The music pulsed through the club. The tune was soft, and the singer was only barely audible above the den of activity going on all around me.
I was trying to listen as best I could but Azimi was doing her best job at distracting me. She had been going on and on about some earthbending police officer she'd been hounding the last few weeks. Apparently all of her advances had been rejected and she found this incredibly rude.
"I mean how hard does a girl have to work? What else can I do besides literally go up to him and ask him out?" she asks downing another drink. We were both underage but she knew the guy and that had its advantages.
"Maybe that's exactly what you should do?" I say trying to gauge if she's tipsy yet.
"Please. That never goes over well. You put em on the spot and they get all nervous and jittery." She whines. I let it go. Of all the things I knew about, courting police officers was not one of them. Especially since I was pretty sure the target of her affection was already married.
The song came to a conclusion and the club erupted in applause and hoot calls. Azimi just took another shot and slammed the glass down in finality.
"I think I'm done for the evening." She hiccups. "Put it on my tab you devil you." She drunkenly demands of the bartender who just chuckles too himself. We both stand up and luckily I'm fast enough to catch her when she goes stumbling.
"How many of those did you have?" I ask heaving her up. She was surprisingly heavy.
"Whosh counting?" she slurs. The bartender bids us goodnight and I try to wobble her out the doors. She collides with the doorframe but seems unphased.
"Sorry." I whisper trying to stifle a laugh. This was the drunkest I'd ever seen her, though to be honest I was usually the one holding her back.
We arrive on the sidewalk as dozens of satomobiles whizz by. Somebody honks at somebody else and in the distance I can hear the faint sound of a siren. Ah the ambiance of republic city. We were both city girls so we loved it. It was weirder and more noticeable whenever there was silence.
"It's so cold." Azimi whines buttoning up her jacket. She's about to snap her fingers when I stop her.
"No fire right now. Remember last time?" I ask. Last time she was less drunk and she still managed to set her bangs on fire. Booze and firebenders didn't mix.
I steady her putting an arm around my shoulder and we continue down the sidewalk. Her apartment was only three blocks away so it wasn't too much trouble, especially since the cold didn't really bother me.
We were about halfway there when I hear coughing coming from one of the back alleys. I looked and saw a man huddled in the shadows. It was hard to tell but it looked like he was doubled over and those coughs didn't sound too good.
I unwrap Azimi's arm from around my back and prop her up against the wall. "Stay. Good girl." I say. She gives a drunken salute motion and slumps down a little. Jeez, apparently I hadn't been a good alcohol police when I was with her tonight.
I turn back to the man and call out. "Sir? Are you okay?" he coughs and sounds like he's trying to get something out. I walk closer as his coughing grows louder. It really sounded like he needed a doctor. "Here, let me get you up and we can get you to a healer."
I kneel down beside him and offer a hand. When the brick flies towards my eye, I'm completely surprised. It hits and it hits hard. My head is whipped back as I collapse to the pavement in a daze.
I can't make much of what happens next. There's shouting and somebody tugs at my bag. Then there's more shouting as the cold vanishes and a searing heat and red glow fan out through the area. I clutch at my eye and try to look at the scene but it's watering from the pain.
I hear footsteps and insults fading off into the distance when something tugs me up. After a few seconds, I can open my eye enough to see Azimi kneeling down with me.
"You okay?" she's slurring but not as much. I nod and she pulls my hands away from what was sure to be swollen eye.
"Is it bad?" I ask. Azami eyes me for a second and puts a finger to her mouth in thought.
"That is definitely going to be a black eye." She says. The fight must have really sobered her up. I dab at my eyelid but it hurts to touch.
Azimi holds up my bag with a smile. "On the bright side I got this back." She hands it to me and I pull out a tissue to dab at the wound. It wasn't bleeding so that was good. "See what you get for helping hobos?"
"Hobos?" I ask curious about the plural. "How many were there?"
"Three. Two earthbenders and a firebender." She says standing up. "I think they were just thugs looking for an easy score. Bunch of idiots. They bolted the second they realized who you were."
Who I was? Suddenly I'm panicking as I look in the direction the thugs ran off. "Oh no… mom will freak out." I cry.
"Just tell her you tripped on some ice?" Azami tries to suggest assuringly. I shake my head in protest.
The idea of mom falling for that was laughable. Oh she hated when I got into tussles. She already worried enough about me as it was, and to be honest while I was worried about me, I was a little more worried for the thugs. Roughing up the Avatar's daughter was not a smart thing to do.