Chapter 1
Fourteen-year-old Katara Enuaraq took a deep breath as she briefly closed her eyes, feeling the by now familiar pressure at the back of her mind. Immediately, the tiles on the Pai Sho board in front of her began to swirl and change their shape, turning into chunks of ice, drifting in the tumultuous deep waters of the northern seas. Katara did not even attempt to pointlessly struggle against the vision, allowing it to take over her, as the ice blocks slowly settled into recognizable patterns, reverting into Pai Sho tiles. Suddenly, Katara saw previously unnoticed possibilities, moves and combinations on the Pai Sho board. Having spent a few minutes considering her options, the Water Tribe girl reached out, picking up the Rock tile and placing it on the board, then pushing the button on the Pai Sho clock to trigger her opponent's move.
Across the table from Katara, her peer and very good friend, Yue Taqqiq, blinked in surprise at Katara's move. The white-haired girl had expected Katara's Orchid tile to capture and remove her Chrysanthemum tile, but then Katara had played a move that at face value appeared illogical. Her Rock tile had denied Yue the chance to form a harmony, but it had also blocked Katara's own potential harmony. And now, this strange tactic had clearly thrown Yue off her game.
It wasn't that Yue was a bad player. On the contrary, she was considered Katara's equal, and the two of them were by far the strongest youth players of their age bracket in the Water Tribes. When it came to qualifying for World Junior Championships, Yue and Katara were considered a lock for the two spots allocated to the Water Tribes. They had first been introduced some three years ago, during a qualifying tournament in Agna Qel'a, and they had become friends almost instantly.
Also, a year ago, when Katara's brother Sokka had accompanied her to the World Junior Championships held in Gaoling, he had somehow worked up the courage to ask Yue out on a date. Surprisingly, she had accepted, and the two had been dating since then. Katara loved her brother dearly, even if he could be insufferable at times, but as far as she was concerned, Yue should have been way out of his league, both in terms of her beauty and her social status. The Taqqiq family wasn't poor like the Enuaraq family was, a single-parent household with their father Hakoda working ungodly hours out on the oil rig, sometimes being absent for four or five days on the trot. In comparison, the Taqqiq's were rich landowners in the north, and some of those lands were rumored to contain rich oil reserves.
After roughly fifteen minutes of hard thinking and trying to guess what Katara was playing at, Yue finally made her move. Her Chrysanthemum tile moved out of the reach of Katara's Orchid, also escaping the blockade formed by the Rock tile. It was a perfectly understandable move and a forced one unless Yue was prepared to lose her flower tile. Unfortunately, she was about to lose more than just a flower tile. Katara played her next move without much deliberation, playing the Boat tile and moving her White Jade tile out of the blockade formed by the Rock. Suddenly, Yue realized that she had stepped into a trap. With the White Jade exposed, Katara now had a choice between two ways of forming a harmony ring with her next move, and there was no way for Yue to block them both. With a sigh, Yue reached out and stopped the timing clock, then extending her arm to offer Katara a handshake. Katara accepted it with a shy smile.
"Great game, Kat," Yue was magnanimous in defeat, which was yet another thing Katara liked about the other girl. "The move with the Rock, whoa, that was something. How did you think of that?"
"I don't really know, I guess I just got lucky," Katara smiled in return. Her visions were not something that Katara particularly longed to explain. Katara had lost her mother Kya in a very traumatic hit-and-run incident when she was merely nine years of age, and in order to cope with the resulting anxiety and panic attacks, she had been proscribed something called Librium. Katara knew that she had never had these visions before starting to take the medication. When at the age of twelve she had told her father and grandmother about her visions, they had insisted that Katara should be taken off her medication, but unfortunately, it had turned her life into a living nightmare. In the end, her father had ended up begging the doctors to put her back on the prescription drugs, because there had been a very real danger of Katara harming herself.
Now, at the age of fourteen, she was still on Librium, but at least at a reduced dosage. She could sometimes go for a week or more without having to take one of those big green pills, but it helped to have them on hand when she had to cope with stressful situations, such as tournament play. Katara often felt guilty about taking the pills during tournaments, because they intensified her visions and made her feel as if she was using performance enhancing drugs. She felt guilty even if she knew that she wasn't using Librium for performance, she needed it simply to remain functional. A few months ago, unbeknownst to her family, Katara had gone to see a highly regarded neurologist in Agna Qel'a who had told her that prolonged usage of Librium at such a young age would have already irreversibly altered her brain chemistry, meaning that she was stuck with these visions for the rest of her life.
"That's some luck, Kat," Yue grinned at her as they both got up from their seats. The audience in the hall immediately responded, giving them both a round of applause, mostly aimed at Katara. The great hall of the University of Yu Dao where the World Junior Championships for kids aged twelve to fourteen (or U15's as they were commonly known) was being held was almost half full, which was not a bad showing for the game of Pai Sho, its popularity in ascendence. Sure, most of the spectators were university students, making the most of an opportunity to get out of their lectures, but it was still nice to have an attentive audience. "Say, Sokka and I were going to hang out later, would you like to join us?" Yue asked.
"I would have liked to, but I already promised Aang and Toph to hang out with them," Katara replied apologetically, spotting the blue shirt of her brother in the audience, briefly wondering whom he had been rooting for, her or Yue. "Also, I'd like to see how the other games are progressing," she said, turning to regard the other Pai Sho tables in the hall, three from the six games still ongoing.
"Well, some other time then," Yue smiled at her, the two sharing a brief hug before the white-haired girl walked away.
Katara wasn't left alone for long however, as another girl walked up to her shortly afterwards, and she could not have looked more different from Yue Taqqiq if she had tried. Short and a little bit on the stocky side, young Toph Beifong looked precious in her green dress, black knee-high platform boots to make up for her lack of height, and the thick spectacles on the tip of her nose. "Hey, I saw that Rock move of yours, Tara!" Toph announced cheerfully. "That was awesome!"
"Thank you, Toph," Katara smiled at her younger friend. "And how was your match?" she asked.
"Eh, I destroyed some poor Fire Nation schmuck in twenty moves," Toph shrugged. "No big deal."
"That's impressive," Katara chuckled. She didn't necessarily agree with poor Shoji Nomura being dismissed as some Fire Nation schmuck, but that was Toph for you. She wasn't always the most reverential person.
Katara had met Toph and the third linchpin in their close circle of friends, Aang Jetsun, during one of the Pai Sho summer camps held by the retired grandmaster and former world champion, Iroh Nakamura. "Uncle" Iroh, as he was fondly referred to by the kids attending his camps, was a Fire Nation exile currently living in Ba Sing Se, with a large out of town estate on the shore of Serpent's Lake. The powerful Nakamura family had been split right down the middle by a nasty divorce between Iroh's brother Ozai and his wife Ursa. With Iroh testifying in court about Ozai's penchant for cruelty, he had broken all ties with his brother, and subsequently the Fire Nation, now flying under the radar in his exile.
The summer camps of Uncle Iroh were primarily aimed at talented children of lesser means, kids like Katara, Aang, and many others. Still, Iroh never turned away anyone with passion for Pai Sho, which was why many children from rich families, such as Yue and Toph, also often took part in these camps, benefitting greatly from Iroh's insight and expertise. Of course, none of the Fire Nation kids were allowed to attend these camps, as it would constitute to near treason back in their homeland. Still, Fire Nation exiles like Iroh's nephew Zuko and a girl from Yu Dao by the name of Kori Morishita were constantly in attendance.
From all the kids at the camp, Katara had immediately hit it off with both Aang and Toph. Being a couple of years older than the two others, Katara had begun to notice some signs early in their friendship. Toph seemed to be quite attracted to Aang, although she always vehemently denied it whenever Katara tried to set up something just between her and Aang. And on his part, Aang seemed to be rather into Katara, which was not a complication Katara needed or wanted. It had been slightly more than a year since Katara had acknowledged something about herself. She simply was not attracted to boys. No, she was attracted to girls… and one girl in particular, but there was an added complication, and it was a big one. She was attracted to the girl who was dating her brother, and she simply could not put Yue out of her mind, those beautiful white locks of hair framing her delicate face. There was a reason why she preferred to hang out with Aang and Toph, instead of spending time with Sokka and Yue. Watching her brother getting all touchy-feely with his girlfriend was not at all easy for Katara.
"Let's go see how Aang is doing," Katara said, taking Toph's hand as they walked over to where Aang was trying to resist his opponent, remaining at a respectable distance from the table.
"Oh, Twinkletoes is getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter," Toph chuckled. From Aang's posture, elbows on the table, propping up his chin, eyes wide in disbelief, Katara could easily determine that the game was not going well for their friend. And seeing just who he was up against, Katara was not at all surprised.
Azula Nakamura was a very strange young Fire Nation girl. Her appearance was always impeccable, from the tips of her glistening red boots, to her top-knot of hair, perfectly framing her delicate yet severe looking face, not a single lock ever out of place. She had first arrived on the Pai Sho scene the previous year, demolishing her opposition in the Fire Nation qualifiers and then going on to win the U15 World Championships at the age of thirteen with only victories to her name. It was as if her father, the reigning world champion Ozai Nakamura, had been preparing a weapon in secret before unleashing Azula on the unsuspecting world of Pai Sho and taking it by the storm. The same pattern appeared set to repeat this year. As the reigning U15 champion, Azula didn't need to qualify, being given an automatic spot, and now at the main event, she was once again crushing everyone. The way her Orchid tile was decimating Aang's helpless flower tiles was just depressing to watch, and while Azula always remained perfectly emotionless during her matches, Katara could have sworn that she had spotted just a tiny reflection of a smug smirk on Azula's cherry red lips.
There was something about this girl which made her greatly feared by her fellow players, but also disliked and even hated. Katara thought that hatred was far too harsh a sentiment to harbor for someone when it came to Pai Sho, but she could understand the reaction Azula elicited in the others. Her perfection rubbed most people the wrong way, making her appear elitist, aloof, arrogant and disdainful. She arrived for her games perfectly on time, crushed her opposition without a single word, shook hands, bowed and left, never bothering to interact with the other kids, as if she considered everyone else beneath her. Even Azula's style of play seemed alien to Katara. She never seemed to take more than a minute to consider her move. Azula always appeared to have an answer for everything, and on the only occasion Katara had faced her (which had been a hopeless defeat), Katara had felt as if she had been playing some kind of automaton and not a human being at all.
This was why Azula Nakamura was almost unanimously feared and disliked by her peers, not that she seemed to care. The only opinion she seemingly cared about was that of her harsh and controlling father.
After Aang had been finally put out of his misery and Azula had left without saying a word, the happy-go-lucky Air Nation kid walked up to join Katara and Toph, quickly brushing off his humiliating evisceration at the hands of the reigning champion. "How does she do it?" Aang chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, I need something to take my mind off from being humiliated by Azula Nakamura. Want to go to the ice cream parlor?" he asked, looking at Katara.
"Sure," Katara nodded, not letting go of Toph's hand. She hoped that Aang wasn't truly being as rude as to ignore Toph when she was standing right there next to him. "Let's go, Toph," Katara added, tugging on Toph's hand. If Aang had been a little disappointed by not getting any alone time with her, to his credit he managed not to show it.
"Alright, I guess you two freeloaders will want me to pay, right?" Toph laughed as they made their way towards the side exit, just to avoid being jumped by some autograph seekers, not that there were many of them.
"I can pay this time, Toph," Katara replied. It was true, she could, but she also could not deny that hanging out with Toph was beneficial because of her rich parents who seemed to have their fingers in every pie possible. It wasn't the reason why she liked to hang out with Toph, but… the more money she could bring back from these tournaments, the easier the life for her family would be. It was hard enough for her father and grandmother to scrape up the funds to send her and Sokka all the way to Yu Dao. If only her father would listen when she told him that he didn't need to send Sokka with her, but no, of course a fourteen-year-old girl in a large city needed the protection of her big brother. And of course, Sokka wanted to hang out with Yue, so he always insisted on coming along because Katara needed his protection…
"Relax, Sweetness," Toph snorted. "I'll cover the bill as usual, it's not a problem. Let's put the riches of my family to good use, I say… and that means stuffing ourselves as full with ice-cream as we possibly can!"
Less than an hour later, three seriously ice-cream stuffed teenagers were sitting around a table in the ice-cream parlor, struggling not to groan from how full they were. "This is really good, Toph," Aang managed, giving the girl a grateful smile. "My loss to Azula no longer stings so badly."
"Happy to help," Toph grinned at the Air Nation boy. "I wish I could get some payback on her, but unfortunately I've already lost my chance. If it hadn't been the first game of the tournament and I hadn't been so rusty, I could have taken her, I know it!"
"Of course, Toph," Aang said, then turning towards Katara with a beaming, adoring smile. "But Katara still has to play her, and she will avenge us. I really believe you can take Azula down, Katara."
"Thanks, Aang," Katara smiled back at the boy. Honestly, he was so sweet that Katara often felt guilty for not being able to summon feelings stronger than friendship for him. Eventually, if Aang's crush wouldn't fade on its own, Katara would have to break his heart, and she was not looking forward to that because Aang deserved better. As an orphan he had been raised by a guardian, a kindly older man by the name of Gyatso, who had achieved international fame decades ago by briefly becoming the Pai Sho world champion. Gyatso still occasionally took part in professional Pai Sho tournaments, but his age and frail health precluded him from becoming a permanent fixture on the professional Pai Sho circuit. Still, he had done an admirable job at instilling love for the game in Aang and shaping Aang's considerable talent in becoming another potential Air Nation great.
And the Air Nation needed Aang's success. There were not many prospects for those born in the tiny strip of land on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nation's name derived from its famous mountain temples, rising above the clouds. People of the Air Nation were known for their spirituality, and unfortunately, also for their poverty. Theirs was a harsh life at the edge of the habitable world, struggling to manage what little resources were available to them, while the rest of the world barely paid them any heed. Indeed, when it came to the Pai Sho tournaments, the Air Nation youths weren't even guaranteed representation. They had to qualify alongside the Earth Kingdom candidates, fighting for one of the four available spots. Four other spots went to the Fire Nation, two to the Water Tribes, and two were left as wild cards, invites left up to discretion of the organizing committee. This year, the Yu Dao organizers had unsurprisingly handed out the two wild cards to Earth Kingdom players, Joo Dee Feng and Kori Morishita. These wild card assignments always proved controversial and caused accusations of corruption, even more so this year, considering that Kori was a local Yu Dao girl with no particularly impressive results at any level.
"I'm not sure I'm good enough to beat Azula Nakamura, though," Katara said a while later. "Her style is way too aggressive for me to handle."
"Come on, Sweetness, you're just as good as Azula and you know it," Toph shook her head. "And you're the only one who can still stop her. Sure, she has won all of her matches so far, but you have like seven wins and two draws, right?"
"And those draws are there only because Katara went easy on us, Toph," Aang chuckled. Katara blushed lightly, having to admit that Aang was not wrong. She probably could have beaten both Toph and Aang in her games with them, but she hadn't pressed her advantage hard enough. This was really Katara's only weakness as a Pai Sho player. She sometimes lacked the ruthlessness and the killer instinct required to win, especially when she had to play someone she genuinely liked.
"We still have two rounds left, so I might lose my next game and then it won't matter what happens with Azula," Katara argued.
"Who are you playing in the next round, Katara?" Toph asked.
"Umm… On Ji Takeda, I think," Katara replied.
"Pfft, she's pathetic," Toph scowled. "These Fire Nation kids are just a bunch of losers. If it wasn't for Azula, they'd be the laughing stock of Pai Sho world. It's going to be you against Azula for the title in the last round, Katara, mark my words."
"Great, I can't wait," Katara sighed, feeling an uncomfortable sensation at the pit of her stomach. She wasn't at all looking forward to playing Azula Nakamura. Something about that girl really unnerved her. "Who are you both playing next round?"
"I'm playing Teo," Aang said. "He's really good. But if I beat him, I would move into the third place." Katara could understand Aang's hopes well. Third place came with a modest stipend, something that Aang definitely needed a lot more than most of the other kids.
"Yue for me," Toph added. "Not a walk in the park, I know."
"I can't believe another tournament is almost over," Aang sighed, looking a little sad. "These are the two best weeks of my year. Oh, well… except the summer month at Uncle Iroh's camp, of course!"
Katara smiled at Aang, nodding in agreement. The championship was the highlight of her year as well. A round-robin competition meant that everyone got to play eleven games, which were spread over the course of two weeks, with a few off-days tossed in-between to reduce the stress. Not many people truly understood that playing Pai Sho at a high level exacted a great mental and physical toll. It wasn't about just showing up at the university hall to spend a couple of hours playing the game. There was prep work beforehand and analysis afterwards. Those who skipped out on these important aspects of the game would soon find themselves plummeting in the tournament standings.
"I take it that you're coming to the camp this summer as well, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked with hope in her voice.
"Sure! What about you both?" Aang replied excitedly.
"Well, obviously… duh!" Toph grinned.
Katara reached out across the table, taking both Aang and Toph's hands in hers. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, you guys," she said, smiling broadly. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Azula Nakamura sat at the restaurant table, letting out an inward sigh as she stared down at her dish. Escargot was one of her all-time favorite dishes, she loved it enough to order it as a main, but right now, Azula felt her appetite quickly draining away, replaced by tension and anxiety as she kept slipping the occasional glance at her stern looking father on the other side of the table.
Ever since picking her up from the University of Yu Dao, Ozai had hardly spoken a word to her, maintaining silence that had become uncomfortable a long time ago. Azula could sense that her father was displeased with her, despite the easy victory she had scored against that Air Nation nobody. But she couldn't figure out the exact reason for her father's displeasure, and it was slowly driving her crazy, her anxiety mounting as she quietly waited for the inevitable tongue lashing. And hopefully, it would stop at being merely a tongue lashing.
Struggling to swallow, she managed to down a couple of the deliciously prepared snails. Azula knew that her father would not allow them to leave until she had finished her meal. It didn't matter that he could afford to buy the moon for her, this wasn't about money. This was about manners and discipline.
"You disappointed me today," Ozai spoke up suddenly as Azula was in the process of raising her fork. It remained frozen half-way from her mouth, Azula staring at her father, unmoving. "You did not have to spend so much time disposing of your opponent. Why expend unnecessary resources?"
"I… I just wanted to humiliate him a little bit," Azula replied timidly. "That fool actually thinks he's talented."
"He is talented, Azula," Ozai spoke sternly, staring down hard at his daughter. "Your showboating was a show of disrespect. Whatever we might think of those beneath us, our actions must always show why we are above them. I demand excellence, Azula, not some kind of misplaced theatrics."
"I… I'm sorry, father, I just didn't think-…"
"That's right, you didn't think about how your actions will make you appear, Azula," Ozai chided her. "I demand perfection not only with every move on the Pai Sho board, but also with every move away from the board. That includes your conduct, Azula. Defeating young Aang Jetsun in forty-one moves when you could have finished him off in twenty-seven is not acceptable."
"I don't think I could have finished him off that early, father," Azula dared to disagree.
"Ah, but you could have," Ozai smirked knowingly. "Figuring out how you could have done that will be your task for this evening. Also, finish your meal. If you can't solve the Pai Sho problem I have presented you with, then prepare to go without supper."
"Y-yes, father," Azula managed, her hand trembling slightly as she returned her attention to the escargot. Despite being cooked to perfection, her favorite meal suddenly left a dreadful aftertaste in her mouth.