Chapter 64
Azula arrived at the hotel restaurant ten minutes before the appointed time, already a shaking bag of nerves. It was fortunate that her opponent in the first round of the tournament had been some boisterous and incompetent schmuck unfit to polish her shoes, because Azula was certain that she would have lost to any reasonably competent player. The night before, she had managed to fall asleep only because between her and Mai they had emptied two thirds of the whiskey bottle. She hadn't dared to drink before coming to meet her father, though. Having her senses dulled by alcohol was not a good idea in the presence of Ozai Nakamura. She'd have to find another way to avoid becoming completely paralyzed by fear.
For her meeting with Ozai, Azula had chosen to wear a somewhat plain pantsuit, while applying only very little makeup. She did not want to do anything that would enhance her natural good looks. Once she was ready, Mai had taken her to the hotel, and now, here she was, arriving for a meeting with her monster of a father. Azula was carrying with her a brown document folder tucked under her left arm, something she had diligently put together over the past few months, all the evidence she had gathered, and finally, all the demands she would present to Ozai.
Upon entering the restaurant, Azula immediately freaked out and was about to turn around and flee when she noticed that the place was all but empty. A few nervous looking members of the waitstaff were milling about, however, and that just about managed to stop Azula from running off. She carefully looked around the place, spotting the very recognizable lonely figure of her father in the dining hall. Of course, she should have known that Ozai would make sure that the restaurant would be empty and there would be no witnesses to their conversation. At least the waiters were still around, and Azula could not see any of Ozai's goons lurking around in the dark corners of the hall, so she tried her best to fight back against the incoming panic attack, focusing on keeping her breathing steady. She really ought to have given Ozai the location only minutes before their meeting so that he couldn't have prepared any surprises in advance. Azula knew that she had made a mistake, but now that she was here, she was still determined to push through with her plan despite being deathly afraid.
As she approached her father's table, Ozai rose, smiling as he came towards her, opening his arms as if to hug her. "My sweet darling, you look as astonishing as ever," he said, frowning when she stopped and actually took a step backwards to avoid him touching her.
"Don't come near me," Azula exclaimed nervously.
"And why shouldn't I?" Ozai glared at her. "Can't a father show his daughter how much he has missed her?"
"Not if she doesn't want it," Azula replied defiantly. "Can we just sit and talk?" she pointed at the nearby table. "Or else I'm turning around and walking away."
Ozai looked angry and willing to push the issue. At the same time, Azula could see that her father was curious about what she had planned. "Fine, I'll indulge your pitiful display of defiance," Ozai eventually shrugged, sitting down and pretending to look bored. Azula sat down opposite to him, placing the document folder in front of her on the table. "I see you have brought your homework with you," Ozai remarked snidely.
"Indeed, I have," Azula nodded calmly. Now that the meeting was underway, she suddenly felt more in control. Simply focusing on her plan made it easier for her to handle her nervousness. "I have prepared some homework just for you, father. I think you will find it a fascinating read."
"This is not what I had in mind when I agreed to meet you. You are testing my patience, daughter," Ozai said sternly as Azula pushed the document folder towards him. He picked it up and opened it, starting to examine the documents inside. The first pages contained copies of the most damning reports compiled by Hakoda Enuaraq. Azula knew that her father would not be overly concerned about these reports, they alone certainly wouldn't be enough to get her what she wanted, but they were a nice supporting fire for the main canon which Azula planned to unleash a little later.
Ozai was a speed reader just as she was and it didn't take him long to digest the reports filed by Hakoda. Azula could see that her father was mildly annoyed by what he had read, but overall, he remained confident and rather unimpressed. "Since when are you so invested in the safety procedures of an oil platform?" Ozai asked her, a little mockingly.
"Since your lackeys have been throwing innocent, hard working people under the bus, all just to cover their own asses and protect the company," Azula replied.
"Is that so?" Ozai smirked. He stabbed one of the reports with the tip of his finger. "Enuaraq, that last name sounds familiar. I wonder… yes, I suspect this is a relative of that Water Tribe girl you have chosen to associate with. I'm going to make a guess that this is her father."
"That's right," Azula nodded. "And instead of trying to make him responsible for the oil rig accident, you're going to let him leave with a generous compensation."
Ozai looked amused at her words. "I might consider doing that as a gesture of goodwill," he grinned. "But only on the condition that you come back to me."
"That's not happening, father," Azula shook her head. "But please, keep on reading. Once you're done, you'll want to do more than just be generous to Katara's father."
"I doubt that reading more of these reports will convince me to do as you wish, Azula," Ozai snorted, but he still kept leafing through the documents, including copies of some of the threatening letters he had sent to her. Azula froze, eagerly anticipating the reaction of her father when he came upon the first photo of the damaged car in the Puffin Creek estate. She was not left disappointed. Ozai literally froze, blood drained from his face as he stared at the incriminating photo. He nervously browsed through the next pictures, more photos of the car, as well as of the mountain lodge guestbook, showing his signature and date next to it. "What is the meaning of this?" Ozai growled, as if trying to project strength, but Azula could see that she had managed to rattle her father.
"The proof that on top of everything else, you're also a murderer, father," Azula said simply. "I know that the reports by Katara's father are not particularly damaging to you personally, and you could always claim that the threatening letters you sent me are forgeries. The best I can do with those is to send the company stock plunging and have the investors call for your head. You would lose a lot of money, but you would survive it. But this?" she said, pointing at the picture of the old Pontiac. "This might not be admissible in the court of law, but if this came out, it would destroy your reputation permanently, and you know it."
Ozai looked at her, anger burning deep in his eyes. "What do you want?" he hissed, keeping his voice low. This was as good as an admission that she had won.
"Keep flipping through those pages, father. You'll find a nice little list of demands at the very end. I think you will find it very reasonable, considering everything," Azula said. She was desperately trying not to gloat, even if she felt like doing it. She had managed the rare feet of taking Ozai by surprise, and his shocked expression at seeing the car was all the proof that Azula needed. Her father knew it as well. Ozai seemed angrier at himself than at her, for having been caught unawares like this.
Ozai eventually made it through the documents to find the list of her demands. It really was quite simple. Azula had opened three bank accounts in the First National Bank of Ba Sing Se, one account for herself, one in Katara's name, and another one for Ty Lee. Ozai would make monthly payments to all three of them, ten thousand yuan to Azula, five thousand each to Katara and Ty Lee. It was absolute peanuts for Ozai, but Azula did not want more of her father's dirty money than a reasonable amount that would allow them all to live comfortably. There were more demands, of course. Ozai would stop trying to interfere in her life under the threat of her going public with all of her findings. Ozai would also make sure that Katara's father would not be implicated in connection with the oil platform incident, and Hakoda would be let go with a very generous severance package since he no longer had any interest in continuing to work for Nakamura Industries. Lastly, Ozai would remove Ty Lee's father from the job market blacklist where he still inexplicably found himself.
All in all, these demands would actually cost Ozai next to nothing. But Azula wasn't here to squeeze as much money out of her father as she could. She was here to reclaim her life so that she would be able to live it as she pleased. Azula knew that she, Katara and Ty Lee were entitled to a much larger compensation from Ozai, but at this point, she just wanted to sever all ties with her father and be done with him.
Ozai finally finished reading her list of demands, turning to regard her with an impassive stare. Azula saw right through it. Her father was pretending to be outraged, even though deep down he knew that Azula was letting him off very easily. Of course, Ozai still had to try and save face. He couldn't appear feeling relieved in this situation. "You have prepared well. I must admit, I am quite impressed," he admitted eventually. "But I suppose I should have expected this. After all, you truly are my daughter."
"Does that mean you're agreeing to my demands?" Azula asked. She didn't quite manage to avoid sounding nervous.
"I'll have to think about that," Ozai said. Of course, he was going to agree with her demands. He just wanted to toy with her for a bit, as a petty revenge for being outplayed, which wasn't something that happened to him often.
"There's not much to think about, we both know it," Azula shrugged. "Should you refuse, I will reveal it all. Your constant harassment has driven me to the point where I'm willing to go public about everything you did to me personally, including that."
"That was a misunderstanding," Ozai said quickly. "You completely misread my intentions. I would never do what you are accusing me of attempting."
"Please, spare me," Azula snapped. She felt sickened by his weak denial. "And know that I am prepared to sacrifice myself to destroy you, if that's what it takes. I've prepared multiple contingencies in case anything happens to me. Everything will still come out, father."
"I would never do anything to hurt you, Azula," Ozai said, disgustingly sweetly. "When will you understand that my love for you knows no bounds, my sweet darling?"
Azula felt a powerful gag reflex at her father's words, almost throwing up in her mouth. She rose from the table with the intent of leaving. Now that she had forced Ozai into accepting her terms, there was no point in staying and letting him poison her with his toxicity. "I think we are done here," she said sternly. "Just do the right thing and take the deal. If you don't take it, I'll make you regret it."
"I've raised a shrewd negotiator, indeed," Ozai snorted, also rising from the table. "I'll be honest with you, honey. I had doubts whether you would even want to meet with me after I killed the horses."
Azula felt her knees buckling under her at Ozai's words. "W-what?" she managed weakly. "What did you say about the horses?"
"I shot them back in September," Ozai said, clearly taking cruel delight in her distress. "Didn't you know? I've sent a letter with a photo. Why, it would appear that someone has been keeping the truth from you, honey. Perhaps your friends aren't being honest with you… something to think about, wouldn't you say?"
Azula wasn't really listening to her father anymore, although her mind did register what he was saying. Her friends had been keeping the truth from her and that was a betrayal Azula knew that she could not forgive. But right now, all of her anger was reserved for the monster in front of her. With a primal cry of rage, Azula launched herself at Ozai, aiming to scratch out his disgustingly smirking eyes.
Ozai was ready for her attack, however. He roughly shoved her aside, sending her crashing into a nearby table, turning to walk away all the while laughing to himself. Azula screamed again as she jumped up to her feet, grabbing a vase and launching it at her retreating father. It struck Ozai on the back, but he didn't even flinch at the impact, simply continuing on his way towards the exit. Azula was looking around for more things to throw at her father, but by then the two waiters had caught up to her, doing their best to restrain her.
Once Ozai was out of her view, having left the restaurant, all the fight went out of Azula. She immediately broke down, starting to sob, inconsolable about the loss of her precious horses. It seemed that Ozai had still found a way to mar her victory with one single damaging parting shot.
"This is the last time I'm letting you pick a movie," Katara complained as she sat with Yue in the hotel's bar, the pair sipping their Margaritas.
"Aw, come on, it wasn't that scary," Yue grinned at her. Katara had been holding Yue's hand in a death grip throughout most of their viewing of Rosemary's Baby, and on a few occasions, Yue had been forced to remind her friend to remember to breathe.
"It so was," Katara argued back. "I saw you averting your eyes a few times as well, so don't pretend that you weren't scared."
"Alright, I was a bit frightened. But it was still far less scary than I thought it would be," Yue shrugged. She them smiled mischievously. "You should watch some horror movies with Azula. I bet she doesn't get scared easily, so she could put her arms around you for comfort."
"Oh, shut up, you," Katara rolled her eyes, although she did blush at the comment.
"Are you still worried about her?" Yue asked in a more serious voice.
"Yes, although not as much as before. I probably won't calm down fully until I've spoken with Azula herself," Katara sighed. She had called Mai's apartment two days ago and had been relieved to hear that Azula's meeting with her father had been completely successful. But she had heard it from Mai, and not from Azula. Apparently, Azula had been taking a nap and Mai hadn't wanted to wake her. The following day, Katara had called again, and this time Mai had informed her that Azula had gone for a walk. It seemed a little weird to Katara that for some reason Azula was never around to talk to her.
"You can try again tomorrow, I guess," Yue shrugged. "But I think you're just being a bit paranoid, Kat. There's no foul play here, because then Mai would have to be in on it, and you can't seriously believe that."
"No… I suppose not," Katara admitted reluctantly. She couldn't shake off the feeling, however, that despite Mai's assurances that everything had gone well and Ozai had agreed to Azula's demands, something was not quite right.
"Okay, how can I get you to relax?" Yue asked, sighing and looking a little frustrated. "How about one more drink before we head back upstairs?"
"I suppose I could do with another Margarita," Katara nodded in agreement. "You shouldn't drink any more, though. You have a match to play tomorrow, I don't." With the first three rounds behind them, the two friends had enjoyed the first off day of the tournament together. It had mostly involved Yue trying to keep Katara's thoughts away from Azula, and making sure that she was distracted and able to relax. Katara rated the efforts of her friend as moderately successful, although she was very grateful for Yue's thoughtfulness.
"Now you're just being mean," Yue stuck her tongue out at Katara. "You know perfectly well that my next round opponent poses no danger to me, so I think I'm going to disregard your advice and have another Margarita."
"I am not a fan of overconfidence," Katara pointed out with a smile. She had to admit that Yue had been playing well, though. Her friend had also been stressed about Azula going back to the Fire Nation, but after Katara's chat with Mai, Yue seemed a lot more relaxed and the results spoke for themselves as she had scored three wins out of three. Of course, this didn't mean anything yet, because Yue was yet to play her main competitors, and the two Waska sisters as well as Siku Ikuma were all on three points as well. The job was far from done, and Katara was going to make sure that Yue remained focused and didn't treat this as a joke. Katara was determined that Yue simply had to be there for the next year's finals in Omashu.
A while later as the two girls were enjoying the next round of Margaritas while idly chatting the evening away, they were suddenly interrupted by someone unsubtly clearing their throat just behind them. Katara and Yue both turned around to face an impeccably dressed elderly man. Katara immediately recognized Arnook Taqqiq, Yue's father, although he looked to have aged noticeably during the past few years, his hair almost completely grey and hairline rapidly receding.
"Yue," Arnook bowed his head at his daughter. "Miss Enuaraq." Katara was pleasantly surprised to even be acknowledged by Yue's father. He hadn't always bothered with that in the past.
"Father," Yue said stiffly. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"I wanted to talk," Arnook said, sounding very somber. "Will you hear out an old and tired man, please?"
Yue looked uncertain. While Katara felt that Arnook's inaction when his daughter was being abused was completely outrageous, she didn't believe that the man was a monster of Ozai's proportions. He was Yue's only living family. The idea of her being all alone in the world just felt deeply wrong to Katara, so she reached out and gave Yue's hand an encouraging squeeze, together with a subtle nod of the head. "Alright, I will hear you out," Yue reluctantly agreed.
"I'll let you two speak," Katara said, rising to excuse herself.
"Thank you, Miss Enuaraq," Arnook smiled at her.
"Oh no, Katara is staying," Yue exclaimed, grabbing Katara's hand and pulling her back down into her seat. "Unless she's here to keep me grounded, I'll just become angry and end up screaming at you, father, because you really deserve it. So, you actually want Katara to be present," she added when Arnook looked ready to complain.
"I suppose I am in no position to make demands," Yue's father eventually agreed as he sat down with them.
"Katara is as good as my family to me, so try and remember that," Yue said firmly. Katara couldn't help but feel very warm at Yue's words. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about, father?"
"I wanted to start by apologizing, Yue," Arnook said. Much to Katara's surprise, he looked earnest. "I made a terrible mistake with you, and I know that it's probably too late to undo it, but I'll try to do better in the future. I was so focused on increasing the fortunes of our family and I completely failed to appreciate the greatest treasure in my life, which has always been you, my daughter. I know that I have never made you feel that way through my actions, and I regret that. I do not seek to offer excuses, but you remember your grandparents, don't you?"
"Yes, but it's not a memory I treasure," Yue snorted.
"Indeed, so you know that I was raised with very little parental warmth myself," Arnook continued. "And with your mother leaving us so tragically early, I was left to raise you the only way I knew, being standoffish and offering very little affection. I thought that distancing myself would somehow benefit you, because that was how I had been raised. And I never learned how to be supportive in a way you needed me to be."
"I could have dealt with you being a little cold, father," Yue replied sternly. "But you let Hahn get away with beating me senseless. That's beyond the pale. It goes well past simply not knowing how to be affectionate and supportive. I kept crying out for help, and you kept doing nothing!"
"I know. There is no excuse," Arnook lowered his head. "I should have been more outraged than I was. I don't know why I wasn't, and that shames me."
"If you don't have a genuine emotional connection with someone, it is harder to empathize with their pain," Katara spoke up. "The lack of warmth in the relationship with your daughter made it easier for you to dismiss her troubles."
"I… yes, that must be it," to his credit, Arnook did not appear angry at Katara's interruption. "Again, this is not an excuse. I am not here to beg your forgiveness, Yue. I know that I haven't earned it."
"That's correct, but why are you here then?" Yue asked.
"I wanted to tell you that I have reversed all the changes I made to my will after you fled to Ba Sing Se," Arnook said. "I have restored you as the sole beneficiary and heir to the Taqqiq family fortunes. There are no conditions to this. I am even willing to accept the fact that you prefer relationships that are normally frowned upon in our circles. The only important part is that you are the last of the Taqqiqs, Yue. It's only right that our family fortune, such as it is by now, passes over to you."
"Okay, that's a lot to unpack there," Yue said with a conflicted look on her face. "I guess you'll want a medal for accepting my bisexuality? How do you even know that about me?"
"You know that I have many friends in high places around the world, Yue, including Ba Sing Se," Arnook replied. "You were making no effort to get in touch with me. Can you blame me for making inquiries of my own?"
"Making inquiries? No, I don't blame you for that. I take issue with spying, though," Yue snapped. Katara had a suspicion that Arnook's involvement with Long Feng was at work here. Azula had tried to convince them that Long Feng's Dai Li agency was spying on them on Ozai's behalf. It seemed as if they might have been doing that on Arnook's behalf as well. Knowing that they were the target of a professional spy organization definitely felt deeply disturbing. "Anyway, I don't want your money, so I don't really care what you do with your will. I've learned to support myself perfectly fine," Yue said sharply.
"I'm aware of that," Arnook nodded. "I am very proud of the life you have carved out for yourself in Ba Sing Se, your studies and your work, you are truly thriving, Yue. It has made me realize that I was a fool for trying to arrange your life for you, when you have done a much better job of it yourself, given the freedom to do so. As for the inheritance… it will be legally yours to decide what to do with. If you will still feel angry at me by that point, it will be yours to give away."
"Uh… alright," Yue looked a little taken aback by that. Some of her anger seemed to have diminished, although not completely.
"And I know that you have learned to support yourself in your new life, but I am nonetheless willing to resume aiding you financially," Arnook offered. "I know you wouldn't want to feel dependant on my support. I am talking about a supplementary monthly stipend of a few thousand yuan, once again with no strings attached."
"I don't want-"
"You don't have to decide right away, Yue, there's no need to be hasty," Katara spoke up quickly, interrupting her friend. She firmly believed that Yue was entitled to some sort of compensation from her father. Besides, the estate fund could always do with a bit more cash. They were always dreaming of purchasing more and more things, not to mention that simply maintaining the place was a bit of a money sink.
"Yes, listen to your friend, Yue," Arnook nodded, looking hopeful. "Think about it and give me a call, alright? And don't hesitate to call me for any reason. I know that you are still angry at me, and rightly so, but I don't want us to remain complete strangers."
"Fine, I'll think about it," Yue sighed.
"That's all I ask," Arnook said, starting to rise from his seat. "Anyway, I don't want to overextend my welcome. Farewell to you both, and Yue, I wish you the best of luck with the tournament. I'm confident that you'll claim the top spot." And with that, Arnook Taqqiq walked away, leaving Yue and Katara sitting at their table.
"I have a feeling that it could have gone worse," Katara remarked a while later.
"No kidding," Yue snorted. "If you hadn't been here, I would have been tempted to really lay into him. I probably should have, because he certainly deserves it. Still…" she gave Katara a warm, grateful stare. "I think I did the right thing by listening to you and hearing him out. I don't know if I can ever forgive him, but he is the only family I have left. Perhaps I shouldn't shut him out completely."
"He seemed to have changed a little bit from the cold, aloof aristocrat that I remember," Katara remarked. "Maybe even men like him aren't beyond hope."
"Indeed," Yue said. "And all it took for him to see the light was a heavy hit to his personal finances. Funny how that works," she added with an emphatic roll of the eyes.
The days following her confrontation with Ozai were particularly painful for Azula. Any joy she might have felt about cornering her father and forcing him to agree to her demands, had been completely overshadowed by Ozai's cruel slaughter of her precious horses. Azula may have gained her highly coveted independence, but if the cost of it was measured in the lives of Goldflake and Innocence, she would have never agreed to pay that price. The pain was unbearable, and she was not coping with it well, indulging in a dangerous combination of her medication mixed with way too much alcohol.
The first two days after the talk with Ozai passed Azula by in a blur, and she was not surprised about losing her second and third round matches. She didn't even remember playing these games. Replicating them proved impossible because she couldn't make any sense of her own notations, and the only thing they told her was that she had been trying to play while heavily intoxicated. That had clearly been a disastrous idea, and now she found herself lagging way behind in the tournament standings, in danger of missing out on the U21 finals, but in light of what had just happened, right now Azula really struggled to care about Pai Sho.
Azula had sobered up a little during the sorely needed tournament off-day. Mai had by then caught on that she was on medication, and her friend had hidden all the booze she had at the apartment. Confronting the grief that she felt for her beloved horses instead of hiding behind the heavy veil of drunkenness was incredibly painful for Azula, but at least her mind felt clearer when the tournament resumed on the following day. She still was in no mood for Pai Sho, but because of her poor play in the previous rounds she had been matched with very mediocre opposition, and she was more than enough gifted to crush them even when playing with no motivation at all. With four points out of six, Azula was back in the running, but she had drawn Ruon-Jian Ogawa, Kei Lo and Chan Takahashi as her opponents in the final three rounds, so Azula was aware that she needed to get herself into a better frame of mind. That was easier said than done when her thoughts inevitably kept turning towards her poor horses.
If only she had known about the horses before her meeting with Ozai. She would have squeezed him so much harder with her demands, compared to the very light, undeservedly generous terms she had imposed on her father. Azula genuinely thought that her hatred for her father couldn't become fiercer than it already was, but after this… oh, she really wanted to hurt him now. She was determined to work towards that goal, whether it was by destroying Ozai at the Pai Sho board, or by destroying his public image in some other way.
Her ire didn't stop at Ozai, however. That she hadn't been told the truth about the horses stung. Azula briefly wondered who had actually made this decision not to tell her, but she was certain that Katara would have been involved in the decision making, and that thought hurt so much. Katara was always going on about mutual trust and being honest and open, and then she had failed to practice what she preached. Azula was fuming with anger when she thought about it. When Katara had called a couple of days ago and insisted on speaking with her, Azula had been forced to fight herself really hard not to start shouting on the phone. She had been very curt with her answers before excusing herself and disconnecting the call. Listening to Katara's soft voice filled with affection had been unbearable when Azula knew that she had been lied to.
And just as Azula dreamed of further hurting her father, she also felt a dark desire to lash out and do something to hurt Katara for lying to her. Mai had tried to stand up for her friends and she had argued that they had only tried to protect her, but that excuse had only angered Azula further and she had ended up yelling at Mai as well.
It was on the morning of the second off-day of the tournament when Azula came across something in the morning newspaper that gave her an idea. In the ad section of the Caldera Herald, Azula had stumbled upon a car wash ad, featuring a couple of highly attractive young ladies, clad only with patches of soapy foam in strategic places. Azula had been both surprised and amused to recognize one of the girls as her old flame, Zirin Sakai. She had heard about Zirin trying her hand at a modeling career, and it seemed that she was enjoying at least some success. Azula had immediately dug out the yellow pages and found Zirin's phone number. Working up the courage to call Zirin took more time, but still, later that afternoon she had finally decided to give it a try.
After a brief bit of waiting, Azula's call was answered by a familiar sounding voice. "Zirin?" Azula spoke up hesitantly. "Hi, it's Azula."
"Oh… wow!" there was a slight hesitation on the other end of the line. "Now there's a voice I didn't expect to hear. This is a pleasant surprise, Azula."
"Yes, I hadn't planned to call, but I just saw one of your ads in the paper," Azula explained. "It gave me the idea to reach out to you."
"I'm glad you did, I think this is a great idea," Zirin said. "Which ad was that? Was it the car wash one?" she giggled.
"Uh… yes," Azula blushed. "Anyway, would you like to meet up? If you're not busy, that is."
"That sounds great," Zirin sounded happy. "Where would you like to meet? I know this great gastro pub just around the corner-"
"I was thinking we could hang out at your apartment," Azula said simply. "I mean, unless that's inconvenient for you."
"Oh… okay," Zirin seemed a little taken aback at first, but then she recovered with a light chuckle. "No, that works just fine for me, Azula. Here, let me give you my address."
Next chapter: let's see if Azula and Yue manage to qualify for the finals. Oh, and I guess you'll probably want to know what happened between Azula and Zirin.