Chapter 8

Azula wasn't quite sure what had gotten into her over the past few days, but she was having more fun than she could remember. No… she could remember. It was just that she didn't want to. The last time she had enjoyed herself so much had been with Ty Lee, and thinking back about anything related to Ty Lee still felt very painful.

Not that anything of the sort of what had happened with Ty Lee was going on with Zirin. After hanging out with Zirin on the first day of the tournament, the same pattern repeated on the second and third day of competition. They would both destroy their opposition quickly and then meet up to spend a couple of hours just hanging out and chatting. Azula had never been great at simple casual conversation, but Zirin was a natural. She could talk for hours on end without coming off like an empty-headed chatterbox. She asked Azula all sorts of questions, and Azula found herself opening up more than she had done in years, ever since losing that connection to Mai and Ty Lee. It helped that Zirin wasn't asking her questions that were deeply personal. That would have probably forced Azula to withdraw into a defensive shell. They were simply discussing fashion, music and whatever other interests they both had outside of Pai Sho.

After the third round and before the tournament off-day, the draw for the next three rounds was held. Azula was relieved not to be drawn up against Zirin. However, she was scheduled to play Chan Takahashi in Round 6. That would be a big test for her, and Azula knew that she probably should have used the off-day to really crack down on her preparations. Instead, she had invited Zirin Sakai to visit her at the Caldera City estate. After all, her father had allowed her to invite female friends, as long as the Ty Lee incident did not repeat itself. And it wasn't going to repeat itself. It was totally a coincidence that Azula had asked Zirin to come over late in the afternoon when most of the servants wouldn't be around to eavesdrop on them. It wasn't as if Azula was in any way attracted to Zirin and hoped that something would happen… or at least, that was what she was trying to tell herself.

Having Zirin over at the estate was a lot of fun. She was always very attentive when Azula tried to impress her with the Nakamura family wealth on display. When Azula was telling her something, Zirin always made Azula feel like she cared about what Azula had to say. Azula was not used to that and found it deeply flattering. Her father never seemed to truly care about what she actually thought. His questions were usually meant to either make sure if she had done what had been asked of her, or simply to test her. Her old friends, Mai and Ty Lee, hadn't been great listeners, either. Even when Mai listened to Azula, she largely appeared bored. Ty Lee desperately tried to fake interest, but she was always so easily distracted and Azula could see that most of what she said went right over Ty Lee's head.

Zirin had appeared very curious about the estate, not that Azula could blame her. The manor was a truly splendorous piece of architecture, built upon the ruins of the bathhouse of the Old Empire. Having satisfied Zirin's interest and having answered all of her questions, the pair stopped in the kitchen, left empty with the cook's departure. They raided one of the fridges to discover a vast supply of Borden's ice cream, Azula choosing her favorite burgundy cherry flavor while making fun of Zirin's choice of cherry coconut. Afterwards, they played a few friendly sparring matches of Pai Sho, finding themselves evenly matched. It was a little past nine in the evening and the streets outside had gone dark a long time ago, when they settled on a sofa in one of the living rooms, in front of a state of the art Magnavox TV set. It was one of the first TV sets which had a remote, yet another thing that Azula could impress Zirin with. This allowed Azula to flip through the channels without having to get up from the sofa and break contact with the other girl as they sat side by side, their shoulders brushing lightly.

"Oh, don't tell me… are you a fan?" Zirin asked, having noticed that Azula had stopped switching through the channels and had settled on a particular show. 'There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity,' sounded the voice of the narrator during the intro of the show.

"I don't know about being a fan, but I enjoy The Twilight Zone. I always want to watch some reruns around Halloween time," Azula smiled briefly, but then her expression clouded a little. "My father doesn't approve of me watching it, though. He thinks it's a distraction."

"There's nothing wrong with a little bit of distraction now and then," Zirin said softly.

"I guess so, if you don't want to achieve anything noteworthy in your life," Azula shrugged. "Or at least that's what my father would say."

"Have you ever considered that your father might not have all the answers, Azula?" Zirin asked.

"He's literally the wealthiest and most influential person in the Fire Nation, perhaps in the whole world," Azula replied confidently. "If he doesn't have all the answers, then I don't know who would."

"He may have all the riches, but do they make him happy?" Zirin continued. Azula found herself becoming a little frustrated. She hated other people questioning her father behind his back. It made her become defensive of him. "He seems like an angry and violent man."

"I don't see what happiness has to do with anything. That seems like a stupid point to make," Azula shrugged. "Anyway, shush," she said, pointing at the TV screen. "It's The Living Doll. I love this episode."

For a while, they watched the episode in silence. Azula's frustration began to gradually wane as she found herself immersed in the rather creepy story playing out on the screen. However, she soon became aware that Zirin seemed to be observing her expression more than she was watching the episode of the Twilight Zone. "What?" she eventually turned on Zirin, frowning.

"Sorry," Zirin blushed lightly. "I was just lost in thought, wondering about something." Azula stared at her intensely, as if demanding Zirin to elaborate. "Fine, I was wondering how you would react if I would try to kiss you," Zirin said.

At first, Azula felt completely dumbstruck. She was well aware of her own attraction to the older girl, but she hadn't considered that Zirin could be interested in her romantically. There were many other more credible reasons why Zirin would want to hang out with her. Azula was the daughter of a multimillionaire and Zirin was a dirt-poor vagabond. Perhaps this was just her way to try and get her nails into Azula, like a leech seeking a rich host to attach herself to.

"I would probably start screaming about being sexually assaulted while hoping that the gate guards would hear me," Azula replied.

"I don't think you would do that, Azula," Zirin chuckled confidently.

"Oh, is this a setup where I am expected to invite you to try?" Azula snorted, turning her attention right back to the TV screen. "Sorry, not going to happen."

"You'll find me very difficult to discourage once I have set my mind on something," Zirin still remained confident. After a short pause, she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against Azula's cheek.

Azula froze at the touch of Zirin's lips and the light touch of the other girl's fingers on her jaw, turning Azula's head to face Zirin. She found herself being kissed again, this time on the lips. Azula felt like her head was spinning. She had missed this so much and Zirin's lips felt very different from Ty Lee's clumsy and awkward, innocently sweet kisses. Still, Azula could not let this get out of hand, regardless of how much she was enjoying herself. "You're moving too fast," she said, pulling away and breaking the kiss.

"Ah… sorry," Zirin looked genuinely apologetic. "I just feel this sort of strange, magnetic pull towards you, I can't explain it."

"Sounds like something from the Twilight Zone," Azula rolled her eyes. Breaking the kiss had been difficult and painful. Still, she suddenly found herself suspicious of Zirin's motives. Something about this sudden attraction felt off to Azula. "Shall we watch some more episodes? I think it's a marathon of reruns this evening."

"Alright, I guess I can stay for a while longer," Zirin nodded eagerly. "Not too long though, it's starting to get really late and I still need to get back to my motel."

"Where are you staying?" Azula asked.

"The Turtleduck Inn," Zirin replied. Azula's reaction was a completely blank facial expression. "It's on the other side of the city, where you've probably never set a foot. Yes, I'm staying at the proverbial slums."

"Oh," Azula remarked. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Well, I can ask the guards to call a taxi for you. Or… you could stay the night here. There are like six guest bedrooms. Take your pick."

"Are you serious?" Zirin asked, looking excited.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Azula shrugged. "You're not staying in my room. I'm not inviting you to do anything inappropriate."

"Sadly," Zirin quipped. Azula rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I really appreciate it, Azula. You're a real doll."

"Anytime," Azula smirked at the other girl, pleased that Zirin had agreed. If her Pai Sho rival was plotting something nefarious, it only made sense to keep Zirin closer where Azula could watch her.

Katara was sitting at a table in the hotel's cafeteria space, slowly working through the somewhat bland scrambled eggs and bacon on her plate. It was the tournament's off-day following the first three rounds, but Katara's mood was sullen, despite her having scored three fairly easy victories in the early rounds. The reason for her foul mood was that her and Yue's plan to take the two top spots ahead of Hahn Adjuk was off to a terrible start. Yue had drawn Hahn in the second round, and despite hoping that she could catch Hahn cold, Yue had lost, badly. Hahn had all but steamrolled her with ease that was making Katara deeply apprehensive regarding her own chances when facing the arrogant looking older boy.

Another reason for Katara's irritation was that she had learned just who had taken Hahn Adjuk under his wing as his favorite protégé. It was none other than grandmaster Pakku Karetak, the old curmudgeon who had rejected Katara's request to become her mentor. This certainly explained the level of confidence and skill in Hahn's game. Katara suddenly began to feel quite pessimistic about either her or Yue being able to dislodge Hahn from the top spot which he probably considered his to lose.

It was during this moment in Katara's contemplations that Sokka returned to the table, having wandered off in search for seconds. The first plate Sokka had brought to the table had been so laden that Katara could have never finished it even on a dare, but of course, Sokka still craved for more. Her brother truly was a freak of nature when it came to his appetite. A frustrating freak of nature, who had forgotten to retrieve the only thing Katara had asked of him when Sokka had left the table in search for more food. "Sokka!" she glared at him.

"What, what, what?" Sokka blinked back at her.

"Ugh! I asked you to pick up the morning paper for me!" Katara exclaimed.

"Oh…" Sokka smacked his brow and ran off, returning moments later to toss the morning paper over to Katara. "What are you so curious about, anyway?"

"I just want to find out how the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom qualifiers are progressing," Katara replied, ignoring her lukewarm eggs and bacon, instead focusing all of her attention to the newspaper. She quickly found the relevant pages dedicated to the sports news. The Pai Sho results were at the very bottom of the page, in a shrift so small that Katara had to squint to read them in the dim light of the cafeteria.

None of the favorites in the Earth Kingdom qualifiers had stumbled yet. Haru Tamang, Ghashiun al-Alawi, Teo Guyuk, Kori Morishita and Joo Dee Feng all had three points out of three, along with a slew of other names which Katara didn't recognize. Katara then browsed the results from the Fire Nation, again finding a rather large group of contestants with the maximum available points. Looking for some familiar names, she recognized Chan Takahashi, Ruon-Jian Ogawa and Zirin Sakai. Oh, and there it was, the name she had been looking for, that of Azula Nakamura.

It wasn't that Katara particularly wanted Azula Nakamura to qualify for the finals. Azula would probably be looking to avenge the loss of the previous year, so Katara was not looking forward to facing Azula. Katara was just relieved to see Azula's name in the paper. It meant that she was fine… no, that was assuming too much, but at least she was well enough to play and win. And when Katara thought about it more, she actually did want Azula to qualify. If Azula failed to do so, Katara could well imagine what Ozai Nakamura would do to his daughter. The thought of someone she actually knew going through something so awful was making Katara physically ill.

"Good news?" Sokka asked, slowly and methodically working through his pile of food.

"Eh, it's early days in the tournaments," Katara shrugged. "I was just being curious." She didn't want to explain to Sokka that she had been specifically interested in Azula Nakamura. She had a feeling that he wouldn't understand.

"Right, so…" Sokka continued, speaking as he chewed. Katara winced at his atrocious manners. "You're coming to meet up with Yue? Maybe you should stay behind and practice some more. That Hahn guy is for real, right?"

Katara let out a deep sigh. Sokka could be so transparent when it came to him wanting to enjoy some alone time with Yue. And sure, Hahn was a threat, but the draw of the next three rounds had been kind for Katara. She wouldn't be meeting Hahn until the final three rounds. The only player of note in Katara's near future was young Siku Ikuma in Round 6, but while talented, she was still very inexperienced. Katara didn't think her upcoming opponents merited her spending the whole day locked up in her room, banging her head against the Pai Sho board, not when the alternative was meeting up with Yue in the city and do all sorts of fun stuff together. They had already made plans the previous day to go to the ice skating rink and then visit the ice sculpture display later in the evening. The morning held a strong promise of turning into an amazing day, and Katara wasn't about to let Sokka and Yue have all the fun for themselves.

"I'll be alright, Sokka, don't worry," Katara snorted at her brother. "If anyone needs a day of preparation and training, it's Yue. She's in trouble now."

"Yeah… it really sucked watching her lose to that jerk Hahn," Sokka frowned. "I'm just glad she's not really down about it."

"Yes, that is good," Katara nodded. Sokka had unwittingly touched upon something that was making Katara rather curious. Yue had been completely unconcerned about her loss, and Katara could not quite figure out her peculiar reaction. She wondered if Yue perhaps had some kind of a plan that she was not sharing, but for now, Katara could do nothing but wait and see.

Azula was a very light sleeper. Having been raised in a household like hers, it was not at all surprising. Growing up, there was always one thing or another that had interrupted Azula's sleep and awakened her, whether it was her father's shouting, her mother's cries and pleas or Zuko's pathetic squeaking as he tried to step in between his arguing parents, attempting to play some sort of a ridiculous peacemaker. It didn't surprise Azula that she had developed sleep related issues. Azula suspected herself suffering from a mild form of self-diagnosed somniphobia. She certainly wasn't going to speak to anyone about these problems. It's not like she wanted to give Ozai more reasons to accuse her of being weak.

It was then no surprise to Azula that she had been awakened by the subtlest of creaks of the floorboards out in the hallway. Azula tiptoed over to the bedroom doors and pressed her ear against the carved oaken door. Zirin probably just had to visit the bathroom. There was nothing to be worried about, no reason to become paranoid. Or maybe there was? The next sounds Azula heard was of someone, presumably Zirin, climbing down the stairs. The bathroom was in the other direction, at the end of the hallway.

Azula waited for at least a minute before opening the doors and sneaking out into the hallway. She was a physically fit young girl with an excellent sense of balance of an experienced horse rider and a beginner level fencer. She could easily tiptoe around the house while remaining silent like a ghost, doing a much better job of being sneaky than Zirin. Azula crept down the stairs, trying to guess where the other girl might have gone. She waited for Zirin to once again make some noise and give away her location before she wandered into the hallway where she could be easily spotted. Azula didn't have to wait long to hear the sound of footsteps to her left, Zirin entering one of the rooms there.

She's going into the kitchen? Maybe she just wants a midnight snack? Azula thought frantically. What else is there in the kitchen? Oh… of course, one of the phones. Azula began to slowly creep towards the kitchen, recognizing the familiar sound of the rotary dial being turned. Shortly afterwards, she heard Zirin's voice, speaking in hushed whispers.

"Hi, June? It's me," Zirin spoke on the phone. "Yeah, I'm at Azula's place. Can you believe she invited me to stay the night? Talk about a lucky break. Yeah… yeah, I think I have all the info you wanted, June. Yes, the layout and the guards, everything."

Oh, obviously, why did I expect anything else from someone beneath me? Azula thought bitterly to herself. Why would an older girl like her be seriously interested in me? She's just scouting out the estate for her burglar friend, the complete and utter bitch.

"No, I'm not telling you everything on the phone, I don't want to risk getting overheard," Zirin continued on the phone. "Actually, no… and this might surprise you, June. At the first glance she's this stuck-up, pretentious bitch, but honestly, she's actually kinda fun once she lets you a little closer. So… I feel a little bad about doing this. Yeah, I actually like her," Zirin let out a quiet sigh. "No… no, we're still doing this, obviously, but you get what I mean. Anyway, I better dash. See you tomorrow, June."

Azula quickly crept away, back towards the stairway, soon finding herself back in her bedroom, quietly closing the doors behind her back. Azula remained standing there, her back pressed against the doors. She was greatly upset, breathing heavily. So, you like me, but you're still going to steal from me and my family, bitch? It's not going to end well for you, I promise. I'm going to destroy you both at the Pai Sho board, and away from it. The guards will know all about your plans, and security will be tripled. If this June is stupid enough to show up, she'll be in for a nasty surprise.

"Well, that doesn't look good," Chan Takahashi commented, giving Azula a smug grin from the other side of the board. Azula did not bother dignifying his words with a response. She utterly loathed players who spoke at the board. It had always been a part of the professional player's code to keep one's mouth closed while playing, aside from the expected phrases of politeness before and after the game. Once the game began, you were supposed to shut up. Chan apparently hadn't gotten the memo.

Azula had rolled over her opponents in the two previous rounds, just as she had expected, although she had felt a little off her game. The whole thing with Zirin was bothering her a great deal. And then, after the games, they would still go and hang out, and Azula would pretend not knowing that Zirin planned to betray her. At least Azula had learned something important in these conversations with Zirin, the identity of this June person Zirin had mentioned on the phone. Apparently, June Sakai was Zirin's elder sister, and the cat burglar planning to rob the Nakamura manor in Caldera City.

And while Azula had enjoyed an easy time defeating her opponents in the previous rounds, even in her distracted state, she was now coming unstuck against that smug, pretentious prick Chan Takahashi. Azula tried desperately to cling on, secure some kind of foothold in their contest. She hadn't even made any obvious mistakes, unlike that one time against Katara Enuaraq. Chan was just gradually chipping away at her position with his every move, grinning like a complete git.

Azula tried everything she could think of, simplifying the game as much as possible, hoping to survive until the endgame and possibly hold on for a draw. Alas, once they entered the endgame, she found herself with such an obvious disadvantage that there was no point in trying to postpone the inevitable. Azula knew that she hadn't even played horribly. She just hadn't been mentally sharp enough, largely because the whole mess with Zirin was such a distraction. So, after forty-six moves, Azula finally stopped the timing clock and offered her surrender to the grinning Chan Takahashi.

"No hard feelings, eh, babe?" Chan winked at her, like the dullard that he was. "Come on, I'll buy you a milkshake to wash down the disappointment."

"The only thing I would do if you gave me a milkshake, would be to empty it on your stupid head," Azula snorted, getting up from the table and walking away, leaving a scowling Chan behind.

Feeling annoyed, Azula would have preferred to immediately leave the premises. However, the draw for the final three rounds was about to commence at the conclusion of Round 6, so she was forced to stick around to find out who her next opponents would be, following the second rest day tomorrow. Even though Azula desperately wanted to be left alone with her own thoughts while she waited, she was not at all surprised when Zirin sought her out, offering words of comfort regarding her loss.

"That's a real shame, babe, but I know you will bounce back. I have faith in you," Zirin offered her empty platitudes which left Azula unimpressed. It was easy for the other girl to speak. Zirin, Chan and Ruon, all of her main competitors, hadn't dropped any points. With this loss to Chan, Azula had dug herself a major hole and now she needed to figure out a way to get out of it. Of course, Ruon, Chan and Zirin hadn't played any games among themselves, so it was possible that they would derail each other, but Azula didn't want to count on that. She needed to get back into shape before it was too late.

They had to wait for about half an hour before the tournament organizers revealed the schedule of matches for the final three rounds. Azula felt strangely amused by what she saw on the large blackboard. She was scheduled to play some relative nobody in Round 7, Ruon-Jian in Round 8 and Zirin in the final round. Somehow, she was not at all surprised that it would all unfold in this exact manner. Some basic calculation told Azula that she would absolutely need to win against either Ruon or Zirin, but it was also possible that she could not afford another loss. Her situation was precarious and the threat of her father's anger began to loom larger and larger at the back of her mind.

"Damn, Ruon, Chan and then you for my last three rounds," Zirin groaned next to her. "But that was always in the cards, I guess. Anyway, I don't want to think about that just yet. I have this sudden craving for ice cream. Want to go get some? We can think about what to do on our off-day over some chocolate sundaes."

"Are you for real?" Azula blinked at the other girl.

"What?" Zirin stared at her.

"I just lost a really important game, Zirin," Azula stated, feeling incredulous about even having to explain. "I'm going straight home to work on my prep right away. And I'm spending the off-day on more and more preparations. So, whatever we've been doing…"

"Hanging out, starting a budding romance?" Zirin tried with a charming wink. It wasn't going to work.

"Whatever you want to call it, but it's on indefinite hold. Sorry," Azula said emotionlessly, turning to walk away and leaving a disappointed looking Zirin behind. But I'm not as sorry as you'll be, bitch, when I destroy you in the final round…

Next chapter: The qualifiers come to a close. Katara faces off against Hahn, while Azula has to deal with a break-in before facing Zirin. Will our girls make it to the finals?