Azula was feeling decidedly lazy. The midday sun was beating down on her, warming her to her core, and making her firebending chi buzz pleasantly inside her. She sighed contentedly. A moment later, she felt fingers trailing delicately through her hair. Drowsily, Azula smiled and opened her eyes to peer upward.

Ty Lee smiled down at her, adjusting herself so that Azula's head rested more comfortably in her lap. "I thought you'd fallen asleep," she said. "You looked so peaceful."

"I wouldn't dare," the firebender said, smirking. "The last time I fell asleep anywhere near this garden, I woke up drowning in flowers."

The acrobat giggled, giving an onyx strand a light tug. "Well, I can't help it if you look so adorable in daisy chains, 'Zula," she said, shrugging. "Besides, it wasn't so bad as it could have been. If you'd just slept for another twenty minutes, I bet I could have made anklets, too."

"Agni preserve me!" Azula poked the girl in her ribs to make her giggle again. "You were fortunate. I decided that I liked you, so I wasn't going to take disciplinary action against you for festooning my royal person with such ignoble blooms, Lady Ty Lee."

"Would you listen to the woman? 'Festooning,' yet." Ty Lee rolled her eyes dramatically. Azula chuckled and laid her head back, enjoying the motions of the girl's fingers against her scalp. The acrobat tweaked her earlobe gently. "Well, I think today's the big day. Have you given any thought to our bargain yet, Miss Royal Personage?" The firebender frowned up at her in puzzlement, and Ty Lee smiled. "You remember. Three months, and we'd make our decision about whether to stay in the Fire Nation, or head off to some little backwater village somewhere. Right?"

Azula raised her brows. "Oh, that's right. I do recall making some kind of deal with you." She tapped her fingers absently in the grass as she considered it. "Well, I suppose things have improved a bit in these few months. But it's still not exactly ideal. Wouldn't you agree?"

The gymnast nodded soberly, glancing back at the guards who were waiting discreetly by the archway that led from the private garden back into the palace complex. "Yeah. I know what you mean, 'Zula. It's a bit like being on a stage all the time. - Or maybe more like being on trial all the time." She tugged the princess's hair out of its topknot and began to weave her fingers through the length of it. "But things have gotten a lot better, like you said. We're together, even if we do have to be careful about it. They let you out of your rooms a lot more. I bet you by this time next year we'd be doing really well. D'you really think it would be any better than this out in the Earth Kingdom somewhere?"

"Maybe not," Azula said lazily, lifting up her hand to examine her fingernails – once more filed and sharpened to razor points. "I'll admit that these last few weeks have gone much better than I expected they would. My dear brother might even come around to being reasonable – although I'm certainly not going to hold my breath."

Ty Lee beamed. "Then we can stay?" she asked hopefully.

"Mm." The young firebender folded her hands across her middle and closed her eyes again. "Keep doing what you're doing, and I'll think about it." Ty Lee laughed and complied, drawing strands of Azula's hair between her fingertips. "Lord Zhao's asked whether he can officially escort me to the banquet during the Festival of Lanterns," Azula remarked, without opening her eyes.

"Oh. Really?" Ty Lee paused in her work. "Do you...I mean, I know you're a lot smarter than I am, 'Zula. But do you really think that's wise?"

Azula shrugged. "I don't see why not. It would give the public a nice mental picture of my being out on the town with a young man. That ought to keep Zuzu happy, don't you think? Since he's so dreadfully worried about our relationship being kept under wraps."

"Well...yeah," the acrobat said slowly. "But he's a Zhao. We both know why he wants to go with you. He doesn't like Zuko."

"I can handle it, Ty Lee." Azula looked up at Ty Lee's worried face with a reassuring smile. "Besides, don't you think my lord brother will have me watched? I wouldn't dare to try anything, even if I wanted to." She yawned hugely. "I think I need a good training session to wake me up. Do you want to come and watch me?"

"Sure." Ty Lee returned Azula's hairpin and watched idly as the princess recoiled her hair.

Things were good, Azula reflected, twisting up her topknot. Despite the constant watch on her, she could see her way clear to being given more leeway in the future. And then, there would be many different...possibilities. She glanced at Ty Lee as she slipped her crown into the knot of hair, and smirked. Yes. I think Ty was right. The Fire Nation is definitely a land of opportunities. "Come on," she said. The little acrobat nodded and bounced to her feet as Azula headed for the archway. The young firebender cast a smug smile at the guards as she passed them. "You boys coming?" she asked lightly. She almost laughed when she saw the uncertainty in their faces – the same uncertainty they always wore when she addressed them. They knew what she was. Yes. Definitely – opportunities.

The two girls headed into the palace together. The sun soon shone over a garden silent, save for the rustling leaves of the stately trees.