Chapter 72
On a quiet midday of early July, Katara found herself alone at the Ba Sing Se estate. Azula and Yue had decided to hit a beauty salon, and they had tried to drag Katara along with them, but Katara hadn't been in the mood for it. Ty Lee was away, doing some errand in connection with the search for her sisters, while Sokka was at work, leaving Katara alone to do some dinner prep for later in the afternoon.
For the second time in three years, Katara was not attending the Lake Serpent summer Pai Sho camp. This time the reason for it was that there simply was no camp to attend. Uncle Iroh was busy attempting to qualify for the main world championship event, and the qualification tournament would last until mid July. Katara and Yue had made a strong push to still go ahead with the camp with them taking over until Iroh got back, but Azula's uncle had shot their idea down, and even though the two Water Tribe girls had argued bitterly, they were later forced to accept that it had probably been the right decision. They wouldn't even turn twenty until later in September, so for them to be saddled with this much responsibility was risky. Kids were kids, and accidents happened. Iroh did not want them to face some tough consequences in case someone got badly hurt at the camp.
They still planned to go on a little vacation at the Serpent's Lake estate for the two final weeks of July, but this was meant to be pure pleasure and indulgence, and had nothing to do with Pai Sho. Yue had already informed the Pai Sho students she was tutoring about her upcoming break, Ty Lee had reserved vacation days from the Jasmine Dragon, while Azula was quitting her waitress job altogether. It wasn't that she disliked it or anything, but with her second study year approaching, she had secured herself a work placement with the Ba Sing Se Herald, and being the overachiever that Azula was, she had decided to start a month early, before the study year had even begun.
Katara's own studies were progressing well enough, and she was now comfortably among the best students of her class. The only course that had challenged her this year had been statistics, but once again, Azula's help in conquering her bogeyman had been indispensable. As for Azula and Yue, both of them encountered no problems whatsoever in their first study year, and they both seemed more than happy with their chosen subjects of study. In fact, Yue was so taken with her prospects of becoming a fulltime teacher that she no longer felt certain that she even wanted to pursue a professional Pai Sho career, at least not as a long-term occupation. Azula was determined not to give up on her dream, but then again, her path of investigative journalism seemed more suitable for combining with playing Pai Sho at the highest level. Katara was a little indecisive herself. She knew that a professional Pai Sho career was not something she wanted to pursue for several decades, but at the same time, she wanted to at least give it a good shot before she moved on to do something else.
Katara was relieved that their wild three-way tryst in Omashu hadn't caused any negative consequences. While Katara had treasured that particular experience, a part of her had been deeply worried that it would cause some kind of a shift in their relationships. She had in particular been worried about having upset the relationship between Yue and Ty Lee, and perhaps causing Ty Lee to become jealous and resentful towards her and Azula. Despite Azula's reassurances that it wouldn't be in Ty Lee's nature to resent them, Katara had still been watching out for any signs, relieved when she spotted none. It seemed that the relationship between Ty Lee and Yue had remained unaffected, and the pair continued to have a lot of fun together. Despite Katara's prodding, Yue absolutely refused to disclose what unspecified favor Ty Lee had cashed in from her in exchange for permitting Yue to have sex with Azula and Katara. However, Azula had apparently spied a pair of spanking paddles in Ty Lee's room, and Katara remembered one May morning when Yue had absolutely refused to sit down for some odd reason. Suddenly, everything clicked into place.
Katara had been less worried about their wild threesome having an effect on her relationship with Azula, or changing the way Yue felt about either of them. They had gone through fire and water together, and their bond felt unshakable. Without their shared past hardships, Katara would have probably ended up obsessing about the thought that Azula might decide that she preferred Yue to her. Similarly, if Azula didn't have such a firm bond with her, she would have likely freaked out about losing Katara to Yue. However, they had by now reached a stage of transparency where most of these fears had been allayed. Katara and Azula both loved Yue deeply, in a similarly powerful but not quite the same way as they loved each other, and Yue loved them back. There was no reason for anything to change, because they all already had exactly what they wanted. That night in Omashu hadn't been just about mindless and hedonistic pleasures. It had meant a great deal for all three of them emotionally, bringing them closer in more than just the literal physical sense.
Something that did concern Katara slightly was that Yue still seemed to prefer her for their more emotional heart to heart talks, with Azula being her second choice. After Omashu, the emotional bond between Yue and Azula appeared to have deepened even more, and while on its own, Katara thought that it was a wonderful development, she was worried about Ty Lee eventually starting to feel left out, and she probably felt a bit excluded already because she wasn't a part of their shared Pai Sho world. Katara had tried to encourage Yue to open up more with Ty Lee, and she believed Yue's insistence that she was trying her best, but it seemed that there were some areas where they just couldn't find the necessary connection. And Katara could understand the difficulties they were facing, because Ty Lee did not know anything about Pai Sho, she didn't find it interesting in the slightest and she often treated it as a hobby that her friends would eventually grow out of. Making light of something that Yue, Katara and Azula were so heavily invested in emotionally was a hurdle that didn't seem like it could be easily overcome.
And as much as Katara had been trying to encourage activities that would make Ty Lee feel included, the reality was that their Pai Sho practice and sparring sessions ate up a lot of time, time which they spent exclusively between the three of them. Katara simply couldn't stop worrying that it was something that would start to gradually annoy Ty Lee, but there were no solutions that Katara could think of. They couldn't simply start practicing less to the detriment of their Pai Sho careers. Azula and Katara didn't want to even consider excluding Yue from their practices. That would have felt extremely rude and insulting, and would have probably had a very damaging effect on Yue's performance. These were not steps that Katara would ever consider even if Ty Lee began to show some resentment about how much time the three of them spent together. In order to try and ease any potential tensions, Katara had tried to forge a closer bond with Ty Lee herself. Ever since clearing up the initial misunderstandings, they had been on very friendly terms, but never quite close enough for Katara's liking and she was aiming to somehow remedy the situation.
The repercussions from Omashu had come in an entirely different and unexpected way, in the shape of an official investigation launched by the International Federation of Pai Sho. Apparently, the outcome of the U21 world championship was considered controversial and someone had decided that their three-way tie was just a little too convenient and possibly prearranged. Upon learning the news, Azula had immediately declared that her father's fingerprints were all over this petty little act of revenge, and Katara had been forced to agree. A commission made up from some of the best grandmasters had been established to look into their games more closely.
After deliberating for most of May and half of June, the commission eventually declared that it could not convincingly establish that they had cheated, so the results had been allowed to stand. Still, by this point their names had already been dragged through the mud, just because of being investigated. A lot of journalists on Ozai's payroll, or simply wanting to get into Ozai's good graces, had been all too willing to write smear pieces about all three of them. And of course, their acquittal had barely earned any mention in the press. Suki had been one of the few who had vociferously derided the whole investigation as a sham, and then signal boosted the investigation results as much as she had been able to. Azula, Katara and Yue still took a reputation hit from the whole affair, but they were intensely grateful to Suki for her support and had ended up sending their friend a lavish gift basket.
This wasn't the only controversial event involving the International Federation of Pai Sho. At the start of June, the groups of the qualifying tournament for the world championship finals had been drawn. To nobody's surprise, Ozai drew Iroh and Zuko in his group, while Bumi, Pakku and Gyatso somehow ended up in another group, with only one ticket to win among the main competitors of Ozai Nakamura. After many years of facing dishonest draws, this was finally the straw that broke the camel's back and Bumi, Pakku and Gyatso made public statements, officially withdrawing from competition in protest. At that, Ozai must have gotten cold feet, because the groups were then hastily redrawn, slightly more fairly. Azula speculated that Ozai could have still gotten away with his cheating, but he definitely did not want people to start talking about how he had manufactured an easy path to the title for himself. In the end, Bumi, Pakku and Gyatso were happy with the new draw, and the qualifiers were ready to commence.
Curiously, even on the redraw, Zuko and Iroh had ended up in the same group as Ozai. Azula suspected that her father was eager to destroy and publicly humiliate his son and his brother, so he had still made sure to secure this outcome. This particular qualifying tournament was also taking place in Caldera City, so Iroh and Zuko both were currently away deep in the enemy territory. They had started the tournament with two wins apiece, but neither of them had faced Ozai yet. Despite Katara desperately hoping that Iroh and Zuko between them could somehow trip up Azula's monster of a father, she had to agree that Azula's pessimistic outlook was probably merited. Iroh and Zuko were not merely facing the arguably best player in the world, they were doing so with a hostile crowd booing them, constantly being under a lot of pressure.
Katara was still thinking about the predicament of Zuko and Iroh, stuck in the faraway Fire Nation as she sat down to begin peeling a bunch of potatoes. Katara was about one third through her task when she heard the estate doors opening and someone entering. Leaning back, she could just about see the foyer from her seat in the kitchen.
"Hey, Ty!" Katara greeted the other girl, Ty Lee entering the estate while carrying a large brown envelope with her.
"Hi Katara!" Ty Lee replied before dashing upstairs. Katara found that a little odd. Ty Lee was a highly social creature, even more so than Katara herself. Katara was not hugely close with Ty Lee, but even so the other girl usually stopped by to talk to her, sometimes getting seriously carried away. That Ty Lee would not come into the kitchen to chat with her was definitely uncharacteristic for Ty Lee. Also, Katara wasn't sure why, but that brown envelope worried her for some reason. There simply seemed to be something wrong and unpleasant about it, despite how silly that sounded.
Katara continued with the drudgery of peeling the potatoes, getting close to finishing her task, while at the same time hoping that Ty Lee would come back downstairs and talk to her. It didn't seem like that was going to happen, though, and Katara was starting to grow a little concerned, wondering if she should go and check on their friend. Again, Katara hadn't quite yet bonded with Ty Lee, and among the foursome, theirs was probably the emotionally weakest link. Katara genuinely liked Ty Lee, it was impossible not to, even if Katara usually didn't get on too well with the overly bubbly personality types. Still, Katara had been looking for ways to forge a tighter bond with the perky wannabe gymnast. It hadn't happened yet, but… maybe now was a good opportunity for it?
Despite Ty Lee having greeted her in a cheerful voice, Katara couldn't help but feel that the other girl had been upset when she returned to the estate. Katara quickly finished peeling the remaining potatoes, cleaned up a bit, and then ran upstairs to Ty Lee's room, knocking lightly on the door and then daring to poke her head inside when she received no reply. Ty Lee was sitting on the bed with her back turned towards Katara, staring at the opened envelope next to her and several items retrieved from it. Ty Lee's shoulders were shaking slightly, the clearest sign that she was crying and most certainly in need of comforting, prompting Katara to act.
Katara walked up to the bed and sat down next to Ty Lee, wordlessly embracing the other girl from behind, simply holding her for a while. Katara had by now realized the reason for her instinctive aversion to the envelope. She had seen a similar one before, not too long after her mother had died. The memory of that event was making Katara tear up as well. Her attempts at comforting were not going quite as intended, because instead of helping Ty Lee calm down, they were now both weeping openly.
"Katara, why are you crying?" Ty Lee managed in between her sobs. "You didn't even know Ty Liu…"
"I simply recognized the envelope," Katara replied, still sniffling mightily. "I know what getting one of those means."
"You do?" Ty Lee sounded surprised, for a moment forgetting to cry. "Oh, right… Azula told me that you lost your mom while you were very young. I've never told you how sorry I am about that."
"That's okay, Ty Lee," Katara smiled sadly. "I remember the day when that walrus-looking police officer came around to our house and instead of bringing the news about apprehending the murderer responsible for my mom's death he just gave us the envelope with my mom's personal effects and informed us that they won't be needed as evidence."
"Yeah," Ty Lee sniffled. "They said something like that to me as well."
"I remember that my mother's favorite necklace was in that envelope when dad opened it. He broke down upon seeing it again," Katara said, aware that she was about to revisit a memory she always desperately tried to suppress just because it was too painful. "It was a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. I really loved it and I constantly badgered my mom about letting me wear it, but she told me that it would pass over to me once it was her time to depart. Like a complete idiot, I remember myself whining that I didn't want to wait so long. Little did I know what was about to happen."
"My goodness, Katara, that's horrible! I'm so sorry!" Ty Lee cried, hugging her again. "You must have been so sad!" she added the understatement of the year.
"I wasn't just sad. I was furious with myself. I thought I had almost like… willed my mom to die. Which obviously wasn't true, but… you probably know what I mean," Katara sighed. "Then my dad gave the necklace to me. I don't blame him for thinking that it was the right thing to do. I mean, it was supposed to pass over to me, but after everything that had happened, I didn't want to see or touch that necklace ever again."
"What did you do with it?" Ty Lee asked in a shaky voice.
"I threw it away, and I haven't bothered to look for it since," Katara replied. "But… I think I'm ready to wear it now. I have a vague idea of where up in the attic I threw it. When I go back to Cape Kuruk for the winter holiday, I'll try to find it."
"You should have something of your mum," Ty Lee nodded approvingly. "Unless it hurts too much to look at it, but you said that you're ready to wear it now, and that is good."
"Yes," Katara smiled. "Yes, it's better now," she nodded, looking past Ty Lee's shoulder at the items that the other girl had pulled out of the envelope. There was plenty of cheap jewelry, a keychain, a few coins, cute purse with cat ears, a few hairpins and not much more than that. Katara found it incredibly depressing that so little could remain of a person that had once been a part of someone's life. It was making Katara's heart constrict with pain and sympathy towards the other girl. "Can you tell me what happened with Ty Liu?" she asked softly.
"She overdosed," Ty Lee sobbed, letting Katara hug her again. "That happens all too often on the streets. The investigator I hired was going through the list of all the recent Jane Doe's and… well, he thought there was a match. I had to go and identify my own sister. I couldn't just do it by her belongings. I would have never recognized this stuff as Ty Liu's. They showed me pictures of my dead sister before she was cremated, Katara. I had to look at the face of my own dead sister… it was awful!" she broke down, shaking really hard. Katara held her very tightly, not saying anything, simply letting Ty Lee weep her heart out.
At least Katara had never been called to identify her mother. If it had been necessary, the task would have been handled by her father. Still, the open casket funeral had been devastating enough. Her mother had looked so peaceful. All the damage caused by the impact of the car had been carefully masked. Kya looked like she was merely sleeping, but to look at her mother's face while knowing that she was partly responsible for what had happened was more than Katara could bear. Katara had wanted to rip her own heart out of her chest and bury it with her mother's casket. She had known that the pain of that day would stay with her for life, and ten years later, she was still being proving correct.
"I'm so sorry, Ty Lee," Katara spoke in hushed tones as the other girl slowly began to calm down. "Do you think it would help if you were to tell me something about Ty Liu? What was she like?"
Ty Lee sniffled, wiping away most of her tears. "When you grow up in a family of seven sisters, it's really hard to remember something unique about each and every one of them, you know?" Ty Lee began. "I told Azula that I walked away from my family because I felt that it was my fault that they were struggling and that I wanted to make it easier for my parents to provide for my remaining sisters. But what I didn't tell Azula was that I had always dreamed about running away from my family. Being a part of a matched set of seven was just so stifling, you know? How do you distinguish yourself in a pack? Can you even be unique in any way under those circumstances? But I wanted to be unique, and that's why it was so easy for me to walk away."
"That wasn't my experience growing up, but I think I can understand how that would make you feel," Katara nodded.
"Thanks," Ty Lee smiled gratefully. "I think it was simply my long-winded way of saying that I actually don't remember much about what Ty Liu was like, and that just makes it so much worse. I know that she had the sweetest teeth from all of us, and she always tried to steal everyone else's dorayaki. She was the one who always tried to feign illness to get out of school. She once drew red dots all over her body, trying to convince our mother that she had measles. My mom actually fell for it and then made us all stay at home because she didn't want us to spread measles to our schoolmates. But Ty Woo and I, we both really loved going to school, and we got mad and told on Ty Liu to our mom. There was a big fight after that," Ty Lee smiled dreamily at the memory. "Living with my sisters was really chaotic, but it was also kind of fun. Now I actually regret having left."
"Is that why you're trying to find your remaining sisters and bring the family back together?" Katara asked.
"Yeah, and also because we actually have money now, and I suspect that those of us who left the nest are struggling far more than our parents are," Ty Lee said. "But now I'm not so sure if I want to keep looking for Ty Lum and Ty Woo. So far all I have found is pain and heartache."
"I'm sorry, Ty Lee. I know that things with Ty Lat didn't work out as you had hoped, but at least you know that she's safe," Katara said. Ty Lee had found her sister Ty Lat a few months ago, living in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. To Ty Lee's shock, she had discovered that her sister was married to a man much older than her, in his late forties and slightly older than their father. Ty Lee had been seriously disturbed by it and had expressed her disapproval, but Ty Lat had not taken it well at all, telling Ty Lee to get lost and never bother her again. Ty Lee had been very upset, and she had hired a PI to look into her sister's creepy old husband. Much to her consternation, the private investigator couldn't find anything nefarious going on. It seemed that Ty Lat was not being mistreated in any way, and appeared quite happy and content. Ty Lee had been forced to back down. The age gap may have been icky in her opinion, but there was nothing illegal about Ty Lat's union with this older man.
"Sure, I guess," Ty Lee sighed. "But like I said, it has turned me off from searching any further. I'm afraid of finding something awful about Ty Lum and Ty Woo. What should I do, Katara?"
"I can't make that decision for you, Ty," Katara said softly. "You have to decide for yourself what you prefer, the blissful ignorance or the truth which might be painful, but might also be rewarding and reunite you with your two missing sisters."
"Damn, that's a tough choice," Ty Lee sighed. "I think I need to keep looking, though. I think that if I stopped looking, I would later not forgive myself for giving up."
"I'm glad you made the brave choice, Ty Lee," Katara smiled, affectionately rubbing the other girl's shoulder. "I'm proud of you. And sure, there could be pain down the road, but that's why you have your friends. Yue will always support you, and you can talk to Azula… and you can also talk to me, if you wish."
"I'd be happy to, Katara," Ty Lee smiled. "Both Yue and Azula have been telling me how good you are with all this emotional stuff, and I had been hoping to talk to you before, but I just kept getting cold feet, and I also didn't know how to approach you. Whenever I open my mouth, usually words just come out and form random messes, and I got the feeling that you were kind of annoyed with my babbling."
"I've never been annoyed with you, Ty Lee, that's way too strong of a word," Katara shook her head. "I'm happy to talk to you at any time." It was definitely true that Katara had occasionally felt a bit frustrated by Ty Lee's babbling, but she hadn't been seriously annoyed at any point. Besides, that was all now changing because of this conversation. Katara had finally caught a glimpse behind the surface of bubbly happiness and she had been exposed to the pain and the scars of the endured hardships that Ty Lee's happy go lucky attitude masked so well. There was a depth of emotion here as well, but it was just hidden in a different way than with Azula or Yue. Katara felt herself immediately becoming closer with Ty Lee, and it felt like Ty wanted to have a bond with her as well. This was exactly what Katara had been looking for, even if she wished that they had never needed to have this conversation about the death of Ty Lee's sister.
"By the way, the investigator gave me a possible lead on Ty Woo," Ty Lee said with a hopeful smile. "Now that you've convinced me to continue searching for my sisters, would you like to come with me to check it out at some point?"
"I'd be happy to, Ty," Katara returned the smile. "If you're absolutely sure that you wouldn't rather have Yue with you," she added.
"I hang out with Yue enough as it is, besides, she's not too fond of digging for leads all over the Lower Ring, the place makes her really nervous," Ty Lee said. "And I've been hoping to do something just with you, so that we could maybe get to know each other even better. I just, uh… could never figure out how to bring it up."
"Yes, I've been looking for this kind of opportunity as well," Katara admitted with a smile. "And I suppose I can see how the Lower Ring would put off both Azula and Yue, but that's alright. I'm happy to ride shotgun in your investigation, Ty Lee." The embrace which followed was all the proof that Katara needed, suggesting that she was well on her way in forming a tighter bond with the final member of their little group of four.
Iroh Nakamura carefully considered the situation on the Pai Sho board, not liking what he was seeing. He had gone into this match with his brother expecting a very tough challenge, facing Ozai for the first time in more than ten years. The level of the actual challenge he was in for was quickly exceeding all of his expectations.
The qualification tournament held in Caldera City was short but brutal. Six highly skilled professional players played each other twice, ten rounds in total, with only the winner going through. Iroh had gotten off to a good start, winning his first two games, but so had Zuko and Ozai. Together with Zuko, they had analyzed Ozai's first two games ad nauseam, failing to find any obvious weaknesses to exploit. The injuries Ozai had sustained two years ago clearly had not slowed him down any.
For that reason, Iroh and his nephew had agreed to try and employ delaying tactics. In this case, it was to try and slow Ozai down by playing for draws, and then hope that towards the final rounds of the tournament, Ozai might make a mistake under duress. He was the tournament favorite and everyone expected him to qualify with ease. Iroh and Zuko were the clear underdogs, hoping to trip him up.
However, employing this tactic was easier said than done. Ozai was playing very aggressively from the very onset, and Iroh's hopes for a slow-paced and ponderous affair had been dashed early on. He'd been taking one punch on the chin after another throughout the entire game, as Ozai was clearly toying with him before putting him out to the pastures. Eventually, Ozai seemed to grow bored and began applying extra pressure that forced Iroh to resign on the thirty-sixth move.
"Good game, brother," Ozai smirked at him as they shook hands. "Is this why you decided to make your comeback, Iroh? To be embarrassed by my hand in front of the Pai Sho world?"
"It's nice of you to show such concern for my reputation, little brother," Iroh replied, refusing to take the bait. "But I think I'll be alright. Besides, the tournament has only just begun."
"Wise words, Iroh," Ozai smiled, but it was a cold and predatory smile. "Thank you for reminding me that I'll get to humiliate you again in a few days. After I have crushed and annihilated what remains of the spirit of my wayward son."
Iroh was having a hard time composing himself at these words. He couldn't care less when Ozai was making digs at him. Iroh placed himself above such petty insults. Zuko was another matter entirely. Ozai had already caused so much damage during the first twelve years of the boy's life. Iroh hated the idea of Ozai having the opportunity to do even more damage. Zuko had such high hopes of proving himself against his father, but Iroh was starting to have a bad feeling about this. With the way Ozai was playing in this tournament, Iroh was worried that Zuko was in for a crushing disappointment.
"Gloat all you want, Ozai," Iroh said stiffly, turning away from his brother. "We all get what we deserve in the end, and that includes you." Ozai merely laughed at that before he too walked away, looking amused.
A brief while later, Zuko walked up to his uncle, looking angry and annoyed, despite having won his third game in a row. "I'm sorry, Uncle," he sighed in frustration. "That must have been hard to take," Zuko said, referring to the game Iroh had just lost.
"It wasn't pleasant, but at least we have your victory to celebrate," Iroh attempted a smile.
"You know that it doesn't mean much," Zuko shrugged. "Unless we can take points away from my father, he's just going to cruise through, and I can't stand the thought of that."
"Yes, your father cruising to victory is not something I look forward to witnessing," Iroh nodded in agreement. His game with Ozai had been illuminating in a way, and perhaps the reality check they had needed. It made Iroh realize that he probably wouldn't be able to handle Ozai's aggressive style when they met for the second time. Iroh was aware that his game had lost some of its spark. Zuko was less cautious and his defense was not always sound, but his style of play was very dynamic and Iroh was sure that Zuko stood a much better chance against Ozai than he did. "We'll have to be even smarter about this if we want to stop your father, Zuko," Iroh said.
"I thought being smart was already our plan," Zuko replied. "What do you mean, Uncle?"
"I mean that today I realized that I just don't have the tools with which to stop Ozai," Iroh let out a sigh. "We have to pin our hopes on you, Zuko. And because of that, we can't have a situation where I take points off from you in the games between the two of us."
"You can't throw a game in the world championship qualifier!" Zuko protested speaking louder than it was wise to do. "There's so much scrutiny, someone will notice!"
"They won't if we script it well," Iroh smiled. "It's the smart thing to do, Zuko. This way we also get you extra time of prep for your father. We don't have to do any prep for our game, merely memorize the moves of my scripted defeat."
"I am not okay with this, Uncle, it doesn't feel honorable," Zuko shook his head.
"Zuko, do you want to defeat your father or not?" Iroh asked simply. Zuko sighed and gave him a quick nod. "I thought so, in which case, just trust me and do what I tell you."
"Alright," Zuko replied, still looking conflicted. "You've never steered me wrong before," he said. "This is not the time to start questioning my faith in you, uncle."
"Good," Iroh nodded simply. "Then let's return to the hotel. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
Next chapter: Iroh and Zuko try to stop Ozai, Aang and Toph visit Ba Sing Se, and there are some shocking developments on the political scene of the world.