Disclaimer: The following chapter is entirely fictitious. Any similarity to the history of any person living or dead or any actual events is entirely coincidental and unintentional, except where specifically noted otherwise in the cast and crew credits. All celebrity voices are impersonated and no celebrities have endorsed any aspect of this fic.

Author's Note: So I got antsy while playing the Sims game, I decided to continue writing. Idk if it'll be interesting, so let's get the ball rolling!

Chapter forty-three: The Intoxicated Skeleton

'-'

"You!" the man snarled. "I thought I killed you?"

"Me?" Hiashi reiterated, taking a deep breath. "I don't even know you."

"Don't give me that bull shit!" he barked, grabbing one of the glasses off the table and smashing it into infinite shards. "I know who you are, Hiashi!" The table turned their heads toward her with confusion and inquiry.

Hiashi remained silent for a moment. "I have no idea who the hell this 'Hiashi' is, but assuming I was said person, why would I be stupid enough to come to the Fire Nation?"

"The fuck if I know!" he snapped, crushing his fist into the ice shards on the table. "You were never smart, so maybe you're just stupid!"

"I am not this Hia-whoever you're talking about!" Hiashi shrieked. "And if I was, wouldn't that mean I'm still alive? Wouldn't that mean you failed to do your job, so anything gained form 'my' murder would be taken away and all glory would turn to shame because you didn't bother to check if 'I' was dead?"

The man began to speak, but nothing but gurgles and growls came from his mouth. Hiashi smiled. "Yeah, see the fatal flaw in your logic?"

He shook his head and turned to his date. "Sit down, woman. I ain't pulling up a chair for your lazy ass." The girl winced at his words, but pulled her chair out and sat gracefully.

"So who are you?" he said forcefully through his teeth. "I have never seen you before."

"I am Sara," Hiashi replied just as caustically. "I grew up in the Fire Nation colonies."

"Really?" he said, trying not to snap. "How interesting."

"Very," Hiashi said curtly. The two of them stared at each other daring the other to make a move. The table was quiet, the only sound from the crowd. An eternity passed when Xang broke the tension.

"So," he said loudly, trying to drown out the silence, "I've never seen gold hornet betas," pointing to the fish swimming around in the bowl. "They're usually just yellow."

"Indeed they are," Hiashi said robotically.

"Yes," the man said the same way. The awkwardness rose again.

"So Hykiru," Lian said over the crowd, "anything new with you?"

"No," the man said sharply. "Waiter!" the man named Hykiru shouted to a passing waiter. "Cognac." The waiter poured him a glass and handed it to him. Hykiru quaffed it without hesitation and slammed the glass on the table with a bang. "I've none fucking nothing."

"Wonderful," Liam said, throwing his hands in the air. "You, Xang?"

"Just the same old," he shrugged. "I got shipped to the Earth Kingdom up north, and let me tell you, those people are a bunch of whack jobs. It's like hobbits did it with onions."

"Onions?" Park coughed. "The fuck? Who the hell does it with onions?"

"It's called a metaphor," Zayika sneered.

"No, it's called a simile, sis," Xang hissed.

"Oh, I don't care about your stupid figures of speech and Park had a point. Who the heck does do it with an onion?"

"Never mind. Your mind can't even grasp origami, let alone figures of speech." Zayika kicked her brother under the table. The table slipped into silence again. Hykiru kept motioning the waiters for cognac. It wasn't long before he drank two bottles alone.

"Um," Zayika said suddenly after ten minutes of nothing but crowd clamor, "I was just wondering…" She paused for a moment as if wondering if she should say anything. "But, like, who was that girl… you know, the Hi-she person? Like, I've heard of her before, but it was kind of a rumor or some sort of story."

"Oh, she was just some chick," Park scoffed. "Some sort of half-a from what I heard."

"A what?" Hiashi asked with a mixture of anger and bewilderment.

"A half-a. You know, half a Fire kid, half an Earth person. A half-a."

"That has to be the most ludicrous name I have ever heard," Hiashi snapped.

"Well, it's true," Park snapped back."

"She was basically a misfortune in an unfortunate affair," Xang clarified. "Her father was in the army and married an Earth Kingdom woman."

"Oh, how barbaric!" Zayika gasped. "He married her?"

Xang nodded. Zuko looked at Hiashi. Her jaw was clenched and her face said it all: she did not want people telling her life story like a fairy tale, for it was far from. "But any who," Xang continued, "they ended up getting caught and the guy was forced to kill his wife."

"Well, it serves him right," Zayika said smugly.

"No, not really," Xang sighed. "See, they had a kid, not sure if it was two or just the one, but the guy took his daughter, Hiashi, and they fled to Engoku where they lived until recently."

"So what's the big deal though?" Zayika asked. "Like, why didn't they just leave her?"

"Because," Xang explained. Hiashi looked up quickly with anticipation. "The information of their existence began leaking out when Fire Nation sailors began spotting her with a gang on the island. It was a big scandal that the Fire Nation government thought they could cover up, but once people saw the two alive, it pretty much conveyed the image that even treason wouldn't get you the death penalty. They had to cover their own scandal up, so—"

"So I killed hur!" Hykiru slurred, slamming his glass on the table. "She done gone and di-ed! It was like… zo-em-ge!"

"Yeah, killed," Xang mumbled, shaking his head.

"Well, I think they should have done that in the first place," Park shrugged."

"Park, sweetie," Lian said quietly, "you have to looked at it from the girl's perspective—"

"Well, if she was going to be all stupid and go join the street barbarians, well I say she had it coming for her," Zayika shrugged.

"No one has that fate coming to them," Xang mumbled again.

"She go n' di-EE!" Hykiru whispered. "Di-ed, di-ed, di-eeeee-duh!"

"Whatever," Zayika shrugged. "I'm going to go fix my make-up. It's hell-a-hot in here. Park, wanna come with?"

"Sure," Park shrugged, getting out of her seat. "Hey, Sara, come with us."

"You too, Kurogane," Zayika said cheerfully. She grabbed Kurogane by the wrist, as Park Hiashi and dragged them to the restroom.

Xang turned sharply to Hykiru. "What makes you think that was even appropriate?"

"But it be true!" Hykiru mumbled. "I killed her, yo know?"

"But flaunting it off? And you know damn well you shouldn't be proud of anything you did."

"See, I concur," Lian said, flattening his hair with one hand.

"Oh, what-ur-vur," Hykiru gurgled. "Yo, whait-er, more, pls." The waiter eyed him, but filled his glass. "All dat's impurtint is she's dead…. And deadf…" he downed his glass again, motioning for another waiter to fill his glass."

"But what you did was despicable! A total abuse of power!" Xang growled.

"Iduncare! Pffsh, she was hot! That o' bitch, if she wan't a mudblood, I think I'd go'n and do it anyways."

"Do you mind me asking what you are talking about?" Zuko finally said. Xang and Lian looked at each other.

"Well, it's sort of hard to say," Lian said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I don't know, should we tell him?" Xang asked Lian.

"Done, shit, I'll tell the bastard!" Hykiru slurred. "Befur I killed the sorry bitch, I raped her, no shit!"

Zuko's eyes widened in shock. He tried to speak, but nothing came. "You did what?"

"Oh, I just raped ur," Hykiru babbled. "See, it's like dis.

"Wehn I got to deh place, I done snuck in her room, an' caught it all on fire. Ionno what happened or whutur, but she just crippled down an' couldn't move none, so I…uh… uhh… opportunity an' raped her and junk."

"You soiled any honor the Fire Navy has!" Xang scolded. "Do you know you can get court marshaled for that?"

"Who curs? I shure dun…" Hykiru shook his head and continued drinking.

"How can you keep doing that?" Xang snapped at him. "It's been just about two hours and we haven't even eaten yet."

"Sure what?" Hykiru spat.

"My god, how did an idiot like you get so far up in the military?" Lian sighed.

"So let me get this straight," Zuko growled, "you raped Hiashi, and then attempted to kill her. And now you're bragging about it?"

"But dude," Hykiru whispered, "she's not dead! She's right there! She came with you! That Karen person's her!"

"That's ridiculous," Lian coughed. "Karen's not even a name. And besides, hasn't she been dead for like seven months or something?"

"But seriously!" Hykiru said. "She's there! It's her! I know it! Check her face! Her eyes, they're two different colors for some reason. Ionno whaeh, but they are. She's like… mutanted or somatt." He took another swig from his drink and shook his head violently.

"Well, it's not her," Zuko defended. "I would never take on someone like that."

"That would be a bad idea," Xang said with infliction. "I mean, think about it, several hundred Fire Navy personnel. One would think to leave now, or at least early, you know. It would be even worse for the person who brought them here as well. They would get a punishment more mortifying than any they had received before. You know what I mean, Zuko?"

What does he mean by that? Zuko though. Is he trying to tell me something?

'-'

"Who comes with their brother?" Park laughed, reapplying her lipstick.

"I wanted to meet a man here, someone who can give me whatever I want, you know?" Zayika replied. "If it meant going with my brother, well then that's the price." Zayika reapplied her powder. "Besides, I need a man in my life that can take care of me. Like my mother says: A good woman finds a good man to give her a good life." She closed her compact and turned to Hiashi. "So what about you, Sara? I mean, you're bunking on Prince Zuko's ship, are you two…you know, 'special friends?'" Hiashi looked at her. She sat in a wicker chair in the corner of the powder room, twiddling a fake leaf in her hand. The room was obnoxiously red, red walls, red carpet, only white molding, and white doors with white chairs and golden vases and golden plants. Hiashi pulled a gold leaf off the floral arrangement and burned it in her hand.

"No," Hiashi answered caustically. "I am nothing more than an assistant to him." She plucked another leaf from the bouquet and incinerated it.

"Oh, so he's single?" Zayika smirked, adjusting herself in the mirror. "Maybe I should make my move."

"He won't go for you," Hiashi said bluntly. Zayika gave her a dirty look.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Zayika snapped. "He could think I'm hot. Who needs personality anyways?"

"He won't go for you, that's as much as I can say. He's not a looks-person."

"Please," Park laughed. "All men are looks-people. Even little Lian is. It just depends on what kind of looks. Lian is into woman like me, and Zuko, well I'll bet he's into those actiony kinds of girls. The skanky ones who think they're all powerful and strong. Show-offy kind."

"I doubt it," Hiashi sighed.

Zayika turned to Kurogane. "So, how did you meet Hykiru? He seems… interesting."

Kurogane, who was sitting quietly in the chare across from Hiashi, looked up at the group of girls staring at her. "Well," she said quietly, but with a pure note, "I just did. I knew him for a while, but it wasn't anything serious."

"So he basically invited you?" Park asked. "Why?"

Kurogane say nothing. "He did. But I think… I don't feel comfortable."

"Oh come on!" Zayika encouraged. "Tell us."

"You know," Kurogane said fiddling with a string on her sash, "today, I saw the most adorable squirrel bird. It had lost its nut. It was looking everywhere for its nut, and it couldn't find it, but it was just there under the bush. It's sad, when you forget something like that, you know, names, things or something like that. And you just keep going in circles, not knowing what you're doing. No clue. But you know what? I—this is a nice room. What do you suppose these flowers are called?"

Zayika and the rest looked confused. "I think they're Fire Lilies," Zayika answered.

"Oh, well I kind of figured," Kurogane laughed quietly. "So what were we talking about?"

Zayika looked up, then to Park. She was about to answer when she closed her mouth. "Huh. You know, I don't even remember what we were talking about. Do you Park?"

"Yea- no, just lost it," Park answered. "You, Sara?"

Hiashi looked at the three of them. She remembered exactly what they were talking about, but Kurogane steered the conversation to imaginary numbers. "No," Hiashi said quietly.

"How weird!" Zayika said. "We all forgot what we were talking about. It's weird, you know?'

"Ugh, I totally hate memory loss," Park agreed and the two began talking. Hiashi looked towards Kurogane. There was something interesting about her, something she could not put her finger on. Kurogane did not want to speak of Hykiru, and Hiashi could agree. Something told her that there was more to Hykiru than what she knew…