Chapter 23
Azula was beyond amazed when contemplating her own miraculous transformation over the following few days of the tournament. After suffering three hopeless defeats at that start, putting her in a near insurmountable hole, she had followed it up with a string of three victories in the rounds after the first off-day of the tournament.
At first, Azula had been horrified and outraged about Katara's suggestion to spend the off-day by visiting one of the many amusement parks of Ba Sing Se, instead of using the whole day to prepare for the upcoming games. However, she had been swayed by Katara's arguments that right now additional Pai Sho practice simply would not do Azula any good, and what she needed more than anything was to clear her head and push the reset button on her entire approach to the tournament. Azula had considered Katara's words carefully. The thought of spending an entire day cooped up in the penthouse suite, trying to force herself to get back into her best shape did feel like an exercise of futility. Maybe Katara was right and what she needed was to take her mind off the game for an entire day and simply relax, something she was notoriously terrible at.
Besides, as much as Azula hated to admit this to herself, she also wanted to spend more time with Katara and her friends - but mostly with Katara. Azula was still amazed that Katara's friends even wanted to hang out with her. Azula knew that she wasn't always the easiest person to get along with, and she had been nasty to all of them in the past, and yet they just seemed to let it all slide. Unless they planned to lure Azula into a false sense of security and then spring some trap to completely and utterly humiliate and embarrass her. But… no, that was just her paranoia talking again. Katara in particular just didn't seem to have a deceitful bone in her body, she was weird like that.
In the end, Azula hadn't hated her time at the amusement park. In fact, Azula had actually loved everything about it. Upon their arrival at the amusement part, their group of six had split up over time, Sokka and Yue disappearing first, followed by the two younger kids, Aang and Toph, slipping away as well. Azula had at first assumed that they were dating, but it seemed like that was not the case and they had some kind of weird bond of friendship which meant that the Air Nation kid was dancing to the fiddle of the rich girl from Gaoling. Azula ended up being left alone with Katara, an arrangement that suited her perfectly well. She had waved a handful of hundred yuan bills at the Water Tribe girl, insisting that she become Azula's guide to the lower-class entertainment.
Over the next several hours, the two of them had tried out as many rides and attractions as humanly possible. Azula found the rollercoaster to be her favorite and she wanted to go at least a few times, but Katara was starting to turn a little green in the face after the second go, insisting that she would have to pass on any further rides. Azula had pouted a bit at that, but since going all by herself sounded far less fun, they had simply moved on to the next bit of entertainment. The Ferris wheel was not particularly huge or impressive, so they hadn't done any repeat rides there, instead proceeding to try the bumper cars. Azula thoroughly enjoyed this activity because unlike Katara, she already had her driver's license and found herself like fish in the water when sitting in the bumper car. They spent more than half an hour of Azula terrorizing the other kids (and Katara), before her frustrated guide managed to persuade Azula to move on.
There were other enjoyable attractions at the amusement park, Azula having particularly fond memories of the haunted house. She had found it so hilariously un-scary that she had laughed all the way through the experience. She couldn't understand how Katara could possibly get spooked by these terrible props including fake blood and severed heads that barely looked human. That said, the way Katara had clung to her throughout the whole thing had been kind of fun and it had made Azula a little sad when they eventually emerged from the haunted house.
Later in the afternoon, Azula had created a little bit of stir at the shooting gallery. Katara had challenged her to win a prize, and Azula had immediately accepted said challenge. She had some very rudimentary firearms training and she felt quite confident about her marksmanship. However, along the way, Azula must have somehow misunderstood the purpose of this particular attraction. Why was that lower-class peasant wandering about at the back of the stall unless he was the target she was supposed to hit, right? And it had been such a perfect shot, too, hitting the man straight in the face. Azula had been rather taken aback when the bleeding commoner had started to scream at her angrily, threatening to call the police. Katara had looked horrified, and so Azula had thrown several hundred yuan bills at the bleeding man and they had quickly made themselves scarce.
Katara had been rather shaken up by Azula's gaffe with the air rifle, and for a while Azula had been deeply worried that Katara was mad at her. Fortunately, after she had made an effort trying to explain herself, Katara had started to laugh and then hugged her for some weird reason, but Azula had decided not to complain. Exhausted from all the attractions, they had then wandered off in search of food. That had been an experience in itself. While the peasant food looked horrible and unhealthy, Azula had been forced to admit that it smelled and tasted absolutely divine. Katara had warned her to be careful with eating too much, especially since she was not used to this sort of food, but Azula just couldn't stop herself because everything was so damn good, even if it was super greasy and kind of disgusting at the same time. Sticky chicken and waffles, doughnuts, corn on the cob, deep fried Oreos, Azula just had to try everything, finally making the crucial mistake of eating too much of something called the funnel cake.
Their day at the amusement park had then ended with Azula once again throwing up, this time at a dirty and disgusting amusement park toilet, with Katara being the dependable and trustworthy friend that she was, holding back her hair while Azula emptied the contents of her stomach. Even if the day had ended on a relative low, Azula had absolutely loved the entire experience. She was amazed that lower-class people could actually have this much fun, it was completely eye-opening for her. Obviously, this wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without Katara and her friends, so Azula suspected that perhaps it was more the company and less the attractions that had made the day so great.
All in all, Katara had been proven correct and the day at the amusement park had helped Azula relax and take her mind off the issues plaguing her. When she faced Kori Morishita at the Pai Sho board the next day, it was clear that the girl from Yu Dao expected to encounter the demoralized Azula Nakamura of the first three rounds. Kori was in for a rude awakening as Azula absolutely blitzed her in less than twenty moves. She was back with a vengeance, confirming it with two more victories over Ghashiun al-Alawi and Aang Jetsun in the following rounds.
With the tournament a little over the equator, six rounds of eleven played, Azula was absolutely astonished to realize that despite the horrible start she had made, she wasn't out of the running for the tournament win. It was still rather unlikely to happen, but there was a chance and the reason for it was that nobody had managed to take a firm control of the tournament. Everybody was dropping points left and right, including the main favorites. After six rounds, there were four players in the lead with four points each, Katara, Yue, Toph and that damn asshole Chan. Ruon-Jian was half a point behind the four leaders, and after him came the next group on three points, including Azula herself, but also Aang and Teo. There was still everything to play for, and with her level of play improving and confidence surging, Azula did not feel as terrified when she spotted her father and Zhao in the spectator stands following her Round 6 victory over Aang. Of course, she expected her father to be livid with her start to the tournament, but the competition wasn't over and she still had a chance to win the gold medal. She knew that Ozai would not risk dishing out his tough love now, in the middle of the tournament. No, he would wait either until the end of the tournament or until they returned to Caldera City, but if she were to actually win the whole thing, she might be able to escape the punishment altogether.
Of course, Ozai's arrival also meant that her time hanging out with Katara and her friends at the Jasmine Dragon was over. This depressed Azula quite a bit, but at least she had been able to exchange a few words with Katara after they had finished their games, the two agreeing to meet up in Katara's hotel room in the evening, once Azula had managed to escape from her father's attentions. That Katara was genuinely looking forward to spending more time with her both surprised and pleased Azula a great deal.
So, a few hours after the matches of Round 6 had finished, Azula found herself sitting in a posh Upper Ring restaurant together with her father and his right hand man, Zhao Sakamoto, trying to figure out just in how much trouble she was in. Ever since his arrival, Ozai had barely spoken a word to her. That was probably not a good sign and meant that her father was seething inside. However, none of his anger appeared to be showing in his face and he had been completely dispassionate when exchanging a few phrases with her. The lack of reaction from Ozai was making Azula more and more nervous as time ticked by.
Indeed, once they had ordered and were waiting for their food to be delivered, Ozai mostly seemed to focus on talking with Zhao, discussing the details of their recent business trip, a conversation that went right over Azula's head. If anything, Zhao seemed to be paying her more attention than her father was, and as always, it was attention that Azula felt she could really do without. At least in the presence of her father, Zhao did not dare to be as creepy as he had often been in the past.
Once the food had been delivered and they were already halfway through their meals, Ozai finally spoke up to address her, just when Azula had already breathed an internal sigh of relief and relaxed, thinking that she gotten off scot-free. "Zhao and I have been looking at your schedule and the tournament standings," Ozai began, speaking almost casually. Azula immediately stopped chewing on her perfectly seared duck breast and began to listen attentively, her heart rate rising steadily. "Zhao, explain what we discussed to my daughter."
"It's really quite simple," Zhao nodded, turning towards Azula. "First, you have to win all of your remaining games. Since you are only trailing by a single point, it's very fortunate that you still have to play all of those who are currently ahead of you in the standings, with the exception of the Enuaraq girl. As for the others, the two Fire Nation lads, Beifong and Taqqiq, defeating them also means overtaking them in the standings. Like I said, it's simple."
"But Katara has a very easy final stretch," Azula argued. "All of her remaining opponents are much weaker players than she is. I can't do anything about that, can I?"
"Well, you better hope that she stumbles at some point," Ozai pointed out with a meaningful stare. "A lot will depend on it. I did not expect you to win the tournament last year, but this and the following year are yours to lose. I was just about ready to forgive and forget the incident with your car. You don't want to get on my bad side again by finishing in any other position than the top of the podium."
Azula shuddered at her father's threatening statement. She wondered if any of Katara's remaining opponents could cause an upset. Teo probably had the best chance. He'd been having a very good tournament so far. Kori Morishita was playing better than Azula could remember her play, too. The rest of Katara's opponents were rather hopeless, however.
There was another option, however, but Azula was reluctant to even think about it. Katara was such a bleeding heart that she had been willing to throw her game with Azula, because she had wanted to save Azula from her father's wrath. But would she do it against one of her remaining opponents if Azula asked her to, and if she explained what was in store for her if she failed to finish first? Would Katara do it when the title of a world champion was at stake? Did Azula have any right to even ask it? No, she really didn't. It hurt for Azula to admit, but Katara actually deserved the title more than she did, at least this year. No, she wasn't going to even mention any of this to her Water Tribe friend. Azula would just let things play out and then deal with the consequences whatever those might be.
"I know I can do it," Azula stated, trying to sound confident. She did feel a little shaken, however, and was in a dire need to recompose herself and steady her nerves. "May I be excused for a moment?" she looked up at her father, asking for his permission. Ozai frowned and shrugged at the request. Azula took it as a grudging permission and rose to make her way to the nearby bathroom. Much to her irritation, it was occupied and Azula was forced to stand near the doors and wait.
Unfortunately, she had not chosen the best place where to stand, behind a pillar which blocked her from the view of the waiters as they traversed back and forth between the dining hall and the kitchens. One of the waiters almost crashed into her with a full tray of dirty dishes, just barely managing to avoid her at the last moment. "Not the best place to stand around, cutie. I could have really hurt you and that would be a crying shame," the waiter, a rather handsome older boy told her. Azula did a double take at being called a 'cutie', but it was done so casually that it did not feel at all offensive. It also helped that the boy in question was kind of cute himself, what with his slightly disheveled mop of dark hair and a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Sorry," was all that Azula could think of, blushing darkly as the waiter winked at her and hurried away, carrying his tray of dirty dishes.
Azula was still waiting for the bathroom to become vacant, when the waiter returned, this time stopping to stand next to her, a grin on his lips. "Sorry," he smirked, pointing at the bathroom doors. "I think someone is getting a little sick in there." His voice dropped down to a whisper. "I thought that lobster was a bit dodgy. Please tell me you didn't have the lobster."
"No, I had duck," Azula shook her head. Zhao had ordered lobster. Azula found herself grinning at the mental image of Zhao being sick all over the bathroom floor.
"Good choice, the duck is perfection itself," the strapping boy chuckled at her. "So, what's a stunning Fire Nation babe such as yourself doing in this fair city?"
"Uh, I'm just accompanying my father," Azula managed awkwardly. She had learned that saying that she was a Pai Sho prodigy could be a bit of a turn off for the boys. It made them suspicious of her being a boring bookworm and generally too smart and a lot of boys apparently didn't like that. The key to successfully dating boys seemed to be dumbing yourself way down.
"Sounds dull," her new acquaintance winked at her again. "I doubt your old man knows all about the best attractions of Ba Sing Se. When it comes to being the best guide to all the fun there is to have in the Walled City, there's nobody better than me."
"Is that an offer-" she said, finally noticing the name tag on the boy's uniform, as well as the caption 'ask me for a free fortune cookie' embroidered under the tag. "Jet? Also, what about those fortune cookies? How come I never got one?" she grinned.
"I'm glad you asked!" Jet smiled, retrieving a fortune cookie and passing it over to her. Azula cracked it open and pulled out the little piece of paper. The words on it said 'You will go on a date with a handsome waiter'. Azula immediately blushed beet red.
"That's very smooth," she had to admit, feeling impressed with Jet's moves.
"I'm glad you noticed," Jet grinned. "So, how about it? Let me show you the sights of Ba Sing Se, babe."
"I prefer Azula instead of babe," she replied, though something in this boy's attitude was stopping her from becoming annoyed with him. He was just so natural at being flirty in a way that reminded Azula of Zirin.
"Azula, a beautiful name," Jet's smile broadened. "But you haven't answered my question. I'd love to go out with you, Azula."
Honestly, Azula was tempted. She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue, so sensually. And she had been desperate to find a boy to date, just to see what it would be like. Here was someone who didn't seem to be a creepy fuck like Chan or Ruon-Jian. Unfortunately, the timing of meeting Jet couldn't have been worse, coinciding with her father's return. Azula wasn't sure if she could manage to escape her father's presence for long enough to go on an actual date. Also, she had been away from the table for a suspiciously long time, and with horror, Azula realized that Zhao had already gotten up from the table to come and look for her.
"Maybe some other time, Jet," Azula quickly excused herself, walking away from the disappointed looking boy. She hadn't actually needed to use the bathroom, if only to escape the presence of Ozai and Zhao for a while, but the conversation with Jet had distracted her and she felt ready to face her father yet again.
"Who was that boy?" Ozai asked as soon as she had sat down. His brow was creased with a deeply set frown. "Was he bothering you?"
Damn it, how the fuck does he keep noticing everything. I can't slip anything past him. Azula cursed inwardly. "No, he was just being friendly," Azula replied, trying to sound casual.
"I have a feeling they were being a little bit too friendly if you know what I mean," Zhao gave Ozai a meaningful stare. Shut up, Zhao! Azula wanted to scream.
"Do we need to have another conversation about boys, Azula?" Ozai asked with a dangerous glint in his eye.
"We don't," Azula shook her head. She was feeling pretty annoyed by now, reaching the point where her annoyance was starting to overwhelm her fear of Ozai. "I just don't think it's reasonable to expect me not to interact with one half of the entire population of humankind."
"It's not reasonable, you say," Ozai smirked. "Well. I'm sure we'll soon be having another conversation about what is reasonable and what isn't. But that will have to wait. Finish your meal so that we can leave," her father nodded at the by now cold remains of the duck breast on her plate. It still tasted delicious despite being cold, so Azula quickly finished up and the three of them then left the restaurant. Azula's annoyance grew when she noticed that Ozai deliberately left no tip, perhaps as a result of what he thought was one of the staff accosting his property, namely, his daughter.
Once outside the restaurant, Zhao and Azula got into the limo while Ozai remained outside, exchanging a few words with one of his thuggish looking bodyguards. The square-jawed yokel in a dark suit and matching sunglasses walked back inside the restaurant and returned a minute later, at which point Ozai finally seemed to be satisfied, giving the driver a sign to take them back to the hotel.
"Why did you send that thug back into the restaurant?" Azula blurted out, perhaps unwisely. "Did you ask him to threaten Jet?"
"Jet?" Ozai narrowed his eyes at her.
"Yes, the waiter. I can read nametags, you know," Azula replied. If she hadn't been so irritated, she probably would have been horrified at the tone that she was using with her father.
"Azula, you don't seem to understand that you're threading dangerous ground here," Ozai reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Stop testing my patience, daughter," he said, squeezing down hard on her wrist, releasing it only when Azula cried out in pain.
Azula spent the rest of the way back to the hotel cradling her sore wrist, stubbornly looking outside the limo window just so that her father and Zhao couldn't see the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
It wasn't until very late in the evening, close to 10pm, that Azula finally managed to extract herself from the company of her father and Zhao, tormenting her with unhelpful Pai Sho drills. Azula had endured it all in obedient silence. She didn't think that her father would react well to her stating that the key to her improved performance was relaxation and reduction of stress. Ozai would probably shout at her for being stupid, even if Katara's method of preparation had already helped Azula a great deal.
Leaving the penthouse suite to take the elevator down to Katara's floor, Azula still felt understandably fearful. She wouldn't put it past her father to actually check whether she was back in her room at some point during the evening. If Ozai discovered her absence, he would be really mad. And she definitely didn't want to invoke her father's anger any more than she already had. Ozai was already very displeased with her behavior and attitude. Azula's still sore wrist was a stark reminder of Ozai's displeasure, and yet, despite the danger, she craved Katara's company and decided that spending time with her new friend was worth the risk.
Katara promptly answered the knock on her doors, smiling broadly as she let Azula inside. Katara had already changed into her pajamas, and it looked as if she was fresh out of shower. Katara's hair was still damp and missing the familiar loops, carrying a powerful but not overwhelming lavender fragrance that Azula had come to associate with the Water Tribe girl. Overall, Katara just looked so damn adorable. Azula had never been comfortable showing physical affection. In fact, she tended to actively avoid it with most people. It was different with Katara, though. Azula couldn't deny that she enjoyed being hugged by Katara. She swore that one day she would overcome her awkwardness and be the one to initiate the hug herself.
"How did it go with your father?" Katara immediately asked as they perched down on her bed.
Azula frowned at the question. She supposed she couldn't blame Katara for asking. She knew that she should have expected the question. For some reason, Katara had taken it upon herself to genuinely care about what was going on in Azula's life. And while on one hand, the feeling of someone actually giving a damn about her was weirdly pleasant, opening up and sharing all the ugliness of her life and her own thoughts was not something that Azula was looking forward to. She didn't really want to burden Katara with all that awful stuff.
"It wasn't as bad as I feared," she answered, a little evasively.
"Was he very angry with you?" Katara wasn't going to give up easily, of course.
"He certainly wasn't pleased," Azula shrugged. "But I can still make things right."
"He expects you to win the tournament, doesn't he?" Katara asked. Azula nodded. Katara frowned, looking thoughtful. Azula immediately realized where the other girl's thoughts had wandered off to.
"I need you to promise me something, Katara," Azula spoke up, giving her friend a severe stare. "I want you to promise that you're not going to try and pull the sort of crap that you tried to pull in our game. That sort of help is beneath me, do you understand? You would be insulting me. I couldn't be friends with someone who does things like that."
"I wasn't thinking about that at all," Katara muttered. She was clearly lying and the redness of her cheeks confirmed it.
"You were, and I appreciate the thought behind it, but I'm telling you in no uncertain terms. Don't throw any games for my sake, I'm being very serious here," Azula insisted.
"Alright, fine," Katara relented with a sigh. "I won't do it. You understand why I would want to do it, right? What your father is doing-"
"I'm sorry, but can we not talk about my father?" Azula spoke up sharply, interrupting her friend. "It's stressing me out. And you said that I should relax more, right?"
"That's true," Katara admitted, a little reluctantly. It was touching how the other girl thought that Azula's issues with her father could somehow be resolved by talking. It was cute, but so very naïve. "So, what else would you like to talk about? Did anything else happen?"
Azula thought for a moment whether to tell Katara about her encounter with Jet, the cute waiter at the restaurant, but she then decided against it. Azula was very curious about what had happened at the restaurant after they had left and Ozai had sent in one of his thugs to threaten Jet. Azula had learned that Ozai and Zhao were scheduled to attend a soiree for rich fat cats tomorrow evening, so she was harboring a plan to at some point sneak out of the hotel and head over to the restaurant to see if she could talk some more with the handsome Earth Kingdom boy. But it also meant that Azula wouldn't be spending time with Katara and her friends, and perhaps her new friend didn't need to know that Azula was ditching her in order to see some boy.
"No, I can't think of anything, really," Azula shrugged. She pointed at the TV set fastened to the wall opposite to the bed. "Why don't we just watch something together?" she suggested, allowing a yawn to escape her lips. "It's been an exhausting day. Too much Pai Sho practice, if you ask me."
Katara sighed and walked up to the TV set to switch it on, starting to turn the knob to switch between stations. "Any preferences?" she asked.
"Not really," Azula shrugged. It was the truth, she was here just for the company. Everything about Katara was so soothing. She needed this, it was like a balm to soothe her wounds. "I might fall asleep at some point, though. I'll need you to wake me up if I do."
"You could just stay here for the night," Katara said. She then blushed slightly, as if she had said something inappropriate. "Like a sleepover thing, I mean. Only this time with less vomiting in the morning."
"Hah, you just had to remind me of that, didn't you," Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't want to risk a sleepover, though," she sighed. It sounded kind of fun. "My father will probably check up on me at some point and will call for a nationwide search if I'm not back in my room."
"Control freak," Katara muttered angrily. Azula decided to ignore her. Lately, Azula's utter and unquestioned devotion to her father had started to crumble ever so slightly. It had started with learning the truth about the fate of Ty Lee and her family, and it had been eroding ever since. The hardships of the past few months following her car accident had left their toll as well. The amount of physical punishment and psychological terror seemed disproportionate to what Azula saw as a small transgression. Ozai, however, took endangering of his most valuable property (and by that Azula didn't mean the car, she meant herself – which was exactly what she was, her father's prized property) very seriously and wanted to teach her a lesson to never endanger herself again. And still, despite all of her growing and bubbling resentment towards her father, she could not tolerate others openly disrespecting Ozai, even if Katara probably had a point.
"Wait, go back to the previous channel," Azula said suddenly.
Katara turned the knob counter-clockwise, switching back to the previous channel. "I didn't think this looked exciting," she shrugged. "It's just some shabby looking character in a dirty raincoat."
"I think this is a pilot for a new crime series," Azula replied. "I've been meaning to check it out. That shabby looking character in a dirty raincoat is actually a very bright and persistent detective."
"You're kidding me! He doesn't look like a detective at all. In fact, he looks really silly," Katara giggled, returning to the bed and settling in next to Azula.
"Ah, but that is what supposedly makes him so effective," Azula argued. "It makes the suspects underestimate him. Let's just watch and you'll see."
"You like watching crime shows?" Katara asked after they had been watching for a while in silence.
"They can be fun when the mood strikes me, but most of them are just too dumb for me," Azula replied. "This one definitely has promise, though."
"I feel the same," Katara said. "Gran-Gran doesn't like them, though. She prefers more… wholesome entertainment. Like 'Days of Our Lives' and 'Coronation Street'."
"But those are awful!" Azula exclaimed.
"I know," Katara sighed. "But it's Gran-Gran. After everything she has done for me and Sokka ever since our mother left us… well, I just don't have the heart to argue with my grandmother about what to watch on the TV."
Azula made a mental note about what Katara had said about her mother, but she decided not to pry just now. It was late and she was sleepy and unfocused. It seemed like there was a story behind Katara's words, but it was probably best left for another time. Azula instead decided to focus on the investigation of Lt. Columbo on the screen… only to be shaken awake some time later, as the credits were already rolling. "Didn't I tell you to wake me up if I fell asleep?" Azula snapped.
"Sorry," Katara sounded genuinely apologetic. "I was so immersed in the story that I failed to notice you had passed out. You were right, this was really good. Sorry you missed it…"
"Well, it doesn't matter. I'll just catch a rerun sometime later," Azula shrugged. "But I should probably return to my room before I fall asleep on my feet," she said, reluctantly climbing out of the bed, Katara following her up to the doors.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" Katara asked hopefully. "Yue and I have made some plans for the group. It would be great to have you with us."
Azula's heart sank a little, knowing that she was about to disappoint Katara. "Sorry… I've no idea what my father's plans are for tomorrow, but I expect I'll be busy," Azula said, once again deciding not to mention her own plans involving Jet. "I could try to stop by in the evening, though. If that's alright," she added hesitantly.
"Of course, it's alright," Katara smiled at her.
"Or, you could come up to the penthouse, that might be even more fun," Azula suggested. "Though you might have to be quick about hiding in a wardrobe in case my father decides to check up on me."
"Right," Katara rolled her eyes. The smile she then gave Azula was a little somber. "Goodnight, Azula," she said, leaning in to briefly hug her friend.
"Goodnight, Katara," Azula reciprocated the smile before turning to walk away.
Next chapter: Azula attempts the whole dating a boy thing with Jet. There might be complications.