ty lee, independenceivy_chanSeptember 30 2010, 23:55:57 UTC
"I don't get it," Mai says, when they finally get time enough to sit down, take a breather, and have tea together. "Why join a team of people in identical make-up when you just finished running away from being a matched set?"
The tea is jasmine with an oolong base, dark and fragrant and sweetened with tiny crystals of golden-brown sugar. She takes a sip and tries to think of the response. It's difficult only because she doesn't know how to explain it to herself, the words to the concepts beyond her grasp. She's not the one who's good with words.
It's not that the identical costumes and matching make-up weren't initially off-putting, despite their foreign, almost exotic charm. It's that this group, this strange, seamless group, have stumbled upon individuality in perfect unison. That difference between one unified whole and a group of people who just agreed to pull in the same direction.
And she doesn't know if Mai knows this, or even Azula. (she thinks azula does, azula knew all there was to know about ty lee, who was never closed to her,) but the truth is this: Ty Lee is bad at being a person of her own. Somewhere along a life lived as a set, as a member of a nation, as a friend of the princess, she has become incapable of self-wholeness. Ty Lee defines herself by other people, but she doesn't think this is a bad thing.
She thinks, maybe, it all depends on which people she chooses to define herself by.
"I thought it might be fun," she manages, and Mai goes back to her tea like she expected nothing more from her. Maybe she didn't.
"It's different," she adds, and Mai looks up at her, her expression perfectly neutral, "I mean. It's a group. But it's one I chose for myself."
The tea is jasmine with an oolong base, dark and fragrant and sweetened with tiny crystals of golden-brown sugar. She takes a sip and tries to think of the response. It's difficult only because she doesn't know how to explain it to herself, the words to the concepts beyond her grasp. She's not the one who's good with words.
It's not that the identical costumes and matching make-up weren't initially off-putting, despite their foreign, almost exotic charm. It's that this group, this strange, seamless group, have stumbled upon individuality in perfect unison. That difference between one unified whole and a group of people who just agreed to pull in the same direction.
And she doesn't know if Mai knows this, or even Azula. (she thinks azula does, azula knew all there was to know about ty lee, who was never closed to her,) but the truth is this: Ty Lee is bad at being a person of her own. Somewhere along a life lived as a set, as a member of a nation, as a friend of the princess, she has become incapable of self-wholeness. Ty Lee defines herself by other people, but she doesn't think this is a bad thing.
She thinks, maybe, it all depends on which people she chooses to define herself by.
"I thought it might be fun," she manages, and Mai goes back to her tea like she expected nothing more from her. Maybe she didn't.
"It's different," she adds, and Mai looks up at her, her expression perfectly neutral, "I mean. It's a group. But it's one I chose for myself."
And Mai smiles.
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There's not enough Ty Lee and Mai fic out there. I thoroughly enjoyed this. <3
P.S. I see what you did with the elaborate tea description, you foodophile! XD
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