Title: Cinnamon
Prompt: Sweet Sugar Cakes
Rated: K+
Words: 1,216

"Ow! Fuck!" Ty Lee screams and Azula's eyes flicker in brief shock.

This baking adventure is already one of the worst ventures Azula has ever partaken in. But Ty Lee managed to coerce her in ways she will never admit aloud. Because Azula is stronger than that.

Two hours ago, Azula was quite smug about convincing Ty Lee to spend the night with her instead of going out with her awful Kyoshi Warrior friends who inexplicably hate Azula's guts…

"If I stay here with you," Ty Lee says softly into Azula's hair, "I want you to do fun things with me."

She is propped up on her elbows on the palace guest mattress, hovering over her secret girlfriend. Anything would sound good in this position, and Azula is one hundred percent certain that it is a bedroom voice and not a declare-baking-day voice.

Azula is mistaken about that.

"What did you do to yourself?" Azula sighs as she looks across the kitchens that should be populated by servants. Whatever cooking they did on Kyoshi Island has poisoned her beautiful girlfriend and filled her once-perfect nails with dirt.

Perfect nails that are covered by Ty Lee's fist clamped around two of her fingers. "Ow! Fuck!" Ty Lee screams again and now Azula looks up from the reddish-orange batter she has been stirring for as long as possible to avoid doing any other real work.

"Do you need my assistance?" Azula asks bitterly, trying to enjoy Ty Lee's pain but finding it shamefully difficult. She is loath to admit that baking with Ty Lee has been semi-enjoyable, and no one would look in the kitchens if they want to kiss each other with literal sugary lips.

"I just wanted to taste the sugar!" Ty Lee cries at the top of her lungs and Azula cocks an eyebrow.

"You're boiling that sugar. That is boiling sugar. Why would you touch boiling sugar? I know not to touch boiling sugar and I've never even done it," Azula says mockingly, prying her stiff hand away from the wooden stirring stick.

Ty Lee continues sucking on her fingers with glistening tears in her eyes. Azula remembers how she indirectly learned that lesson. She was stuck at her uncle's horrible tea shop, and Zuko was there, and uncle was making stupid cakes and boiling sugar, and Zuko stuck his fingers right in, and Azula hadn't laughed that hard in years.

He almost cried.

But Ty Lee is almost crying, and Azula almost, sort of, cares a little bit. At least more than Zuko. It's obviously just because they're sleeping with each other, not because Azula has any feelings for her few-times-a-year tryst. That would be absurd.

Ty Lee has an altogether different opinion about Azula's disposition towards their "strictly sexual" relationship.

One of them is right; the other is a princess.

"How badly is it burned?" Azula asks brusquely and Ty Lee reluctantly removes her fingers from her mouth. Azula isn't even watching that and Ty Lee thinks that perhaps her princess is worried. Ty Lee stifles her grin and saves it for later, when she isn't in such pain.

"So bad. Look at it. Look at it. This is worse than when I tried to put out an oil fire with water," Ty Lee whispers and Azula takes Ty Lee's fingers in her hand. But the response isn't as good as she wants it to be, because Ty Lee sobs before screaming, "You have cinnamon all over your hands, you cruel viper-bat!"

She yanks herself away and shoves her fingers back into her mouth, turning her back on Azula to find the water basin. Her shoulders quiver with her tears as Azula examines her own hands. They are covered in cinnamon. And a little smudge of blood; the burn is bad.

"Ty Lee, we should get you to a healer," Azula says before realizing how compassionate she sounded. No, she refuses to let this happen. "Did you burn yourself intentionally to test my feelings for you?"

"No," Ty Lee hisses through her tears. "I'm not you and I won't resort to mutilating my pretty self so I can get whatever I want!"

Azula sighs. She does think if anyone is dumb enough to try to taste boiling sugar, it would be Ty Lee, and if anyone is too much of a wimp to injure their own body for personal gain it would also be Ty Lee.

"Put it in the lukewarm water and I will get you something to bandage yourself…" Azula has no clue where that would be, but she brushes the cinnamon off of her hands and walks out into the cooler air of the palace.

Azula wanders through the hallways for a few moments before she manages to find anyone remotely helpful. She returns with a bandage and finds Ty Lee sitting on the floor, still in hysterics as she gazes at the blisters on her perfect skin.

"Stop crying if you want this bandage and burn ointment."

"You're the one who got cinnamon in it!"

"You're the one who insisted we make little cakes." Azula tears open the bandage and looks at it as if it is some foreign object. She glances over her shoulder for something to cut it with, but then settles on a controlled tongue of flame that singes it off. Ty Lee whimpers so loudly.

Azula stares at the jar next. "Ty Lee, open this. Now."

"I can't open your jar! I'm in complete agony!" Ty Lee lies down on the floor and despondently gazes up at the princess.

Azula sighs and smashes the glass open, making Ty Lee shriek in surprise. She dabs the spilled ointment with the singed bandage and brings it to Ty Lee.

"I'm not wrapping this on you."

"I could die of this burn."

"My brother survived having his face half burned off. You can survive touching boiling sugar," Azula says softly and Ty Lee cries louder. Azula grits her teeth. "Stop making that noise. I'm doing it."

Azula grabs Ty Lee's hand and Ty Lee is grateful her face is bright red so Azula can't see her blush. The tender ‒ well, attempt, at tender ‒ touch makes Ty Lee feel fuzzy.

"There." Azula ties it and sits back. "Are you happy now?"

"But now I have this ugly bandage and maybe even scars." Ty Lee sniffles and sits up to face Azula.

"Who do you have to impress?" Azula demands.

"You," Ty Lee says and she smiles before realizing the reality of their relationship. She should've continued playing it cool.

"Of course. I will, however, pretend that it is a wound from an event of your choosing."

"Fighting a dragon."

"Alright. Ty Lee and I were doing platonic things when suddenly a dragon appeared and ‒"

"You're not even trying!"

"Well then make it a believable injury."

"Fire breathing gecko?"

"Yes. I can come up with something good for that. I after all, can't bear to sleep with someone who is stupid enough to touch boiling sugar."

Ty Lee smiles.

Azula smiles back before they both realize what they're doing, and Azula grabs the too-liquidy batter to put into her mouth.

Ty Lee barely stops herself from grabbing the bowl of sugar again.

Azula rolls her eyes.