Chapter 18
Qualifying for her second U18 championship final was proving a more relaxed affair for Azula when compared to the drama of the previous year's event. The defending U18 world junior champion Haru Tamang had moved on to the next age bracket and there would be nobody defending their title next year in Ba Sing Se. This meant that the Fire Nation had its normal quota of four qualification berths, and Azula, Chan and Ruon-Jian were considered locks to qualify. The last spot was expected to be contested between On Ji Takeda and Kei Lo, with some of the other kids perhaps having an outside chance. As the tournament progressed, the events largely unfolded as predicted. Azula needed only seven rounds to secure her qualification early, scoring only wins, including victories against both Chan and Ruon-Jian. She actually found herself bored by the lack of any serious challenges, missing the excitement of last year's tournament.
Of course, last year she had competed alongside Zirin, but the older girl had turned eighteen and graduated to the next level of play. In fact, Zirin was currently busy trying to qualify for the U21 World Championship, battling against Azula's brother Zuko among others. Azula occasionally checked the sports gazette for updates from the other qualifying tournaments all over the world. It seemed that Zirin was having a tough time in her first year at the next bracket.
Azula occasionally contemplated calling Zirin, but she always ended up dismissing the idea. The end of the summer had been perfect. They had shared kisses, intimate confessions, and towards the very end of summer holiday, they had shared their very bodies with each other. Azula was happy to have it end this way, on a high note. What they had shared had been amazing, but reaching out to Zirin now would only sour it. They could talk, but it would be laced with the bitterness of knowing that a relationship would not be possible. Ozai would never approve of Zirin's company for his daughter. They could not even pretend to be friends. Ozai had a photographic memory when it came to faces and Zirin's appearance was very memorable. Ozai would immediately recognize her as the servant girl from Sozin's Island. This path had reached a dead end, and Azula had accepted the inevitable.
Five weeks ago, Ozai had successfully finished the fourth time defense of his title of Pai Sho world champion, securing it for two more years. It had been a hugely exhausting effort, as evidenced by how her father still hadn't traveled since returning home from the tournament. The physical and mental toll her father had endured seemed particularly heavy this year, and grandmaster Bumi Dhawan had pushed Ozai all the way, until the penultimate round of play. In the first few weeks after the tournament, Ozai had been particularly exhausted and quick to anger. It hadn't translated into any actual beatings for Azula, but she had been berated and shouted at plenty of times, constantly having to walk on eggshells around her father so as not to set him off again. Fortunately, lately Ozai had been in a better mood, planning to spend the following week on Sozin's Island before traveling to check up on his Kyoshi Island properties.
Azula had celebrated her sixteenth birthday at the end of the summer. The official party attended by her father's stiff and snooty upper class friends had been a boring and drab affair, and not even the amazing display of fireworks arranged by Ozai had moved her. Sure, some of the gifts had been impressive, but there was only one thing Azula truly appreciated, her student's driving license. Until her sixteenth birthday, Azula always had to ask the driver to take her wherever she wished to go. Having her own car and a driver's license offered her the kind of newfound freedom that she had been desperately longing for. She loved how envious the sight of her driving the red Alpha Romeo Spider made her peers, whether she took the car to Li and Lo's boarding school, or to the hotel hosting the Pai Sho qualifiers. Even better, after Azula was done with her game or with her studies, she could get into her car and there was nobody to tell her that she was supposed to drive right back to the estate. She could literally pick any direction and drive where she pleased, with no particular goal or purpose in mind, just to enjoy this rare moment of freedom.
Having finished her match of Round 8, delivering a humiliating defeat to the unfortunate Kei Lo, Azula as per usual didn't stick around to watch her competition play. She was more than a point ahead of the closest follower and had already secured the tournament win. Deftly ignoring all those vying for her attention and sparing not a second glance at the spectators pleading with her to sign their Pai Sho boards (or other, more dubious surfaces), Azula headed straight for the elevator, pressing a button to bring her down to the car park at the hotel's basement.
Emerging in the car park, Azula headed straight for her beloved red Spider. As she rounded a pillar, closing in on where she had parked the car, Azula suddenly noticed someone standing next to her car. No, not next to the car, this stranger had the audacity to lean in against her precious car! Azula felt anger starting to boil in her veins, but it faded as she came up to the stranger and realized just who they were, a certain acerbic and sullen past friend of hers.
"Mai?" Azula exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, the tall girl in the black pantsuit was none other than her old friend Mai, her eyes shielded by extravagant heart-shaped sunglasses. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Fire Fountain City! Did you come to watch your boyfriend play?" Azula peppered her with questions.
Mai pulled the sunglasses down to the tip of her nose and peered at Azula over the frame of the glasses. "I sort of invited myself to come and watch Ruon play," Mai replied. "I became curious why he hadn't invited me in the first place. Well, now I know." Azula frowned, not sure what Mai was getting at. "Turns out he already has a new girlfriend… while stringing me along in the Fire Fountain City, trying to convince me that we can make this long-distance relationship work. Asshole."
"I am so not surprised," Azula nodded. "Do you want my help getting back at him?"
"No, no, it's already taken care of," Mai smirked. "I paid good money to a pilot of one of those small single-motor planes who spend entire days towing advertising banners up in the air. Except this banner is the opposite of advertising because it describes very unflattering, but completely true facts about Ruon-Jian's private parts."
Azula felt greatly impressed by Mai's ingenuity. "I'm just glad you didn't do something so nasty when you were pissed off at me," she remarked.
"Are you kidding? I'm not suicidal. Your father would have put a hit on me," Mai replied.
"Oh. Yes, he probably would," Azula agreed quickly. "Hmm, are they flying that banner today?" Mai nodded. "I want to see it. And I know just the perfect place from which to watch that banner plane flying around." Azula pointed at the car, sensing an opportunity to really impress Mai. Somehow, she still found it important to know that Mai respected her. "Want to join me for a little drive outside the city?" Azula asked hopefully.
"Honestly?" Mai's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, I was kinda hoping we could hang out. It's been a while, again."
"Yes, I wish you were still living in Caldera," Azula sighed, unlocking the doors of the Spider, getting in and then opening the doors on the passenger side to allow Mai to climb in. She then hit the button to retract the roadster's roof. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked Mai. October was still quite warm in the Fire Nation, although it could get very wet in the rainy season. It wouldn't be until late November when the temperatures would begin to drop more noticeably.
"To miss the sensation of having wind in my hair?" Mai smirked. "Are you kidding? Roof down all the way."
"I knew you'd understand," Azula nodded. She reached into the glove compartment to grab her own sunglasses before starting the engine and carefully navigating the tight spaces in the car park. As much as she wanted to impress Mai with her driving, she definitely didn't want to do so at the expense of damaging her precious car. For the next quarter of an hour, Azula drove steady and carefully, until they finally pulled out of the heavy traffic of Caldera City downtown and found themselves speeding through the suburbs. When it came to observing the speed limit, Azula only concerned herself with it in the heart of Caldera City. Besides, even if she got caught (which hadn't happened yet), would any of the cops actually dare to throw a book her? She would just name drop and watch them retreat apologetically, tails tucked between their piggy legs.
"Maybe it's time you told me where we're going," Mai finally broke the silence to ask.
"Up the mountain," Azula replied, making a sharp right turn, taking the road that snaked up the slopes of the massive dormant volcano, overlooking the capital below. This was one of Azula's favorite routes to hit. It was a little dangerous, especially since she couldn't stop herself from going over the speed limit, but she enjoyed the challenge and the views were to (not literally) die for. By now, Azula knew the route so well that she could probably have managed it while wearing a blindfold. The weather was good today, there was no fog and the road was completely dry. She felt perfectly confident pushing the gas pedal to a steady sixty-five in a forty mile speed limit zone.
Azula had to give it to Mai, the older girl made absolutely no fuss about her speeding. Mai seemed to absolutely love this, the way the wind played with her strands of hair, and a rare smile had even appeared on the other girl's lips. "Are we going all the way up to the top?" Mai cried.
"No!" Azula replied, raising her voice. The wind was starting to gain noticeably in strength the further up the mountain they went. She took her feet off the gas a little bit, dropping to just below sixty. "We're going about two thirds up the mountain. You know the place where the cable cars go up to?" Mai nodded at her. "There's a really amazing little café up there. I thought we could stop there, get some food and laugh ourselves silly at the banner mocking Ruon."
"Sounds perfect," Mai replied, looking pleased. "I'm already glad we decided to hang out. This has been… really good."
"Glad to hear it," Azula replied. The happiness in her chest from Mai's words felt almost as good as the validation she craved to receive from her father. Azula didn't quite understand why she felt this way. She did not equate Mai with Ozai in any way. But she still saw Mai as the older and more experienced girl she wanted to impress. In some ways, she still looked up to Mai.
The small car park at the end of the cable car route was almost empty as Azula's Spider pulled into it. Unsurprisingly, for it was early lunchtime on a workday, outside of the normal tourist season. Some of the tables at the cafeteria were actually occupied, justifying it still being open for business so late in the season. The hiking trails surrounding the slopes of the volcano were hugely popular and attracted hikers from all over the Fire Nation. This particular little spot made for a very convenient and attractive base from which to head out and explore the mountain.
Having left Mai sitting at a table out on the terrace, Azula went up to the counter and ordered a pair of shrimp cocktails and espressos, paying for both of them. Azula then returned to sit down with Mai to wait for the order to be delivered. Mai immediately pointed towards the sky above the capital, struggling not to burst into laughter. Azula let out an abrupt chortle as she spotted the large and clearly visible banner, decrying Ruon-Jian's lack of… advantage.
"Simply beautiful," Azula remarked at the view.
"Oh yes," Mai nodded in agreement. She glanced at Azula, curiosity behind her dark sunglasses. "You come here often?"
"At least once a week, sometimes twice," Azula nodded. "The view is gorgeous." The city below seemed no larger than a busy anthill. Up here, Azula could truly distance herself from her life down there, with the rest of the ants. She hadn't even known she could feel so free and liberated. It was both scary and intoxicating at once. Sometimes she would even sit on the crumbling old stone wall surrounding the car park, swinging her legs over the drop of at least three hundred yards, ignoring the warnings shouted at her by the employees of the cafeteria. When she was up here, all her worldly concerns suddenly seemed so small and distant, and she couldn't get enough of the feeling.
"It really is," Mai turned her head to regard the view, then returning her attention to Azula again. "If I may make an observation? You seem a lot less bitchy lately."
Azula rolled her eyes at the comment. "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean. If they deliver us less than perfect shrimp cocktails, you'll see just how bitchy I can be," she replied. Mai was right, though, and she knew it. Azula had felt happier as of late. Her relationship with Ozai was still tense, but in a different way than before. Physical abuse hadn't been a part of their relationship for more than a year. Verbally, Ozai still loved to tear into her now and then, just to make sure that she was reminded of her proper place in the pecking order. Over the past six months, however, Ozai had paid her less attention than before. Azula had mixed feelings about that. While fearing some aspects of her father's attention, Azula still craved the validation.
Fortunately, she had allowed other people to step into her life to fill that void. Katara Enuaraq had reminded her about the benefits of having a friend. And Zirin… well, Zirin had filled an entirely different void, but no less important one. But Katara and Zirin weren't permanent parts of her life, nor could they ever become that for her. Mai was here now, but she would soon leave to go home to the Fire Fountain City. I really wish she wouldn't have to go. I could really do with a friend right now. The thoughts swam through Azula's head, but she would never voice them. She thought herself weak for suddenly needing someone in her life so badly.
Silence fell over the two of them, but it was a comforting, companionable one, interrupted only by the waitress delivering their orders. "Oh, this is really good," Mai remarked, having savored her shrimp cocktail.
"It really is," Azula nodded. "It's quite astounding level of quality for such a small café at the ass-end of nowhere."
"So," Mai spoke up again after they had been enjoying their cocktails for a while. "You're going to ask me that which you so obviously want to know?"
"And what is that?" Azula replied, sipping her espresso. She didn't really need to ask, of course. Mai was reading her like an open book, and Azula hated it.
"You want to know about Ty Lee," Mai said. Azula didn't reply. Obviously, she wanted to know about Ty Lee. She just didn't want to seem desperate by asking. "I'm sorry, but I have bad news, Azula." Azula felt her hand tremble, almost making her spill the coffee. She quickly set the cup back on the table. "My last two letters were returned unopened."
"Do you know why?" Azula asked. She sounded almost hysterically nervous.
"I had a suspicion," Mai replied. "I dug around in the yellow pages and found a phone number of a small veterinarian clinic nearby. I called them and begged for someone to find out about the Watanabes. They called me back the next day. Azula, Ty Lee's family were evicted because they couldn't pay their rent."
"Did they… tell you what happened with them? Where they went?" Azula asked, shuddering at the sensation of cold dread spreading through her.
"No idea. They've disappeared off the face of the Earth," Mai replied.
Azula did not reply. She was too busy fighting off the tight ball of emotions in her chest and the welling of tears in her eyes, threatening to burst. She was glad for her shades, but holding the dam from bursting still proved impossible. Her cheeks were soon wet with a flood of tears as her shoulders shook with sobs.
"Ah… shit," Mai exclaimed, having noticed her breakdown. The older girl seemed indecisive whether to run around the table to hug Azula or not. She was still as awkward and awful at offering emotional support as Azula had always been.
"D-don't worry… I'll get a grip. Any m-moment now," Azula managed. It took her a while, but eventually she managed to calm herself, wiping her cheeks clean.
"Now I regret telling you," Mai sighed. "Sorry."
"No, I needed to know," Azula replied quietly. "It's something I need to always be aware of."
Mai looked a little confused. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you meant by that."
Azula removed her sunglasses before replying. The amount of pain in her amber-hued eyes seemed to startle Mai. "I must always remain aware of the fact that my father and I are capable of literally destroying lives of those that I ever allow to become close to me," Azula said. "I can't let anyone else suffer the way Ty Lee and her family has suffered," she added with absolute determination.
For the first time in Katara's life, she was finally allowed to attend a tournament, albeit just the Water Tribe qualifiers in Agna Qel'a, on her own, without Sokka's escort. The fact that Katara had turned sixteen a month ago had been a more powerful argument than she felt it deserved to be. It wasn't as if a simple number that was her age somehow ensured that suddenly she was mature enough not to require Sokka's protection.
Sokka would have probably still ended up coming along, if it wasn't for Gran-Gran's cataract surgery. It had been performed three weeks ago and appeared to be successful, but their grandmother was still recovering and not allowed to perform any strenuous work around the house. With Hakoda out on the oil rig more often than not, Sokka had been forced to remain home with Gran-Gran and assist her with chores. Sokka had been unhappy but understanding about it. He had finally earned his driver's license and had been dreaming about taking himself and Katara to the capital with their dad's old car, thinking to somehow impress Yue by sitting behind the wheel. In the end, Sokka had been forced to stay at home and look after Kanna, while Katara took the bus to Agna Qel'a.
The fact that Katara was traveling alone opened another tantalizing opportunity. Since Sokka wasn't there, it suddenly became acceptable for Yue to invite her to stay at the Taqqiq family estate instead of some cheap hotel. Yue's father Arnook did not seem to mind her female friend staying at the estate, in fact, he was rather kind and welcoming towards Katara at all times. The relationship between Yue and her father, however, felt strange to Katara. She was used to just walking up to her father and spontaneously hugging him, or any other member of her household, even Sokka. Katara was something of a hug-monster, but she couldn't imagine ever not being that way. Hugs made everything feel just a little better. With Yue and Arnook, however… there was a strange, cold detachment lingering in the air. Arnook was polite but very reserved with his daughter, and there was definitely no hugs nor physical contact of any kind. It made Katara wonder about Yue's friendly and affectionate disposition. She certainly would not have learned that from her father.
The Taqqiq estate was a marvel to behold. It looked almost like the famous Winter Palace of Agna Qel'a, only on a smaller scale. Katara imagined that she would have been even more impressed if Azula Nakamura hadn't invited her for a visit to her Caldera City manor. And while the Taqqiq estate on its own was more spectacular than Azula's Caldera estate, the fact that the Nakamura's had several such holdings both in the Fire Nation and across the world was certainly overall far more impressive. Still, it didn't take away from the splendor of Yue's ancestral home. Now that Katara finally saw for herself the conditions in which Yue had been raised, she was even more impressed by how level-headed Yue had turned out growing up. At the same time, Katara didn't want to compare Yue with Azula, and think less of Azula because of it. Yue had grown up without a mother which couldn't have been easy, but her father, while standoffish, loved and cared for his daughter. He was not a monster who beat his own child.
Staying at the Taqqiq estate and hanging out with Yue all the time also helped them slowly work around the awkwardness which had developed as a result of that spontaneous summer kiss. In the immediate aftermath of it, they had both agreed on two things: Sokka could never find out (Katara was adamant about this) and it could never happen again between them (Katara really struggled to convince herself of this). Still, despite reaching an agreement, things had felt rather tense and awkward between them for the rest of the summer camp. Coming back home and resuming their lengthy chats on the phone had allowed them to slowly fall back into their old pattern of friendship. Soon enough, the awkwardness had faded and the pair had slipped back into their comfortable relationship of best friends who definitely hadn't passionately made out in the firewood shed the previous summer.
Katara had been worried that seeing Yue face to face again in the fall would prove difficult and would bring all the awkwardness back. In some ways it had done that. It definitely was not easy to look into Yue's face, to hear her talk, and to not dream of kissing those luscious lips of hers. Still, Katara somehow managed to push all these urges and desires aside. It was still amazing to spend these two weeks with her best friend at her splendorous family estate. Katara treasured her friendship with Yue too much to risk it by bringing up something that had no future anyway. That kiss in the summer had been shared with equal fervor by both parties, so Katara knew that on some level Yue desired her. If she was very insistent, perhaps she could have convinced Yue to give their affair a chance, but was it really worth it? If discovered, it would damage the relationship between Yue and her father. And could they both live with cheating on Katara's own brother, of all people? The answer was no. Katara couldn't follow through on it, not under these conditions. And that realization helped her accept the fact that Yue could be nothing more than her best friend. It would have to be enough.
As far as the qualification for the next year's finals, it had been a breeze with Hahn no longer eligible to play at the U18 level. Katara and Yue both had seven wins out of seven, and in the eighth round they had played out a pre-arranged draw between them, shaking on it after only a dozen of moves. The competition was so far behind them that there was no need to do any serious battle. They had already qualified ahead of the final round, and could have just as well spent their time packing their suitcases for the Ba Sing Se finals.
With the tournament ending the next day and Katara's bus ride home to Cape Kuruk two days away, the two girls were determined to make the most of their remaining time together. In the evening before the final round, the two of them were sitting on the bed in Yue's room, watching the reruns of old episodes of The Addams Family on the TV. Katara had been amused to discover that just like her Yue also had something of a crush on Morticia Addams.
"Wouldn't it be cool to just stay up all night and skip tomorrow's game altogether?" Yue sighed dreamily as the credits of another episode ran on the screen. "I just hate these formalities."
"Yes, it is a waste of time," Katara nodded. "But… if we wrap our games up quickly, we could go to the ice skating rink. And then have some more of that sticky chocolate cake they had in that nearby café."
"Haha, I wish I knew how to say no to you, Kat," Yue laughed. "But why would I, it's a perfect plan for tomorrow." She let out another sigh. "I'm going to miss you so much when you end up leaving. I haven't really had a friend staying with me at the estate like this, and it's been… just amazing."
"I know…" Katara sighed, the two sharing a brief friendly embrace. "But at least we have another amazing adventure to look forward to, right? That Ba Sing Se trip can't come soon enough."
"Oh yes, it'll be awesome," Yue nodded. "Maybe we'll run into Iroh. Oh, maybe we should pay him a surprise visit!"
"Haha, that's a great idea!" Katara agreed eagerly. "Hmm… Sokka will probably want to come along, though, even if he really doesn't have to at this point. But that's alright with me," she added quickly. After their summer indiscretion, they both clearly felt very guilty towards Sokka. Katara definitely would not begrudge Sokka spending time with Yue. Her guilt was stronger than her jealousy.
"We'll have a lot of fun, you'll see," Yue smiled at her. "It'll be the three of us and Toph. Oh, and Aang, should he qualify. Also, we can invite Azula to hang out with us, if you want to."
"I would like that, yes," Katara replied earnestly. "I just hope that she accepts. You can never know with Azula."
"That's definitely true," Yue nodded. She was going to say more, but an unexpected knock on the doors interrupted her. At Yue's invitation, one of the estate's servants entered the room. "Lady Yue, there's a long distance call from Ba Sing Se waiting for you in the downstairs hall. In fact, the young gentleman on the phone asked to speak with you both. He seemed a little overexcited."
"Long distance call from Ba Sing Se?" Yue blinked. "Oh my gosh! It must be Aang!" she realized.
"Yes, I believe that was the name of the young man," the servant girl added with a bow.
"Alright, let's not make Aang wait!" Yue exclaimed, getting up from the bed and dragging a surprised Katara with her as they ran downstairs as fast as they could. Yue quickly picked up the handset and pulled Katara closer so that she could listen and speak in, their heads touching as they both almost tried to speak at once. "Hey, is that you, Aang? It's me, Yue! Katara's here, with me!"
"Hi Yue, hi Katara!" Aang's voice came a little foggy on the other end of the line, but he was still clearly recognizable. "How are you two?"
"We're both great!" Yue continued to carry the conversation. "How did you know where to find us?"
"I called Katara at home and Sokka told me where she was staying, so I decided to call your estate. Hope that's okay, Yue!" Aang replied cheerfully.
"Of course, it's okay, Aang," Yue said. "How are things in Ba Sing Se?"
"Things are great! That's why I'm calling!" Aang sounded exhilarated on the phone. "I made it through! I qualified for the finals! We're going to all play together again come the spring!"
"That's amazing, Aang!" Katara exclaimed, briefly taking over from Yue. They were pressing very tightly against each other, but neither of them seemed to be aware of it. "We were hoping you'd make it! Who lost out?"
"Haha, Teo eliminated Joo Dee in the final round," Aang laughed. "Oh boy, you should have seen her face! I thought she was going to beat up the poor paraplegic kid, she looked ready to!"
"Nice! All the good guys made it through and Joo Dee failed, what could be better than that?" Yue cheered. By the good guys she meant the kids attending Uncle Iroh's camp, Teo Guyuk, Kori Morishita and Ghashiun al-Alawi.
"That's great news, Aang," Katara added. "Yue and I made it through as well."
"Of course, you did! I knew you would. And I also read the papers," he added with a chuckle. "Anyway, I should cut this short. This long distance call is costing me pretty penny."
"Don't worry about it, Aang. Just ask the hotel staff to make it a reverse charges call and forward it to me," Yue replied. "I'll gladly pay a few bob for such amazing news."
"Thanks Yue, you're the best! You both are!" Aang cheered. "I also thought it was worth sharing that we'll all get to play together again a year earlier than expected. Bye for now!"
"Bye, Aang!" both Katara and Yue spoke in unison. As Yue put the handset down, they both became aware of just how close they had been standing all this time. Katara blushed, about to reluctantly withdraw, but Yue suddenly pulled her close and into an impulsive, tight hug.
"Our spring adventure in Ba Sing Se will be something amazing, I just know it," Yue spoke softly, her cheeks lightly pinkish.
"You know what?" Katara smiled in return, heat warming her cheeks. "I have the exact same feeling."
Next chapter: Turn of another year. Let's check in on our cast of characters and see what everyone is doing, shall we?