Dyslexia

Azula took a deep breath, relaxing as the soft, fresh scents of nature around her overwhelmed her senses.

It had been four days since she, her girlfriend, Mai and Zuko had arrived at Ember Island for a little vacation. Although more than a vacation, it was simply getting away from the political stress of the Royal Palace.

That morning Fire Lord Azula had risen early, just as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

It had been tempting to stay in bed with her girlfriend in her arms for a few more hours but the firebender needed a bit of the morning breeze to clear her mind.

At another time of the year Azula would have gone to the beach to swim. But, being winter, in the early hours of the morning the sea was very cold and the water was probably frozen.

So because of that, the golden-eyed girl had decided to take a walk through the thick forest that was next to the huge house where they were currently staying.

“Zula!"

Azula's thoughts were interrupted and she turned at the voice of her girlfriend.

"I've been looking for you for over ten minutes," Ty Lee gasped as she ran to get to Azula.

Azula laughed and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Good morning to you too darling."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes but not before standing on her tiptoes to give her girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips.

"Why did you come looking for me? It's a pretty cold morning, you could have stayed in bed longer," Azula said curiously.

She was glad to see her girlfriend, of course, but Ty Lee wasn't known for being a morning person.

"I woke up to drink water and without having your warm arms hugging me I couldn't go back to sleep," explained the gray-eyed girl, who pressed against Azula's body to receive her warmth.

"Oh, I'm glad to know that my search was for reasons of comfort and not because you love me," Azula said trying to sound offended but betrayed her facade when she unconsciously wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist while giving her a loving kiss on top of her head.

"Idiot," Ty Lee laughed against her chest. "You know that I love you more than anyone in the world."

"I know, dear, it was a joke," Azula said softly as she rested her chin on the future Fire Lady's head. "I love you so much too".

After hugging for a few minutes Ty Lee reluctantly pulled away from the hug, she was really cold.

"Also, I wanted to bring you this," Ty Lee held out her hand to her girlfriend and Azula saw that she was holding a folded piece of paper, judging by how tattered the piece of paper was, it must have been quite a few years old.

"What is this?" Azula asked curiously as she picked up the paper and opened it.

Ty Lee shrugged with an excited smile. "I don't know, why don't you read it and tell me?"

Azula's smile fell as she opened the paper and she felt her stomach drop.

"I'm tired Ty Lee, it’ll be better if you tell me what it is, I don't feel like reading all this," Azula replied with a nervous smile as she handed the paper back to the older woman.

"Oh come on Azula!" Ty Lee began without noticing the nervousness of her girlfriend. "Don't be silly and read the letter."

"Ty Lee, seriously I don't feel like reading it right now," Azula replied a little more harried than before and her breath imperceptibly ragged.

"Zula, why are you making so much drama out of this? Just read the letter please", Ty Lee frowned, she didn't understand why her girlfriend couldn't just read the letter.

Azula's jaw clenched but she couldn't contain herself.

"I’VE SAID NO!" The golden-eyed woman yelled as she tossed the letter Ty Lee had given her to the ground, then stomped on it in a fit of rage.

What happened to Azula's outburst was utter silence. It seemed that even the merry whistling birds had quieted down to give the couple privacy.

Azula's chest heaved up and down at her outburst of anger. She had her fists clenched and she was looking down at Ty Lee with a frown. But the moment she saw the pain on her girlfriend's face and how tears began to form in her eyes Azula's heart sank.

"Ty Lee… I-I… I'm so sorry," Azula moved closer to the gray-eyed girl as she stumbled over her words as she apologized.

The ex-acrobat wiped her tears with her hands and slowly bent down to pick up the letter that the firebender had thrown on the ground.

With a gentle movement of her hand, she removed the little dirt that it had adhered to the paper. And with her head bowed in sadness, she began to walk back to the house where they were staying with Mai and Zuko.

Azula caught her arm before she could move away from her.

"Wait please, I didn't mean to yell at you… I…Ty Lee, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't worry," Ty Lee said quickly, cutting off Azula's apology. "It was just nonsense anyway." With those words, the non-bender released her girlfriend's grip and resumed her intention to return home.

Azula snorted as she squatted down and buried her face in her hands desperately and stifled an angry cry. This time the anger was with herself.

She put a hand to her chest as she felt a stabbing pain. Nothing hurt her more in this world than the person she loved with all her soul suffered. And being the cause of Ty Lee being sad and hurt burned her even more than Agni's fire.

Azula would have been happy to read the letter Ty Lee had brought her but, as her father had told her many times when she was little, she was stupid and a complete failure.

She loved Ty Lee and the mere idea of losing her torment her more than the harshest of tortures. And she was afraid that if Ty Lee found out she couldn't read she would break up with her for being a failure.

What angered Azula the most was that she had always tried hard to learn to read but she just couldn't. Every time she tried to read something the letters and numbers changed places and the texts stopped making sense.

She tried to get help but her father stopped her before she could. Ozai’s explanation was that if people found out that she couldn't read, they would never support her as a Firelord. After that her father hit her hard enough to put that idea out of her head.

But when two years ago the war ended and she ascended the throne of the Fire Nation, it was inevitable that she would have to read speeches, letters from ambassadors, governors and citizens. So Azula decided to take a chance on confiding in her top adviser with her problem.

Her main adviser, Bao, never insulted or made her feel inferior for it and helped her memorize all of her speeches and write her letters so that no one could tell that she couldn't read or write.

And though Bao reassured her and didn't make her uncomfortable about it, she hadn't told anyone else, not even Ty Lee.

"Ahhh!" Azula yelled as she repeatedly punched her fists into a tree to ease her frustration.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Azula yelled to herself. But not because of her reading problem, but because she made Ty Lee cry.

With a defeated sigh the firebender rested her forehead against the bark of the tree she had struck. She didn’t know what to do. A part of her wanted to avoid revealing her problem to her girlfriend and let the argument slowly fade away.

But another part of her knew that she had to go talk to Ty Lee and explain why she had acted that way as well as apologize for hurting her feelings.

Reluctantly Azula broke away from the tree and walked back to her house on Ember Island with a slow, unsteady step. Knowing that she was going to do the right thing didn't comfort her at all. She did her best to linger as she walked toward the house but she still arrived in no time.

Upon entering, she observed that Mai and Zuko still hadn't gotten up because neither was in the dining room or kitchen, this was confirmed when she heard snoring from their room. Azula walked a few more steps until she reached hers and Ty Lee's room. She could feel her cheeks darken from the embarrassment she knew she was going to go through. But still opened the door.

Azula's heart immediately dropped at the sight of Ty Lee curled up in her bed completely covered in the sheets. Frowning with concern and guilt Azula closed the door and calmly walked over to her bed.

As gently as she could she placed her hand on Ty Lee's side to alert her presence. She felt Ty Lee shudder slightly and that only made her guilt grow more. The firebender gently pulled back the sheets from her girlfriend.

“Ty…” Azula whispered as she saw Ty Lee's eyes red from crying, which caused her guilt to rise to levels she didn't know existed.

She didn't know if it would be the best option or if Ty Lee needed space right now but Azula picked her up and placed her on her lap. The ex-acrobat was surprised at the movement but before she could say anything she found herself wrapped in a tight hug.

The Fire Lord wrapped her arms around her girlfriend tightly to comfort her. She thought Ty Lee would try to wriggle out of her embrace but instead she felt her girlfriend snuggle into her arms and sob against her chest.

Azula wanted to hit herself. How could she have been embarrassed by her problem earlier? Shame was making the girl she loved the most in the world cry for no reason.

"I'm sorry Ty, I'm an idiot," Azula whispered as she rubbed her girlfriend's back to reassure her.

They stayed for a long time without moving, the two of them sharing their body heat while Ty Lee calmed down in the arms of her girlfriend. Guilt and shame were making Azula eat her head and she was quite tense, which her girlfriend noticed.

“You're so tense, Zula,” Ty Lee mentioned, her high-pitched voice a little rough from crying. "You are not comfortable."

A quick humorless laugh escaped Azula's lips at her girlfriend's attempt to lighten the mood. It was Ty Lee who had been yelled at and insulted and yet feeling Azula's guilt she tried to comfort her. She was too good.

"I never wanted to offend you with the letter-", Ty Lee began, she had moved away from her girlfriend a little to be able to look up into her eyes but she was still in Azul’s tense grip.

"No! No, Ty!” She cut her off right away. "It was my fault for reacting like that, it's just…" Azula sighed. "I-I don't know how to read."

Subconsciously the firebender closed her eyes waiting to hear Ty Lee's laugh. Right now she felt incredibly vulnerable. Her father's teasing had affected her a lot to the point of hiding her problem from everyone. And she couldn't even imagine how the teasing of the person she loved would affect her but she supposed that it wouldn't take long for her to find out.

However, Azula spent several minutes with her eyes closed and at no time did she hear Ty Lee laugh or make fun of her. Uncertainly she opened her eyes only to find her girlfriend frowning.

"Azula, why didn't you tell me?"

She swore that Ty Lee looked more upset for the fact that Azula kept this from her than she did that she just found out that her girlfriend was a failure.

"I would never have bothered you with the letter," the non-bender interrupted herself as an idea entered her head. “Zula! I can teach you to read!” Ty Lee exclaimed with a smile. Azula's downcast face wiped her smile off her face though.

"Zula, what's wrong?"

"I can't learn."

"How so? I learned."

"But not me! I'm not normal! I'm useless and a failure!"

Those words came out of Azula's mouth like a mantra. Anyone could tell that was how she really felt but actually it was years of manipulation and indoctrination by Ozai that had made that feeling of self-loathing remain in Azula's mind all these years.

"Sorry for yelling," Azula finally spoke again after a few breaths to try to calm herself down. "I can't read, it's hard for me and when I try to do it the letters and numbers change and move around... I-".

"Azula, you're not a failure or useless, you just have dyslexia," Ty Lee said with a kind smile as she placed her hand on her girlfriend's cheek, a gesture that always made Azula melt.

"What?"

“Dyslexia,” Ty Lee repeated. "It's nothing bad-"

“Does it have a cure?” Azula asked. The fear present in her voice as she anxiously awaited an answer from Ty Lee.

"There is no cure, love," upon hearing those words Azula's heart sank. "There is no cure because it is not a disease."

The Fire Lord took a while to assimilate those words but when she did she simply looked down at her girlfriend as if she had grown two heads. Ty Lee laughed at the cute confused face on her girlfriend's face and couldn't help but lean up to give her a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Azula, dyslexia is a disorder that some people have that makes it more difficult for them to read and write but it is NOT a disease," the woman in pink explained as she rubbed Azula's strong shoulders.

"How do you know all that?"

"Because I'm also dyslexic."

"You!?" Azula's eyes widened at this statement.

"Yes."

"B-but if you can read and write... For the love of Agni, Ty, it's been an hour since you gave me a letter that YOU WROTE," Azula's breathing was ragged. She couldn't believe that her girlfriend had the same problem as her, since they were little, Ty Lee had always been able to read and write.

Before Azula could continue racking her brain to try to assimilate what her girlfriend was saying, she felt lips press hard against hers and with a sigh she immediately relaxed into the softness of the kiss and the warmth on her chest.

After several minutes of non-stop kissing, Ty Lee pulled away to catch her breath.

“Uh,” Ty Lee huffed happily and breathlessly. "Better?" The ex-acrobat knew that this was the best way to make her girlfriend relax.

Azula nodded dreamily.

"Well, as I was saying, I'm also dyslexic just like my other sisters-"

"Shit, all of them?"

"Yes Azula."

"Wow... okay, continue."

Azula rhythmically stroked Ty Lee's sides as she continued to listen to her explanation. She didn't know why, but physical contact with her girlfriend always helped her to be more at peace with herself.

"My sisters and I had dyslexia, so my parents took us from a very young age to a teacher who, with different approaches and educational techniques, helped us correct the alteration that occurs in our brain when we read and write."

"So that man healed you and your sisters- ouch!" Azula rubbed the arm that Ty Lee had hit so hard.

“I have told you before that dyslexia is not a disease, I’m still dyslexic, Zula.”

"But my father-"

"Forget everything that monster could have told you or made you believe, Zula," the firmness in Ty Lee's voice made Azula listen with more conviction. “I’m still dyslexic and I’ll be for the rest of my life but now I know how to treat what I read and write to do it as if I didn’t have the disorder that dyslexia produces, that makes sense?” Ty Lee asked hopefully.

Azula didn't respond at first. It wasn’t easy to assimilate that all these years that Ozai made her believe that she was a failure, useless, mentally ill, was it all a lie. Anger grew in her chest as Azula felt that if she hadn’t listened to that monster and instead she had sought help she could have avoided all the fears, insecurities and shame that she had suffered.

The firebender felt Ty Lee get off her lap and push her so that she was lying on the bed. Her girlfriend snuggled up next to her and rubbed her chest to ease her pain and anger.

“Can you teach me those methods to help me read and write please?” Azula asked Ty Lee after no one knows how long they stayed in this position on the bed.

The gray-eyed woman smiled to herself as she saw that Azula no longer called dyslexia 'disease'.

"Of course, love," Ty Lee kissed her girlfriend before snuggling back into her warm body.

It had been six months since the royal family returned from Ember Island. Ty Lee applied the same methods that she was taught when she was little to help her girlfriend.

In addition, Azula had publicly announced that she was dyslexic and that the Fire Nation government was going to create an academy to help children with dyslexia from all over the country. Not only was she going to build an academy, but the classes will be also free as she had decided to finance this educational program. Her goal was to help children with dyslexia so that they could have the same opportunities to learn as everyone else.

The Fire Lord smiled to herself as she read a letter from a family with few resources thanking her for this initiative.

Her reading was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Azula replied as she left the letter in the middle of her reading on top of the desk in her office at the Royal Palace.

Her smile grew as she saw her girlfriend walk through the door with the same positive energy as always.

“Someone's aura is very pink today,” Azula teased as she stood up to greet her girlfriend with a hug.

Ty Lee chuckled before rising on her tiptoes to give Azula a tender kiss on her lips.

"I just got a letter, signed by the Fire Lord herself, in which she says she's inviting me to a romantic dinner at my favorite restaurant tonight," Ty read as she showed Azula the letter.

"Oh, really?"

Ty Lee just nodded happily.

"And you have accepted?"

"Obviously, if I've learned anything these years in the Palace it's that the Fire Lord doesn't take a 'no' for an answer," Ty Lee replied with a mischievous smile.

"I see, I guess I'll have to give that Fire Lord you talk so much about the night off." Azula's smile grew as Ty Lee started laughing at her joke and if you asked Azula there wasn't a prettier sound than her girlfriend's laugh.

“By the way,” the firebender said after Ty Lee's laughter died down. "I have read the letter you showed me on Ember Island six months ago."

"So what do you think?" Ty Lee's eyebrows rose expectantly.

"That all our friends have to read this."

"What? Why?"

"Because they're always calling me simp," Azula said thinking of all the times her brother, Toph, Mai and Sokka had called her that just for being a good girlfriend. "And this letter shows that you have been in love with me since you were 7 years old and therefore you are the real simp."

“I may be a simp but you're ‘simper’ than me… admit it,” Ty Lee insisted, hands on hips as she stared up at her girlfriend.

Azula simply laughed as she hugged her girlfriend and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You'll never get me to admit anything."

It also didn't matter much that Azula didn't admit it out loud because even Agni knew the truth.