Cartwheel

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Chapter 1: See Through

"You don't know me! So why don't you mind your own business?"

"I know you..."

She turned her face away from him, not daring to met his amber eyes. Her brown braid slipped over her shoulder as she hastily blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill out on to her cheeks. Why did he insist on pushing everyone away? She knew what he had been through, she was there. So why was he isolating himself from her? She sighed and glanced back at him, her eyes running over his dark hair and scarred face. A slowly pulsing light was faintly emitting from his body; his aura. She could only see auras when she was really concentrating, so she squinted, trying to furtively examine the other teen without him noticing.

She suppressed a gasp. His aura was nothing she'd ever seen before. A whirlwind of light, raging around his frame. Black and white blended together and writhed across the boy's body. She knew it came from the obvious turmoil inside him. She could feel the heat waving off his aura from across the crackling campfire.

He was hurting inside somewhere. She clenched her fists to her side and averted her eyes. She was going to help him. She had to. For both of their sakes.

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6 years earlier

Ty Lee peeked out from behind her slender fingers and watched from in back of a large tree with smooth red bark. She only allowed her head to emerge from the side, low to the ground, her eyes gleaming in mischievous pleasure. Besides her stood Azula, smirking as usual, leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"What's he doing?" she asked, yawning.

"He sees her," Ty Lee exclaimed, her high-pitched voice squeaking excitedly.

Azula shot her a dark look and Ty Lee closed her mouth immediately. She hated making Azula mad. She did, after all, look up to the Fire Nation princess a great deal.

"Are they talking?" Azula demanded, narrowing her cat-like eyes but not bothering to poke her own head around the tree.

"Yes," Ty Lee said quickly, "and she's as red as your dad's ceremonial robes!"

Azula nodded appreciatively. Ty Lee knew how much her friend liked to put her brother in awkward situations. She turned her head back to the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

Zuko was standing over a madly blushing Mai, his pale skin contrasting noticeably with his long black hair, tucked into a neat ponytail. Mai herself was sitting on a small wooden bench, her thin legs crossed underneath her body, her ebony hair curled in two small buns. She was looking around nervously, setting her eyes on anything that wasn't part of Zuko.

Ty Lee watched as Zuko scowled and turned his back on Mai. His eyes flickered around the courtyard. Too late, Ty Lee pulled back her head and crouched at the ground by Azula's feet. Zuko had spotted her.

"He saw you didn't he?" she asked disdainfully.

Ty Lee knew her friend wasn't expecting an answer, so she didn't give one. Instead she gracefully leapt to her feet, dusting off her pink skirt happily.

"Azula!"

Zuko stomped around the tree and glared at the two girls behind it. Azula greeted her brother with a slight wave of her hand and gazed into the sky, looking bored and indifferent. As Zuko's eyes fixed themselves upon Ty Lee, she felt a strange shiver pass through her body. Ignoring it, she flipped her braided hair over her shoulder and smiled at the boy.

"Hello Zuko!" she said cheerfully.

The pale-faced prince turned away from her, dismissing her hello. He stalked across the ground, crushing tiny blades of grass underfoot as he went, and stopped when he came face-to-face with his sister.

"Stop trying to set me up with her," he growled, "The note I got said that Uncle Iroh wanted to talk to me, not Mai."

"If you believed that, then your even dumber then I thought, Zuzu," Azula laughed.

"Just leave me alone!" Zuko snapped.

He turned and walked off, his yellow and red outfit catching in the sunlight before he disappeared underneath the covered walkway surrounding the small courtyard. Azula watched him go with a satisfied smile on her face. Then she beckoned to Ty Lee and the two stepped out from behind the tree.

As the two girls approached Mai, who was now staring at them grumpily, her eyes shining with annoyance, Ty Lee glanced up at the sky. It looked so soft and fluffy! Pearly clouds drifted across the deep cerulean backdrop and she spotted a fire hawk gliding above her head, its wings shadowed on the ground from the beams of golden sunlight. Ty Lee sighed in happiness. She loved this garden. Azula and Mai and herself would play here all the time. The small bubbling pond and scattered trees and rocks made for endless days of fun.

Feeling overwhelmed by her good spirits, Ty Lee backflipped over the last stretch of ground between Azula and Mai, springing up with a flourishing wave of her hand. Grinning, she took Mai's translucently hand and squeezed it.

"Wow Mai, you're so pale! You really need to get out into the sun more often! I heard that sunlight can turn your aura even pinker!" she chattered, pulling her friend to her feet.

"You guys are so obnoxious," Mai pouted, looking over Ty Lee's shoulder to where Azula was standing, her arms crossed, her dark hair blowing gently in the warm summer breeze.

"Don't pretend you didn't like that," Azula said, widening her eyes innocently , "we saw you blushing. And anyway we were just trying to help."

"Yeah right," Mai scoffed, "you just like seeing me and Zuko squirm in discomfort. And Ty Lee only does it because you tell her to."

Ty Lee let Mai's hand drop back down to her side. She tilted her head questioningly at the irate girl, but Mai refused to look at her. Why did Mai always seem upset when Ty Lee helped Azula out? She got the feeling that Mai thought Azula was using Ty Lee, but she knew that the Fire Nation princess would never do that to her.

Suddenly breaking into a wide smile, Ty Lee quickly tumbled over, balancing precariously on one splayed out hand, her long legs pointing straight up into the air, motionless and perfectly balanced.

"C'mon guys," she said lightly, "let's not fight. We should play dress up again with your mom's clothes!"

Ty Lee remembered fondly the other day, when the three girls had tried on Azula's mother's wardrobe, modeling the fancy Fire Nation garb for each other. Granted, Ty Lee had orchestrated the entire activity and Mai and Azula hadn't been too happy playing dress up like little girls when they were already nine. But Ty Lee had a blast and she was excited to do it again.

"No way," Mai answered instantly, beginning to walk away backwards from Ty Lee, "I'm never doing that again. It was a silly waste of time. I'm going to go read in my room."

Ty Lee, upside-down, watched as Mai's feet retreated across the grass. Suddenly a strong hand placed itself on Ty Lee's stomach and pushed, tipping her over on to the cushiony stretch of grass. The world spun for a moment and when Ty Lee blinked she found herself looking up into Azula's face, framed by the sun, looking beautiful as always.

"I'm going too," she said, "I have to work on my Fire Bending."

Azula's face vanished from Ty Lee's line of vision and she felt the other girl's footsteps die away like Mai's and Zuko's had. Ty Lee shrugged and stretched her legs out, content with the sun warming her body. She gazed up at the sky and stared at the shapes of the clouds.

"That one looks like a turkey-bunny," she murmured.

The next moment she was asleep, lulled by the cool grass and comforting heat from the beams of light. She was completely blissful.

A.N. So as you can tell, there will be lots of Tyko. Well review please and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading.