AN: This chapter is brought to you by quarantine and A:tLA being put on Netflix. Thank you for waiting! I hope you like this new chapter and the new chapters to come!

A Broken Marriage

39. Conscience

Azula wakes in the morning wishing she had died in her sleep. This seems to be the unwavering pattern of late.

Ty Lee turns to her and sees her expression. She touches Azula's face gently and says the only thing she can think of.

"I love you, princess."

Azula murmurs, "Or so you say."

The silence lingers and lingers until Ty Lee summons her bravery.

"Can I ask you why you doubt so much that I love you?"

"I don't feel bad when I screw people over, as long as it gets me what I want. And no one loves someone like that."

"Well, I love you anyway. And if you ever need it, I'll be your conscience," whispers Ty Lee.

"I am better off without one."

But Azula kisses her forehead anyway, secretly grateful for that offer.

40. Breaking My Heart

That night, things are bitter. Perhaps they were sweet in the morning, but Azula's moods are as unpredictable as the weather.

Azula has just finished the struggle of getting Izumi to sleep when she walks into her bedroom. Ty Lee already sits inside.

Ty Lee stares at her a little too long, eyeing how off she looks with concern. Azula catches her, and Ty Lee's heart skips a beat as she tries to think of something to say.

"You look nice," she hastily comments with a forced smile. It is not enough. Not tonight.

"If you have something to say, say it," snaps Azula.

"I'm not looking for a fight," says Ty Lee softly.

"Well, you seem to have found one."

"Please," whispers Ty Lee. "I don't want to do this."

"Then don't," snarls Azula. "Just be a coward. See if I care."

She flips her hair and slips into bed.

Ty Lee stares at her with tears in her eyes.

Azula pretends it does not wound her to the core.

Ty Lee whispers, "You're breaking my heart."

Half of Azula wants to get up and embrace her. To apologize and kiss her forehead and ask if they can start over. But the broken, angry, bitter half that won today wins tonight too.

"That's unfortunate," she replies coolly. "Goodnight."

Azula closes her eyes.

Ty Lee still sleeps beside her once she calms down.

They wake up holding hands, but do not exchange a glance or a word as they part ways.

41. Scared

Azula strides into the throne room to see Zuko standing there preparing for their first meeting.

"How are you?" Azula asks.

"Making do. How are you?" He sounds so concerned about that question. Azula frowns.

"Perfect. Why do you ask?"

"You don't seem right. You seem… low. Distracted, unfocused."

"Bold words for someone in lightning range."

"It isn't an insult. Just an observation."

"So diagnose me then if you are so clever. Tell me what exactly you have observed."

"You're scared, Azula," states Zuko. "You're scared all the time, aren't you?"

"Oh? And what are you so certain I am afraid of?"

"You're scared you made the wrong choice. You're scared of the regret you feel."

"I don't do regret, and I feel none of it. I stand by my choices and I accept them."

"I beg to differ."

"Then beg."

She decides in this moment that she will have no regrets about deposing him.

42. Maybe

Azula and Ty Lee fight again tonight. Azula is beginning to lose it. How dare Ty Lee rise up from the position in which she belongs. How dare she argue with Azula even once, much less on a regular basis.

And Ty Lee? Ty Lee is simply tired. And the kind of tired that rest cannot fix.

Azula snarls viciously, "You know what the only problem is? The only problem is that you don't trust me. This is your own insecurities talking, as always."

"I know you're trying your best to do it, but you can't drive me away. Not after all these years."

"And why would I be trying to drive you away?"

"Because maybe I'm not what you really want," says Ty Lee.

"You are what I want. You are what I always have wanted and always will. How dare you deny that."

"I'm afraid. No…" Ty Lee breathes in sharply. "I'm not afraid. I'm sad."

"You never seem that way."

"I'm really good at hiding it. I try to focus on all the wonderful things I have. You, Izumi, the pretty bird I saw this morning. So I smile even though I'm so sad lately. I feel like I'm mourning you. We're married and together all the time but you've left me. I feel like you've already left me."

"What do you want?"

Ty Lee thinks for a moment before deciding upon, "Our happily ever after."

"If you think our love story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

Azula regrets her words but does not apologize for them.

Ty Lee sleeps in one of the guest rooms.

43. Pity

After yet another bitter exchange with Ty Lee, Azula sits in one of the palace living rooms cradling Izumi in her arms with a vacant expression and glassy eyes.

"Azula?" says Zuko, but she does not respond. He raises his voice slightly. "Azula?"

"What do you want, brother?"

"To take care of my sister. Things aren't great for you. I mean, it's probably just a rough patch but—"

"Spit it out."

"Anyone can see that your marriage is failing. Let me help you."

"I don't need your pity, ZuZu!"

"You haven't got my pity!"

Izumi begins to wail.

Azula cradles her against her heart and lets the beat begin to soothe her as she abandons her brother.

Zuko groans as she leaves with the slowly quieting baby.

44. The First Secret

Azula walks into her bedroom after tucking Izumi into bed to find Ty Lee crying. She picks up pace and rushes to her side.

Taking Ty Lee's chin under two of her fingers, she lifts it to lock their gaze.

"What happened? Who do I have to kill?"

"It's… it's private." Ty Lee sniffles.

"Too private to tell your own wife?"

"I just found out something about my family. You can't tell anyone, okay? Especially not Zuko. When I was over for dinner I found out they've been funding and arming the Fire Nation radicalists in the Earth Kingdom. It's like they don't even care how much I sacrificed, how much time I spent with people on the other side of the war, how I love those people. How they are people in the first place and now my own family is funding the people killing them."

Azula's eyes light up. She has something now, something truly juicy. Not enough to get her on the throne, but a start.

"I am sorry. I wish there was more I could do. If you need anything let me know." Azula kisses Ty Lee's forehead, but she pays little attention to the action. Her mind swirls with excitement and schemes.

"Thank you."

Ty Lee dries her eyes.

45. Festival

Zuko sits with his sister, tossing back and forth ideas about a main event for the upcoming festival. The old ways were barbaric and the ways since his coronation have been lackluster in his opinion and the opinion of others.

"What about a charity sparring competition?" suggests Azula.

"Can you elaborate?"

"We get celebrities and well known people and sell entries to the peasants, and everyone can take out their frustration in a healthy way that the entire city can participate in."

He mulls it over for a few moments and then nods.

"I like it."

Azula smiles.

46. The Second Secret

Azula paces in the palace as the moon rises to its apex, holding Izumi and trying to calm her down in the dead of the night. She seems to be having nightmares lately and Azula has been needing to wake with her nightly.

But her exhausted stupor vanishes when she hears Mai and Zuko speaking in hushed tones.

"You can't be serious," hisses Zuko. "Why do you expect me to stay quiet about this?"

"Because I'll leave you if you don't. We're handling this in secret and that's final. I don't ask you for much."

"Your parents rigged an election. It's in my list of responsibilities to take care of that."

"And we will take care of it," whispers Mai. "That's why I'm telling you. But you have to promise me that we'll be cautious and quiet about it."

Zuko sighs. "Yeah. We can keep it quiet, as long as we set it right."

Azula cannot conceal her victorious smirk.

Another dark secret is hers for the taking.

47. To Love Again

As Ty Lee lies quietly trying to fall asleep, Azula enters the bedroom and kneels on the foot of the bed.

Ty Lee sits up to look at her.

"I need to tell you something," says Azula hoarsely.

"Yeah?" whispers a chilled and nervous Ty Lee.

Azula takes a deep breath.

"Maybe you think I want to push you away, or that I've left you. Maybe I am doing that somehow. But I married you. I married you. And when I look back on well over a decade of our life together I know you are good for me. You are good for me and I need you. And despite my intellect, I never realized that until I realized I am losing you."

Ty Lee, rendered speechless and overwhelmed with emotion, kisses her wife fiercely on the lips.

And they have never been so lost in a kiss before.

48. The Third Secret

"What are you doing?" demands Azula of her brother as she sees him burning a document.

He looks at her with a surge of panic. "Nothing important."

"It looks important." Azula reaches for the burning paper and he swipes it away. "What are you hiding?"

"I don't need you involved in this."

"Confess. Now."

"Only because you lie so much that no one would believe you." And, he thinks, it may bring us closer together, close enough that I can fix you.

"Fine."

"I have a child."

"A what?"

"A daughter. She lives in the Earth Kingdom with her mother. I've only met her once."

"Spirits. Zuko, that's…"

"I know. A secret that needs to be kept."

"If she's older than Izumi…"

"Is that all you care about? Putting your kid on the throne? I haven't titled her my heir yet, even though, yes, I probably will."

"It isn't all I care about. I never thought highly of you but a peasant bastard…"

"As if you're any better. You're a hypocrite. You conceived Izumi with a mystery man out of wedlock and now you criticize me?"

"I am…" Azula wants to apologize but cannot force the words out of her lips. "I did not think of the potential hypocrisy. I just happen to be shocked."

"I know. It's… big."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"To show you I trust you. To show you we can have a real brother and sister relationship. To show you that you can stop resisting."

"After all we've gone through as siblings, I do not know what you want from me."

"I just want to become a positive influence in your life again."

"You can become the dirt I walk on."

She leaves without another word.

49 . Spy

That night, Azula slips out of the palace with a mind full of secrets and lips ready to spill them.

She meets the man. She shares everything with him in great detail.

He listens eagerly. He makes promises.

They arrange their next meeting before parting ways.

50. Exposed

Azula wakes in the morning to see Ty Lee pacing, fists clenched as if ready to punch the bending out of the wife she glares at with slightly bared teeth.

Princess Azula rubs her eyes and sighs.

"What is it this time?" she demands coolly.

"I followed you last night," says Ty Lee. "I heard what you told that man about me and my family."

"You don't understand."

"What is there to understand?"

"It's for my good. It's for our good. I cannot tell you everything yet but you will be so happy once the time comes."

"Azula…" Ty Lee takes a deep breath. "Azula, explain what's going on before I go pack my bags and leave for good this time."

"I can't. Not yet. Just wait."

"No. I'm your wife. What's this secret that's tearing us apart."

"I want to tell you, but I cannot, whether you are my wife or not."

"If you don't trust me, why did you marry me?"

"I asked you to marry me because I was in love with you. Just as I am in love with you now," says Azula softly.

"I wish I could believe you, but if you loved me you wouldn't have done this to me and my family."

Ty Lee runs away crying.

Azula does not follow her.

51. Anger

Ty Lee has never been so angry and hurt in her entire life.

"Do you know how much I've sacrificed to be with you?" she demands of Azula with tears in her eyes.

Azula remains silent.

Ty Lee makes her decision in that moment.

She is leaving, and she has no desire to come back, even if abandoning Izumi breaks her heart.

52. But More Bad

Ty Lee weeps as she says goodbye to her daughter. She promises to an infant who does not understand her words that she will see her one day as much as she can.

And then she goes to the bedroom she shares with her wife to pack her bags. Azula sits on the bed, arms crossed, waiting for Ty Lee to crawl back to her and grovel and apologize.

But it does not happen.

Ty Lee packs in silence and allows Azula to watch her.

She moves quickly but freezes when she sees a portrait out on Azula's desk.

It is painted in beautiful black and white strokes. It is of her, Mai and Azula when they were innocent children untouched by the pain of war and love.

Ty Lee gazes at it for a long while. She glances up at Azula for the first time since she began packing.

"We had some good times," she says softly, caressing the parchment briefly.

"We did," muses Azula.

Ty Lee turns away from it with a soft, pained exhale.

"But more bad," she remarks weakly.

She rises and resumes packing her bags as Azula silently and helplessly watches.