Chapter 79

Azula was relieved that following their return from the Kyoshi Island, drama did not persist at the International House of Lesbians. Azula had still felt awful watching Ty Lee pack up her belongings and leave, despite how many assurances her old friend had made, promising that she would stay in touch. To Azula, it all felt as if she was watching Ty Lee disappear from her life for the second time, even if the rational part of her mind insisted that she was overreacting. Ty Lee ended up moving in with Ty Woo and her girlfriend in their smaller Lower Ring apartment, and a couple of weeks later they had scoped out a nice and affordable Middle Ring dwelling. Azula had visited Ty Lee at her new apartment earlier this week and she had to admit that the place was actually quite pleasant. The apartment was facing one of the Middle Ring parks and even had a pastry shop on the ground floor of the building.

It didn't seem as if Ty Lee was too broken up about splitting with Yue, or at least if she had been upset then it hadn't lasted long. Ty had also visited Azula at the Upper Ring estate a couple of days ago, exchanging a few words with Yue and Katara, so things seemed to be on the mend. Ty Lee was apparently doing a lot of casual dating as of late, and she certainly had plenty of opportunities to do so. In her job as a Jasmine Dragon waitress, Ty Lee got asked out all the time, Azula remembered only too well what that had been like. Azula was relieved that Ty Lee seemed happy and wasn't dwelling on things like Azula totally would be doing in her situation.

Katara and Yue were dealing with a particularly intense period in their studies which left them with little time for fun activities together and that made Azula a tiny bit frustrated. But Katara had suggested that it was good for Yue to keep really busy during this time so that she wouldn't become too sad and depressed. Azula had noticed a shift in Yue's mood during the first few weeks following their return. Yue would often have a faraway look on her face, as if she was in her own world and not quite there, listening to Azula or Katara. Katara had told Azula that after Yue's immediate anger had cooled, she had begun feeling guilty for not making Ty Lee feel more accepted and included in their relationship. Azula had wanted to tell Yue not to feel guilty about it, but she hadn't been able to find the right words without making it seem like she was blaming Ty Lee for what had happened. Azula did think that aside from their general lack of compatibility, Ty Lee's behavior had certainly been a contributing factor to the breakup, but she just couldn't say it. Because of what her father had done to Ty Lee and her family, Azula knew that she would always be a sworn Ty Lee apologist, even if the rational part of her mind realized that it made little sense.

At some point, Yue had found out that Ty Lee had already immersed herself into casual dating, and that hadn't made the Water Tribe girl any happier. Even though Katara had stated that she didn't think Yue was ready – and Azula had silently agreed with that assessment – Yue had still decided to follow in Ty Lee's footsteps by starting to date again. She had already gone out a couple of times with a young man she had met during one of her BSSU classes. Azula and Katara both passionately hated the guy, suspecting that he was only interested in taking advantage of Yue's fragile state of mind. There really was no rational reason for them to believe so, and yet they were still in complete agreement on this. In fact, as Azula sat on the living room sofa at the estate and watched the early May rain lashing the leaves of the lilac bushes outside, Katara being on kitchen duty and up to her elbows in dough as she worked on Azula's favorite dumplings, Yue was out on her third date with this scummy young man that Azula just couldn't stand for no particular reason.

Azula then felt a little surprised when she suddenly saw Yue entering through the main gate, wind tossing her blue umbrella back and forth, threatening to pull it out of her hands. Azula hadn't expected Yue to be back so soon. Azula's dating game was weak to nonexistent, but she knew that in the mainstream circles, the third date carried with it certain expectations. Yue hadn't come out to say that they shouldn't expect her back tonight, so Azula hadn't known quite what to think, but one thing was clear, Yue was back far earlier than she should have been.

Yue seemed to be in no hurry to remove her coat, kick off her shoes and place her umbrella in the holder. Azula got up from the sofa and walked up to intercept Yue as she finally left the foyer. Yue had a neutral expression on her face, like she always did when she didn't want the others to know how she was actually feeling. "Oh, hey," Yue said casually. "Is Kat still working on dinner?"

"I sure am," Katara called out from the kitchen. "You'll want some dumplings too, right?"

"Of course," Yue called back. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she found Azula watching her with a scrutinizing gaze. "What is it?" she asked.

"You're back early," Azula stated simply.

"So? What of it?" Yue shrugged. She looked a little irritated by now. "I'm going upstairs," she pushed past Azula. "I'll be back down later for dinner."

Azula frowned, sighing at Yue's abrupt departure. Clearly, the date hadn't gone well. It seemed as if she and Katara had been right to despise that young man. If he had hurt Yue, Azula would find a way to destroy his life, she made a solemn promise to herself. Azula had made some connections in the BSSU and she had a lot of say in the student newspaper, even if she publicly distanced herself from their activities. The BSSU student newspaper often published spicy political takes and the Dai Li were always watching, so Azula wanted to keep her distance from the political activities of the student body. Still, she could probably get the paper to print some juicy rumor and destroy this loser with it, if such actions proved merited.

"It didn't go well, did it?" Katara asked when Azula entered the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It didn't feel like a successful date, no," Azula shook her head.

"Ugh, I hate that she's upstairs in her room, feeling miserable," Katara sighed. "I would go and try to cheer her up, but-" she pointed at her hands, still covered with the dough she had been busy kneading. "Azula, could you please try and-"

"Kat, you know I'm not very good at that," Azula replied immediately without thinking.

"You are far better at it than you give yourself credit for, love," Katara smiled at her girlfriend. "I know you care deeply for Yue. Just go upstairs and speak from your heart, and it will be fine."

Azula hesitated. Katara was just so much better than she was at delicate emotional matters. She usually mucked things up worse than they were to begin with. However, Katara seemed to believe that she could do it, and that meant the world to Azula. It also gave her the confidence to try. "Okay, Kat, but you might need to fix an even bigger mess after I've failed," she sighed. Katara merely gave her a soft and loving smile, which further encouraged Azula as she headed for the stairs and proceeded all the way up to Yue's room, entering after a light knock on the doors.

Yue was sitting on the bed, knees pulled against her chest. She looked to have been crying, at least a little, but now she just appeared pissed off. Azula carefully walked up to the bed and sat down, a respectable distance away from her friend. She wondered how to begin in order to avoid Yue lashing out at her. Azula didn't believe that it would be a good idea to go with something safe and trite. She always sounded fake when she tried that approach. It was better to keep things real and honest, Azula reasoned.

"Want to tell me what happened?" she asked, turning to face Yue.

Yue's first reaction was an indifferent shrug. Azula remained silent, watching her and waiting. Eventually Yue sighed and began to talk. "I already had a feeling that we were on different wavelengths about how quickly we should be moving," she began. "I told him that I was fresh out of a relationship and wanted to take things slow. But apparently that's not reasonable enough and you still get called a frigid cunt if you don't want to kiss on the lips on the third date."

"Seriously, fuck that guy," Azula exclaimed angrily. Yes, she was definitely going to see what she could do about destroying that asshole's reputation. "I knew he wasn't good enough for you. Katara and I both totally saw that right away."

Yue stared at her, looking a bit amused. "You just had that feeling straight away, did you?" she smirked. "Anyway," her expression dropped slightly. "I don't know, I'm just thinking… maybe he's onto something, and maybe that's my problem in relationships."

"Are you kidding me?" Azula blinked. "Come on, Yue. Katara and I waited like a year before we had our first kiss. What does that make us?"

"It makes you both absolutely adorable," Yue giggled. "Besides, you had specific circumstances, so it doesn't count."

"Stop being frustrating," Azula growled. "Don't let some asshole make you lower your standards. Besides," she said, placing her hand on Yue's shoulder and then running it down all the way to the small of her back. "I know from personal experience how passionate you can be," Azula said, blushing lightly. "Anyone calling you frigid has no idea what they're talking about."

"Stop it!" Yue laughed, also blushing. "No… no, don't stop. It's good for my ego to hear that."

"Well, umm," Azula's blush intensified slightly. "You know how strongly Kat and I feel about you. We're not letting anyone hurt you and make you feel like crap, you know that, right? That guy will regret being an asshole to you, I promise."

"I love it when you're being all protective, Zula," Yue smiled softly as she moved to embrace her. "Thank you for cheering me up. I'll be alright, though. Let me change and I'll be downstairs with you and Kat in a few minutes."

"We'll hold you to that," Azula smiled as she rose and walked out of the room, feeling very accomplished. It seemed that she had been successful in her mission to make Yue feel a little better. But still, something lingered within her, a certain powerful emotion that had been building within Azula ever since that day when Yue had announced that she was putting herself back out on the dating market. Azula was slowly starting to recognize these feelings for what they were, but doing something about them was more difficult, especially if Katara didn't feel the same way as she did. Somehow, Azula was sure that she and her girlfriend were on the same wavelength here, but she needed to be sure.

"How did it go?" Katara asked as soon as Azula had returned to the kitchen. Katara had moved on to chopping the filling, veggies and shitake mushrooms.

"It went well, I thought," Azula replied. "That guy really was a piece of shit, you know," she added angrily. "He made her feel really bad about herself. I'm going to see that he gets what he deserves."

"Good," Katara nodded sternly. She then let out a heavy sigh. "I am so done seeing Yue constantly hurt. I really don't want to see that happening again, I'm serious. She deserves so much better."

"I agree," Azula said. She wondered if Katara was leading her on to saying what she felt herself, because her girlfriend's words felt a bit like an invitation. "There might be a way to make sure that Yue doesn't get hurt again," Azula managed, feeling her cheeks burning.

Katara stopped working on the dumpling filling and gave her a very serious stare. "Are… are you thinking what I'm thinking, Zula?" Katara asked. "Because if you are, I think it's something worth discussing."

Azula was by now pretty sure that they were thinking the same thing, but she was still red in the face as she spoke the words that had been building inside of her for a while now. "If Yue was our girlfriend, we would never let her be hurt again, would we?" she spoke quietly.

Katara swallowed heavily. She seemed to be holding herself back from bursting with excitement, trying to remain calm and rational. "Of course," she nodded firmly. "How do you really feel about it, Zula? Do you think we could make it work? And just so that it doesn't feel like I'm putting you on the spot, know that I have been thinking about it too. I've been thinking about it a lot."

"Kat, I feel like it's actually something that we can't afford not to think about," Azula stated seriously. "We already share a powerful bond, emotional and physical. We both love Yue, and we know that she loves us. When it comes to mutual interests, we're like three peas in a pod. Besides, just think about our poor girl," she smiled, pointing at the ceiling. "Anyone she tries to date has to compare to us, and that's just impossible to measure up to. We both are better than anyone else on our own, but the two of us put together, well that is simply an impossible expectation to live up to."

Katara burst into laughter at that. "Are you saying that Yue is never going to be happy unless she gets to be with us?" she grinned. "That doesn't sound egomaniacal at all, but I'm prepared to roll with it." Katara then assumed a more serious expression. "Listen, I really do agree with everything you just said. I think we have also reached a stage of communication where we can avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Am I right about that? Do you feel like you can talk with Yue about deeply personal things?"

"I have been doing that with Yue for a while already, Kat," Azula spoke earnestly. "After what she did to bring us together, I am willing to trust her with everything and that's the truth."

"Alright," Katara nodded. "This is encouraging, but if we're serious about it, then we need to know Yue's thoughts. Maybe she doesn't want anything like that. How about we put Yue in a happy food coma from my homemade dumplings, and then one of us can try and broach the matter with her. Since you're off to a good start with her today already-"

"Oh no," Azula vehemently shook her head. "Forget about it, Kat. I may have done well, but you need to take the lead on this, please. It's too important, okay?"

"Hmm," Katara frowned, not looking too pleased. "I still think that you can do this, Zula, but fine, as you wish. I'll talk it out with Yue after dinner."

Katara had a hard time focusing on anything but her own thoughts during the dinner later that evening. Sokka and Aang had showed up just in time to devour most of her homemade dumplings, but fortunately she had made enough and nobody went hungry – although knowing Sokka he would still find a reason to complain as he seemed to be perpetually hungry for more food. With her friends chatting excitedly, Katara merely smiled and nodded throughout most of the evening, already psyching herself up for the conversation she was going to have with Yue.

Despite having thought about this possibility for some time already, Katara still found herself increasingly nervous now that she was about to actually try and make it a reality. Because of Ty Lee's hurt feelings and eventual reaction to them getting together in Omashu, a part of Katara's mind still wondered if taking this path wouldn't prove to be a mistake. She didn't really believe that, though. By this point, their relationships had been tried and tested by some of the greatest challenges imaginable, and they had weathered all the storms assaulting them. It didn't mean that what they considered wouldn't present them with new and unique challenges, but Katara had faith that they would face them head on before overcoming them.

Katara knew that if their plan came to fruition, they would have to face a lot of scrutiny and questioning. People would probably assume that they had gone for it because Azula and Katara had something missing in their relationship, but Katara vehemently denied it because she knew it not to be true. Katara knew that if bringing Yue in didn't work out, then she would be happy to continue her relationship with Azula the way it had been so far, and she would do so with the fiercest commitment to make it last for as long as they could, hopefully until they were both old ladies arguing over tea and scones while raising a pack of corgis. But despite how happy she was with Azula, Katara often found herself thinking and wishing for Yue to have something like that as well. The desperate desire to take care of Yue, to wrap her in a powerful blanket of her affection and to protect her from all hardships was there for Katara as strongly as it had been with Azula. And she didn't want to entrust Yue to anyone else, but to herself and Azula. She wanted to have this three-way relationship, she believed that they could make it work, and Azula was onboard with the idea. And Katara was determined to do her utmost to make it work.

Of course, Katara wasn't naïve enough to believe that there would be no challenges to face. The first and foremost challenge that she could see would be to make Yue feel that her bond with either of them was no less important or valuable than Katara's bond with Azula. Katara loved both of her girls, but every relationship was different. Her love for Azula was different from her love for Yue, and she thought that it would be foolish to try and compare these feelings. And the way Azula and Yue had grown to care for and love one another, well, just thinking about it made Katara feel so warm from an intense surge of happiness. Katara believed that they could make Yue feel fully equal in this relationship, should they decide to pursue it. Even now, when they spent time together, Azula and Katara shared plenty of affection with Yue. When they had shared physical intimacy in Omashu, Yue definitely could not have had any complaints about being neglected. Katara just didn't believe that this could be a problem, considering that giving affection came so naturally to her.

Katara waited for a few minutes after everyone had retired for the night before leaving a very anxious Azula behind in the bedroom they shared, and then walking up to knock on Yue's doors. She entered to find Yue lying on her bed with a book in her hands. She hadn't changed into her pajamas yet, appearing too engrossed in her book to think about sleeping. "Do you have a moment, Yue?" Katara asked softly.

"For you, always," Yue smiled at her, setting the book aside. "What is it, Kat?"

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," Katara managed, starting to feel a little nervous. Despite how strongly she was convinced that this was a good idea and the right thing to do, there was still plenty of anxiety on Katara's part. Besides, there was always the chance that Yue wouldn't be interested in the proposition. "I'm just worried about you," Katara said, probing and trying to find a way to get to the heart of the matter. "I really can't stand seeing you hurt, you know?"

"I appreciate that, Kat, but I'm not going to let the opinion of some random asshole keep me down," Yue replied, not looking too bothered. "Sure, I was disappointed in the immediate aftermath, but I think I'm over it already."

"So, are you going to try again?" Katara asked.

"Dating?" Yue asked. Katara nodded. "I don't know, maybe? Perhaps I should put it on hold for a bit. I'll admit that it was the thought of Ty Lee dating that pushed me into trying again, but maybe I shouldn't do it right now, not when our studies are so crazy. Maybe later in the summer, but then our pro tournaments will kick off, so… ugh, there really doesn't seem to be a good time to think about a new relationship."

"Oh, I see," Katara said, thinking frantically. Maybe Yue was right and they should have waited with their idea, this really was a bit of a crazy time for all of them. But then again, perhaps the opportunity might slip by them if they didn't act on it now. Spirits, this was so complicated.

"Kat, I feel like you have something on your mind," Yue said, rising to sit next to Katara, placing her arm around Katara's shoulders. "I thought we were so close that there wouldn't be any awkwardness between us, whatever the case might be," Yue said softly.

Katara laughed nervously at that. "Uh, sure, not awkward at all," she muttered. Yue was looking rather confused by now. "Listen, I agree with what you said about dating. Getting to know someone new while you have so much on your plate, it's just hectic and stressful, right? What I was going to suggest, though… what about dating someone you already knew?" Katara asked, aware that she was sounding stupidly awkward.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Kat," Yue replied, sounding uncertain. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one currently single in our group of friends. And I definitely do not plan to interfere with any existing relationships between our friends."

"But what if it was a welcome interference?" Katara asked. Yue blinked at her, looking even more confused than before. Katara let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm having real troubles finding the words for what I'm trying to say, Yue. So, I'll just come out and say it straight. What would you say about being mine and Azula's girlfriend, Yue?"

Yue's eyes seemed to widen more, even though it shouldn't have been physically possible. "I'm sorry, did I hear that right?" she gasped. "Do you mean like… me, you and Azula, the three of us together?" Katara nodded shyly. "And what does Azula think about it?" Yue asked nervously.

"She's completely onboard with it, Yue," Katara said earnestly.

"I think I want to hear it from her, Kat," Yue insisted.

"I understand. Wait a moment, I'll go get her," Katara quickly ran up to the doors and opened them, only for Azula to literally fall into the room. Apparently, she had been trying to listen in, but without too much success, and now she was left scrambling back up to her feet, red in the face.

"I wasn't-" she tried, but Katara quickly cut her off.

"I'm sure you weren't, but it doesn't matter, Zula," Katara told her, smirking. "Yue wants to hear what you think about our proposal to her."

"It is obviously the best idea I have ever come up with," Azula said confidently. "The three of us are already unstoppable whether it's Pai Sho or anything else we do together. We would just… add a few more things to be unstoppable together at, I guess," she finished with another wave of heat hitting her cheeks.

"I like the way you put that, Zula," Yue looked impressed. "You caught me totally unprepared with this, I'll admit."

"You mean, you never thought about it, Yue?" Katara asked. "Not even after Omashu?"

Yue blushed darkly. "Umm, I had thought about it before Omashu, way before it," she admitted. "After Omashu, well, I really tried not to think about it while I was still with Ty Lee, but honestly, it was very hard not to. And when I did think about it, it made me feel guilty so I really tried to repress these feelings. I mean… I guess I'm free to think about it more seriously now, but…"

"But what?" Azula frowned. "It seems like you want this, Yue."

"I'm not saying that I don't, but are you sure that you want it? I mean… are you really sure?" Yue asked.

"I just told you-" Azula began, but Katara cut her off once again.

"I think Yue is worried that we might be confused about what we want, or that we might be doing this for the wrong reasons," Katara said. Yue nodded at her words. "I'm pretty sure I'm very serious about this, Yue. It's not a spur of the moment decision for me. It's been bubbling under the surface for a very long time. My attraction to you both goes back many, many years."

"I first saw you in a new light when we started to hang out more in the Fire Fountain City. It was also when you kissed me," Azula said, blushing at the memory. "It took me a while to become really close to you, similar to how I am with Katara, but I think we're there now. And you know how rare that is for me, right? So don't make some dumb insinuations that this isn't serious for me."

"Okay, wow, pretty intense," Yue giggled nervously. "I'm sorry, but my head is still spinning a little." She reached out to touch her forehead, then bursting into another fit of nervous laughter. "You really think that this could somehow work?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't it?" Katara asked. "Every relationship has its challenges, so I don't expect it to be smooth sailing the whole way. Even Azula and I have our heated little arguments."

"What are you talking about?" Azula huffed. "We never argue!"

"Of course, we do, we had a little tiff this very morning," Katara sighed.

"No, we didn't!" Azula protested.

"…I feel like my point has been made," Katara chuckled, turning back to Yue. "Anyway, if you have any concerns, tell us and we can work on it together, as we always do."

"I just… how do you even imagine it's going to work?" Yue still looked rather stunned.

"Would we even need to change too much?" Azula shrugged. "We're already so close. Maybe some room arrangements. And, uh… we might need a bigger bed," she added, red-faced.

"Yes, uh, not to put the bed in front of the horse, but we'd obviously change our sleeping arrangements slightly," Katara said. "Yue, if you're in, you're in full time, not like some junior partner in a business venture. Our relationship with you is on the same level as between me and Azula. I want to make that completely clear at the start. You agree with me, don't you, Zula?"

"Of course," Azula nodded. "That's the only way this can work."

"Okay, that sounds… reasonable," Yue looked a little less uncertain.

"I'm sure you'll agree that there are no ready recipes in a relationship, especially in a slightly unconventional one," Katara said. "It would be mostly figuring things out as we go along, but I have so much trust in us that I think we can do this. Also, some of the members of Ursa's theatre troupe practice similar relationships. I was thinking that Azula and I could go and ask them to share their insights and experiences. Although, I suppose I would have to do all the talking," she winked at her pouting girlfriend.

"Alright," Yue said before laughing nervously again. "I can see that you really have been thinking about this seriously."

"Does that mean you're in?" Azula looked hopeful.

"I…" Yue began, looking very tempted, but then she looked away. "Look, to just say yes and jump in, that would be so very old me, you know? The old Yue would make a spur of the moment emotional decision, never thinking things through and ending up making a mistake. I really don't want to do that again. You're both too important to me to ruin our relationship-"

"Don't be ridiculous, you won't ruin anything," Azula protested vehemently.

"Zula, I think that Yue is asking for more time to make her decision," Katara told her girlfriend. "And I think that is a fair request and we should respect it." Azula fell silent and nodded mutely in agreement. "Perhaps we should leave Yue to think about the offer. After all, it would be a pretty big change to our lives and it shouldn't be made lightly. Take all the time you need, Yue," Katara smiled, rising up from the bed and walking up to Azula to take her hand.

"Okay, I… I guess that's the right thing to do," Azula looked a little reluctant and very nervous as Katara led her out of Yue's room. As Katara closed the doors to Yue's room, she could see that the other girl still had a slightly stunned look on her face. Katara knew that Yue taking her time to think about this was the right thing to do. She just hoped that Yue would end up making the decision that she and Azula were both desperate for her to make.

The unexpected proposal completely derailed the next week of Yue's life, which was definitely unhelpful when there was so much on her plate regarding her studies. Yue knew that she was taking a lot of time to make up her mind about this, but it was important to be certain when she made her decision. Just because it was something that she desperately wanted, didn't necessarily mean that it was something that she should pursue.

Yue had spoken extensively with both Azula and Katara on separate occasions simply to make sure that they were both completely serious and understood what they were signing up for. Yue could not find any faults in their reasoning and motivation. Both girls seemed committed to it for all the right reasons. The only thing left was to decide whether Yue herself would be doing this for the right reasons, and whether she even deserved to have this opportunity. Her actions had hurt both girls in the past, particularly Katara. Yue was terrified to do something to hurt either of them again.

Then again, Yue felt as though she had grown and matured over the past few years, as had they all. Perhaps she was now better equipped to handle such a relationship. Perhaps she had by now atoned enough and deserved another chance. She was proud of herself for having been able to live up to her promise not to interfere in the relationship between Azula and Katara, and help them get together. She had supported them throughout the thick and thin, and she had been their strongest ally, even if at times it had been a little hard to watch them share physical affection without feeling just a tiny bit envious and wanting something like that for herself. And now she had been given the opportunity to have what she had been dreaming of, but she still kept wondering and agonizing if perhaps turning it down was the right decision. What if she did something that upset the bond between Azula and Katara? She would never forgive herself if she did that.

Then again, if Yue looked into her heart and examined her feelings towards Katara and Azula, she could no longer claim that she wanted to be with one of them above the other. Yes, she had loved Katara for many years, never acting on it the way she should have done, but over the past few years slowly earning Azula's trust had made her fall in love just as strongly with the Fire Nation girl. It seemed as if they had created a uniquely balanced bond between the three of them. Perhaps Yue simply needed to accept Katara's unshakable faith in them, and their ability to figure things out. Gone were the days of them keeping things from each other, painful past experiences had taught them important lessons about keeping secrets. Everything seemed to indicate to Yue that they were ready to take this next step.

And if Yue was perfectly honest with herself, she knew that she was unlikely to find happiness in random blind dating, not when she had this bond and these feelings towards Azula and Katara. She would always end up drawing comparisons and finding her new boyfriend or girlfriend lacking. Yue suspected that it was a big reason why her relationship with Ty Lee had failed, although she hadn't realized it at the time. She had tried to force a similar kind of emotional connection with Ty Lee, but the truth was that not every two people could connect on such a close and intimate level. As Yue had discovered by now, it was actually very rare, and many people probably didn't find that during their lifetime, and that was a thought which made Yue very sad. Here she was with two such powerful emotional connections in her life, and she was afraid of exploring them to their fullest because she didn't fully trust herself. But she had proven herself over the course of the past few years, hadn't she? Or maybe she hadn't, because she had failed with Ty Lee, but… that wasn't all her fault? Perhaps it was nobody's fault? And perhaps there was nothing to really assign blame for. Perhaps Yue was simply being too hard on herself.

It was on a sunny May afternoon when Yue finally arrived at her final decision. They had been sitting outside in the garden with Sokka and Aang, Sokka showing his prowess with the grill, preparing sausages and some roast veggies for Aang. Yue had already been 95% sure of accepting the offer made by Katara and Azula, but after making the two girls wait on her decision for more than a week, she for the first time noticed how genuinely miserable both Azula and Katara had become while waiting for her decision. That immediately eroded all of Yue's final concerns and she resolved to give her two would-be girlfriends the good news as soon as possible.

The opportunity arrived a little later in the evening when Aang left to visit Toph and Teo at their apartment and Sokka also disappeared somewhere, probably heading out to meet with Zuko. Yue found Katara and Azula watching some sitcom on the TV in silence, never laughing, which meant that either the sitcom was simply terrible or they were not in a laughing mood. Well, Yue hoped that she was about to improve their moods as she switched off the TV and stood in front of the two curious looking girls.

"I want you both to know that I have come to a decision," Yue said, smiling at how Azula and Katara both immediately perked up, although they remained looking extremely nervous. "I've decided that I want to be your girlfriend," Yue said, immediately finding herself dragged onto the sofa and peppered with kisses that contained more joy and relief than she had ever experienced before. Time quickly lost its meaning and for a moment Yue was worried that they would end up repeating the Omashu experience then and there on the living room sofa, but fortunately for them all, they managed to get a hold of their raging passions and the kissing and caressing gradually slowed and eased up.

That this sort of relationship would have to be a careful balancing act became clear to Yue then and there, with Azula and Katara almost competing to monopolize Yue for themselves, so she had to make sure to divide her attention between her two girlfriends equally. It was an understandable starting excitement after having been made to wait agonizingly long for Yue's decision, but Yue already knew based on their Omashu experience that the wait would be completely worth it. After a particularly intense making out with Azula that had lasted for several minutes, Yue had then been pulled into Katara's lap for a repeat performance with Azula watching them with rapt fascination and a hungry smile playing on her ruby lips.

Yue was pulled out of the incredibly pleasant reality by an angry voice nearby, shouting at them. "What the hell? I can't believe you're doing it again?" Yue parted from Katara's lips and turned her head to face an angry and astonished looking Sokka. With a yelp, Yue fell out of Katara's lap and landed on the floor with a pained grunt.

Azula immediately jumped up from the sofa to help Yue get back up to her feet, turning to glare at Sokka. "Oh, calm down you," Azula berated the shocked looking young man. "This is none of your business anyway!"

Sokka took his time to regain his voice. "Well, I'm sorry for assuming that Yue and my sister were cheating on you," he managed. "I didn't see you behind them on the sofa, you know. But anyway," Sokka furiously rubbed his brow. "What's going on?"

"What do you think is going on?" Katara asked, somehow managing to look both amused and defiant at the same time.

"I have literally zero idea, sis," Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "I always assumed the Omashu rumor was just a myth that the others teased you with."

Yue began to laugh. Azula and Katara soon joined her. "Oh, Sokka, the Omashu thing definitely isn't a myth," Katara said a moment later. "But just to be clear, that was a one-time thing and we haven't been carrying on behind Ty's back. You literally walked in on us after we had just decided to be together, all three of us."

"Wow, okay," Sokka blinked. Yue couldn't stop giggling at the dumbstruck look on his face. "Well, that's going to be interesting. Also, you're always riding my ass about how I should come out to dad and Gran-Gran-"

"Oh, come on, Sokka, I'm not riding your ass, I'm trying to reassure you that you have nothing to be afraid of," Katara sighed.

"Okay, we can put it that way," Sokka nodded. "But if I'm coming out to the family, then you should also come out about this."

Katara's eyes widened slightly as she considered her brother's words. "Oh… right, there's that," she managed nervously. Yue couldn't stop smiling, though. Despite them realizing that they already hadn't taken something into the account, the idea to pursue this three-way relationship still seemed like a good one and Yue couldn't wait to fully explore all of its obvious and vast benefits.

Yes, YuKaZula is finally official, and it's also going to be endgame, no more relationship upheavals for our threesome. In the next chapter, we'll skip a few months ahead to see how the girls are adjusting to their new relationship dynamic. The girls will also be preparing for their debut on the Pai Sho pro tour, while at the same time the turmoil in Yu Dao continues to spread.