Chapter 13

Katara still couldn't quite believe that she had actually agreed to go on a fake date with none other than Azula Nakamura. Making excuses to Sokka and Yue had proved easier than Katara had expected. Her brother in particular had no objections to having the entire off-day alone with Yue. They had spent the previous evening together, hanging out in Downtown Caldera City. Sokka had turned their visit to a local bistro into a competition of who could best endure the spicy Fire Nation food, a competition that Katara and Yue wisely allowed him to win. Sokka had then tried to convince them to go clubbing, but it was just a terrible idea even if there were no competitive games to play the following day. Instead, Katara and Yue had decided to spend the evening at a local bowling hall, and Sokka was left with no choice but to join them.

The following morning, having had breakfast at the hotel's cafeteria, Katara returned to her room and spent some time preparing for her game tomorrow. Keeping her thoughts focused proved very hard, however, because she kept thinking about her weird fake date with Azula. When Katara became too distracted to continue her Pai Sho prep, she instead put on her beautiful new shoes and practiced walking around with the kitten heels. It proved easier than she had expected. Even though Katara's main hobby was considered as very nerdy, she was actually very good at various sports and possessed a very good sense of balance. Besides, the heel wasn't too high, only an inch and a half. Azula's stilettos were at least four-inchers, which to Katara just seemed insane.

Azula arrived exactly at four in the afternoon as she had promised, not a minute sooner or later. Her chosen outfit surprised Katara because for once it wasn't dominated by the color red. She was wearing black stilettos, black fishnet stockings, tiny black miniskirt and a leather vest on top of a dark burgundy blouse. Katara couldn't help feeling a little envious of the other girl's fashion sense, but thanks to Azula, she now had an outfit that she could wear and not feel ashamed standing next to her new friend. Friend… is she my friend? I'd like to think so. Despite the stupid and ignorant things that she says like all the time, I never get the sense she actually means to insult. She seems more like a very lonely girl who just doesn't know how to make friends.

Katara and Azula then spent a little more than an hour doing some Pai Sho practice, going over Katara's game with Ruon-Jian and not bothering with Azula's steamrolling of Zirin. It had been so one-sided that there wasn't much to learn from that particular game. As time drew closer to their date, Azula insisted that Katara start getting ready. Katara was then forced to sit down by the mirror while Azula retrieved her makeup kit and began to work. Katara had been dubious about allowing Azula to do her makeup, however, when she faced the results of Azula's work in the mirror, she had to admit that the other girl was a wizard with the makeup kit. Azula clearly had much better tools at her disposal than Katara's basic kit, but still… the work she had done with the shadows alone had a magical effect. Katara's eyes seemed so deep and magnetic, she felt like she could hypnotize herself just by gazing long enough into the mirror.

Azula had clearly intended to also redo Katara's hair, muttering something about the silly hair loops, but Katara had shot her down right there and then. The hair loops were non-negotiable. She could change some aspects about the way she wore her hair, but the hair loops would always be a part of it. They were just Katara's thing. No… that was not true. It wasn't actually a Katara thing. It was the way her mother had always worn her hair. Katara hadn't even particularly liked it when Kya had still been alive. After her mother's death, Katara had adopted many rituals through which to preserve her mother's memory. Most had faded over the years, but the hair loops had stuck. That was why it was a non-negotiable matter and she couldn't explain her reasons to Azula, at least not before she knew the other girl much better.

Five minutes to seven in the evening, the two girls left Katara's hotel room and took the elevator to the fourth floor where the hotel's fancy restaurant was located. Entering the restaurant hall, Katara felt Azula reaching out and grabbing her hand. Her touch felt firm, but not without tension. Despite herself feeling nervous, Katara managed to flash what she hoped was a reassuring smile to the other girl.

Ruon-Jian and Mai were already waiting for them at the reserved table. Upon seeing their approach while holding hands, Mai and her boyfriend exchanged looks of disbelief. Ruon-Jian rose to greet them while Mai remained sitting at the table. "Well, well… this is a surprise," Ruon said by the way of greeting them. "I didn't know you were dating Katara Enuaraq," he said, looking at Azula.

"Makes sense considering the things I know," Mai quipped before Azula could even answer.

"We've only just started going out together, so very few people know about us," Katara explained, seeing that Azula appeared slightly tongue-tied. "Also, you must be Mai," she added, offering the sullen looking girl a handshake. Mai took her hand, responding with a brief squeeze.

"Pleased to meet you, Katara," Mai replied, though her eyes were firmly locked on Azula for some reason. "Well, this might turn out to be a more interesting evening than I had expected," she added, slightly mysteriously.

"No hard feelings about yesterday, Katara?" Ruon-Jian smiled. It seemed as if he couldn't keep his eyes off from both her and Azula, but either Mai hadn't noticed or she simply didn't care.

"Of course not," Katara replied with a smile. "I believe Azula is scheduled to play you tomorrow. She will avenge me."

"I look forward to her trying," Ruon chuckled, glancing at Azula. "Beautiful and talented, we're truly blessed to have you both at this year's tournament."

"Oh, for the love of-" Mai rolled her eyes, looking disgusted at Ruon's flattery.

"So, how did you two get to know each other?" Katara asked, a little awkwardly. The atmosphere around the table was not what she had expected. Somehow, Mai and Ruon felt more like a fake couple than she and Azula did.

"We ran into each other at a party a few weeks before the tournament," Ruon-Jian explained. "We already knew each other from before, but we only started dating now."

"And what about you two lovebirds?" Mai asked, looking at Azula.

Katara also glanced at Azula, but her pretend girlfriend didn't seem eager to reply. Katara couldn't figure out Azula's expression, but it seemed as if she was either upset or worried about something. "Well, it began at this tournament, actually," Katara decided to reply when it became clear that Azula wouldn't answer. "Azula asked me to go over our game together, and it sort of started from there."

"Ah, interesting," Ruon-Jian grinned at Azula. "Chan told me that you asked him as well. So, if only he hadn't acted like a complete idiot, he might now be sitting in Katara's place, with an incredibly hot girlfriend by his side."

"There's literally zero chance of me ever dating someone with Chan's limited mental faculties," Azula snapped angrily. Katara also felt pretty annoyed with Ruon's comment. Even if Azula was just her pretend girlfriend, Ruon clearly didn't know that, so it had been a complete dick thing to say.

"Ouch, that's harsh," Ruon-Jian laughed.

Shortly afterwards, the waiter came over with the menus and poured them some water, while another waiter delivered the appetizers Ruon-Jian and Mai had ordered ahead of time. Katara began browsing the menu while snacking on those huge Fire Nation olives she knew she was going to miss upon her return home. "I wonder what the least spicy item on this menu is," Katara wondered aloud. "My taste buds still haven't recovered from yesterday's meal."

"You may want to ask the waiter for children's menu," Mai quipped.

"Mai?" Azula asked, sounding both tense and angry. "Are you going to be a complete bitch the whole evening?" Katara blinked in surprise. Azula standing up for her was nice, but she had thought that the two girls were old friends, or at least that was what Azula had implied. And yet she sensed very little actual warmth, only plenty of tension between them. It made Katara wonder exactly what had happened between them.

"Maybe not the whole evening," Mai replied, not sounding bothered by Azula's words in the slightest. "You don't think I'm entitled to some bitchiness? You got me kicked out of the best school in the Fire Nation."

"That was your own fault!" Azula exclaimed angrily. "Besides, we are not talking about that. If you want to dredge up all that shit from the past, then Katara and I are leaving right away."

What on earth is going on with these two? Katara was astonished by the spat between Mai and Azula, but it seemed as if she wasn't the only one. Ruon-Jian also looked to be taken aback by surprise.

"Whoa, I'm getting a lot of negative vibes all around this table," Ruon-Jian laughed awkwardly. "How about we just chill and talk about fun stuff? Like my new car? Maybe we can all go for a ride after we're done here?"

"That sounds fun, but I wouldn't want to stay up late tonight," Katara replied. "I am playing your friend Chan tomorrow morning, so I would prefer to be well rested."

"He's probably trying to get us distracted before the tournament resumes tomorrow," Azula said in a tone that didn't quite make it clear whether she meant it or was saying it jokingly. Still, considering that Azula rarely said anything jokingly, she probably was being serious. "And I bet a bottle of wine would also surprisingly show up at some point as if from nowhere."

"She's got you figured all out, Ruon," Mai chuckled at her boyfriend.

"Damn, you are a bunch of mean girls," Ruon laughed. "Except Katara. I can see that she's the most chill chick here."

"Uh, thanks," Katara replied. She was generally slow to anger, but Ruon-Jian was really pushing it. Something about his demeanor was seriously grating on her. Fortunately, after the waiter had come to take their orders, the conversation shifted to a safer topic, the Pai Sho tournament.

"So, you're both doing quite well in your first year with the big boys and girls, am I right?" Ruon-Jian asked. "Especially you, Azula. Four points out of six is pretty good, same as me. You're probably still hoping to medal, eh?"

"I'm going to have five points out of seven tomorrow," Azula replied with a confident grin. "Definitely on course for a podium."

"Love the confidence," Ruon-Jian smiled right back at Azula. "And what about you, Katara? Pleased with your performance so far?"

"It's going a little better than I had expected, really. Three points out of six isn't bad at all," Katara shrugged. "It's not like I came here expecting to win everything. I'm treating this year more like an introduction."

"That's a good attitude to have," Ruon-Jian nodded. "Not that any of us could have hoped for a sniff at victory this year. How about that brother of yours, Azula? Zuko has all wins so far. That's going to be another gold medal around his neck."

"Oh, he wishes," Azula frowned. "I'm playing him in the final round, which is absolutely perfect. I am so going to trip him up."

"Maybe, but even if you are successful, nobody will be close enough to Zuko in the standings to take advantage if he loses," Ruon shrugged.

"We'll see about that," Azula said with fierce determination. This was the first time Katara had heard Azula speaking about her brother Zuko. He had only choice words for Azula when Katara had pestered him the past summer. It seemed that there was no love lost from the other side as well.

Their food was delivered not long after and everyone busied themselves with their meal. Living on the coast, Katara considered herself something of a seafood aficionado. Once she had spotted seafood linguini on the menu, her choice was set. She definitely wasn't regretting her choice, even if she questioned whether the generous amount of chili flakes even had a place in this dish.

Even though Katara had hoped that the tensions between Mai and Azula had settled, it wasn't to be when Mai suddenly spoke up, this time addressing her. "You know, I'm really surprised that Azula would choose to date a girl after how her father reacted to her previous girlfriend," Mai said, almost making Katara drop her cutlery from shock.

"Be quiet, Mai," Azula hissed threateningly. "This isn't your story to tell."

"You don't think she needs to know?" Mai asked, pointing at Katara. "And I can't believe that all this time you still haven't asked me about Ty Lee."

"We are not talking about Ty Lee!" Azula raised her voice to a level where it was starting to attract attention from the other tables. "Do you… know anything about where she is? What she's doing?"

"I do happen to know, Azula," Mai replied. "She writes me often from Ba Sing Se."

"Ba Sing Se?" Azula repeated incredulously. "Why is she in Ba Sing Se? How is she doing? Is she well?" A genuine concern seemed to have crept into Azula's voice, perhaps for the first time since Katara had started to hang out with her.

"She's not doing well, Azula, because her father can't get a decent enough job to support a family of seven daughters," Mai replied. "Ozai Nakamura has blacklisted her father's name from ever again being employed as a financial advisor. They are descending into deep poverty."

Azula looked shocked. "And you're blaming me for it?" she looked at Mai.

"I'm blaming you, and I'm blaming your father," Mai spoke sternly.

"But I had no idea that my father would do something so extreme!" Azula exclaimed. "That's… no, that's not possible! He wouldn't have done something so harsh just because Ty Lee and I… no, Ty Lee's father must have done something really bad. Maybe he gave my father bad financial advice."

"Ah, that's the Azula we know and love, always defending her daddy," Mai chuckled. "So, are you going to ask Ozai to remove Ty Lee's dad from the blacklist now that you know the truth?"

Azula sat there in stubborn silence before blurting out in an accusing voice. "You can blame me all you want, Mai, but it's actually your fault that it all happened the way it did," Azula pointed out. "If you hadn't wandered off and allowed my father to walk in on me and Ty Lee, none of this would have happened."

"Oh, fuck you, Azula," Mai snapped irately. "I was done being your glorified door guard while you and Ty Lee engaged in your sordid little kissing practice. What sort of person even asks that of their friend?"

"You could have said something! I had no idea it was such a burden on you," Azula shot back. "Instead you just wandered off and threw us under the bus!"

"Think what you want, but I'm still blaming you, bitch," Mai retorted. During this entire stunning exchange, Katara had slowly developed an impression that the reason why Mai was so angry about this episode was because she actually did feel guilty about the part she had played. Unfortunately, Azula was too upset and generally lacked the perceptiveness to realize this. She just felt attacked and was busy defending herself, no doubt also feeling guilty.

And what Katara had managed to piece together from these snippets of information was very troubling. Ozai Nakamura was controlling to the extreme. That he would go so far to punish the family of a girl who had dated his daughter was crazy and excessive. And it made Katara worried of what might happen if the news of their fake date leaked to Azula's father. Katara's father worked for Nakamura Industries. Ozai could get him fired any moment he pleased. The one saving grace was that Ozai Nakamura surely did not know that there was an oil rig shift foreman named Hakoda Enuaraq somewhere in his employ.

Also, by this point, a waiter had come up to their table, the man looking deeply uncomfortable as he addressed the arguing girls. "Young ladies, if I could please ask you to keep your voices down a little-"

"Don't worry, I'm done here," Azula stated, rising from her seat and turning to walk away. She had already made several steps before turning back to look at the still stunned Katara. "Are you coming or not?" Azula asked her.

"Sorry," Katara muttered, looking at Mai and Ruon across the table. Mai still looked seriously pissed. Ruon-Jian, however, was grinning like a cat that had gotten into cream. Katara had no idea what his problem was. Either he was getting off on watching two girls tearing into each other or maybe he felt that this was playing into his hands as far as tomorrow's game was concerned.

Katara didn't waste any more time, however, hurrying after Azula who was busy storming off in a huff. Katara felt fairly confident when it came to walking with her heels on flat surfaces. As she quickly caught up with Azula outside of the restaurant, Katara had actually forgotten that she was wearing heels. But when Katara ran after Azula up the short flight of stairs, disaster happened and she fell. At least she was out of sight of anyone inside the restaurant, but it didn't exactly soothe the stab of pain shooting through her ankle and she let out a cry of pain.

Azula was at her side in a heartbeat, helping Katara back up to her feet. "I told you I didn't want to wear heels!" Katara exclaimed, tears pooling in her eyes as she steadied herself against Azula.

"Why are you mad at me? I didn't make you fall, Katara," Azula replied.

"Forget it," Katara managed as she slowly hobbled towards the elevator, still being supported by Azula. "I'm sorry that our fake date turned into such a disaster."

"That was probably always going to happen," Azula said. "You did really well though. I would say that you were the perfect fake girlfriend." Katara didn't know how to feel about that sort of compliment. "And I'm sorry you got hurt."

"It's nothing, don't worry," Katara summoned a weak smile as they made it all the way to the elevator. "I just need to get back to my room and scrape some ice from the back of the fridge. A cold compress will fix it."

Azula looked indecisive as they stood by the elevator. Katara hadn't yet pushed the button to summon the elevator as she waited on Azula to say something. "Do you need help with it?" Azula eventually asked.

"No, but I was hoping you could come to my room anyway," Katara replied. "I feel like we should talk."

"I really don't feel like talking right now, Katara," Azula sighed. "Especially if you want to talk about the stuff that Mai shouted at me for."

"I think you need to talk to someone about it," Katara insisted. "It might as well be me. People tell me I'm good at listening without being judgmental."

"Yes, you are pretty good at not screaming at me most of the time," Azula agreed readily. "Fine, let's go to your room. But we're fixing your leg first before any annoying conversations."

"It's a deal," Katara nodded, finally hitting the button to summon the elevator.

Ten minutes later, Katara was back in her room, lying on the bed with a cold towel with chipped ice wrapped around her ankle. Azula was sitting in a nearby chair, looking a little tense. Katara decided to ease into their conversation by starting with a less sensitive topic. "I'll have the clothes washed and cleaned before I send them back to you," she began.

"What are you talking about?" Azula gave her a curious stare. Katara waited for her to continue. "Didn't I make it clear that they were yours to keep as my gratitude for helping me out with this fake date?"

"I feel like I can't accept such generosity," Katara frowned. Azula had done her best to hide the cost of the purchases, but Katara had managed to spy both of the bills. The total amount was close to two thousand yuan, which was just insane to her. It was more than her father's monthly salary, working crazy hours in outrageous conditions on the oil rig.

"Well, then you're a fool," Azula shrugged. "You should know that I would never wear something that has already been worn by someone else. So giving these clothes back to me would be as good as throwing them away. Do you still want to do it?"

"Very well, in that case I'll keep them," Katara conceded. She was relieved that because of what Azula had said she was now feeling less guilty about keeping all the expensive stuff. "So… can we talk about this girl you dated in the past, this Ty Lee?" Katara tried carefully.

Azula's mouth instantly set into a defensive scowl. "I wasn't really dating her. We were just two kids, fooling around," she replied hastily.

"It would have been okay if you had been dating her," Katara said, trying to sound supportive. "I'm totally fine with it."

"Well, aren't you progressive?" Azula glared at her.

"Why does this make you so upset?" Katara wondered. "I'm not going to look down upon you just because you're into girls. I wouldn't have expected that of you, but I think it's very sweet."

"For the hundredth time, I am not into girls!" Azula exclaimed angrily. "It was just a phase! We were experimenting, okay?"

"Okay, but… that doesn't really follow, Azula. I mean, you asked me to be your fake date. If you were straight, you probably wouldn't have even thought to do that," Katara pointed out.

"I asked you because I knew you were such a stupid bleeding heart that you might actually agree! You being a girl had nothing to do with that!" Azula was firmly intent on remaining in denial.

"I don't believe you, Azula," Katara smiled, shaking her head. "By the way, nobody knows this about me, but since I know your secret, I'll share mine. I like girls, too. There's nothing wrong with it, Azula."

"Oh yes? Well, you might be a filthy lesbian, but I'm not!" Azula huffed angrily, getting up from the chair. "I'm nothing like you, Katara!"

Katara felt as if she had become fairly good at detecting when Azula was lying and when she was being genuine. On this occasion, Azula's denial felt like the most blatant lie in the history of all lies. Katara just wasn't sure why Azula was so adamant in her denial. Was it because she knew that her father would never accept this part of her, and consequentially, would punish her severely if she continued to indulge in her deviancy? Was it perhaps her way to cope by trying to lie to herself about who and what she was?

"You're right, we have very little in common, Azula, except maybe for this one thing," Katara smiled softly, but it only seemed to stoke Azula's anger. "I wish you didn't feel the need to lie to yourself about it."

"You are out of your pathetic peasant mind! I am not lying to myself about anything!" Azula shouted. "I knew it was a stupid idea to talk about this, because there's nothing to talk about. I made a mistake in the past and Ty Lee was punished for it, that's all there is to it. Feel free to start your own club for oppressed lesbians, but don't expect me to be a part of it, because like I said, I'm not a degenerate!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Katara sighed. She couldn't even make herself feel angry at Azula for her insults. They were so obviously poor and insincere attempts of deflection. It just made Katara feel sad that Azula couldn't be honest with herself. "But it seems like you aren't ready to have an earnest discussion about this. Perhaps you'll be more ready for it later, but right now… Azula, maybe you should leave."

"Gladly," Azula snapped, stomping out of Katara's hotel room and slamming the doors behind her back. The Water Tribe girl continued to rest on the bed, the cold towel wrapped around her sore ankle. Katara sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Perhaps it was no wonder that Azula was such a bitter and lonely girl. When it came to making friends, she certainly made it extremely hard to be friends with her.

Next chapter: The final stages of the tournament. Will Zuko be able to clinch his victory, or will Azula manage to trip him up at the last hurdle?