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Taking a full breath, she opened her eyes with relish, looking around the night street. Down there, her soldiers patrolled the roads, chasing away passersby and drunken people. She didn't care about them, Azula just enjoyed the coolness of the city at night. So she continued to breathe and enjoy the peace and quiet until her hearing, trained by Master Piandao, heard someone else's heartbeat and quiet footsteps. Turning around, she instantly tensed up and prepared to fight, as soon as her eyes saw a silhouette approaching from the darkness.

"No, Yoaru doesn't have a heartbeat, let alone the sound of footsteps," Azula instantly killed the hope that had flared within her, watching carefully for the slowly approaching unknown person.

Meanwhile, the unknown man continued to approach the light with slow steps. Here Azula saw his legs, his waist, and then the rest of his body was illuminated by the moonlight from the window. The unknown man turned out to be none other than...

- Tai Li? What are you doing here? - The princess wondered in surprise, calming down. It turned out to be not another headhunter, but her close friend.

- You were not in the bedroom for a long time, I did not sleep, so I decided to go look for you, - answers the circus girl, coming closer.

- I decided to get some air," says the princess, looking up at the night sky with a full moon and bright stars.

- 'You didn't sleep well either?

"Tai Li... just seeing her made me feel instantly calmer. My heart beat louder, it felt so good. Am I smiling?" - thoughts flew lightning fast through the princess's mind.

- ... yes," the conqueror of the blue flame admitted with a slight half-smile after a short pause.

Suddenly, the wind increased dramatically. The unrestrained element rushed into the corridors, blowing a chilling cold on both girls, playing with their loose curls and making them squint.

- Br-r-r-r, - the circus girl shivered, joining her hands and breathing warm air on them, - it's cold!

After looking at her friend shivering from the cold, Azula briefly considered her next course of action.

- Come closer, I don't need you to catch cold," without waiting for Tai Li's reaction, the princess wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, pulling her to her.

Perhaps she didn't calculate her strength, or perhaps the circus girl herself wanted to get closer, but it turned out that the girl literally pressed herself against Azula, putting her hands behind the princess's head. The friends were so close that their chests pressed against each other. It all happened in an instant, but neither of them was in a hurry to break the distance. The girls only met each other's gazes and stood mesmerised, not paying attention to anything else.

- Wow, you're warm. I didn't notice before," Tai Li was the first to come to her senses, realising that she was much warmer next to Azula. It was as if the very air around the princess was warm, and her breath was a light heat.

- The advantage of fire magic. My body generates much more heat than other people. During the day, it's weak, but at night, or in the cold winter, it's much harder for me to freeze," Azula explained with a smile, not taking her golden eyes off Tai Li's pretty face.

- A useful skill," the circus girl muttered impressed, "I guess you've never had a cold?

- Never.

- Um..." she crumpled in a futile attempt to hug Azula more comfortably, her cheeks flushed from the heat or the situation, "It's kind of embarrassing. We're so close together, and what if someone sees us? They'll think something else wrong, they'll start spreading rumours, - Lee was embarrassed, feeling how at the slightest movement her nipples, hardened from the cold, started to rub against the other's breasts right through the thin fabric of her clothes. The only thing the acrobat could accomplish was to change their position, so that they were facing each other and embracing. Azula's arms were around her waist while her own were crossed behind the girl's neck.

But at the gymnast's words, Azula only smiled wider and pressed the girl tighter against her, not even thinking of taking her eyes off her. "I won't let my close friend risk her health by standing in the draught.

- Oh, you're so thoughtful. - Even more embarrassed, Tai Li turns her gaze away towards the window. Except with this action, she couldn't hide her emotions. On the contrary, the girl illuminated the blush on her face with the moonlight, unwittingly giving the princess an even better angle.

- Ahem. - With a fake cough, the acrobat somehow manages her embarrassment and turns back around. Probably realising that the moonlight from the window only makes her situation worse. - Azula. I've noticed. You smile a lot when you look at me," Lee's voice was calmer, but still had a hint of shyness in it. It made the circus girl's speech seem a little disjointed.

- Really? - Azula noted with a slight pleasure, continuing to glare at her friend. - I've never noticed that about myself.

- Well, maybe not in public, but when we're alone together, I often notice your gaze. I must look awfully funny at times like that, don't I? I know, I often say stupid things, sometimes without thinking and without watching my own tongue," the acrobat said, frustrated. She knew all her faults as well as anyone else, but for Azula it was as if they didn't exist.

- Lee, it's okay. You're a good friend, a lovely person, and you smell nice. I don't need another Tai Li," the princess consoled, running her free hand through the girl's loose and delicate hair, pulling her closer to her, breathing in the tantalising scent of her friend.

- Is that so? - Azula, could you stop looking at me like that?

- Like this? - The princess blinks incomprehensibly, having no idea what her actions looked like to her friend.

- Your gaze is creepy! You stare without looking away and you don't even blink! It's scary! - Tai Li indignantly replied, meeting Azula's lost gaze. The princess didn't even realise that her actions could be perceived in such a way.

- Scared? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just-" Azula looked away already, loosening her embrace, "-was thinking a bit.

"Just a little more and I'd make the same mistake!" - a thought flashed through the princess's mind that touched on certain memories of her first confession of her feelings for Yoar. Then she had said a lot of unnecessary things out of emotion: wars, power, conquests... to this day the girl felt ashamed of that incident. Yoaru explained afterwards that it's not something one should talk about so directly to a sympathetic person.

- It's not a big deal. I'm not offended. It's hard for you too, isn't it? Yoaru was your... friend too," the acrobat replies understandingly, snuggling up to her friend and not allowing her to break the embrace.

"Tai Li... it's so hard to find the words," Azula thinks, looking at her friend before deciding to make the first move.

- Nothing. Mei is right, life goes on. I realised a lot of things with his disappearance, and now I want to tell you. You know, I always feel better around you. Lee, you're amazing," the princess said with a sincere smile, leaning closer to her best friend's face.

- Azula... - the circus girl forgets herself, watching the all consuming flame of determination light up in her friend's eyes.

- Lee...

In that magical moment for two young hearts, the girls were drawn to each other. They didn't realise which one of them was the first to start getting closer, but a moment later their lips joined in a tender kiss. A kiss that without any words conveyed the enormous range of feelings that the couple was experiencing at that very moment, near the window, illuminated by the bright light of the full moon.

Neither of them was experienced in this business, but the pressure and enthusiasm of the princess, left no chance for resistance. Time, it was unimportant to the young girls. The guards silently continued to patrol the streets outside the window, talking quietly among themselves. This night was meant for just the two of them.

The girls continued to kiss. Slowly and tentatively, afraid of not pleasing their partner, they took the first steps towards something more than just friendship. And so it went on, until they both suddenly felt in dire need of a breath of fresh air.

As they finished their first kiss, they continued to stare into each other's eyes with completely different feelings.

- Azula... - a blushing Lee whispered the name languidly, feeling the heat rising all over her body, - we're girls.

- I know. I don't care," a confident reply from the princess quickly followed.

- But...

- Shh. - With a deft movement, Azula's finger touches her friend's lips. - Let me tell you. I've been thinking, doubting, weighing, and I've come to a conclusion: I don't want to hold back my feelings for you anymore, Lee. I don't want us to be just friends, even if we are best friends. What I feel every time I look at you..." she runs her hand through her hair, gently touching her arm, "It's much stronger than the usual feelings between girlfriends.

- Azula... it's too abrupt and unexpected," Tai Li replies confused as soon as the princess takes her finger off her lips. Her friend's actions just knocked the ground out from under her feet! The acrobat didn't know and didn't understand what to feel at this moment, what to do, what to say, how to act!

- I understand. With Yoaru's disappearance, I became afraid that someone else might just disappear, like you. These thoughts helped me to take the action I've taken now. After all, no one knows our future," the fire conqueror said in a somewhat annoyed voice as she stopped hugging the girl.

- Azula I...

- Shh, let's just stay here a little longer, shall we? - Turning to the window, Azula breathed in the cold air of the street, feeling her friend's soft arms embrace her. A slight smile of happiness blossoms on the princess's countenance.

- Of course. You know, I'm so cold, I'm just shivering from this freezing wind," Tai Li uttered, reaching for another hot kiss.

- I'll always keep you warm...

The girls reconnected in a kiss, making a joint decision to linger.

(***)

After a while in the bedroom.

- You're long," the not quite asleep girl said quietly to the other two, who had quietly opened the door and were now sneaking in the darkness to their beds.

- Mei! Are you awake? - Tai Li was surprised at her friend's voice.

- I slept soundly until I realised I was in the darkness of total loneliness," Mei's voice was heard amidst the gloom of the room.

- Now we're back and we can all go to bed together, again," Azula responded calmly, immediately heading towards her bed without hiding the sound of her footsteps. Tai Li followed suit, making herself comfortable on her bed. The girls went to bed as if nothing had happened.

- And what, you don't even wonder why we were both gone? - The acrobat dared to voice the question looming in her mind before anyone had time to fall asleep.

- No," was the immediate reply from the phlegmatic May.

- Good night everyone, - with a direct hint, stops their conversation Azula.

After wishing each other good night, the girls fell asleep. Mei really didn't care much about what her friends were doing for about an hour outside of the bedroom. All she needed to know was that they would tell her, or she would figure it out in time. The next day, the princess's troop continued on their way.....

Time passed. The hope for Yoaru's return was still present in the hearts of the maidens, even if it was cooling down every day. The squad moved a little slower than the soldiers were used to, lingering in the cities for a day or two. Azula had no thought of slowing down her inspection, checking cities, military units, fortresses and villages, it was all done in record speed and efficiency, and the extra waiting time the girls spent on themselves. Knowing the princess and her friends, one would think that they honed their skills together, but no, the young ladies trained only to keep in shape. Most of their free time was spent on holidays, tourism and tasting various sweet delicacies from long ago captured lands and colonies in the territories of the Earth Kingdoms. The trio of girlfriends visited the zoo, hot springs, museums, and even watched a performance by a travelling circus.

- Lee, don't you like it here? - Azula asks her friend sitting next to her.

- Yes. It's a bad circus," replies the girl, looking away from the stage.

- Why do you think so? - says the princess, surprised by her friend's reaction.

- The animals in it are unhappy, it was very different for us, can we leave this place? - replied the girl sadly, not wanting to watch performances with animals.

In the meantime, one of the tigers fell on its back, convulsing as if in intolerable pain or a psychological trigger. Of course, this was seen by all the spectators of the performance. Azula was no exception and quickly realised that Tai Li had spent a lot of time performing in the circus as an amazingly talented gymnast. She understood everything at a glance, as she knew how circuses worked. Although for most people the performance continued, and this case was not paid attention to, but intelligent people understood everything without unnecessary explanations. Animals are treated extremely badly here.

- No problem. Do you want me to punish the owner of this circus? I can easily destroy him, or turn his life into a scorcher, - the princess offers, seeing perfectly well how painful her friend became, from the failed performance.

- No, no. Let's just leave this place, please," Tai Li replies quietly, hugging her close friend's arm, snuggling up to Azula looking for support.

- Okay. Mei, we're leaving.

- What? We're leaving already? Too bad, I was just beginning to hope that the tigers would chew up that trainer," May replies melancholically, standing up and following her friends. Of course, she could hear their conversation perfectly well. The chemistry going on between the friends was much more interesting than some circus show with trained animals.

The girls left the circus show and the inspection left the city a day later.

The relationship between Azula and Tai Li changed drastically. It was virtually unnoticeable and fit too well with the notions of a strong friendship between best friends, but it was obvious to Mei. Having known both girls since childhood, not a single change in her friends' interactions escaped her attention: warmth, tenderness, trust, seeking protection and support and providing it all, all this and more was noticed by the girl's golden gaze. However, she did not want to pester them with her questions, they would tell her and tell her everything she needed to know. Having come to such conclusions, the most phlegmatic girl in the world continued to accompany the princess on her journey. For the rest of the soldiers, the disguise of secret mistresses was too good. That's why no one but Mei guessed about the changes among the girls in the squad, and all the changes and manifestations of warmth and care were written off by the witnesses as simple friendship.

The squad continued on its way, travelling slower than usual and still lingering for an extra day or two in the inspected towns. Hope still smouldered in the hearts of the maidens.

City after city, fortress after fortress, the princess inspected until she found herself at sea, on her ship. More than a month had passed since Yoaru's disappearance, but he had not returned. The first thing Azula did was to take a hot bath, wanting to wash off the accumulated dirt and fatigue and relax after the long journey. The order to depart was not given by the girl. It was Tai Li who asked her to wait for another day. She saw no reason to refuse, but she was not going to stay in the colonies for a long time, having come to terms with the worst fears for half a month already.

Lounging in the hot water, the girl relaxed completely.

"Azula," the princess suddenly heard a familiar voice, but reflexes forced action: the girl instantly jumped up, already about to attack.

- Yoaru? - The maiden said in surprise, looking at the blue and ghostly figure of a man who froze in the air right in front of her.

"Hello, long time no see," the spirit continued to speak as if it had been a day, not a month, since their meeting. This kind of behaviour hurt the girl a lot that she had been worried about him all these days and nights.

- You could have chosen a better time to appear, I almost let out a flame," Azula said unhappily as she returned to the water.

"I could have. But I somehow didn't think of anything better, and I didn't have time for that," the spirit shrugs, making the girl only frown even more with boiling anger. But Azula wasn't about to let her emotions get the better of her.

- Hmm... I'm guessing you didn't just arrive on the ship? - She guessed, pressing a tense look at her interlocutor.

"No, I ended up on your ship about three days ago," Yoaru replies with a smile, as if not noticing the girl's mood.

- I'd forgotten how annoying you can be. I suppose you had a very good reason for disappearing all this time," Azula gets to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"No weightier reason than that. Should I tell you here and now, or should we wait until tonight?"

- I'm just getting into the water, we have plenty of time, you can start your story.

"As you wish..."