing her hair. The ribbons are ridiculous, she'll hate us like Mai hates her parents. Do you want our daughter to grow up to be Mai?" and Azula leaves the room, hesitating at the door. But she walks back into the palace and simply sits and waits for the madness of the first day of school to commence.

Ty Lee glances at the red ribbons in her hands and Inzai's thick raven hair. She does not want her daughter to grow up to be Mai, so she shoves the ribbons back into the antique drawer. It makes a horrible scraping sound from age that makes Inzai squirm.

Glancing to see if Azula is watching, Ty Lee applies a swatch of pink lipstick to Inzai's lips and winks at her. Inzai looks incredibly impressed by the small amount of make-up, and significantly happier about her first day of school at the Ladies Academy.

"I think I'm ready," says Inzai, raising an eyebrow at herself in the mirror. Ty Lee nods feverishly, attempting to encourage her daughter. Finally, Inzai hops down from the old wooden stepstool Ty Lee had to force her onto, finding herself near the point of just paralyzing her to make it easier.

"Are we going?" Azula asks, legs crossed and ankle bobbing up and down in the air expectantly. Ty Lee's neck tenses; clearly she is as scared as Inzai but does not want to show it. "Okay, good we're going. This morning has been an exercise in frustration."

Azula stands up and seizes her daughter's small, slender hand. It is heated to the point of nearly bending; clearly she is frightened. Azula attempts to feel sympathy but struggles with it too much and decides to simply say nothing at all until they arrive at the school.

"As if you weren't afraid on your first day," Ty Lee says as they have to force Inzai through the gilded doors. "You were probably terrified."

"Not that I recall," lies Azula and Ty Lee rolls her eyes.

"That's a weak lie," mutters Ty Lee under her breath and Azula pretends not to hear her. They escape the hallway of the school as quickly as possible, which is made far easier by Azula grabbing Ty Lee by the arm and demanding that everyone move out of their way.

People would most likely try to talk to Ty Lee if Azula weren't so... forceful.

They stand outside, beneath the same trees that towered about them as youths and catch their breath. It was madness within these crimson walls of a school for only the rich and elite. It still maintains its pedigree despite Zuko's feeble attempts at education reform. It turns out, removing propaganda from the curriculum left it severely lacking.

Azula finds it funny. It always made her uncomfortable to be the subject of lessons. Particularly when teachers would point at her while talking.

It will be better for Inzai. Probably.

"It's going to be okay. Stop worrying, Azula," Ty Lee says shrilly and Azula promptly realizes that she is not referring to Azula, Ty Lee is worried and will not admit it.

Azula smirks to herself and replies, "You have nothing to worry about."

The first day of school was utterly terrifying for Ty Lee. Completely, abjectly horrifying. Staring in the mirror and trying to figure out how to make herself look more interesting frightening. She could not express in words how obscenely scared she was.

She studied herself intently for a long while. Her braid was boring. She was boring and she knew she would not make any friends. Well, Ty Lee found it easy to make friends when she had playdates with other children of important people, but she never was simply thrust into a situation where she would have to navigate the world without anyone to help her.

Taking a deep breath, she walked down the stairs and grabbed her bag. Her expression must have been terrified because her mother knelt down to be at her level. Ty Lee squirmed under the scrutinizing gaze of the woman who never found time for Ty Lee unless she was in trouble. Which was, unfortunately, fairly often.

"You have nothing to worry about," said mother and Ty Lee swallowed. The lump in her throat was the size of the Earth Kingdom. Her mother had no idea what she was talking about.

But Ty Lee took a deep attempt at a calming breath, and started walking towards the school. Her sister escorted her, grabbing her hand as if she was going to make a break for it. In fact, she probably would if she could get away with it.

Azula was not exactly scared. Just mildly intimidated. Of course, mildly intimidated.

"No one is going to talk to you," Zuko said with a sigh.

"I think I'm more likable than you."

"It's not about being likable. It's about the fact that everyone is terrified of grandfather so no one will talk to you. And you will probably have no friends."

"I have a friend. She'll talk to me. Mai will talk to me!"

Zuko was surprised at Azula's genuine panic. He was just being honest; he did not mean to horrify her. She looked on the verge of a pint sized panic attack so Zuko awkwardly reached forward and tried to rub her back. One eyebrow shooting up, Azula was out of the room before Zuko could figure out what exactly he was trying to do.

Her mother decided to interfere next. It was not what Azula needed on this morning of horror. She put on a brave face for days about how she would simply breeze through school and be incredibly popular and it would be beyond easy. But slowly, day by day, the dread built up inside of her, eating away at her gut and throbbing heart. Now it was pushed over the breaking point and Azula was about to scream.

"Your friend is waiting for you outside," mother said, gently handing Azula a bag she forgot to pack. Princess Azula bit her tongue about mother clearly taking credit for something she had some slave do again, and breathlessly thanked her. Words were becoming hard to force out of her mouth without them being accompanied by vomit. "It'll be fun. Don't worry."

Azula laughed. "You think I'm worried? That's hilarious. Why would I be worried about something as petty and ridiculous as school. Ugh. You don't have to baby me. I'm not a baby!"

Mother cringed. "I know you're not a baby..." but Azula was gone before she could continue.

Mai was waiting for Azula on the steps of the palace. She was staring intently at a pen. An ordinary, boring, expensive, gold tipped pen. Azula did not bother to ask why she was doing something so mundane.

"Finally. How long does it even take to do your hair?" Mai sighed, touching the ribbons in her own hair self consciously. "Let's just go."

As Azula and Mai approached the steps of the school, Azula paused. Everyone was brought by their doting parents. Azula and Mai were accompanied by soldiers garbed in royal adornments. Already, things were looking grim for their social chances.

"You're going to talk to me, right, Mai?" Azula tried to make it sound like a threat, but it came out as more of a whimper. "Right?"

"I don't think I'll have anyone else to talk to." Mai glanced around at the girls already staring at them with their lips ajar. "We're going to be outcasts for our entire lives."

"Don't talk like that," muttered Azula, although she painfully agreed with Mai.

"You want me to be optimistic about his?"

"Hmph."

"I thought so."

They found their way to the classroom on their own. Asking someone seemed like the absolute worst case scenario. It was ornately decorated yet entirely bland. The walls were lined with archaic portraits and propaganda. Azula found her way to a small desk and pillow and dragged Mai down next to her. Mai winced from the pain, but sat beside Azula with a small sigh.

"This is going to be terrible. My mother said that she hated every second of school," said Mai and Azula shrugged. She could bear it because she had spent her entire young life sitting through unbearable things. Family portraits, political occasions... Her life consisted of grinning and bearing it, and nothing else.

Zuko's prediction was true. Azula was avoided for the entirety of the day, at all costs. Mai was dragged down into the depths of instant lonerhood by her best friend.

A glance was shared after lunch. Azula made eye contact with another girl and she did not immediately look away with cheeks as red as the flags that line the walls. She simply stared back, blinked twice, and smiled.

Weird.

"I think she's approaching us," Mai murmured as class ended. Finally ended. It had drawn on for altogether too long. Azula was contemplating just burning down the classroom by the time they made it through geography. Ugh. As if she needed to know where every city in the Earth Kingdom was. "What do you want me to do?"

"Try not to be abra─hello," and suddenly Azula was all smiles and not some kind of terrifying creature sizing up their small class of young rich girls. Her golden eyes were wide, but attempting compassion in a manner that Mai found funny. It was like watching a pet trying to mimic human expressions every time Azula tried to not be cold and bitter.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you," replied the girl with the elaborate braid and messy uniform who knew no boundaries and suddenly Mai was floored by this girl walking right up to them as if it was an appropriate thing to do. "Let's be friends!"

"What?" asked Azula feebly. No one had propositioned her for friendship before. Mai was forced but she got used to it. Mai was like washing her hands. This was like... something entirely new.

"Let's be friends." The girl repeated it as if Azula simply did not hear her.

"I don't see why not?" Azula cocked an eyebrow, but suddenly her arms were linked with a girl she had yet to learn the name of, and Mai was walking a few steps behind them, completely baffled.

And that was the day they met.

Their first day of school.

the next first is: "First Crush"