Mai/Ty Lee friendship
Fandom: Avatar
Pairing: Mai/Ty Lee friendship
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Author’s Notes: A touch of fluff-Mai and Ty Lee growing up in the Fire Nation
#01 - Comfort
Ty Lee sighs as Mai rubs her arm, chasing away the memory of another reminder not to let Azula be outshone at cartwheels.
#02 - Kiss
A nod for a smile; a hand-clasp for a grateful hug; it takes time to read Mai’s muted gestures but Ty Lee welcomes the challenge.
#03 - Soft
Their heads nod together; shoulders barely touching, they drift off to sleep as the Academy Scholar drones on in the stuffy silence of the schoolroom.
#04 - Pain
“I wouldn’t have let them keep him,” Mai mutters, and Ty Lee nods, understanding.
#05 - Potatoes
Both children flatly refuse to believe Azula’s uncle the first time he assures them that the strange Earth Kingdom vegetable is edible fare.
#06 - Rain
”Idiot,” Mai scolds when her friend returns soaking and covered in mud; the blankets sit warmed and ready at her side.
#07 - Chocolate
”It’s nice the first time,” says the Governor’s daughter, and offers her friend the rest of the bowl.
#08 - Happiness
A quest; a summons; a reunion; whatever the name, they embrace it wholeheartedly.
#09 - Telephone
Letters, Ty Lee writes, are far too slow a way to talk to you.
#10 - Ears
Whispers and muted laughter; the halls of the Fire Lord’s palace are emptier without them.
#11 - Name
Well-bred as she is, Mai is only mildly surprised when she realises, half an hour into the initial meeting, that the strange girl attempting back-flips in the Fire Academy entrance-hall is still technically anonymous.
#12 - Sensual
Ty Lee is thrilled when the first eyes turn Mai’s way-she knew that hairstyle was the way to go.
#13 - Death
Ty Lee says two prayers for every soldier that marches to the front; the extra ones those that Mai is too proud to utter.
#14 - Sex
”Like acrobatics,” Ty Lee explains, “Only with politics.”
#15 - Touch
Ty Lee’s fingers are callused, the tips hardened from hours of practice; Mai thinks of her own soft, white hands and clenches them into fists.
#16 - Weakness
”Did you see the Prince today?” she asks again
#17 - Tears
”The circus?” she bows, “Then I’m happy for you.”
#18 - Speed
Flashing limbs and flying daggers; they leap and spar until time ceases to matter and everything bleeds into silk and steel tracing patterns in the air.
#19 - Wind
The eyes are wide and slate-grey-too familiar-so she ignores them and concentrates instead on the sky-blue tattoos, a connection she understands.
#20 - Freedom
Friendship and duty are so closely linked in their minds that sometimes they forget their choices are not their own.
#21 - Life
It is her task, they know, her mission-perhaps it is best if she enjoys it.
#22 - Jealousy
Mai touches the swell of her mother’s stomach lightly with her fingertips; Ty Lee watches a moment before turning away, trying to cleanse from her mouth and memory the sudden taste of bitterness.
#23 - Hands
The throw is not only in the thrust of the arm but the turn of the wrist and the press of the palm against the handle; Mai falls asleep practicing and wakes up with her fingers cramped, already reaching for the blades.
#24 - Taste
”Try them,” Azula insists, and though the fire-flakes make their throats burn and their eyes water unbearably, neither girl complains.
#25 - Devotion
Ty Lee passes the fuller basket to her father as instructed; his eyes are milk-white and do not register the extra bag of potatoes precariously balanced on her head.
#26 - Forever
In the end, childhood promises mean very little, but they say it anyway.
#27 - Blood
The degree of fear in her friend’s eyes is almost laughable; strangely, Mai’s throat tightens for a different reason as she explains to her friend the secrets that only a mother should tell.
#28 - Sickness
Mai cries for her mother when she is ill and Ty Lee for her blind father; Azula asks for no one but they keep vigil outside her door anyway.
#
29 - Melody
“I guess the blade was sharper than I thought,” she tells the music-master, straight-faced over the pile of broken harp-strings.
#30 - Star
The stars, if read, would tell very little about an irresponsible girl and a stubborn one-that’s not to say it wouldn’t have been better if they had.
#31 - Home
Omashu feels no better or worse than the Fire Nation; Mai wonders at her lack of gratitude before realising-neither of them feels right.
#32 - Confusion
”How do you wear these?” Ty Lee asks, flapping the robes, “Give me a breeze or two and I’ll be able to fly!”
#33 - Fear
She finds him unconscious, sprawled across the doorstep with his hand to his chest; her screams are inarticulate but for Mai’s name wound somehow between the sobbing.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
Mai watches the storm rage behind the immaculate window-screen; worried it will break through and at the same time praying desperately that it can.
#35 - Bonds
I’m still here, Mai thinks, but she cannot say it, and it seems a poor compensation anyway to the girl whose life is coming apart in her hands.
#36 - Market
Mai always bargains down to the last copper, mercilessly grinding down the price; it helps her forget, somehow, that her parents could buy the entire marketplace and barely make a dent in their coffers.
#37 - Technology
Their eyes glaze over as Azula’s brother talks at length about the new Fire Nation fleet; the one musing on the passion behind the words; the other on the mouth that shapes them.
#38 - Gift
Mai’s parents scoff at the cheapness of the robes and the poor quality of the stitching; Mai wears them stubbornly until the very last seams have given way and the gaudy beads have crumbled into dust.
#39 - Smile
”See?” Ty Lee pulls up her own lips in an exaggerated leer, “You can do it too!”
#40 - Innocence
Surprisingly, Mai’s grey-eyed friend has no qualms at all about using the public bathhouse-nor any idea that the glances shot her way stem from anything more than curiosity.
#41 - Completion
”Let’s get something to eat,” Mai suggests, but Ty Lee does not stop until each and every one of her father’s shirts is neatly folded within the chest.
#42 - Clouds
As the daughter of a nobleman, continually in the Presence of the Fire Lord and his family, it is little wonder that her eyes are more used to the elaborate floor mosaics than their heavenly equivalent.
#43 - Sky
Blue-white; blood red; ink-black; they map the changes daily without ever registering those in themselves.
#44 - Heaven
”Can you see me now?” Ty Lee asks, on her knees before the shrine.
#45 - Hell
At the back of the hall, one girl falls and another catches her as a scream explodes and the scent of charred flesh fills the air.
#46 - Sun
Azula pushes them all day, her pace gruelling and the set of her shoulders daring them to challenge her (they don’t).
#47 - Moon
Come nightfall she collapses, her borrowed strength spent; they loosen her hair and help her into her bedrole as she drifts off; briefly, they can almost forget she’s a Princess.
#48 - Waves
The giddiness comes first, then the heat, and finally the strange sense of emptiness that fills her whenever she thinks of the clumsy water-tribesman; like doing cartwheels on the sand only to feel it slip away from you and suddenly falling, head first, towards the waves.
#49 - Hair
In the short-lived moment of their hug, each feels the weight of the other’s hair on her own shoulders; they part shakily, two girls who but for an accident of fate might have swapped lives along with the styles of their hair.
#50 - Supernova
The blade glints, their breath catches, and suddenly it is done-they are sisters and the combined blood wells up, mingling with their tears.
Pairing: Mai/Ty Lee friendship
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Author’s Notes: A touch of fluff-Mai and Ty Lee growing up in the Fire Nation
#01 - Comfort
Ty Lee sighs as Mai rubs her arm, chasing away the memory of another reminder not to let Azula be outshone at cartwheels.
#02 - Kiss
A nod for a smile; a hand-clasp for a grateful hug; it takes time to read Mai’s muted gestures but Ty Lee welcomes the challenge.
#03 - Soft
Their heads nod together; shoulders barely touching, they drift off to sleep as the Academy Scholar drones on in the stuffy silence of the schoolroom.
#04 - Pain
“I wouldn’t have let them keep him,” Mai mutters, and Ty Lee nods, understanding.
#05 - Potatoes
Both children flatly refuse to believe Azula’s uncle the first time he assures them that the strange Earth Kingdom vegetable is edible fare.
#06 - Rain
”Idiot,” Mai scolds when her friend returns soaking and covered in mud; the blankets sit warmed and ready at her side.
#07 - Chocolate
”It’s nice the first time,” says the Governor’s daughter, and offers her friend the rest of the bowl.
#08 - Happiness
A quest; a summons; a reunion; whatever the name, they embrace it wholeheartedly.
#09 - Telephone
Letters, Ty Lee writes, are far too slow a way to talk to you.
#10 - Ears
Whispers and muted laughter; the halls of the Fire Lord’s palace are emptier without them.
#11 - Name
Well-bred as she is, Mai is only mildly surprised when she realises, half an hour into the initial meeting, that the strange girl attempting back-flips in the Fire Academy entrance-hall is still technically anonymous.
#12 - Sensual
Ty Lee is thrilled when the first eyes turn Mai’s way-she knew that hairstyle was the way to go.
#13 - Death
Ty Lee says two prayers for every soldier that marches to the front; the extra ones those that Mai is too proud to utter.
#14 - Sex
”Like acrobatics,” Ty Lee explains, “Only with politics.”
#15 - Touch
Ty Lee’s fingers are callused, the tips hardened from hours of practice; Mai thinks of her own soft, white hands and clenches them into fists.
#16 - Weakness
”Did you see the Prince today?” she asks again
#17 - Tears
”The circus?” she bows, “Then I’m happy for you.”
#18 - Speed
Flashing limbs and flying daggers; they leap and spar until time ceases to matter and everything bleeds into silk and steel tracing patterns in the air.
#19 - Wind
The eyes are wide and slate-grey-too familiar-so she ignores them and concentrates instead on the sky-blue tattoos, a connection she understands.
#20 - Freedom
Friendship and duty are so closely linked in their minds that sometimes they forget their choices are not their own.
#21 - Life
It is her task, they know, her mission-perhaps it is best if she enjoys it.
#22 - Jealousy
Mai touches the swell of her mother’s stomach lightly with her fingertips; Ty Lee watches a moment before turning away, trying to cleanse from her mouth and memory the sudden taste of bitterness.
#23 - Hands
The throw is not only in the thrust of the arm but the turn of the wrist and the press of the palm against the handle; Mai falls asleep practicing and wakes up with her fingers cramped, already reaching for the blades.
#24 - Taste
”Try them,” Azula insists, and though the fire-flakes make their throats burn and their eyes water unbearably, neither girl complains.
#25 - Devotion
Ty Lee passes the fuller basket to her father as instructed; his eyes are milk-white and do not register the extra bag of potatoes precariously balanced on her head.
#26 - Forever
In the end, childhood promises mean very little, but they say it anyway.
#27 - Blood
The degree of fear in her friend’s eyes is almost laughable; strangely, Mai’s throat tightens for a different reason as she explains to her friend the secrets that only a mother should tell.
#28 - Sickness
Mai cries for her mother when she is ill and Ty Lee for her blind father; Azula asks for no one but they keep vigil outside her door anyway.
#
29 - Melody
“I guess the blade was sharper than I thought,” she tells the music-master, straight-faced over the pile of broken harp-strings.
#30 - Star
The stars, if read, would tell very little about an irresponsible girl and a stubborn one-that’s not to say it wouldn’t have been better if they had.
#31 - Home
Omashu feels no better or worse than the Fire Nation; Mai wonders at her lack of gratitude before realising-neither of them feels right.
#32 - Confusion
”How do you wear these?” Ty Lee asks, flapping the robes, “Give me a breeze or two and I’ll be able to fly!”
#33 - Fear
She finds him unconscious, sprawled across the doorstep with his hand to his chest; her screams are inarticulate but for Mai’s name wound somehow between the sobbing.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
Mai watches the storm rage behind the immaculate window-screen; worried it will break through and at the same time praying desperately that it can.
#35 - Bonds
I’m still here, Mai thinks, but she cannot say it, and it seems a poor compensation anyway to the girl whose life is coming apart in her hands.
#36 - Market
Mai always bargains down to the last copper, mercilessly grinding down the price; it helps her forget, somehow, that her parents could buy the entire marketplace and barely make a dent in their coffers.
#37 - Technology
Their eyes glaze over as Azula’s brother talks at length about the new Fire Nation fleet; the one musing on the passion behind the words; the other on the mouth that shapes them.
#38 - Gift
Mai’s parents scoff at the cheapness of the robes and the poor quality of the stitching; Mai wears them stubbornly until the very last seams have given way and the gaudy beads have crumbled into dust.
#39 - Smile
”See?” Ty Lee pulls up her own lips in an exaggerated leer, “You can do it too!”
#40 - Innocence
Surprisingly, Mai’s grey-eyed friend has no qualms at all about using the public bathhouse-nor any idea that the glances shot her way stem from anything more than curiosity.
#41 - Completion
”Let’s get something to eat,” Mai suggests, but Ty Lee does not stop until each and every one of her father’s shirts is neatly folded within the chest.
#42 - Clouds
As the daughter of a nobleman, continually in the Presence of the Fire Lord and his family, it is little wonder that her eyes are more used to the elaborate floor mosaics than their heavenly equivalent.
#43 - Sky
Blue-white; blood red; ink-black; they map the changes daily without ever registering those in themselves.
#44 - Heaven
”Can you see me now?” Ty Lee asks, on her knees before the shrine.
#45 - Hell
At the back of the hall, one girl falls and another catches her as a scream explodes and the scent of charred flesh fills the air.
#46 - Sun
Azula pushes them all day, her pace gruelling and the set of her shoulders daring them to challenge her (they don’t).
#47 - Moon
Come nightfall she collapses, her borrowed strength spent; they loosen her hair and help her into her bedrole as she drifts off; briefly, they can almost forget she’s a Princess.
#48 - Waves
The giddiness comes first, then the heat, and finally the strange sense of emptiness that fills her whenever she thinks of the clumsy water-tribesman; like doing cartwheels on the sand only to feel it slip away from you and suddenly falling, head first, towards the waves.
#49 - Hair
In the short-lived moment of their hug, each feels the weight of the other’s hair on her own shoulders; they part shakily, two girls who but for an accident of fate might have swapped lives along with the styles of their hair.
#50 - Supernova
The blade glints, their breath catches, and suddenly it is done-they are sisters and the combined blood wells up, mingling with their tears.