Azula burns bright (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} bornoffire) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2012-07-03 17:10:00 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Who: Ty Lee, Azula and Jubilee
What: Ty Lee's sponsor is revealed! Emotions! Feels! Awkward questions from the press! Major breakthroughs!
Where: London
When: Uhm. Monday or Tuesday?
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13
A dress lay on Ty Lee's bed, with a note from her sponsor about being personally created for her by a designer that rivaled Cinna. Otherwise, the mysterious sponsor was nowhere to be found. But at least they seemed to be in London. Jubilee was staring slackhawked at it, "Goddamn I want to see this person and Cinna in a designoff."
The dress was gorgeous, and easily the most colorful and richly designed thing Ty Lee'd ever laid eyes on in her life. She reached a hand out to run a finger along the fabric, like she couldn't even believe it was even there, "It's so pretty..."
"Guess it's for the thingie tonight." Jubilee fingered the fabric. "Bet you'll get to keep this after." She was a little jealous. Just a little. Clearly Ty Lee's sponsor kicked incredible ass. She stepped back to straighten her hair and then pull a clean blouse on.
"Oh it's far too fancy for that, Portia already picked me out something to wear..." Ty Lee shook her head and motioned to the closet door, where a custom blouse and a smart pair of pants had already been selected for her, "See? I don't know what this is for ... I don't think I can think of anything fancy enough to wear it to."
"Not for the interview." Jubilee frowned, "Yeah it's too fancy for the party too. Maybe they want to take you out after that?"
"Maybe they're hot!"
"... Do you think so?" Ty Lee wrinkled her brow. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, really. Her and Azula weren't on the best of terms, but that didn't mean she wanted to find someone else just yet.
Jubilee hugged her lightly, then started to fix Ty Lee's makeup, "I guess we'll find out in a few minutes. Are you ready?"
A wave of nervousness swept through Ty Lee at the thought of meeting her sponsor in person again, just like it had the first 10 times she'd thought about it since practice had been over. She shook her head, "No, I'm not ready."
"Okay then!" Jubilee guided Ty Lee out of their hotel room, and down to the lobby.
Ty Lee almost dug her heels into the floor as Jubilee guided her out of the room. She was utterly terrified. More so than she was of her uneven bar routine, and that was starting to get scary.
She tried concentrating on something else, like the gorgeous blouse Portia had made for her. It felt nice on her skin, and was somewhat comforting.
The conference had been set up in one of the meeting rooms, and as they approached it Jubilee could see a bunch of reporters talking to someone.
The person was wearing a deep maroon busines skirt with a matching suit jacket top. Her hair was up in a tight bun with bangs falling down onto her face. Her make-up was expertly put together and designed to make her look older, and friendlier.
They could just make out a question, "Why have you kept it secret for so long?"
Azula replied evenly, "I wanted her to be able to practice without bias, or worrying about getting the help she needed."
She turned, and spotted Ty Lee. Her smile remained planted in place but her eyes spoke volumes of worry, self-doubt and...fear.
What was this. That was Azula. Azula was answering questions. Azula was standing in the place her sponsor was supposed to be standing in while answering questions.
AZULA WAS THERE ANSWERING SPONSOR QUESTIONS LIKE SHE WAS HER SPONSOR.
The room suddenly started spinning counter-clockwise. Ty Lee stopped walking forward before her next step sunk through the floor and she fell over.
Jubilee put a hand on Ty Lee's back to keep her from toppling over. She look passed her and put on an easy, fake smile, and murmured in Ty Lee's ear, "I've got you."
Azula turned back, answering a question about Ty Lee's routine and where she thought her strengths were. She handled the press like she handled the boardroom. Or the war room.
That wasn't necessarily a reassurance to Ty Lee, who had listened in on enough boardrooms to know that Azula took no prisoners there. Things were still swimming, especially as the realisation kicked in that she had, the other day, called her sponsor selfish and manipulative.
Why was she here now!?
"... not her... can't be her..." Ty Lee murmured.
" "It is and you need to snap out of it before she feeds us to the sharks."
Jubilee slipped her arm through Ty Lee so she could guide her over. To the sharks. Er, the press. Okay they were screwed.
"I've been her sponser since I was first allowed in on company meetings and started making my own paychecks." That would have been about four years ago, on her seventeenth birthday. Just in time for Ty Lee to get a sudden donation that helped her qualify as an alternate in Beijing, "She's my best friend, and the best floor performer I've ever seen. She means a great deal to me, but I didn't buy this. She earned it."
It could have just been words. Empty ones to placate the audience, but there was a warmth there even Jubilee picked up.
Inside, Azula was a mess. The way she held her shoulders so tensely, the bead of sweat on the back of her neck.
Jubilee looked around, wondering if they were on candid camera, yo.
Or maybe Azula was replaced by a shape shifter. Jubilee remembered shape shifters from her dreams.
The words that Azula was saying were starting to sink in, but they didn't really do anything to make Ty Lee feel better. This entire time Azula had been supporting her in hiding, and she'd been afraid of her.
She'd let herself listen to the things Jubilee and Kitty had been saying, she'd given in to the tiny part of her that had been afraid.
That was no way to repay her! She could never repay her for this! And then she'd said all of those awful, horrible words...
And Jubilee was pushing her towards this? She wanted to run away screaming, but there was no doing that. She'd have to pretend this was ... the vault or something. It was a gymnastics event that she had to win. There, here brain was in the right headspace now. She hoped.
She put a smile on her face.
Jubilee was trying to figure out Azula's game, here. Four years of sponsorsing and never saying a word? Never breathing it or lording over it? What could that mean? Well it could mean a couple of things but those make Jubilee feel a little guilty. She squashed that feeling. No matter what, Azula had treated Ty Lee like a thing. The Hotness refused to feel guilty about speaking up.
She barely registered when a reporter came right out and asked Azula if her generosity had been motivated by something else.
Azula laughed. She'd been expecting that question, "She confided in me her dream. I wanted to see that happen."
"So is it more than a platonic relationship, then? You were spotted together in a trendy restaurant in Osaka, not that long ago."
At that, Azula's back stiffened, and she blinked three times, before trying to recover with honey in her voice. "The media these days likes to see two people together and..." She trailed off.
To hell with this.
And sometimes they see what's actually there. Or at least she hoped Ty Lee did.
On most days, Azula would be fine with putting everything on Ty Lee. Leaving the big decisions to her. Not taking responsibility for her actions. But she'd lose her forever if she did that. There was no way to do this without that, though. To confess what she felt in public because if she couldn't do it right now when it really counted....
But at least she could phrase it in a way that gave Ty Lee an out if she chose it. Even here, Azula took a measured approach, even if she was pretty sure her father would kill her. Her eyes slid over towards Ty Lee, "I never expected her to return my feelings, to love me like I do her. I still don't. And that's okay. I'd sponsor her anyway."
Jubilee's grip on Ty Lee's arm tightened.
There was a second of silence as the reporter tried to get Azula to actually give him a good soundbyte, "Do you love her?"
Azula sucked on her lower lip to stop herself from biting the man's head off because she had just said that. Hadn't she? She hadn't...she didn't know where she and Ty Lee stood and suddenly her plan of grand confession of love slash apology was falling apart around her. She exhaled, not quite a sigh so much as acceptance, "Yes, I love Ty Lee."
Jubilee wondered if they were in topsy turvy world.
Ty Lee was starting to wonder that, herself.
But what Azula was doing, right there in front of God and everyone, was the exact thing she'd always wanted Azula to do, at least until Azula had pointed out what she'd lose if she did. Ty Lee was very aware of the fact that all of those problems were probably still problems, and she didn't know what to do.
Her father might hate her, and kick her out. Then Azula would lose it all, and she would lose her funding, but at least she'd have Azula. Azula would have her. She didn't know if she was still afraid or not. She didn't know anything.
And then she was close enough to the reporters for all of them to acknowledge her presence.
Azula had been on pins and needles, not so much the press reaction, which she'd been expecting, but Ty Lee's. She shut off the part of herself that cared about public perception. That calculated the stories that would circulate about Olympic hopefuls and love and dreams carrying to gold. That part still calculated, but for once it took a back seat to the part that was staring at Ty Lee as the press swarmed her.
The asked her questions in rapid succession, about the sponsorship, and the inevitable 'do you love her?' They were between Azula and Ty Lee, which is probably a dangerous place to be. Most days, anyway.
Azula took a step back, then girded herself, as if for battle.
It was extremely overwhelming, and Ty Lee wished she'd had more chances to practice this sort of thing before being faced with it all like this. She raised up her hands, after getting her mind back into that sort of 'game face' mindset, and then lowered, them, like she was asking them to please be quiet.
Well in her mind she was thinking 'simmer down', but that wasn't very press worthy.
"Please, one question at a time, thank you..."
The reporters all tried to speak at once, and Jubilee interdicted, "One person at a time, yo!"
One intrepid reported asked, "Is this a one way love story, or are the feelings mutual?"
Of course that would be the first question they asked her, and Ty Lee wasn't really prepared to answer it as cleanly as Azula had answered it, before. Which was ironic. It'd been so easy to say it and type it, before.
She looked over at Azula, "The Olympics, bringing home the gold, has been my focus for the last few months, and Azula has been ... so very understanding about my need to complete this. But this moment shines brighter than any Gold Medal ever will. I love her, too, and it... is my absolute pleasure to share this moment with her, and the rest of the world."
Her words sounded genuine, though she worried that they were the wrong ones. It certainly wasn't scripted, judging by the expression on her face and the way the words just came tumbling out of her mouth.
Relief and abject terror flooded through Azula. Those words weren't hollow and meaningless. She found it hard to speak, and could only stare at Ty Lee. The whole world. Really? Oh god. She closed her eyes, and swayed on her feet. You take the pain away. She looked for a way to slip out before she ruined her make-up; and her composure. But there was none, and that wasn't a signal she wanted to sent right now. So she remained rooted in place.
Jubilee sniffled, "I am getting so many feels right now..."
"Azula?"
She turned to the reporter, voice thick, "You'll forgive me if..words fail...right now."
Ty Lee cut through the crowd at that point, over to her sponsor... lover... best friend... who she did not know if she feared more than she loved, or loved more than she feared. Today, she thought, she loved her more.
She took Azula's hand in hers, then turned back to the press, "Any other questions?"
Azula didn't want to answer any questions. Instead she gave the press exactly what they wanted and pulled Ty Lee into a kiss.
"WOO!" Jubilee covered her mouth with a hand.
That kiss went on for quite a few moments past the appropriate amount of time one aught to be kissing someone on camera, but Ty Lee didn't care. She was so happy about this entire development that her skin was practically radiating light.
Azula wanted to take her back to her room, and make her put the dress on so she could take it off again, but resisted the urge. She broke the kiss, murmuring, "I..we have a lot to talk about. This has been..hard."
There were too many cameras, but she had represented the company well and the good press should outweigh any bad. For the time being she was going to push all that away.
It was selfish, and Ty Lee knew it, but she didn't want to hear how hard it had been. It shouldn't have ever been that hard, and that was her point the other day.
She didn't say that though, and instead just nodded her head... she was proud of her anyway, and ... still really just didn't even believe this was happening. She wanted to pinch herself.
It was going to be hard, because feelings were hard. It had taken Ty Lee years to create a crack in the shell around Azula's heart, and then a month after a first kiss that crack had become a crumbled shell.
What was underneath wasn't shrivled and black, though it was raw and fragile. She senses Ty Lee's disapproval, and added, as she slipped her arm around her shoulder, "I'll try harder."
Ty Lee wrapped an arm around her and smiled, "We can talk later...we should enjoy this."
"They'll forget anything else I might have said," Azula noted.
"... well the rest of it is a pretty big announcement," Ty Lee realised suddenly that her parents would be learning about this, too, "... for me, too."
Azula smiled and guided Ty Lee away, "I hope you're free tonight."
"... well I didn't have any plans..."
"Good. Promise me something?" She paused in a hallway to stroke a hand down Ty Lee's face, "Have patience with me, and I'll have patience with you."
The look Azula got in return was an emotional mixture that was hard to read, and nothing like her usual resilient smile. She had no idea where things were going to lead now and wasn't even sure what next month would bring, but she wanted to put as much effort into this as Azula had just done.
"I promise."
Alone now, it was harder to say than in front of all the press, but she managed it, "I love you."
Ty Lee kissed her. Nothing more needed to be said.