Chapter 53
"Anyway," Sokka said as he reached out to pour Suki some more of the cheap gas station wine which was pretty much all he could afford at this point. They were sitting in the tiny kitchen of Sokka's apartment, spending the second off day of the tournament together. "I'm sorry that things have been so hectic here with your job," he offered.
"Yes, I would have loved to spend more time with you, you know that, Sokka," Suki said. Sokka wasn't buying it, though. He had a strong suspicion that Suki had been evading him as a part of her effort to convince him to relocate to Ba Sing Se sooner rather than later.
"Well, we have some time left, don't we?" he smiled at her. "The tournament is only at the midway point. Besides, you'll have a day or two free after wrapping everything up, right?"
"I'm not sure how much free time I'll have, Sokka. Like I told you, since they didn't send any support staff with me, I literally have to do everything myself," Suki looked a little skeptical. "Of course, we could spend as much time together as we'd like if you just stopped being stubborn and moved to Ba Sing Se like you've been promising to do for a while now."
Sokka was relieved that Suki had finally just come out and said it, after passive aggressively dancing around the issue for a while now. He liked her a lot more when she was being a straight shooter. "I said in the summer, didn't I?" he replied calmly.
"Yeah, maybe," Suki shrugged. "There's literally no reason why you can't move sooner, though. Everything you have here, you could have in Ba Sing Se. We can even discuss pooling our resources together and renting a nicer apartment." She blushed a little at that. "I might be getting a little ahead of myself, there. Sometimes I'm left wondering if that's something you even want."
"Ouch," Sokka winced. "That's really unfair."
"Well, try to see it from my point of view," Suki shrugged, not looking guilty at all. "I'm nineteen. I want to have an actual relationship with my boyfriend instead of the occasional phone conversation and the promise of getting together sometime in the future."
"But you agreed that you'd be alright trying this for a while," Sokka frowned. He was trying to see things from Suki's perspective, he really was. Sokka supposed that his involvement with Yue had made him more adept at handling long distance relationships, while Suki didn't have that kind of experience.
"Yeah, well, trying is the key word here," Suki sighed. "We've been at this for a while now, and I'm desperately trying to tell you that it's not working for me. I want us to last, that's the only reason why I'm riding your ass so hard about this, Sokka."
"Okay…" Sokka managed, starting to panic a little. For some reason he had completely underestimated how serious this was for Suki. He could sense that she was frustrated, but this sounded almost relationship ending. "I want us to-" He was interrupted by the doorbell at that very moment. Sokka frowned, unsure of who could be bothering him at this hour. If there was any sort of crisis at work, Nuktuk would have just given him a call. "Sorry, I should probably see who it is," he said, rising from his seat and stepping out of the kitchen to open the front doors. As Sokka opened the doors, he was immediately confronted with the worried and pale face of his ex-girlfriend, Yue Adjuk, née Taqqiq.
"Hey," Yue spoke up softly. She was wearing her arctic fox fur coat on top of a beige wool pullover. Sokka was relieved to see that at least this time Yue didn't appear to be bearing any marks of domestic violence. "I really need to speak with you, Sokka," she said. "But I can come back later if now is a bad time."
It truly was the worst possible time ever for Yue to show up, but Sokka wasn't someone to turn away a girl in her hour of need. He had no idea how to explain Yue's sudden appearance to Suki, however, and neither would he be able to somehow keep Yue's presence hidden from his girlfriend. "I want to help, but this isn't the best-" he began to speak, at which point Suki emerged from the kitchen, immediately noticing Yue.
"Well, isn't this an interesting coincidence?" Suki looked stunned for all but a few moments. Then her expression became angry beyond description. "Wow, this explains so much."
"Suki, you're jumping to the wrong conclusions here," Sokka tried to argue.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea you were having your girlfriend over," Yue looked genuinely apologetic. "I truly did not intend to create a problem."
"Don't apologize for opening my eyes, Yue," Suki snorted, grabbing her coat and putting it on, ignoring Sokka's attempts to stop her from leaving. "I understand everything now," she snarled, shoving Sokka aside. "Yeah, now I get why you're so reluctant to leave Agna Qel'a."
"My decision had nothing to do with Yue," Sokka sighed. "This is literally only the third time I have seen her since moving to Agna Qel'a."
"Please, listen to Sokka," Yue implored the other girl. "We are not having an affair."
"Well, feel free to start one then, because I'm out of here," Suki said decisively, pushing past both Sokka and Yue as she left the apartment, stopping just past the threshold. "By the way, Sokka," she added, turning around to look at him. "There's actually someone waiting for me back in Ba Sing Se. Now, I've been telling Jet all this time that I already have a boyfriend and that I can't be with him, but guess what? He's going to get his chance now." With that, Suki spun on her heel and walked down the stairs.
"Suki, wait!" Sokka called after her in frustration. "Damn it!" he swore, clenching his fists.
"I'm… so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen," Yue whispered as she stood next to him. She was tearing up, looking greatly distressed.
"It's not your fault," Sokka replied automatically, but it wasn't a lie. After how his conversation with Suki had unfolded, it seemed like maybe this had been a long time coming. "I think your arrival merely hastened the inevitable, so don't feel bad about it," he said.
"Are you sure?" Yue asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, trust me," Sokka said, somehow managing to smile. "Come on, let's sit down and you can tell me all about your troubles," he added, moving to take Yue's coat.
"I really shouldn't burden you with my issues, I'm sure you have other things on your mind right now… as a result of my untimely arrival," Yue sighed, although she allowed Sokka to lead her into the kitchen and force her to sit down at the table.
"Believe me, I'd rather spend time listening to someone else talking about their problems than thinking about Suki," Sokka insisted. He poured himself more wine to take off the edge, though. He offered some to Yue, but she refused with a shake of her head, probably having noticed the cheap label on the bottle. "Anyway, let me guess. Hahn is back to his old tricks?" he asked.
"He hasn't been violent since the last time I came to you for help," Yue replied. "But I feel like it's just a matter of time."
"Sadly, I agree," Sokka nodded. "That seems to be a pattern with serial abusers."
"He's been playing pretty well in the tournament so far, which really irks me, to tell you the truth," Yue sighed. "Yesterday, after coming home, he started to boast and make all these bold proclamations about coming away with a medal. I should have kept silent and just nodded along, but you know me, Sokka. I don't know how to be quiet and obedient."
"Nobody should expect you to be something you're not," Sokka said earnestly.
"Thanks, I wish Hahn felt the same way, then perhaps I could make this work," Yue smiled at him. "Anyway, I mocked him a bit and then told him that there was no way he would finish ahead of Katara, Zuko or Haru. He got really angry. For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me right there and then. But instead, he just threatened me. He said that if he didn't end up winning a medal, he would instead make himself feel better by taking his anger out on me. He said that should motivate me to support him for once."
"Spirits, that guy is just an irredeemable asshole, isn't he?" Sokka sighed.
"I've tried so hard to see any good in him, I really have. And sometimes he can be quite sweet, but it never lasts," Yue said. "Anyway, I tried to remind him the promise he gave to my father, but he just laughed in my face. He said that my father doesn't give a crap about me, and that all he cares about is a share of the Adjuk fortunes, and sadly, I think he has a point. If I tried to walk away from Hahn, the marriage contract that my father signed with the Adjuks would mean that he would lose a great deal of his wealth."
"I really think you should reconsider your loyalty to your father at this point, Yue," Sokka told her.
"You're right about that," Yue nodded with certainty. "I've thought long and hard about what I should do, and I've come to a decision. If Hahn raises his hand against me one more time, I want to get out."
"What do you mean by that?" Sokka asked. He felt a little confused.
"I'm going to grab what valuables I can find and then I will just run away. It doesn't even matter where, I just want to get away from Hahn, from my father, from this entire situation," Yue sighed. "Once I'm in safety, I'm going to file for a divorce. I don't care if it ruins my father or not. He should have never placed me in this situation to begin with."
"Finally," Sokka let out a breath of relief.
"Yeah, I know, it took this idiot long enough to come around, right?" Yue rolled her eyes. "And yes, it's what Katara told me I should do literally years ago, and I should have listened to her, but I was determined to be an idiot, okay? I'm trying to do the right thing now, though."
"It's not too late for that," Sokka agreed with a smile. "Anyway, if you decided to run away, where would you like to go?"
"It really doesn't matter," Yue said. "I would have to get out of the Water Tribe territory, though. That's kind of what I wanted to ask you about, by the way. If… if I were to do this, could you get me out? I mean, I have a car, but I'm not comfortable driving anywhere outside the capital."
"I'd be happy to help," Sokka smiled. He then thought of something. "Ba Sing Se is a good place if you want to disappear. Nobody's going to find you there. And I'm sure that Katara would be happy to help you get settled in."
"Oh, no… no, let's not involve Katara in this, please," Yue paled a little, shaking her head. She then peered intently at Sokka. He immediately began to worry whether his expression had given something away. "Wait, you haven't told her about my situation, have you?" Yue suddenly asked with amazing perceptiveness.
"Uh… I kind of did a few days ago," Sokka admitted, lowering his eyes.
"Sokka! You promised me that you wouldn't!" Yue chided him. "I am so disappointed in you right now."
"Look, I'm sorry, but I just can't keep things from my sister, okay? We're trying to be serious about our no secrets policy," Sokka sighed. "Besides, your idea of not worrying her clearly wasn't working. As soon as she failed to spot you at the tournament, she began to worry about you again. I had to tell her the truth, okay?"
Yue let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, fine," she eventually gave in. "So, how did Katara react?" she asked.
"She was appalled, obviously," Sokka shrugged. "She wants to help you in any way she can."
"Oh, Katara," Yue sighed, shaking her head. "I was afraid that she would feel this way, even if I don't really deserve her help or her compassion."
"I think she would be really angry if she learned about you running away, but choosing not to go to Ba Sing Se and seeking her out," Sokka said. "Now that… that would really hurt her, I think. So, I suggest that you listen to my advice, Yue. Regardless of the mistakes you think you've made with my sister, she still cares about you, and I think that you could do with a friend like her right now. Don't throw away that opportunity, alright?"
Yue looked pensive and thoughtful for a good while, before smiling and shaking her head. "I guess what you're saying makes sense. I would be in Katara's debt for the rest of my life, though," she said. "But maybe that's alright. If I were to leave Hahn, I would literally have nothing else to do in my life other than paying off my debt to your sister."
"Well," Sokka said, taking a sip from his wine glass. "As far as I'm concerned, I hope that you do make the right decision, which is to walk away."
Yue nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with you there," she said. "It's starting to feel more and more tempting."
On the morning of the eighth round of competition, Katara felt very positive as she was getting ready for her match against Hahn Adjuk. Even though Hahn had been playing surprisingly well and was keeping in touch with the leaders with five points out of seven, Katara felt utterly confident about her chances and she was eager to give Hahn a well deserved trashing.
Following that awkward conversation with Azula, Katara had been in a much better frame of mind, and it seemed that it was the same for Azula. Nothing was set in stone, of course, but it still helped to know that where their feelings were concerned, they appeared to be on the same page. It seemed to have given them both a positive boost, an added hope for the future, and it had immediately reflected in Katara's style of play as she had absolutely demolished Ruon-Jian Ogawa in the previous round. Round 7 had also sprung the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. Teo had managed to defeat Haru, which had thrown the whole tournament wide open again. Zuko still hadn't lost any points and was threatening to run away with the title, but behind him, Katara, Haru and Teo were locked in a mighty struggle for the remaining two medals.
With Azula having departed a good quarter of an hour earlier to take her place in the press box, Katara quickly finished her own preparations before hurrying to leave her hotel room. She was in danger of being a little late for her game with Hahn only because she had spent so much time daydreaming about how amazing it was to see Azula smiling so much more as of late. It was a silly thing to get distracted by, but it also meant so much to her. Azula was generally too cynical to allow herself to hope for something good in her life, but she seemed to be getting a little carried away after their earlier conversation and Katara just couldn't help but find it absolutely precious.
Leaving her room and starting to walk down the corridor, Katara heard the chime of the elevator just ahead of her and she broke into a run, hoping to catch it before the doors closed. She made it just in time, barely squeezing into the cabin to join the two people already inside. As she hit the button for the ground floor, she briefly glanced behind her and shuddered slightly upon the realization that she was in the same elevator cabin with Chan and Ruon-Jian.
The two Fire Nation delinquents had so far been keeping a low profile, and they had also been playing quite poorly. Still, Katara had been making sure to avoid the pair at all costs because she feared that the two might be looking for retribution after she, Sokka and Yue had given them such a thorough and brutal beating back in Ba Sing Se. And now, she found herself in a tightly confined space with the two guys who had tried to engage Azula in non-consensual sexual act, and they had also tried to drunkenly drag her into it as well. It was no wonder that she was freaking out about being near these two assholes, but fortunately, it was just a short elevator ride and it wasn't as if the elevator would somehow accidentally get stuck, because that sort of bad timing would be just ridiculous.
Obviously, after Katara had thought about it, the elevator got stuck mere moments later. The blinking indicator suggested that the cabin had stopped somewhere between the second and third floors. Katara immediately found herself panicking, frantically jabbing at all the buttons at random, trying anything just to get the elevator to move again, but it was of no use. They seemed to be well and truly stuck.
"It's pointless," Chan told her as Katara was still trying to smash the buttons, so aggressively that she nearly chipped a nail. "Give it a rest. I'm sure they'll send someone right away to get this bloody thing unstuck."
Katara didn't reply, but she also stopped jabbing at the buttons. She merely stood there rigidly, trying to breathe deeply and calm herself, hoping that the two Fire Nation youths would not dare to use the opportunity to try something with her. Glancing behind her, Katara noticed that Ruon had made half a step towards her, and that was enough to make Katara freak out completely. She swirled around and backed away against the elevator doors, prepared to defend herself regardless how futile her efforts may be. "Don't come any closer, or I'll scream," she warned, glaring at Ruon-Jian.
"Ouch," the Fire Nation boy winced. "Deserved, I guess," he said. "I didn't mean to frighten you, though. I… we just wanted to… well, I would like to apologize, but we both know that what Chan and I tried isn't something that can be fixed by an apology. Instead, we both wanted to thank you, Katara."
"W-what?" Katara stammered. This was totally unexpected. "You're right, I am not going to accept your apology, and neither would Azula, I'm sure. But I don't understand what you're thanking me for."
"For stopping us just in time," Chan spoke up. "If we had done… what we tried with Azula," he looked a bit horrified as he spoke. "It would have come out sooner or later. And then Ozai Nakamura would have us killed, there's no question about that. You literally saved our lives."
"And if Ozai Nakamura wouldn't have put a hit on us, I think that if you hadn't stopped us, just knowing that we had done something so awful… it would have destroyed us from the inside," Ruon-Jian sighed. "It felt like good fun when we were stupidly pissed. But now I still sometimes throw up from the thought that I could have become one of them… you know, a rapist," he shuddered.
"Yeah, we're a bit older and less stupid now, so… I think we understand that we wouldn't have been able to live with ourselves," Chan nodded. "So, we owe you big time for stopping us from making the stupidest and worst mistake of our lives."
"What Chan said," Ruon-Jian agreed. "And if you're worried about that beating, we totally deserved that and more, so you don't have to stress about us looking for some payback."
"Oh…" Katara managed, still a little stunned from what she was hearing. "Well, like I said, I don't think I'm ready to forgive you two idiots," she said. "But I'm glad that you at least have learned the right lessons from it all, so… I guess that's a good thing."
"We know that we both dodged a bullet there," Chan said, sounding relieved.
"No kidding," Katara nodded. As she said those words, the elevator gave a soft chime and began to descend again. When the cabin doors opened at the ground level, Katara limited herself to a curt nod at the two Fire Nation youths before exiting and walking straight towards the hall where the matches were being played, knowing that she was at least five minutes late, if not more. She kept wondering whether she should have said something more encouraging to Chan and Ruon, but then she decided that she had done the right thing by remaining unforgiving. Figuring out that rape was bad and you shouldn't do it wasn't exactly something to hand out medals for.
Still, even getting spooked by Chan and Ruon-Jian, and then arriving breathless ten minutes late for the start of her game with Hahn, was not enough to take the wind out of Katara's sails. Hahn might have been playing very well at the start of the tournament, but he hadn't played anyone of Katara's caliber yet. Even slightly distracted and short on time, Katara took charge of their game from the very start. She developed her tiles with great confidence, no longer focusing on just one specific target, but hitting her opponent all over the board and not allowing Hahn a moment of respite. Hahn barely made it out of the opening, and he limped into the middle game already severely wounded. As the level of competition grew, games ending with the actual formation of harmony ring were a very rare occurrence. Usually, when it became clear that there was no way to prevent the formation of harmony ring, it was considered good manners to resign. But in their game, Katara managed to set up the execution so subtly that Hahn didn't even notice what was coming, and Katara was able to finish the game with a beautiful and quite embarrassing deathblow.
Hahn once again didn't take his defeat gracefully, refusing to shake her hand. His rudeness prompted Katara to make a snarky comment as Hahn was turning to leave. "I'm going to miss you next year, Hahn," she said, allowing herself the rare moment of gloating. "You were always good for an easy point in the standings for me." Hahn gave her a withering glare and stomped off angrily, leaving Katara grinning smugly. She then looked up at the press box, noticing Azula standing by the window and looking down at her, clapping and appearing impressed. Katara smiled and waved at her friend before turning her attention to the rest of the games that were still ongoing. It seemed like there would be no great surprises this round. Zuko was beating Teo and Haru was dominating Ruon-Jian. Also, Siku seemed to be on the precipice of defeating Ghashiun and scoring her third win, which made Katara feel very pleased.
Still, tomorrow a much more serious test awaited Katara, which was why she decided not to linger before returning to her hotel room. There was much preparation to be done together with Azula if she truly hoped to defeat Haru Tamang and make a bold claim towards walking away with some silverware at the end of the tournament.
Azula found the entire experience of visiting Agna Qel'a to be something of a rollercoaster ride. She had been frustrated and unhappy at first, but then that awkward beating around the bush conversation about their feelings with Katara had put her in a sort of a high she had never experienced before. It was seriously strange for Azula to find herself in such a positive frame of mind where all the horrible things she was dealing with felt so small and insignificant. Katara had made her aware of the fact that she really liked her, and that made even the memories of her father's assault easier to keep at bay. Over the past few days, she had been hardly thinking about her complicated and broken relationships with the rest of her family, or about her resolution to eventually face her father again and hopefully be able to gain true freedom and independence from Ozai.
Of course, this sort of walking on clouds sensation could not last, and in fact, as of late she had been slowly coming down from her high. Some of her old fears and insecurities were slowly starting to creep back, as Azula failed to completely shut down the door on this negativity. For example, even if Katara hadn't brought up Yue's name again since that time when they were hanging out with Sokka, Azula still had to think back at how determined Katara had sounded about helping Yue. If Yue somehow found her way back into Katara's life, Azula had no illusions which one of them Katara would and should choose. Azula knew that she came with so much baggage that it was unfair to expect Katara to stick with her. She was just fundamentally broken in so many ways, while Katara was so unfairly perfect. Katara surely deserved better, and it was a small miracle that she hadn't fled for the hills already.
At least Azula wasn't dealing with these darker thoughts all the time, which was still an improvement over her usual mindset. Those few days when she had been walking around in delirious happiness had felt quite weird and almost surreal. Azula felt like she almost didn't know how to deal with feeling so happy, so slipping back into some of her old patterns came with comfortable familiarity. Azula wished that she could just settle at a more balanced frame of mind, instead of getting tossed between extreme happiness and depression. A slice of happiness combined with a healthy dose of jaded realism, something that allowed her to enjoy the relationship she had with Katara, without building herself up too much for something that she probably could never have, that was what Azula was looking for.
All the time while dealing with her own emotional rollercoaster, Azula tried to make sure that she always remained focused on keeping Katara well prepared for her upcoming games. Azula was feeling very positive and confident from the way Katara was playing down the final stretch of the tournament. She had disposed of Ruon-Jian and Hahn with ease in the previous rounds, and now, facing Haru, Katara was putting all the strategies they had painstakingly devised to a very good use. It seemed to really help that Katara was earnestly convinced that Zuko had the gold medal well in the bag and that she was playing for the silver medal, because this way Katara was taking a lot of the pressure off herself. However, even if Katara didn't quite realize it herself, Azula was more than certain that Katara was actually playing for the tournament win. And defeating Haru in their currently ongoing game was a crucial step on the way towards overall victory.
Azula had come to truly appreciate how complete Katara's game had become, especially when she was playing relaxed and with confidence. In the past, Katara had shown way too much deference when playing her seniors, giving players like Haru and Zuko far more respect than they deserved. That was no longer the case, and Katara was no longer content with playing second fiddle to Haru in their game. She took an active role from the very start and gradually chipped away at Haru's position with every move she made. Haru attempted to counter several times, but Katara quickly nipped all such attempts in the bud, and as the middle game slowly proceeded towards its conclusion, Katara appeared to have gained a solid advantage.
Of course, Haru Tamang was an above average talent, and he wasn't going down without a fight. As the endgame approached, Haru attempted a very clever and complicated combination to lure Katara into exchanging her more active tiles and more or less force a draw. For a while, Azula earnestly thought that Katara had missed Haru's intentions. Azula had gone completely rigid and her fingernails had dug into her palms so hard that she had nearly drawn blood, Suki placing a calming hand on her shoulder to make her snap out of this state of extreme anxiety. It turned out that she had no reason to worry. Katara had seen through Haru's attempt, and she evaded it with great skill, exploiting the by now further weakened position of her opponent. Haru stopped his struggles a few moves later, conceding his defeat.
As Azula watched Katara and Haru shaking hands, she realized perfectly well what this victory meant, and she also knew that Katara could no longer delude herself that she was not in the running for the gold medal. Katara would face Zuko in the penultimate round before closing out the tournament with a more or less assured win over that tattletale bitch Joo Dee. If Katara won against Zuko in the next round, they would have the same amount of points, but Katara would place ahead of Zuko because she would have won the game between them. So, the plan now became crystal clear. With the third and final off day of the tournament coming up, it was crucial to keep Katara relaxed ahead of the decisive head to head. If Katara could keep her nerves reigned in, Azula firmly believed that she possessed all the necessary goods to defeat Zuko, and Azula was willing to bet any amount of money on it.
Next chapter: Katara faces Zuko as we wrap up another year of competition.