Chapter 14
The next three rounds of competition following Katara's disastrous fake date with Azula proved surprisingly successful for Katara. She was definitely not at her best because of all the turmoil involving Azula, but at this late stage of the tournament, everyone's mental and physical endurance was starting to become even more important than their actual skill. They were all still just kids, most of them had by now spent almost two full weeks away from home, and they were going through all sorts of different issues. Katara may have been emotionally all over the place, but her opponents were only human as well. Chan had clearly been partying too much on the tournament's previous off-day and Katara had dispatched him easily in Round 7, before smashing Hahn Adjuk in the next round in what was probably her best game of the tournament.
With five points to her name, Katara had climbed up within an arm's reach of the podium, starting to hope that perhaps a medal was possible, but then Zuko Nakamura had sent her crashing back down to earth in Round 9 with an almost embarrassingly easy victory. Katara refused to remain upset about it, however. She was already exceeding her own pre-tournament expectations. And her final two opponents were Joo Dee and Yue, so Katara was confident of getting a decent haul of points from these matches.
Azula had been dodging her ever since their argument in the wake of the fake date. Katara had confronted her once to ask if she still wanted to study their games together, but Azula had firmly rejected the offer. Katara couldn't help but feel a little hurt by the rejection, even if it meant that she now got to spend more time with Yue, which was her preference anyway. She felt sorrier on the behalf of Azula herself. Katara had sensed the loneliness of the other girl. She thought that Azula could have benefitted from a friend like her. But if Azula was going to deny Katara's company to herself then there was little that Katara could do about it.
Katara wondered if perhaps telling Azula that she liked girls had been a mistake. Not because she expected that Azula would betray her secret. She wouldn't do that, because Katara could just respond by claiming the same about her. Katara wondered if perhaps Azula was now wary of her because she knew Katara's preferences. Maybe Azula thought that Katara was trying to seduce her? That was such a ridiculous thought. Well… sure, Azula was objectively a very pretty girl. But being romantically drawn to someone like Azula Nakamura? No, no, no, Katara would rather stick her arm in a hornet's nest than getting herself burned by someone like Azula. Besides, she already had her tragic and doomed crush in Yue. Maybe if Azula knew that she was already in love with someone else… but no, Katara's feelings for Yue were something extremely precious and private to her. She wouldn't share that secret with anyone, ever.
Indeed, with all these feelings bubbling under the surface, it was a surprise that Katara was doing as well as she did at the Pai Sho board. Come the next day-off of the tournament before the final two rounds, Katara and Yue had decided on a dedicated spa day, an entire day just for themselves, spent on nothing else but rest and relaxation. Sokka had kicked up a fuss about getting shut out of the activities for the whole day, but both Katara and Yue had gently reminded him that he had already enjoyed some extra time with Yue because Katara had been unexpectedly hanging out with Azula.
Just before heading out on their spa adventure with Yue, however, Katara had another matter to take care of. She had been following the news of the U15 World Junior Championships, running concurrently on Kyoshi Island. With Aang and Toph taking part in that tournament, Katara was keenly interested to remain in touch with their progress. However, lately the papers had stopped reporting any news from the Kyoshi Islands, leaving Katara to wonder what was going on there. The most likely explanation was that the Fire Nation candidates were doing so poorly that the local news rags had lost interest in covering the event. Still, Katara wanted to make sure and so she had placed a long distance phone call to the Kyoshi Island hotel where the contestants were staying. It didn't take long for the phone in her hotel room to ring, and she picked up the handset, hoping that the connection had gone through.
"Yeah?" despite the bad connection, Katara recognized Toph's acerbic voice immediately.
"Hi, Toph!" Katara exclaimed happily. "Recognize me?"
"Wait… Sugar Queen?" Toph sounded both surprised and elated at once. "Aang! It's Katara!" she shouted at the Air Nation boy.
"Hi, Katara! How are you?" she could hear Aang's voice at the other end of the line, the two younger kids fighting for the handset. Toph apparently won that fight, evidenced by Aang's gasp and grunt. As always, Toph wasn't messing about.
"I'm alright, you guys," Katara chuckled. Even over the phone, the antics of the two younger kids made her smile. "Did I interrupt your preparations?"
"Eh, don't worry about it," Toph replied. "It's not like Aang needs to do prep, he's already sealed the tournament win. He's just here to help me secure the silver."
"Oh, I'm so happy you're doing so well! And Aang, big congrats on the victory! I could not imagine anyone worthier to inherit my old title!" Katara exclaimed happily.
"Thanks, Katara!" Aang momentarily wrestled the handset away from Toph. "You're doing pretty well yourself! We're following your games in the papers! Great job with that Hahn guy!"
"Haha, yes, that was a wild game, right?" Katara laughed. "Yeah, I'm not winning the tournament this year, but it's going pretty well nonetheless. The next two years I'm going to mount a more serious challenge, you'll see."
"I believe in you, Katara!" Aang cheered.
"Oh, stop sucking up to her, dork," Toph growled. Katara could hear Aang's yelp, suggesting that Toph had clocked him yet again. "Anyway, Katara, I actually liked your game with Azula Nakamura better even if you lost it in the end. All that back and forth… wow, my head was spinning all the way to the end."
"I know what you mean, Toph! Oh, and speaking of Azula Nakamura…" Katara grinned, already anticipating the shock of her friends. "I've kinda made a friend in her…"
"No way!" Aang gasped.
"Are you shitting us, Sugar Queen?" Toph sounded incredulous. "What, you're going to tell us that she's not as horrible as she appears?"
"She really isn't, Toph," Katara replied. "I mean… I wouldn't say that she's nice, but there definitely is a reason why she is the way she is. I don't know, I guess I'm more patient than most people, but when I learned to ignore some of the stupid things she says, I actually got on very well with her."
"So, what have you been up to with her?" Toph asked.
"Mostly just doing post-match analysis together," Katara replied. She wasn't going to mention that fake date to anyone if she could help it. "It was surprisingly helpful. Her mind really is very sharp, but I think I was able to help her as well."
"Oh great, two prodigies making each other even better, Aang and I have no chance once we graduate to U18's," Toph groaned. "Stop hanging out with Azula, please…"
Sadly, I've already stopped hanging out with her, Katara thought, but elected not to say. "Hey, you and Aang are also pushing each other to become frighteningly good," Katara replied. "I'm so glad that you two are doing so well, but honestly, I expected nothing less from you."
"Yeah, well, the competition hasn't exactly been stellar," Toph snorted.
"Well, I'm still incredibly proud," Katara said. "I know how much winning the tournament means for Aang and for the entire Air Nation."
"Thanks, Katara!" Aang replied cheerfully. "Gyatso called to congratulate me yesterday. Seems they have some big celebrations planned for my return home!"
"Yeah, I heard that they are going to hang garlands from Appa's horns," Toph laughed. Appa was Aang's beloved pet yak. Aang also had another pet he adored and would probably take to the tournaments, if not for the damage Momo the macaque would cause to the hotel rooms.
"I'm sure it's going to be great," Katara chuckled, then becoming aware of the knocking on her door and Yue's voice calling her name outside. "Oh, I'm sorry, but Yue is here to pick me up. We're off to have a spa day."
"Eww, spa," Toph's reaction was predictable.
"Have fun, Katara!" Aang exclaimed cheerfully.
"Thanks, I will! Talk to you later!" Katara said, putting down the handset. Talking with the two younger kids always put her in a better mood. A happy smile was on her face as she left the room to join Yue outside. Considering the company she would have for the day, the smile was set to remain firmly on her lips.
Azula was not having a great time as of late. Everything had started to fall apart following that fake date she had gone on with Katara. Still, what happened afterwards wasn't really Katara's fault, Azula had to grudgingly admit that. If only Mai hadn't been such a massive bitch about that past disaster, then she wouldn't have ended up enduring that seriously awful conversation with Katara and the two of them could have remained friends.
And perhaps they could still remain friends. Azula didn't feel great about dodging Katara the whole time. She didn't even want to do that. Spending time with the Water Tribe girl was actually kind of fun and useful. However, that post fake date conversation had forced her to erect some serious barriers. It was interesting (but inconsequential!) that Katara had admitted being into girls. Not that she was into Azula. Azula didn't need that. Besides, Katara had been pretty vehement earlier about not wanting to kiss Azula. (Not that Azula wanted to be kissed by Katara. It was just the Principle of the Thing.) And if there was a girl Azula wanted to be kissed by it was Zirin, which was bad enough, because Zirin had proved that she couldn't be trusted.
So why wasn't Azula spending time with Katara if she was confident that they both just wanted to be friends who studied their Pai Sho games together? Well… following their last conversation, Azula had developed this feeling that Katara was starting to analyze Azula herself more than she was analyzing their games. And Azula was not comfortable with this level of scrutiny. Katara was trying to force her to admit things that Azula hadn't even admitted to herself yet. It felt like Katara was determined to help Azula understand her own Feelings, and Azula just didn't want to deal with all that crap. She wanted to shove these Feelings under the carpet with the rest of the emotional fallout she had buried in the wake of her parent's divorce. That was where they belonged. They definitely didn't need to be dragged out in the limelight during an important tournament where they immediately became a massive distraction. That's why she was dodging Katara Enuaraq. That girl was creating a distraction which was seriously hampering Azula's play.
Of course, Katara wasn't at fault that the whole Ty Lee incident had come to light, that was squarely on Mai. Azula really hated to revisit the past. Mai had no idea what her father had done to Azula after he had thrown Mai and Ty Lee out of the estate. And of course, finding out that Ty Lee and her family were living in poverty, like rats in Ba Sing Se… it all served to make Azula feel absolutely awful.
It wasn't often that she dared to allow herself experience anger and resentment towards her father. She had told herself countless times that to feel that way was wrong and improper. And yet, she couldn't help but feel anger at the way Ozai had treated Ty Lee's family. It just didn't feel right. It made her question other things about her father's behavior. He had punished her severely for kissing a girl, which meant that she could never come out as a lesbian and had to suppress that part of herself. However, if her father didn't want her to become involved with other girls, why didn't he allow her to hang out with boys? He seemed to be deeply obsessed about protecting her from the company of other men, and to Azula, that just seemed contradictory to what he wanted to achieve with her.
With all this weighing on Azula's mind, it wasn't a surprise that the tournament rounds following that fake date and confrontation with Mai hadn't gone well. To add insult to injury, the following day she had lost to that grinning asshole Ruon-Jian. In the next round she had lost to one of the stronger players, the Earth Nation boy Haru Tamang. Azula hadn't been terribly upset about that because Haru was the only one left still challenging her brother Zuko. Following those two losses, Azula had then rebounded with victories over Theo Guyuk and Ghashiun al-Alawi, but the damage had already been done and the podium was now out of reach. However, something else had happened in the penultimate round, something that could still salvage this tournament for Azula. After scoring nine wins in nine rounds, Zuko had dropped a game to Haru. And now, ahead of the final round, Zuko had nine points, while Haru was trailing on eight. Azula was playing Zuko in the final round. If she defeated Zuko while Haru won his game, they would be on equal points, but Haru would win the tournament because he had won his game against Zuko. Everything had once again come down to the final and decisive round.
Azula arrived for the final round brimming with confidence and excitement, ready to get down to the business. It was finally time to employ some good old psychological warfare to further tip the scales in her favor. Azula knew that Zuko had faced plenty of backlash from the spectators during the tournament. He was a Fire Nation exile, still officially representing the Fire Nation, when most of the local public understandably viewed him as a traitor. The Fire Nation press had done a very convincing job presenting Ursa, Zuko and Iroh as villains following the nasty divorce proceedings. Azula decided to capitalize even further on the public's resentment towards Zuko. As she entered the hall, Azula began to wave at the spectators, encouraging them to loudly cheer and support her, all to further annoy Zuko.
Arriving at the table, Azula gave her brother a cheerful smile and reached out to offer him an insincere handshake. Zuko glared at her and refused to accept it. The crowd took notice and immediately began to boo at Zuko's unsportsmanlike conduct. After Azula then managed to get in a few little digs, commenting about how Zuko was sure to soon run back to mommy for comfort and other petty insults, she could see that Zuko was starting to become seriously angry with her. And anger was an emotion that had no place at the Pai Sho board, being extremely detrimental to one's clarity of mind. With Zuko's confidence already having taking a knock after his loss to Haru, Azula began to feel like she had this in the bag.
Even with Zuko not in a good frame of mind, it was a tough slog of a battle. Zuko was damnably good for being the inferior sibling. Azula could not risk going on an all out attack against her brother, she feared the traps he would have surely set up for her. Instead, she settled on slowly chipping away at his position, accompanying her efforts with the occasional dig, commenting how Haru was about to win his game and how Zuko was about to lose it all at the final hurdle. At one point, Zuko became so mad that he actually called a tournament official over to the table and issued a formal complaint about her behavior. Azula was then given a verbal warning for her conduct, but it was a move that backfired on Zuko, because the crowd had been watching and began to boo him even fiercer.
Eventually, with the number of moves past forty, all the stress began to tell for Zuko and his position finally started to disintegrate. In less than ten moves, Azula had gained a decisive advantage. Fuming with anger, Zuko refused to surrender, ending up suffering the indignity of Azula forming a harmony ring on the fifty-first move. Following her victory, Azula rose from her seat and offered her brother a hand, accompanied with the brightest of smiles. "Well, at least now you know why our father considered you a complete failure, Zuzu," she said quietly, aware that the roaring applause in the hall made it impossible for anyone but Zuko to hear what she was saying.
Azula knew that she was being a complete and utter bitch. But this was what her father had demanded of her, to utterly destroy and humiliate her brother. She had done as Ozai had requested, and it felt glorious. And she had wanted to hurt Zuko. She had wanted to inflict pain on her brother, if only a fraction of the pain that the divorce proceedings had caused her. If this made Azula an abhorrent and disgusting human being in the eyes of the others, she didn't care. Her father would be pleased and it was all that mattered. She would escape a beating and perhaps would even receive some praise and reward.
When Azula looked in the burning eyes of her irate brother, for a moment she seriously thought that he would try to punch her in the face. She actually felt proud of how much she had managed to get under his skin. She even wanted him to take that swing. It would be an immediate disqualification and the last place for Zuko. But no, Zuko managed to exert some control on his emotions at the last moment. Instead, he grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over. The Pai Sho board went flying, striking the side of the table where Katara was facing Yue Taqqiq, startling and shocking the two girls. The tournament officials immediately ran up to them and surrounded Zuko, escorting him away from the scene to the booing of the crowd.
Azula stoically ignored Zuko's passionate arguing with the officials and instead focused her attention on the still ongoing games in the hall. Haru Tamang had already won his game and was now accepting congratulations on becoming Junior World Champion in a major upset. Azula could not stop a beaming smile from spreading across her lips as she truly began to comprehend the enormity of what she had just achieved. This was Zuko's last year at the U18 level. He would be fully eighteen next year and would have to move onto the next age bracket and Azula had prevented him from going out with a bang. This was the sweetest victory she had scored in her career to date.
Azula stopped at the table where Joo Dee was trying to hold out against Teo, a bitter struggle between the two weakest players, desperate not to place last in the standings. Sensing that Joo Dee was losing, Azula decided to stick around and take certain perverse enjoyment from the public humiliation of Long Feng's annoying daughter. As she was observing the slow dismantling of Joo Dee's defensive line, Azula sensed someone coming up to stand next to her. Azula didn't even need to turn her head to know who it was. She recognized Katara's floral perfume by now. It was cheap, but actually quite pleasant.
"So, you created quite the stir," Katara remarked quietly. "Congratulations?"
"Definitely," Azula nodded. She felt really good about herself right now. Good enough to humor Katara and endure her presence.
"So, where does that place you?" Katara craned her neck, trying to make sense of the large board displaying the tournament standings, the officials constantly updating it as the games drew to a close one by one. "Ouch, just short of the podium?"
"Yes, I think I'm going to take fourth because I lost that stupid game to Ruon," Azula grumbled, also taking a glance at the standings, quickly realizing something. "Wait… you also lost to Yue Taqqiq? How did that happen? Now I'll be placed fifth."
"Yue is really good, Azula. Don't underestimate her," Katara smiled softly. "She'll be going home with a bronze medal around her neck, and I couldn't be happier for her."
"Yes… you're that sort of person to feel disgustingly happy about someone else's success," Azula rolled her eyes.
"Azula, Yue is my best friend," Katara said simply. "But she's not my only friend. I really hoped that I could count you being my friend, too."
Azula flinched at the other girl's words. She really did want to be Katara's friend. But she was also afraid of being Katara's friend and what that might mean. "This whole being friends thing… I'm not very good at it, Katara," Azula said quietly.
"I think you're better than you give yourself credit for, Azula," Katara smiled. "Let us try to be friends? Please?"
"I… I'll think about it," Azula managed to offer a vague promise. "It's not like we're going to meet again until next year, should you even qualify. It's kind of pointless being friends who can't see each other all year."
"I don't think so," Katara shook her head with determination. "It still matters to me. Besides, there are ways to stay in touch. I have friends in all the corners of the world."
"I'm sure you do," Azula rolled her eyes. Good grief, this girl is seriously persistent. I don't think I'll be able to get rid of her unless I agree to be her friend.
"Listen, Azula," Katara came to stand a little closer to her, speaking in a hushed voice. "I'm sorry if I said some things that made it weird for you. I really didn't mean to. We don't have to speak about those things again, if you don't want to."
Damn it, Katara wasn't only persistent, she was also perceptive. Still, Azula was uncertain. Katara Enuaraq was definitely not the sort of friend that Ozai would approve of. And just because Katara was from the Water Tribe, it didn't mean that Ozai couldn't find some way to fuck with Katara and her family. He had already gone to sick, unreasonable lengths to ruin Ty Lee and her family. Azula didn't want Katara to suffer the same fate. But having a friend was also very tempting.
"Alright, fine. If you want to think of me as a friend, I won't try to dissuade you," Azula eventually admitted with a hint of a smile. Katara's face immediately brightened in a way that made Azula feel warmer. Azula had heard of people who could literally light up an entire room with their smile, but she had thought it was merely a figure of speech. That was until she had met Katara.
Meanwhile, Teo had finally defeated the sour-faced Joo Dee, and the final game of the tournament had come to an end. The officials were already busy assembling the podium and the medalists had been whisked away to prepare them for the victory celebration. "I can't believe that another year of competition is already over. Time always flies so quickly during these tournaments," Katara let out a wistful sigh. Azula could sympathize with that sentiment. She lived for this kind of challenge and competition.
"Next year Zuko and Haru won't be playing with us anymore," Azula nodded. "That means we'll be among the main favorites to win. That might make you want to reconsider the whole being friends with me thing."
"It doesn't have to become nasty," Katara shrugged. "Just look at Yue and me. I'm so thrilled for her success. Even if we're rivals, we're also best friends. I can't wait to see her on the podium, with a medal around her neck." Katara smiled broadly at the thought.
"You can be disgustingly sweet, you know that?" Azula grumbled.
"That's what Toph always tells me, too," Katara laughed. "I think you and Toph could be great friends if only I could persuade you to make an effort."
"I'm pretty sure she hates me," Azula shrugged. "I mean, she told me so herself. Anyway, I don't care about Toph Beifong. Right now all I care about is seeing the face of my brother when he gets handed his silver medal. I think he might actually die from humiliation."
"Azula?" Katara asked, sounding befuddled. "Didn't it feel awful for you last year, placing second after me? How can you wish the same on anyone else, especially your own brother?"
Azula shuddered at the unpleasant reminder of the previous year. She hated how Katara was so obviously right and how hypocritical it made her feel. "You don't understand the relationship between me and my brother, Katara," Azula instead replied stiffly. "Don't pretend that you do."
"No, I really don't," Katara shook her head in agreement. "I'm probably projecting my relationship with Sokka. We butt heads, sure, but I love him because I know that at the end of the day, he'll always have my back. To not have that sort of relationship with your brother… I don't know, it just saddens me. And I want to understand, even if I know that you don't want to talk about it."
"That's right, I don't want to talk about it," Azula said. They fell silent for a while, waiting for the podium to be assembled. Once it was done, the victory ceremony began. After a lot of boring pleasantries were finally out of the way, the medalists were called up to the podium one by one, starting by Yue, then Zuko, and finally Haru. Katara was cheering and clapping like a complete fool when Yue received her medal, although Azula was a little touched by the genuine affection that Katara seemed to have for her friend. As for Azula, her reward was particularly sweet, as the hateful look on Zuko's face was everything she had dreamed of. Zuko was glaring pure murder at her during the entire ceremony, and Azula could not be happier.
As the applause for Haru Tamang began to subside, the medalists were eventually escorted away to face the press. Azula remained milling about uncertainly, unsure of how to end things with Katara. When Azula was hit with the reality of the fact that she wouldn't see the Water Tribe girl for an entire year, she suddenly felt pretty damn awful.
Fortunately, Katara broke the silence first. "Will you come to the after-party this year?" Katara asked. "I really hope you will."
"Of course not," Azula reacted on pure instinct. She hated parties, at least the kind of parties she imagined the tournament after-party to be like, just loud and shallow, full with obnoxious and probably drunk kids.
"Why not?" Katara continued. She looked disappointed. Azula realized that she did not enjoy seeing disappointment on Katara's face. "Is it because of your father?"
"No, my father is still traveling and won't be home for two more days," Azula replied. "I just don't like parties. Not really my style."
"Well, tournament after-parties are usually a lot of fun," Katara insisted. "So I'm definitely going. And remember, Ruon-Jian will be taking Mai. If they see me alone, they'll know that our date was totally staged."
"I don't c-" Azula began, then cutting herself off sharply. She did care. Despite things being bad with Mai, she still didn't want Mai to think of her as a pathetic fraud. For some reason, she still cared about Mai's opinion. "No, you make a good point, Katara. Fine, I'll be there. We don't have to do the fake date thing, though, unless you want to."
"Let's just go as friends, Azula, and leave Mai to assume whatever she wants," Katara smiled. "I was alright with pretending for the sake of your old friend, but I'm not going to pretend in front of Sokka and Yue. They would freak out if they thought we were dating for real."
Azula chuckled warily. "Alright, Katara," she nodded. "Friends it is."
Next chapter: The wild tournament after-party! Also, Azula faces Ozai's reaction to the tournament's outcome.