True loyalty is one of the rarest qualities you will ever hope to find. Humans, by nature, are utterly selfish. It is not because they are bad people, but rather it is a survival mechanism to only think of oneself. That's why it is so very hard to find another person who will put your needs before their own. But if you can find a person like that, never let go of them. They are worth more than all the gold and precious gems in than world. Absolute loyalty is a rarity.

"Ty Lee…" Zuko breathed in her ear, low and desperate. He drew the young girl back against him. His fingers slid slowly down to the base of her hips, pulling them ever so slightly closer to him. Ty Lee inhaled as inaudibly as possible; the sensation of being moulding against the narrow line of his hips threatened to overwhelm her.

She suddenly wanted nothing more than to melt into Zuko, and the surge of desire terrified her. She began to panic when he bent his head and pressed his lips lightly on her neck. It felt so right, but at the same time she knew there was something terribly wrong with the situation. Despite herself, a soft moan escaped her lips. The sound was so unnaturally her, her eyes fluttered and she struggled to focus despite the suffocating heat pressing down on her. Zuko pulled her closer yet. Her body quaked and she pivoted in his arms, pushing against his chest to create space between the two.

"We can't do this," she gasped.

"Why not?" His smile made her knees buckle.

Ty Lee pulled her eyes away from him, trying to focus on anything but his intense golden gaze. Her body felt alien; hot and wild.

"Zuko, no, you have Mai." She shoved him back another foot.

"All I want is you, Ty Lee." His words wrapped around her, low and soothing.

He trailed his fingertips along her cheekbone. His other hand slid around her waist, caressing her lower back where the slither of bare skin was exposed just below her pink top. A sudden quivering filled her limbs, and she hated how weak she felt.

Zuko leaned forward, his thumb tracing the line of her lower lip. Ty Lee was almost downing in the heat when she realized he intended to kiss her.

"No." She darted out of his reach. Her body ached for his touch and her heart begged to be near to him, where it had always been, but her head was in a frenzy. "Seriously, we can't."

Ty Lee's heart slammed against her rib cage as she turned her back to him, desperate to escape his advances. She glanced back once, only to cringe at Zuko's thunderstruck expression. However when she turned back around, she was faced by something much worse; the heartbroken eyes of her best friend.

Ty Lee's eyes snapped open. She could feel her body go cold, despite her heart slamming so thunderously against her chest, pumping much more blood through her veins than usual. She took deep, long breaths to try and calm herself as she lay in her old room, staring up at a similar ceiling.

As soon as she felt like she could breathe again, she rolled onto her side and locked her eyes shut, curling up into a ball and holding herself together. This wasn't the first dream she had had since Ba Sing Se, and she knew it wouldn't be her last. It was always the same. Always the same, heartbroken eyes she saw.

It wasn't easy, having guilt gnaw at her heart every second. She believed the dreams were at least some form of penance. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. As much as it felt so right being with Zuko, it still wasn't worth betraying Mai, her best friend. Zuko felt like home to her, safe and warm. She felt like she belonged in his arms. But how could anybody be that selfish? What kind of person would destroy their friend's life to secure their own happiness? However, even then, there was Zuko. As much as it broke her heart to admit it, he truly was her best friend, even more so than Mai. Would rejecting him cause even more pain than it would Mai? But then, how could she be so certain that Zuko did care for her more than his first love? Did she think so highly of herself to just assume that?

Ty Lee shook her head violently. Too many thoughts, too much confusion.

She lay in the darkness for what must have been hours, thinking in never-ending circles. All of the 'what ifs' seemed to come at once, and the longer she thought about it, the heavier she felt. Deep down in her heart, she knew what had to be done, and the thought threatened to bring her to tears at any moment.

She had never been ashamed of crying before. When she was little she used to cry at the drop of a hat, a little plea for attention. And now she could still cry in front of people when she was upset. She didn't believe in hiding her emotions. But when she cried in her bed, a soft, pitiful cry in the dead of the night, it was different. Her throat constricted dangerously and she tightened her hold around herself, fearing that if she let go, even just for a second, her whole being would fall apart.

She was going to lose him. The mirror to her soul, her best friend, her Zuko. She was going to lose him. She had to give him up. She had to give up everything she'd wanted since she was a little girl. Agni knows she didn't want to, and a part of her heart pleaded in desperation that she reconsider, but it had to be done. As much as she wanted Zuko, there was no justifying the heartbreak of another girl, her own best friend, who had been heartbroken for so long already. Even if it meant tearing out her own heart.

She could not betray Mai.

She was resolute on her decision, and the tears began to falter once the first rays of the morning sun bathed her room in light. It even made her smile the slightest smile. Everything was always better in the morning.

Zuko paced around his moonlight-bathed room with bloodshot eyes and a thrashing headache. It had been this way since Ba Sing Se; he hadn't been able to sleep for more than two hours at a time, and even then his slumber was so nightmare-ridden that it barely counted as sleep at all.

Then there were the headaches. The mind, Zuko had concluded, was not made to handle so many problems at once.

He ran his hand through is hair in frustration. He had never been this confused in his life.

He had done the right thing, hadn't he? Choosing to side with Azula? It had never been a good idea to do that before, but this was for the good of the Fire Nation, so surely he had done the right thing.

Right?

Zuko was the Crown Prince. His duty was to his nation. He did it for the good of the Fire Nation. The Avatar needed to be removed from the equation, and together he and Azula had accomplished that.

At least he told himself. If he were to be brutally honest though, he knew it wasn't for any noble reason. The truth was that he saw an opportunity to go home, to be accepted by his father, and to have his honour restored, and he took it. He took it even though it meant taking Azula's side. He took it even though it meant turning on the Water Tribe girl who had been so kind to him. He took it even though it meant betraying his uncle.

Is that why felt like he did? Because he was home again, his father accepted him and his honour had been restored. Only it felt like it hadn't. Had he made the right choice? His head was telling him that he did, but his heart…

And then there was the ever-present worry of Azula's subtle threat. The Avatar, Aang, might still be alive and now his father thought he was the one to kill him. As conflicted as he was about his decision, he wasn't about to give up what he had gained out of it.

He slumped back down on his bed, settling in the expensive linen. It was useless to try and sleep, but closing his eyes helped him to shut out the rest of the world. He had not even yet come to his biggest problem: Mai and Ty Lee.

As guilty as he felt about betraying his uncle it was nothing compared to how guilty he felt around Mai. After all, he loved her.

Be he also loved Ty Lee.

How does one chose between a soulmate and a best friend? It was an impossible task made even more unmanageable by the thought of hurting either one.

Firstly there was Mai, his first love. Ever since they had begun dating he knew they would never stop. Mai was cold and stoic in contrast to his passionate fire; a komodo-rhino and a rabaroohad more in common than the two of them did. However, she was still a good person; she had kindness in her heart, along with morals and integrity. She was intelligent, level-headed and down to earth, and, even though she had been through a lot, she was not a worse person because of it. She just took everything in stride. And, of course, she was undoubtedly his soulmate. He and Mai simply fit together, by arrange of the cosmos. It was their destiny to be together. She was his future Fire Lady.

But was destiny as strong as love in its purest form?

Because then there was Ty Lee, and what he felt for her was simply that - pure love. She was his and he was hers. Whenever she was near him, he could physically feel his whole body relax, completely at ease. And even if he removed sexuality from the equation, he still loved her, just as a person. A person who understood him so completely, who was the source of his greatest comfort and happiness, who was so completely and purely good that it made his heart ache. Charismatic, understanding and passionate. He loved all that she was, mind, spirit and body. He simply loved Ty Lee.

But was love as strong as resolute fate?

He thought of his time away from home, his time away from the two girls. It brought at saying to mind: absence is to love what wind is to fire; when its small fire, the wind extinguishes it, but when it's a real fire, the wind only intensifies it. That didn't help him though; neither of his flames had been extinguished.

From his bed he could see the bright white moon filtering light from above; he had always hated the moon. Of course, as a Firebender, a child of the sun, of course the moon would be his natural opposite. But it was something more than that too. Ever since he was little, all through his life, the moon had hung in the sky. In the darkest moments of his life, his mother's disappearance, his banishment, tonight, the moon had been there, projecting its radiance across him. Mocking him. In the times where he felt so alone the cold moon would shine brightly at him in contempt, flaunting its flawlessness. Unlike the sun, who shone just as brightly, but was an ever-constant source of warmth and life. A comfort rather than a torment.

How he hated the moon.

Ty Lee crossed the courtyard at the palace. She felt physically disgusting, a result of the previous night's sleep, or lack thereof, and had a lump in her throat that constricted her breathing. She was in no shape to face Zuko, but it had to be done.

She took her place seated underneath the apple tree. She wished he didn't have to do it there. In their place. It was special, almost sacred even, and she didn't want to taint it with this. However, it was the one place she knew the prince would find her. Besides, it was kind of fitting; almost all of their memories together came from that spot. This was just another one, possibly the last, to be added to the list.

The wind softly caressed her; a beautifully light breeze that helped her calm down. As she looked around the courtyard she was overcome by a flood of memories. The time she and Zuko had broken into the palace stables in an attempt to ride the komodo-rhinos, only to have them panic and stampede before they even got near one. It took all day for the guards to recapture them all while Ty Lee and Zuko hid in the courtyard, feigning innocence. To this day they still don't know how the beasts escaped. Then there was that time that she and Zuko lay underneath the apple tree for the entire day, simply talking. They talked about everything and nothing. They talked until they understood each other completely. They talked until the sun went down and, when they decided that they weren't done, they simply lay there and looked at the stars. Neither of them went home until midnight that night, and they took solace in the fact that the other cared, even if their families didn't even notice their absence.

There was when a boy, important at the time, broke Ty Lee's heart. Zuko found her crying under the tree. He simply sat with her, not saying a word, stroking her hair until she was all cried out. Later, she found out, said boy and his family moved to the colonies, which she found odd, as they were a wealthy and respected family. And there was the time that the two snuck out to a commoner's festival. That night was the most fun either of them had ever had, filled with laughter and dancing and way too much food, and they buried the evidence of it underneath their tree.

So many memories. She felt the lump in her throat grow larger, causing it to ache numbly. She bit back tears that were threatening to show. She was not going to cry. Today she needed to be strong. Just for today. She could fall apart later.

"Ty Lee?"

She whipped her head in the direction of the voice, but she already knew who it was.

"Hey, Azula."

The young princess eyed her suspiciously, and Ty Lee's heart rate went up a notch. It was odd, she knew, for her to be there. The girls had long since abandoned the courtyard as their place of meeting. It lost its appeal along with the children's games.

Azula, of course, didn't miss that fact, "What are you doing here?"

"I…um…" Ty Lee stammered, frantic for an excuse, any excuse. However, it was in vain; there was absolutely no reason for her to be where she was, except for the actual reason, which she would never admit to Azula. Suicide, much? Desperatly, she looked around, hoping by some miracle Zuko would be there to intercept his sister. Azula, however, didn't miss that either. Her eyes narrowed slightly and a smirk stretched across her face.

"I think it's time for a chat Ty Lee."

Zuko made his way out of the palace, head still in disarray. If he had all the time in the world it still wouldn't be enough for him to sort out his jumble of emotions. Last night barely even made a dent.

He did come to one resolution though: both girls needed to know what he was feeling. Everything needed to be out in the open to avoid more severe wounds later. That meant telling Mai that he had feelings for her best friend, which was probably in-between telling his father that the Avatar might still be alive and getting into an Agni Kai with Azula on a list of things that he wanted to do. At least in those two instances he had the sweet mercy of death.

However, it had to be done. There was no running from it.

He stepped out into the courtyard from the side walkways and, to his surprise, found Ty Lee and his sister in a sort of confrontation. 'Confrontation' being the applicable word instead of 'conversation', as it was evident that Ty Lee wanted to be anywhere else.

She was standing with her back to him, so she hadn't noticed him yet. This struck him as odd by itself, as she could usually identify a person's presence within 50 meters, by way of her training or her gifts with auras. The fact that she hadn't noticed him only alarmed him further. Something wasn't right.

Azula, however, had noticed him. Her unforgiving eyes flickered to him for only an instant, and then returned her gaze to her prey, her smirk growing the slightest bit wider.

He was just about to interfere, to space Ty Lee from whatever his sister was thinking, but stopped in his tracks as he caught wind of their conversation.

"Well, surely you're here to meet someone Ty Lee, and it's not Mai or me," Azula interrogated harshly.

Both Zuko and Ty Lee became very still. She was waiting for him? It was silly, but the idea still made him a little giddy with pleasure.

Ty Lee didn't respond.

Azula's devilish smile spread and it dawned on Zuko: she had figured it out. For all of her many, many faults, the Fire Nation princess was no idiot. Somehow the brief encounter had been enough for her to put two and two together.

"Well that really only leaves one other person, but you can't possibly be here to meet Zuko, can you?"

Zuko could see Ty Lee's knees begin to wobble slightly and barely heard the "no" she whispered with her head ducked.

"Are you sure? Because that would be really odd, wouldn't it? I mean, you two are friends, obviously. I remember you used to talk in the exact same spot when you were little. But now he's actually Mai's boyfriend. I think it would strike her as…odd that you two were still meeting up." Her golden eyes narrowed, "haven't really come very far from the old days, have we, Ty Lee?"

Although he couldn't see her, he could picture the alarm on Ty Lee's face. It must've looked something like what was reflected on his.

It had to stop. Immediately. But before he could interject, he was once again stopped by their conversation, only this time it was Ty Lee's voice, raised in anger, that made him still.

"Of course not Azula, you shouldn't think such things," the smaller girl said with vehemence. The forcefulness in her voice startled Zuko. "There is nothing between Zuko and me." The emphasis she put on 'nothing' hit him like a blow to the gut, knocking with wind out of him. "First of all, like you said, he's Mai's boyfriend. How could you think I'd do something like that to her? And secondly, you're wrong; Zuko and I were never friends. How could we be? He's so surly and serious all the time. He always has been. Why would I be friends with a person like that, let alone anything more?"

Zuko took a step back. Lies, he thought, she has to be lying. Still, lying or not, the words drilled into his brain, hurting him more and more the further they entered. He wanted nothing more than for Azula to just disappear so he could look into Ty Lee's eyes, to search her and know that she didn't mean a word of it. But the fact was that she said them anyway. That meant that, at some point, she really would have had to have thought those things about him, and it was something he never expected from Ty Lee. And, if he was being honest, he really didn't expect her to stand up for him. He understood how difficult the situation with Azula was, but to even deny their friendship? Hadn't they been through too much for that?

Azula's face flooded with mock relief and then, addressing her brother, she said, "Isn't that great, Zu Zu? No fights on your behalf then."

From there, everything he expected to happen did, only in slow motion; Ty Lee's body becoming frozen, her turning to him with absolute horror in her gorgeous eyes, her mouth opening and closing, without a single word or sound ever escaping her lips, and his complete lack of ability to look at her face.

They stood in silence; her staring at him, him staring anywhere but her, and Azula staring at the both of them, proud of a job well done.

It was a while before Zuko could speak again without fear of his voice breaking, but when he did he mustered up all the coldness and distance he could manage and, looking straight into Ty Lee's eyes he said, "Yes. It's a good thing that you wouldn't be friends with a person like me."

With that, he turned on his heal and walked out of the courtyard with as much emotionlessness as he could retain. It was only when he had reached the safety of his room, far away from her, far away from anyone, that he crumpled to the ground, utterly alone.

Ty Lee's heart plummeted to her stomach as she watched Zuko leave. Oh Agni, what had she done? Her first instinct was to follow him, but Azula's boring gaze stopped her in her tracks.

It was lies, of course. Surely he knew that. After all they had been through how could he think any different? And he knew that she had to lie to Azula.

But still, Ty Lee wanted nothing more than to follow him.

So she did, but before she could even make a step, Azula's voice rang in her ears, "And just where do you think you're going now?"

Something inside of Ty Lee snapped. Why the hell was it any of Azula's business where she was going or who her friends were? She loved Zuko in so many ways, and it killed her to know she had hurt him, and she was not about to just sit around a let him continue to think that she didn't love him, regardless of what Azula said. She couldn't run her life.

Ty Lee stopped looked her friend square in the eyes. She didn't need courage, she simply didn't care what Azula thought or did anymore, "I'm going to find Zuko. I lied before. We are friends. And I know what I said hurt him, so I'm going to see if he's alright. Is that okay with you, Azula?" She could see the surprise in the young princess' eyes; this was the first time she had ever stood up to her. But Ty Lee didn't stop there. She had to call Azula's bluff, "and you know what? I don't care what you tell Mai."

And with that she left Azula in the same manner Zuko did.

She made her way to Zuko's room with her heart pounding wildly; would he even see her? She was glad there was no reflective surfaces around the Palace, she didn't think she could handle looking at herself right now.

All the horrible things she said. Even if she didn't mean a word of it, she still said it, and Zuko still had to listen to it.

Maybe it was for the best. Maybe now Zuko could see that Mai deserved him more. Maybe now Ty Lee didn't have to break his heart because she couldn't anymore.

She rapped timidly on his door. Maybe this is for the better, she kept telling herself, a clean break.

No answer.

She sighed. Of course not.

But she knew he was in there, and so she opened her mouth to speak. Zuko, I'm sorry you had to hear that. I didn't mean any of it.

Zuko, I'm sorry, but this needed to stop. You have Mai.

Zuko, please, please don't hate me.

Zuko, you know I was lying. You know I had to.

Those were all the things she wanted to say, that she was supposed to say. But when she opened her mouth, only three words came out.

"I love you."

"I love you."

I love you.

As angry and injured as he was, the words still flooded through him, filling every part of his body with a warm comfort. Even with his world as dark as it was right now, Ty Lee still managed to bright in a ray of sunshine. It was like she was the sun itself.

But it wasn't enough this time.

This thing between Ty Lee and him needed to be put to rest. It was hurting him, it was hurting Mai and, above all else, it was hurting Ty Lee.

He loved her, he thought, more than anything else in the world. She was his Ty Lee. His comfort, his confidant, and now, his lover. Somebody who understood his entire being, better than even he did. And them being together made sense. It simply fit. It was, in a way, exactly what love was supposed to be.

But love has never been perfect.

As much as he loved her, how could he be with her if it made her unhappy? Becaause, even though he may love him back, that's exactly what she was. Ty Lee was not made to be a traitor. She was fiercely loyal, he knew that, and she wouldn't have gotten into this mess for anybody else but him. Since Ba Sing Se he had never seen her smile once, unless they were together. And even that felt like it was a mask.

How could he be responsible for taking away her smile?

He couldn't. He would not let that happen.

Slowly, he rose moved towards the door. He could do this. He needed to do this. For her. For the girl who had done so much for him. Once more, he drained the emotion from his face and opened the door.

And there she was, as breathtaking as ever. Her large, doe-like eyes looking at him in expectation and anxiety. Her honeyed lips quivering ever so slightly, trying to find words. Her flawless skin slightly flushed and radiant.

Why did Agni hate him so?

But he didn't let it show. Instead, she simply looked into her eyes, feigning hardness in his.

She was the first to speak, "Zuko…I-I didn't mean it. You know that right?"

The young prince kept his frosty gaze, "I know."

"So…does that mean you forgive me?"

Agni, she smelt so good.

He simply nodded. Now for the hard part, "I didn't really care to be honest," he said, adverting his eyes and looking over her should. Lies, Ty Lee, I'm lying. "But I want to end whatever's been going on with us lately." More lies. "You know, with Mai and all. Because I love her." Lies, lies, lies. "Anyway, I'll see you around." One final lie.

And with that, he closed the door.

A/N: I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry 3 I honestly came into this chapter with the best of intentions, hoping to have it up within two weeks of the last one. But then I hit a massive writer's block, and then school got hectic, and time just slipped away.

Please don't hate me ):

I'm also sorry that nothing much actually happened in this chapter :/ The result of writers block. But I promise I will make it up to you in chapter 7 :D

The Emerald Doe: You have no idea how happy you made me. I was absolutely cheering. Maybe he and Katara have been having an affair this whole time? ;) hahahah.

Speaking of Korra, how keen is everybody on Iroh? I legit cheered. Made the entire series ;)

And yes. I get confused with practise and practice. I know which is the verb and which is the noun it's just when I use them in sentences I can't tell which I'm using it as :P hahaha.

The next chapter will be the last. I will really try to get it up ASAP, but no promises. You'll just have to bear with my laziness.

Thanks for reading x