Chapter 22

Azula was happy to put the conversation with Katara regarding her poor play behind her. They had spent almost an hour in Azula's penthouse suite, Katara trying to squeeze as many details out of her as she could. Azula had mainly stuck with the story about her crashing the car and Ozai being angry with her as a result. The physical abuse and the psychological terror of the past three months truly were the main reasons for her complete lack of readiness to play, so Azula did not see the need to expand her story to include the other reasons why coming to Ba Sing Se had left such an impact upon her.

Katara didn't really need to know all that depressing stuff about Ty Lee's family being evicted, perhaps living somewhere in the vast slums of the Walled City, begging for scraps. Katara didn't need to know about the resentment Azula felt towards the rest of her family in Ba Sing Se. And Katara definitely didn't need to know about Azula freaking out that she would come to Ba Sing Se only to find out that Katara didn't want to be her friend anymore. There was no need to burden Katara with any of this emotional nonsense. She'd just keep it all buried in the pit of her stomach, safe and sound.

It was a little past two in the afternoon when Azula and Katara set out from the hotel to link up with the rest of Katara's friends. Azula was not at all pleased that the place they had chosen for hanging out was one of the Jasmine Dragon teahouses belonging to her uncle Iroh. However, she decided not to make an issue out of it. It wasn't like Iroh himself would be working as a tea sommelier at this particular teahouse. Besides, upon entering the teahouse, Azula was actually pleasantly surprised by the tasteful décor. The interior of the Jasmine Dragon was more like that of an upper class establishment than a mere chain of teahouses.

Katara's friends were already present, talking animatedly while sitting around a large table. Azula suddenly got cold feet from the thought of joining them and the pressure of having to socialize and be polite to so many of her peers at once. She just wasn't sure she could do it without royally pissing someone off. And some of these kids already hated her, no matter what Katara had said. Katara was a bit too naïve and sometimes saw only the best in people, refusing to acknowledge their ugly and twisted sides. Azula earnestly considered turning around and fleeing, but then she felt Katara's hand slipping into hers, giving it a supportive squeeze and a tug to follow her. Azula had no option but to follow her friend. She felt a brief pang of disappointment when Katara released her hand just as they reached the group of her friends.

"Hey everyone! Look who I brought with me!" Katara announced cheerfully. Azula immediately found herself at the center of attention. It made her want to hide behind Katara's not so broad back.

"Hi Azula!" Aang Jetsun, the happy go lucky Air Nation kid waved at her. He looked genuinely glad to see her. Azula never quite knew what to make of Aang. He was obviously very talented, and his style of play was very creative. Once he developed some consistency, Azula knew that Aang would become a huge threat to her. He was just as hard to figure out on a personal level. His cheerfulness and optimism surely had to be faked. Azula had insulted him on a few occasions in the past, and he had always let it slide by in good cheer. "I've been really looking forward to you joining us," he added with an earnest smile.

"Yeah, what Aang said," Sokka nodded at her. Katara's brother was kind of a dumb goofball, but his sister seemed to think the world of him, so Azula had to assume that deep down Sokka was a decent guy. "I have some juicy Water Tribe anecdotes to share with you, too. I remember how you used to like them."

"Is your brother trying to convince me to leave?" Azula asked Katara. The question prompted a great deal of snickering around the table, including from Sokka himself.

"Sokka's sense of humor is definitely an acquired taste," Yue Taqqiq chuckled, smiling at Azula. "It's good to finally have you with us, Miss Scarlet," she added, again eliciting some laughter. Azula assumed it was some kind of an in-joke among the others, but it seemed harmless, so she let it slide. And she was glad to have Yue Taqqiq in the group. She was a classy rich girl and the Taqqiq family was respected, even if they were not on the level of the Nakamuras. Yue was more than acceptable company, a decent player with no obvious strengths or weaknesses. Azula didn't think that Yue was particularly talented, but she still somehow managed to excel in tournament play, possessing the necessary mental toughness.

"Yeah, just ignore Sokka, it's what the rest of us are doing," Toph Beifong spoke up. She was clearly the prickliest of the bunch, and she looked the least excited to see her. Still, Azula was actually glad to have someone not immediately friendly towards her. The welcoming kindness of the others felt almost too much. Toph was keeping things real for Azula, and she was grateful for it. Besides, the young Earth Kingdom girl possessed a rare talent for Pai Sho, and she was unflappable like a solid piece of rock. She was definitely one to watch for the future. "Anyway, let's look at some games, shall we?" Toph said.

"Where should we start?" Aang asked excitedly. "It's been a great day, we all won our games," he blurted out without realization, only then slapping a palm across his face and giving Azula an apologetic stare. "Ugh, I'm such an idiot! Sorry, Azula, I didn't mean to offend."

"Whatever," Azula shrugged. She then followed Katara's lead and finally sat down at the table with the others. "I don't think you want to look at my game with Katara. There's not much to learn from it, other than how not to play Pai Sho," she glanced at Katara to see if the other girl agreed with her.

"Oh yes, we don't want to look at that, it was… disgraceful," Katara sighed. "I've never been warned by a referee before. That was so embarrassing."

"Alright, in that case, I propose we start with my destruction of Chan," Toph suggested. "I'm really proud of that one."

Azula immediately felt much better having heard Toph's words. "You beat Chan?" she smiled, happily imagining how humiliated Chan would have felt after losing to someone three years younger than him. "Consider me impressed," she added.

"Oh, you'll be even more impressed after you've seen just how I beat him," Toph chuckled, retrieving her notations while Aang and Yue set up the Pai Sho board and laid out the tiles.

As the five Pai Sho prodigies around the table began to analyze the game, arguing back and forth about the best solutions, time literally flew by them. When they were finally done with Toph's game against Chan, Azula was shocked to discover that it was already half past four in the afternoon. Being a part of the group was all strange and new to her, but as soon as they had immersed themselves in the game, Azula just seemed to forget all her worries about fitting in with Katara and her friends. They were all bonding over their love for the game, and she was shocked to discover just how much fun she was having in the company that she would normally consider beneath her.

"Are you having fun, Azula?" she blinked at Katara's voice close to her ear. It seemed that they were taking a little break from Pai Sho. Toph had gone to the bathroom, while Sokka and Yue were picking up more tea and snacks for them all. Only Katara and Aang had remained at the table with her.

"Yes," Azula nodded back at her friend. It was still so odd to think of Katara as her friend, but it was also an intoxicating feeling. Her father would surely disapprove of their friendship, but for some reason that just made her more determined to maintain her relationship with Katara. And what about the rest of the group? Were they her friends now as well? It was all so new and exciting to her. "I feel like this is really helping me get back into shape. Especially arguing with Toph," she added with a small smile.

"It's a good way to become great friends with Toph," Aang said, while Katara simply smiled warmly at her. "Toph loves it when people challenge her."

"I've noticed," Azula nodded. "She is very good, almost my equal."

"Oh, don't let her hear that!" Katara laughed, shaking her head.

They sat in silence for a while before Aang piped up again. "Say, Azula? Do you have any pets?" he asked, looking curious.

"You mean house pets like cats or a dog?" She asked. Aang nodded. "No, I'm not allowed to keep pets like that. My father can't stand them and think they're a distraction."

"Of course he would," Katara snarled with a dark look on her face.

"Want to see pictures of my pets?" Aang asked. Without waiting for her reply, he retrieved a couple of pictures from a worn looking wallet and passed the first of them over to Azula.

"It's a filthy, disease ridden macaque," Azula scowled at the picture.

"Oh, you recognized that Momo is a macaque! Most people just say 'oooh what a cute monkey!'" Aang sounded impressed, ignoring how she had just called his pet filthy and disease ridden.

"Well, most people are idiots," Azula shrugged. "It's obviously a macaque."

"Hah, true enough," Aang agreed amiably. "Hey, maybe you'll like my other pet better," he said, showing her the other picture.

Azula's eyes widened as she regarded the picture of Aang sitting astride on a majestic fluffy white animal with impressive horns. "Oh… wow!" she exclaimed in earnest admiration. "Are you riding a great white yak? You have a pet yak?! That is so cool!"

Aang and Katara both grinned widely at her obvious excitement, probably being a little surprised by it. "Yep, that's Appa, my loyal pet yak," Aang explained. "I'm surprised you like him. People usually think Momo is cuter."

"Ugh, like I said, people are stupid," Azula ranted. "Obviously a pet yak is far more impressive. Ungulates are clearly the superior type of animal."

"What's an ungulate?" Sokka asked, returning to the table together with Yue, carrying a tray of teapots and snacks.

"Basically any animal that has hooves," Azula rolled her eyes. Of course Sokka would need an explanation. "If you could see my horses, I think you would all agree that there is no more graceful and majestic animal in the world."

"Ha, why am I not surprised that rich Miss Scarlet here would have her own horses?" Toph laughed, having returned from the bathroom.

"I think it's very sweet," Katara said, a little defensively. "I'm sure they're beautiful, Azula. I love horses myself, but we don't really get them far up north where Sokka and I live."

"I wish I had some pictures with me, but you would absolutely love Goldflake and Innocence," Azula turned to Katara, speaking excitedly. "Goldflake is my polo pony, so she's a little smaller than the average horse, but she's really fast and sturdy. She's also very friendly and good for novice riders who want to get used to a horse. Innocence is a thoroughbred white, which just means that she's actually white instead of grey like most supposedly white horses. She's very tall and has a bit of a temper, so she needs lots and lots of special care and treats. But if she's happy and in a good mood, you should see the kind of barriers I can clear with her! A lot of professional dressage riders would die of envy of my darling Innocence. I miss my horses so much…" Azula finished her lengthy and passionate speech with a sad sigh. "I haven't seen them since last summer."

Only then did Azula become aware that the others had all gone silent, watching her a little oddly. She glanced nervously at Katara. Her Water Tribe friend was smiling at her, looking like she was about to break into tears. "Uh… did I say something wrong?" Azula suddenly became really nervous.

"No… not at all," Katara managed, swallowing heavily. "You simply looked so happy just now, when you were talking about your horses. I haven't seen you like that before."

"Yeah," Sokka nodded in agreement. "I wish all those people who think you're a heartless bitch could have heard you talking about your horses. They would have felt so ashamed of themselves."

"Oh…" Azula could only manage in response. She felt touched by the reaction of the others, but it also made her feel incredibly awkward.

"How did you come up with those names, Goldflake and Innocence?" Yue asked. "There has to be a story behind that."

"There is," Azula nodded, happy for the distraction. "I enjoy reading history books in my spare time, you know, mostly Old Empire stuff. There was this seriously warmongering emperor who kept a pair of dire she-bears as pets, caged near his quarters. They kept them underfed so that they would remain vicious, and any soldier who acted dishonorably or misbehaved in any way, was thrown to these two pet bears to be torn apart. The bears were named Goldflake and Innocence."

"That is an awesome story!" Toph predictably cheered, while the others at the table looked a little disturbed. "Now I want some dire bear pets of my own. Anyway!" she then exclaimed. "Yue, Aang, did you decide which game we're tackling next?" Yue and Aang shook their heads and then began to discuss among themselves whether to analyze Yue's win over Joo Dee or Aang's victory over Kori Morishita.

As they were busy talking things through, Azula found Sokka staring at her with a wicked grin on his face. "So," the Water Tribe boy said with an exaggerated seriousness. "Are you ready to be initiated through the Trial of Sokka Puns?"

"I should have known this was going to happen at some point," Azula groaned.

"So, Azula… do you know how a Water Tribe woman knows she's about to give birth?" Sokka winked at her.

"Oh no, Sokka, that one is terrible," Katara groaned, while Azula just stared blankly at the Water Tribe boy.

"Her water cracks!" Sokka laughed. Azula and Katara exchanged stares and sighed. "Alright, maybe you'll like this next one better. What does a Water Tribe man get after sitting on the ice for too long?"

"I don't know… hemorrhoids?" Azula wondered, almost too afraid to ask.

"Oooh, close! But a Water Tribe man gets polaroids!" Sokka laughed. Katara looked like she was in physical pain by now. The jokes were obviously awful, but somehow the whole occasion was starting to amuse Azula. "Alright, I have another one. It's a bit longer so pay attention. Two Water Tribe men were sitting in a kayak and started to get cold. So they decided to start a fire, but obviously their kayak burned and sank. So what's the moral of this story? You can't have your kayak and heat it too."

"Kayak and heat it too?" Katara repeated, looking puzzled. She clearly wasn't getting it. Azula found it both endearing and amusing. The joke itself was just as awful as one would expect from Sokka, but the whole atmosphere around the table somehow got to Azula and she began to laugh. And then, much to her horror, she found that she couldn't stop laughing, even when the others were starting to look at her oddly. Even worse, she then realized that she was no longer laughing. No, instead tears were spilling down her cheeks in a mighty torrent, an uncontrollable flood of waterworks having gripped Azula for no apparent reason.

Simply willing herself to stop had no effect on her, so Azula felt grateful at Katara for quickly leading her away from the table and towards the privacy of the teahouse's bathroom. Once there, Azula sagged against the wall and simply allowed Katara to hold her until she had cried out her fill and had no more tears to give. Eventually, after what had felt like several long and painful minutes, Azula began to calm down. When Azula finally gathered her bearings, she couldn't help feeling like a complete idiot.

"What happened?" Katara asked, sounding concerned. She still had her arm wrapped around Azula's shoulder. Azula decided that she was in no hurry to dislodge herself from this near embrace. "You seemed so happy and then-"

"I don't know what happened, alright?" Azula replied, a little sharper than she had intended. "Obviously, there's something wrong with me."

"I don't think so," Katara shook her head. "Can you recall what feelings you were experiencing just as it happened?"

Azula paused, trying to remember what she had been thinking about. "I was thinking how strange it felt to be just accepted like that by you and your friends with no questions and no prejudice," Azula replied quietly. "It wasn't a sad or upsetting feeling, though, quite the opposite."

"Oh," was all Katara said. She looked thoughtful and understanding. "I didn't truly comprehend just how overwhelming this all might be for you, Azula. Perhaps it all simply became a little too much for you to take in."

Azula considered this explanation and decided that it was acceptable. She definitely preferred it to the explanation of something being deeply wrong with her. "You're probably right," Azula said. "I just wish it wouldn't have happened in such an embarrassing way. Your friends must be thinking that I'm some kind of unstable psycho."

"They wouldn't think that at all, Azula. Besides, they're your friends too now. And that means they will be nothing but supportive," Katara replied, speaking gently and patiently. "That said, before we return to the table, we definitely need to do something about your looks."

Azula glanced at the mirror, almost getting a fright from what she saw looking back at her. She had cried so much that there were literal dark streaks running down her face, making her look like a badger. The flood of tears mixed with her mascara had also badly stained the front of her dress, but there was little she could do about that now. "Alright, let me get to work," Azula said, retrieving the makeup kit from her purse. It took her a good quarter of an hour to get herself back into presentable shape, Katara remaining alongside her throughout it all. Azula didn't mind it, she was happy for the company, even if she felt reasonably sure that she wasn't going to start crying again.

"Shall we?" Katara asked, offering her a hand when Azula appeared satisfied with her work, stepping away from the mirror. "And don't worry about their reactions. They would never dare to make fun of you, not over this."

"Alright. Thanks, Katara," Azula nodded, taking the other girl's hand. She was certainly thanking Katara a lot lately. There was always a good reason for it, though.

They made their way out of the bathroom and sat down at the table with the others. Azula could see that Katara's friends were trying really hard not to ask any questions, perhaps a little too hard. She started to become anxious, desperate for someone to just speak up and at least say something. Fortunately, Toph would not let her down. "So, I'm sure we're all wondering what the hell just happened," the Earth Kingdom girl stated bluntly. "Also, are you alright, Miss Scarlet?"

"I'm alright," Azula replied, trying to sound confident and almost succeeding. "I don't know what happened exactly, but I would prefer not to speak about it."

"Got it," Toph nodded, also looking like not discussing the matter was her preference. Azula began to sense that Toph was just as fond of discussing Feelings and Emotions as she was. It was yet another point in the Earth Kingdom girl's favor. "We've decided to look at Aang's battle with Kori," Toph pointed at the Pai Sho board. "Shall we?" she asked.

Azula was only too happy to agree, having decided that at this point, getting lost in the world of Pai Sho felt like the safest and most comforting of choices.

As the five others around the table appeared completely immersed in their own world of Pai Sho, Sokka found himself a little restless and bored. This was definitely the downside of hanging out with a group that had this one unifying common interest which Sokka didn't share. He liked all of the other kids as individuals, certainly, but the major reason for his presence here was his girlfriend Yue. Still, when it came to discussing Pai Sho, she became just as passionate as the others, completely forgetting all about him for hours on end.

At first, it had been hard for Sokka not to take this a little personally. Somehow though, he had managed to cope with it and he had become more understanding of what Pai Sho meant to his friends. They all had the talent to one day become professional players and use their talent for the game to secure comfortable living through competitive tournament play. All this practice was an investment in their futures, so Sokka just had to suck up these slight feelings of resentment and abandonment. The moments away from the Pai Sho board were rewarding enough, especially those spent together with Yue.

Yue Taqqiq truly was the girlfriend most guys could only dream about, although not everything about their relationship was perfect. The long distance between them often made Sokka anxious and frustrated, as did Yue's warnings that her father did not approve of them dating. It did not bode well for the future, but Sokka tried not to think about it too much. He simply wanted to enjoy every moment he got to spend with Yue. He knew that once Yue came of age, her father would dangle her inheritance as a leverage to force her into marrying someone 'appropriate', which basically meant 'not Sokka'. Of course, Sokka dreamed of the fairy tale scenario in which Yue would reject this vast fortune in order to be with him, but he realized that this dream wasn't realistic. He wasn't going to ask Yue to make such a choice. Sokka knew that he probably couldn't offer Yue the kind of future which she deserved.

With the others immersed in their fiery debates over Pai Sho, Sokka rose from his seat and began to wander around the teahouse, feeling a little bored. He visited the bathroom and then spent a few minutes conversing with an equally bored looking waitress, but then she had to abandon their conversation in order to attend to some customers. Traffic was slow on this particular day, the unpleasant weather, heavy rain and severe winds outside seeing to it. At some point, however, Sokka became aware of someone looking at him, sitting in a booth by the window. He turned around to notice a lone girl around his age, smiling at him. Wait, was she winking at him now? Sokka looked around to see if perhaps the gesture had been meant for someone else, but there was no one else nearby. The girl by the window was now waving at him, beckoning Sokka to approach.

Sokka looked back at his friends, but they were still transfixed by the Pai Sho board, completely ignorant of him having left the table. So, he decided to walk up to the girl, intrigued by her attempts to get his attention. Sokka had to admit, she was pretty damn cute. She was wearing sporty kind of clothes that matched her athletic build, topped off by a backwards worn baseball cap. Her auburn hair was kept short, and she had blue eyes, but not as clear blue as Yue's or his sister's, more like grayish blue. A smattering of freckles covered her cheeks. "Hey, uh…" Sokka began awkwardly. "Did you want something?"

"Not really," the girl replied with a cheeky grin. "I just saw a cute guy looking bored and thought we could help each other be less bored."

Sokka found himself blushing at the girl's frankness. "I, uh… I'm actually here with my girlfriend," he admitted. "I don't know how she would feel about that."

"Ah, one of those girls at the Pai Sho board?" the auburn-haired girl smirked, looking over to where Sokka's friends were still busy arguing about the correct move or whatever. "Well, she's clearly not paying you enough attention, letting you wander around like that. Other girls might get ideas," she winked at him, making Sokka even more flustered.

"Okay, you're a little weird," he managed. It did feel very flattering, a hot girl calling him cute and showing interest. He couldn't help but feel that Yue was occasionally taking him for granted a little too much.

"Alright, don't worry champ, I'll stop with the flirting," the girl giggled, pointing at the seat opposite to her. "Sit with me for a while? I promise, I won't bite, unless you want me to."

Sokka looked back at his friends again, but they were completely oblivious to his absence. He decided that he might as well humor this weird but attractive stranger. "So, are you a local girl?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure you can tell where I'm from."

"I've always had a weakness for Water Tribe boys," the girl winked at him, clearly incapable to stop with her flirting. Sokka was kinda digging it, though. It wasn't very often that girls would hit on him, not as attractive ones as this girl, anyway. "As for whether I'm a local… well, yes and no. I'm Earth Kingdom, yes, but from the opposite end of the kingdom. Kyoshi Island is my home."

"Oh! Kyoshi Island? My girlfriend Yue went there not too long ago, she said it was an awesome place for a vacation!" Sokka exclaimed.

The girl looked very bemused for some reason. "So… Yue is your girlfriend? As in Yue Taqqiq, the white haired girl over there?" she asked, pointing at the table where Sokka's friends sat.

"Yes, that's her… do you know her?" Sokka asked, feeling surprised.

"I wouldn't say that I know her," the mysterious girl answered mysteriously. "I'm a bit of a Pai Sho fangirl, even though I can barely play myself. So I know most of the best junior players because I've watched all of them play."

"Is that why you're here in Ba Sing Se, to watch the tournament?" Sokka made a guess.

"Correct," the girl nodded. "I'm guessing that you're also hanging around with the spectators while your girlfriend is playing." Sokka nodded at that. "How about we watch the games together?" the girl suggested suddenly. "In a completely platonic buddy way, of course. We wouldn't want Yue to worry. Not that she has to worry, I mean… that girl is stunning, just look at her. I know when I'm outmatched."

"Oh, I wouldn't say you're that outmatched. You have a lot going for yourself, too," Sokka said boldly. He was happy to see the girl blush darkly. It made her appear even cuter.

"Well, thank you, charmer," she grinned. "Let's see if we can spot each other in the stands and hook up on the next match day, shall we?"

"Sounds good," Sokka nodded. It wasn't as if he was agreeing to a date, right? Besides, watching the games all by himself was so boring. Most of the time, Sokka had no idea who was winning when he looked at the large demonstration boards. Maybe this girl could make the viewing experience more tolerable. "Oh, by the way, I'm Sokka Enuaraq, belated introductions and all that."

"Oh?" the girl's eyes brightened with curiosity. "Let me guess, you're the big brother of Katara Enuaraq?"

"Yep, Kat's my little sister," Sokka nodded with a smile.

"How very interesting," the girl noted. She then flashed another smile at him. "I'm Suki, by the way. Suki Arya…"

Next chapter: Ozai arrives in Ba Sing Se…