Chapter Twelve: Tea and Karma
Azula got back to find Mai and Ty Lee relaxing in their room. Ty Lee was practicing handstands, while Mai was preoccupied with target practice. They looked up as Azula entered.
"So what were those errands you went on, Azula?" asked Ty Lee.
"Oh just filling time." said Azula.
"How?" asked Ty Lee.
Azula paused, somewhat embarrassed at what she was doing. "…I was reading Earth Kingdom history. I've got to do something to pass the time. Anyone, we, the Kyoshi Warriors will be attending the Earth King's tea party. As discussed."
"You'll finally get to meet with Zuko again, Mai." said Ty Lee.
"Shut up." said Mai. "We should probably get dressed."
"True." said Azula. "But we're going to be fashionably late, I want to listen in on something."
"What, exactly?" asked Mai.
Azula smiled. "You'll see. This will be priceless."
And that was how the Kyoshi warriors made their way to the room where the Earth King would be having his tea. Kneeling by the door, Azula waited in the shadows as Katara walked past.
"Thank you for attending, Katara." said the Earth King. "I'm glad you could."
"It's fine." said Katara. "I had to deliver this message for your approval from the generals anyway."
"Well, we'll take care of that soon enough." said the Earth King. "Today I'm going to be visited by the finest tea maker in Ba Sing Se. Would you care to sit with me?"
Katara sat down. "Of course."
And then Mushi, Lee, and Jin entered, carrying with them sea. Azula looked in as they came and Katara's eyes went wide.
"Ah, here they are now." said the Earth King.
"Zuko?! What are you doing here?" said Katara.
Mushi flinched. Or Uncle flinched."…There must be some mistake. This is my nephew Lee, and I am Mushi."
"Your majesty, these two aren't teamakers!" said Katara. "They're Prince Iroh, the Dragon of the West, and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation!"
"Don't be ridiculous." said Uncle. "Do you really think my nephew and I would be serving tea in Ba Sing Se if we were hunting the Avatar.
"We mean no harm, I assure you."
Katara seemed to consider that and reluctantly sat down. "I'm sorry; it must have been my mistake."
"Damn, she's calming down." said Azula. And then she had just the perfect idea.
She stepped into the entryway and walked forward. Katara's eyes could have been dinnerplates. "Your majesty, Katara, I apologize for being so late. We got lost in these halls. How are you Katara?"
"Azula!" said Katara.
"Azula?" asked Azula. "What do you mean? I'm Suki."
Katara stood and summoned her water whip, slashing it at her. Azula stepped away, looking shocked. "You are not Suki! Your majesty that's Princess Azula!"
"Katara, calm down." said Azula. "What's come over you!"
"What's come over me?" said Katara, before freezing her against the pillar. "Where are Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors!"
And then Ty Lee and Mai grabbed her from behind, pulling her back.
"We are them." said Mai. "Calm down Katara."
"Yeah, nobody is trying to hurt you." said Ty Lee.
"No you're not!" screamed Katara, shaking her off.
"Guards, quickly, detain her." said the Earth King.
Instantly the Earth King guards entered. Hands of earth gripped Katara, pulling her hands behind her back.
"Your Majesty!" said Katara. "You have to let me go! These people are all Fire Nation!"
"It's as you feared, Suki." said the Earth King sadly. "Jet's sorcery must have cast some sort of madness over her."
Katara stared, shocked. "Jet? Jet is dead! And he's not a sorcerer! This is Princess Azula!"
"Katara, please, snap out of it." said Azula, flashing her a smile that no one else could see. "We're your friends."
"Get off me!" cried Katara, as she was dragged off, screaming.
"Take her to her quarters and keep her restrained until the madness passes." said the Earth King. "But don't hurt her."
"Their Fire Nation Royalty, I'm telling you!" yelled Katara as she was pulled around the corner. "They're all Firebenders!"
Azula nodded, then melted the ice around her. She did it slowly enough that she hoped it would look like it fell apart naturally. Jin's eyes widened, and she looked to the Earth King. But the Earth King did not notice. "….It's the simple things in life you treasure."
"I thought your name was Azula." said Jin suddenly. "That's what Lee and Mushi called you?"
Azula flinched. That girl was bright. She'd only had her name mentioned in passing. "Just a nickname that he called me when we were children. We used to play at being Prince and Princesses, you see."
Okay, what was up here? Why hadn't Jin pointed things out?
"I suppose everyone did that at some point." said the Earth King. "Even me.
"It's unfortunate that Jet has driven her into madness. Even so, I'm sure she'll make a recovery once the Avatar returns. Now please, all of you sit down."
Azula and the others sat down with them.
"Hello, Lee." said Mai in deadpan.
Zuko flushed. "Mai, it's been uh…"
"Years." said Mai. She was glaring daggers at Jin.
"Right, years." said Zuko.
"Wow, that's the closest Mai has ever gotten to an expression before now." said Ty Lee.
"You two know each other?" asked Jin, her voice having an edge in it.
"I spent some time in the circus and visited Kyoshi at several points." said Zuko.
"Perhaps we should move on." said Uncle. "We are here to serve tea to royalty."
The Earth King smiled. "So we are."
Tea was served, and the Earth King clearly enjoyed it. Minor conversations were brought up. They talked about the weather, the hope inspired by the avatar. Zuko flinched at these. Several stories had to be manufactured to explain how everyone knew each other. Jin kept on remaining silent the whole time, listening.
Azula was afraid she'd blow the whole thing. Already she suspected that Zuko had not been entirely honest with her. If she came to believe that he was a prince, she might not be so forgiving.
"So, tell me, Suki." said Uncle. "What was all this about Jet being a sorcerer?"
Was he trying to get them exposed?
"Just a minor matter now." said the Earth King. " "This is truly excellent tea. Your reputation is well deserved." That was not a lie. He was on his third cup.
"Thank you your majesty." said Uncle.
"I have a confession to make, however. I didn't only invite you here for tea." said the Earth King. "I'm told you traveled through the entire Earth Kingdom on your way here. So did you Kyoshi Warriors."
"Actually, our journey took us through Fire Nation territory." said Ty Lee. "We were scouting."
"Well, that too can help a great deal." said the Earth King. "Long Feng told me to know my enemy. Though I suppose I should have instead known who my enemies were."
There was an awkward silence.
"…Very wise words." said Uncle after a moment. "Sometimes enemies and friends alike can crop up in the most unlikely of places. You must learn to keep an open mind.
"Then you'll know them when you see them."
"Speaking of which," said the Earth King. "I was hoping you could tell me the things you saw, so I could better understand my nation."
Uncle paused. "Well... the first thing you ought to remember is that the war has cost all the nations a great deal…"
They gave a series of accounts of the adventures and misadventures they had faced. Both doctored to omit any reverence to royalty. Azula's chase after Zuko became a tragic misunderstanding with the law. Uncle was very good at lying, better than Azula had given him credit. Azula, of course, had worked out her story ahead of time.
But Uncle seemed to have gone from tea maker to advisor very quickly. His tales of the poverty of some parts of the Earth Kingdom shocked the King. Azula realized that he had probably never heard of any of this. Zuko's description of rogue soldiers terrorizing a town was particularly chilling.
And he'd been run out at the end of it. Jin's eyes perked up when she heard that last bit. Zuko's explanation hadn't been a very good one, but it seemed to convince the Earth King.
It didn't convince Jin. This whole time she just listened.
Azula tried to think of what she would do in Jin's position if she suspected Katara was telling the truth. Obviously not speak out. The Earth King would never believe her, and Jin had no evidence. Even if she did expose them, Azula, Zuko, and Iroh would be accomplished Fire Benders.
Jin couldn't do anything. Nothing but stay silent.
Perhaps she might expose them somehow. But could she? Yes, she might make a convincing case, but it would have to go through the guards. Would they really admit that a tea shop employee had found something they didn't? Especially when the Earth King trusted them.
Evidently, Long Feng had owned all the competent guards.
It was hilarious. There were four kinds of people in this room — first, Enemies of the Earth Kingdom. Second, an absolute monarch who had been born to rule and heavily educated. Third, highly trained guards whose only job was to protect the Earth King. An uneducated peasant girl who worked in a tea shop somehow had the most sense out of everyone in this palace.
As Azula got a second helping of tea, Jin looked more tense by the minute. She was afraid but trying to hide it. It looked adorable, like a frightened rabbit surrounded by wolves, frozen in place quivering. It was adorable.
Azula would love to wrap her arms around her, to drive that terror just a bit further into it. Watch her squirm as she fondled those ample breasts of hers. She realized she was licking her lips.
That settled it. If Azula ever got out of this loop she was taking Jin home with her.
Later, as the conversation went on, Azula excused herself. Uncle had more or less gained control of the conversation. The Earth King was already taking notes like some schoolchild.
Give Uncle a weak and he'd be the power behind the throne.
For her part, Azula made her way out onto a terrace and looked over the city. The sun was setting. Soon the loop would begin again and the day would be over. Gradually she became aware of Zuko walking out after her.
"I never thought I'd end up having tea with you and the Earth King." said Zuko.
"I never expected a lot of things, Zuzu." admitted Azula.
Zuko looked over the city, then to her. "Why did you do this, Azula? The Earth King said you stopped a coup. What about the Fire Nation?"
"I could have taken the place over, again." admitted Azula. "But I just thought I'd do something nice for someone else."
"And Katara?" asked Zuko.
"And get revenge on an annoying water peasant at the same time." admitted Azula. "Anyway, Uncle seemed to enjoy giving advice."
"He's very good at that." said Zuko. "So how long do you think you'll be able to keep this up?"
Azula paused. "Well, you're friend Jin might be able to figure something out. The Avatar should be finishing up the things I did to stall him. But I'll last until the end of the day."
"And what about tomorrow?" asked Zuko.
Azula leaned against the railing. "There is no tomorrow, Zuko. There never was one."
And then, on a whim, she leaned in and kissed him. Drawing back, Zuko froze and stepped back. He put a hand to his lips. "..Why did you..."
"To see the look on your face." said Azula, smiling.
Then she glanced up to see Jin coming through the door. Has she seen? Azula didn't really care. She approached. "Lee, um... Suki is it?"
"Yes." said Azula.
"Well, Mushi wants us to head back to the Jasmine Dragon." said Jin. "Though the Earth King... he says that he wants us to come back."
"That's great news." said Zuko. "Uncle will be really pleased. I'll be right there."
As they walked off, Azula looked back to the city. Common people apparently had a thing against close relatives marrying each other. But marriage between cousins was commonplace in the Fire Nation. And marriage between siblings was not unheard of in the Royal Family.
Besides, it wasn't as if anything would change between now and this morning, would it? Even so, this had made her realize something. People tended to overlook the common people. They overlooked them a lot.
It was a blind spot for her as well. And she didn't want to exhaust the potential from toying with people close to her. "That settles it." said Azula. "This morning, I'm going into the main city."
Author's Note:
So yeah, I feel a bit awkward posting this chapter. But when I write characters, I write what they choose to do, not what I want them to do. One leads to an organic storyline with real characters. The other leads to a puppet show.