Tai Lung sat alone in his room expressionlessly as he stared at the flickering lantern hanging from the ceiling. In his past life, he had lived solely for Kung Fu and to make his father proud, his only dream is to become the Dragon Warrior, it consumed his every breath. He had no friends, no lover, never even considered such thoughts. And now, even after living in this new world for fourteen years, he still found himself empty. No dreams. No long-term aspirations.
Yes, he wanted to regain his strength and rise even higher. He wanted to master firebending. But he was already considered the strongest in the world. What was there beyond reaching the top? There was nothing. He was merely honoring his parents' wishes, and living by the teachings he once abandoned. That was the extent of it. He was still the same aimless person born fourteen years ago.
His eyes drifted to the desk on the other side of his room. A box sat on it, filled with sealed letters and scrolls, engagement proposals from noble families across the Fire Nation. Tai Lung frowned. What experience did he have in such matters? Did he even care? The answers were simple: none and he didn't care.
In this world, leaving behind teachings and students didn't count as a complete legacy, only lineage through blood was. In his nation's customs, his duty to his parents was to ensure their name lived on, that their bloodline continued through him. Sure, he can do that, but who was he supposed to choose? He didn't know most of these families. He didn't know their daughters, and barely registered any of their sons.
Tai Lung sighed heavily. This was going to be more difficult than expected. As he sat pondering, a servant knocked on the door.
"Sir, you have visitors," the servant said with a respectful bow.
Tai Lung rose to his feet, his curiosity piqued. Visitors? Perhaps Han… or someone else from his crew?
He walked down the hall toward the guest area. As he stepped inside, he immediately spotted two familiar figures. Ty Lee and Mai.
Ty Lee's eyes gleamed with excitement. She rushed forward, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "It's been so long! How could you not write to us!!"
Mai, standing a few steps behind her, spoke in her usual calm tone. "I didn't mind you not writing… but it's nice to see you back. And safe."
Tai Lung blinked in surprise, not at Ty Lee's hug, but at Mai's words. He looked at her curiously. "It seems you've grown while I was away."
Ty Lee laughed as Mai raised a brow. "I'm already regretting coming here."
The trio settled into easy conversation. Well, mostly Ty Lee talking about herself, Mai, the academy and asking Tai Lung about his life and travels, Mai joined in with her deadpan commentary from time to time. They eventually made their way outside to the courtyard.
Ty Lee insisted on showing off her new tricks and acrobatics. She moved with agility and grace, then suddenly shifted into combat poses, demonstrating her newly-learned chi blocking techniques.
"I started learning chi blocking after your Agni Kai two years ago," she said, beaming with pride.
Tai Lung watched carefully, impressed. She was easily the best hand-to-hand combatant he'd seen in this world. Her only real flaw was her physical weakness, but with time and if she learned to empower herself with chi, she could stand among the strongest in the world.
He didn't hesitate to praise her, and Ty Lee's smile grew even wider at his words.
After a while, Mai brought up the one topic troubling Tai Lung.
"At the Royal Academy of Girls, a lot of them talk about their parents sending engagement proposals… to you."
Tai Lung nodded. "I received many."
"Did you choose one?" Mai asked.
Tai Lung shook his head. "Didn't even check them. There's no point. I don't know any of them and I barely register their names." He gave a casual shrug. "I barely know any girls in person anyway."
He paused, his gaze drifting to Mai, then to Ty Lee, before focusing on the latter. His expression turned thoughtful.
Ty Lee tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"
"Are you engaged to anyone?" Tai Lung asked bluntly. "If not, then why don't we get engaged?"
Both girls were stunned.
Ty Lee blushed furiously, her words stumbling out. "Wh-Why all of a sudden?"
Tai Lung's tone remained calm and practical. "I'm supposed to choose someone. You're among the few I know. We get along. We share similar interests. Your family is good. You look good. You're the best choice I see."
Ty Lee's face was burning now. She opened her mouth but no words came out.
Mai finally spoke with a curious tone. "What about me? Or Azula?"
Tai Lung replied without hesitation. "Your personality and interests are completely different from mine. As for Azula, I haven't seen her in a long time, I have a bad history with her father, and last I checked she disliked me. Ty Lee is undoubtedly the best choice I have."
He looked at Ty Lee. "So, what do you think?"
Ty Lee blinked rapidly. "I… I need to think about it. You can't just say something like that and expect an answer right away!"
"Not really," Tai Lung shrugged. "It's a simple yes or no. If you think it's worth a try, then you try. That's it."
Ty Lee was stunned by his bluntness. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then whispered, "Yes."
Tai Lung gave a short nod. "I'll let my parents know," he said, then turned and walked off.
Mai turned to Ty Lee. "As carefree as you are, I never imagined your engagement proposal would happen like this. It feels wrong with how casual and blunt it was."
Ty Lee was still blushing furiously, staring off in the direction Tai had gone. She couldn't believe it. Her friend had just proposed to her… and she said yes. All of it happened out of nowhere.
___________
When Tai Lung abruptly announced his choice of engagement is Ty Lee, and even more surprisingly added that he already asked her and she had agreed, it left both his parents stunned. His mother and father sat across from him in the sitting room, mouths slightly open, processing the news.
"That was... unusually fast," his mother said slowly, exchanging a look with Admiral Lung. "You've only just returned, and you're already selecting one"
Tai Lung nodded with his usual calm demeanor, before leaving.
Admiral Lung crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. "What do you think made him think she was the one? His selection was rather fast, too fast. He basically proposed to the first girl he saw. Selecting a partner is not like buying the first cabbage you see, maybe I should talk to him and make sure he understands what he is committing himself to."
Tai Lung's mother laughed and said. "I am not surprised it was her, he knew her the longest after all. That girl used to come here all the time when they were kids. Tai even turned her into a training junkie. Had her doing drills, flipping through the garden and some other things they called training."
Admiral Lung blinked, clearly caught off guard. "He did what?" It was his first time hearing about that.
"Well," his wife continued with a nod of approval, "it's good he's taking responsibility for that. If anyone was going to marry the girl, it may as well be the boy who put her on this path."
Admiral Lung looked at her, clearly unsure what to say, and just sighed. "Right... of course."
___________
Despite his initial surprise, Admiral Lung wasted no time in making the engagement official. Within the day, he arranged for a formal visit to Ty Lee's family home. It was during this visit that Tai Lung discovered something entirely new and utterly bewildering about his new fiance.
Ty Lee was one of seven identical sisters.
He met them all that day: Ty Lin, Ty Lat, Ty Lao, Ty Liu, Ty Lum, and Ty Woo. All of them stared at him with the same wide, curious eyes, the same bubbly energy, the same mischievous grins. For a moment, Tai Lung thought his vision was failing him. How could there be seven of her?
For fourteen years, Tai had assumed humans usually had one, maybe two children at most and even that was rare in this world. But seven?
He was speechless. It was a loud, jarring reminder that there was still a lot he didn't know about this world.
As if that wasn't enough, the sisters decided to play a joke on him. They lined up in front of him and giggled.
"If you're going to marry our sister," one said, "you should be able to find her."
"Pick the real Ty Lee," another added with a wink.
Tai Lung narrowed his eyes, scanning them. Their appearances were identical, but Tai Lung focused not on their faces, but their bodies, their stances, their energy. And there it was. A subtle difference in posture, in the way one of them bounced slightly on the balls of her feet, her breathing a touch more measured than the rest. He pointed without hesitation.
"That one."
The girls blinked. Ty Lee stepped forward, a wide smile blooming across her face. "You got it!"
The sisters regrouped and shuffled places. "Again!"
They repeated the game, three, four, five times, and each time, Tai Lung found her effortlessly. The others eventually gave up, laughing in defeat.
Ty Lee's joy was evident, genuine and uncontainable. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, clearly moved by how easily he had distinguished her from the others. She wasn't just another face in a matching set to him. And that meant more to her than Tai Lung knew.