Chapter 84
Even the dreary October weather failed to have any impact on how glad Azula and her girlfriends were to revisit Omashu after a break of a year and a half. To celebrate the momentous occasion in style, they had rented a penthouse suite at the most luxurious hotel in town, Azula having managed to convince her Water Tribe loves that they had earned a bit of pampering. And they really could afford it by now. The tournaments in Gaoling and Ba Sing Se had brought in quite a lot of prize money to complement the steady income they were already enjoying.
Another reason why they were suddenly able to afford all this luxury was the growing interest from sponsors who had noticed their swift rise to Pai Sho stardom and had realized that they were three exceptionally beautiful young women, breaking into a traditionally male dominated sphere, and as such being incredibly marketable. All three of them had picked up a few sponsorships by now. Azula and Yue had been a little amused about Katara being approached by a cereal manufacturer in Agna Qel'a and a large dairy farm outside Ba Sing Se, specializing in the production of yogurt. Both Azula and Yue occasionally teased their girlfriend by calling her kid-friendly-Katara. It annoyed Katara quite a bit, so they made sure not to overdo it. Besides, lounging in their queen-sized bed at their penthouse suite, boxed in by her amazing girlfriends, Azula had to admit that there had been nothing kid friendly about what the three of them had been up to in this very bed mere half an hour earlier.
Yue had received sponsorships from two manufacturers of hair care products, something that didn't surprise Azula in the slightest. Yue's hair was absolutely striking in all the best ways. Azula and Katara couldn't get enough playing with Yue's hair, to the point where Yue started to accuse them of obsessing, which they totally were. Azula had accepted sponsorships from a couple of fashion houses she was already a fan of, often buying either their stilettos or designer purses. She had also agreed to an offer from a relatively large cosmetics manufacturer to market their new brand of lipstick, but that was something for the future. Azula had also turned down several sponsorships, just because the products she would be associated with fell way below her personal standards of approval. She didn't think less of Yue and Katara for not being as scrupulous when signing their deals, but Azula felt that she had a certain reputation that she needed to uphold, even if it meant leaving some money on the table. Between the three of them, they were by now making far more money than they could spend.
But just because their Pai Sho careers were skyrocketing and their financial situation was improving, it didn't mean that any of the three girls would ever consider neglecting their education. Katara had finally chosen the hospital at which she wanted to do her clinical courses. Azula and Yue had both been quite horrified upon learning that it was a Lower Ring hospital that leaned heavily on various charities to even stay afloat. Azula was seriously spooked by the prospect of some Lower Ring thug bleeding all over Katara from the dozen bullet holes he had just been riddled with, or Katara getting accosted by some crazy junkie looking for a quick fix. Katara had swept all of their concerns aside, claiming that she had chosen this profession so that she could help the people who needed her aid the most, and those were clearly the downtrodden masses of the Lower Ring. Azula had been forced to back off while sighing heavily. Yue had eventually convinced Azula that they would be unable to sway Katara on this matter. This was just who Katara was, and it was a big reason why Azula and Yue both loved her so much.
Yue's studies were still largely theoretical during the third year, but there was a month-long teaching practice scheduled towards the end of the study year, and Yue had agreed to undertake it at the Five-Seven-Five Academy for girls, a place that had been insistently trying to get their hooks into Yue for months. Azula's own studies were mostly centered on her work placement at the Ba Sing Se Herald and she was still enjoying her time there even if she had to stay clear – at least publicly – from any topics that could be considered political. Of course, even in her role as the art reporter and critic, Azula had to remain careful. Arts and culture were often politicized, and woes betide her if a Fire Nation girl would post something critical of the Dai Li and the Earth Kingdom. Still, even while walking on eggshells, Azula took a lot of satisfaction from her duties at the newspaper. She was developing a bit of a fan following because of her often scathing but amusing film and theatre reviews, and a lot of readers were writing to the newspaper to express their appreciation of her dry wit and sarcasm.
When it came to the Omashu tournament, Azula and her girlfriends had come to a joint decision that all three of them would be playing without anyone sitting out. It would be Azula's turn to play the role of a coach and support staff when they went to Agna Qel'a in November, but for the Omashu tournament they all wanted to play. The biggest reason for the decision was the memory of how well they had done at the U21 finals in Omashu, the three-way tie for a tournament victory that had led to a different three-way later. Certainly, there were risks involved with this decision because if they ended up pushing each other down in the rankings, it would negatively impact their long term chances of making the qualifiers. But all three of them were brimming with confidence and as far they were all concerned, Omashu was a special lucky place for them.
That said the tournament was going to present them with some tough challenges. Bumi had been supposed to headline the event, but being the eccentric kook that he was, he had actually forgotten to submit his entrance application and so the tournament organizers had been left scrambling to quickly find a replacement. Before they had left for Omashu, Suki had told them the scoop that the organizers had tried to get in touch with Bumi, hoping to still smuggle him in with an application well past the set date for entry, but they hadn't been able to find the eccentric grandmaster who had apparently gone on a Lake Serpent fishing trip without telling anyone the details of how to reach him.
Bumi's absence certainly made things easier for them, but it also made the overall level of the participants to drop. This meant that Azula and her girls were under increased pressure to place high, and that would not be easy when they had to contend with players like the former world champion Piandao Mori and grandmaster Jeong-Jeong Kaneko. Among the participants were a few other familiar names. Haru Tamang was taking part, and so was Kori Morishita. Kori's presence was quite surprising. She had managed to escape the encirclement of Yu Dao a month ago, and this would be the first tournament she took part in more than a year. Also, On Ji Takeda had been called in as a very poor last minute replacement for Bumi, the young Fire Nation girl having decided to give pro career a try. Azula doubted that it would go well because On Ji certainly hadn't stood out in any way at the junior level.
With all three of them playing, the amount of prep work that was necessary before a match day was certainly going to increase. However, they were slowly starting to build up comprehensive dossiers on all the major threats, getting more and more familiar with their styles and that was going to help shorten their match preparation down the line. And even if the uncertainty of Ty Lee's fate was still a lingering issue that continued to prey on Azula's mind now and then, she felt as if mental readiness and focus was not going be an issue for any of them. As Azula regarded her girlfriends, snoozing while pressed against her sides, she figured that there was a good reason to believe that they would all manage to find a way to stay loose and relaxed throughout the tournament.
Katara was not at all surprised about how well they were doing as the Omashu tournament slowly approached its halfway point. All three of them were in strong positions for the tournament win, not letting Piandao and Jeong-Jeong out of their sights. The tournament schedule had been arranged so that all the most important games took place in the final rounds, so everything was still subject to change. Katara had played out a fierce and contested draw with Yue, but Piandao and Jeong-Jeong had both dropped points against some of the weaker players. It was only Azula who hadn't dropped any points at all by the time Round 6 arrived.
Katara found herself facing off against On Ji Takeda in the sixth round. On Ji was trying her best, but she didn't seem quite ready for this level yet, and that presented a danger of its own because Katara was becoming a little complacent and her focus started to drift. Katara was constantly checking the games unfolding at the other tables, becoming particularly curious as she observed Kori Morishita facing off against one of the local masters at the neighboring table. Katara was dying of curiosity to find out just what life in Yu Dao had been like for Kori. Obviously, it had been a terrible experience, but Katara was eager to find out the details about her escape and about the overall situation in the city.
The trouble was that even though Kori had always been kind and respectful towards her, they weren't exactly friends, and so just walking up to the other girl and starting to pepper her with personal questions would have been very awkward and rude. Not to mention that she always kept close to Haru, so despite having supposedly dated a lot of other guys in the past, it seemed that the two of them were enjoying a more serious relationship. Katara's plan was to broach the topic after she had faced Kori at the Pai Sho board, but they weren't scheduled to play for a few rounds yet, and Katara was left desperate to find out at least something from the enigmatic girl from Yu Dao.
Katara was in the middle of securing a decisive advantage over On Ji in their game, when she suddenly noticed something odd taking place at Kori's table. During these international tournaments, they all had small national flags fixed at the table, next to the timing clock. With muted disbelief, Katara now observed Kori reaching out and removing the green and brown Earth Kingdom flag with a square in the middle, then replacing it with a different flag, tricolor of blue, red and white, the unofficial flag of the self-proclaimed Republic of Yu Dao. Katara was stunned by the brazenness of Kori's actions, but she was even more shocked when she noticed that Haru had replicated the actions of his girlfriend, exchanging the flag of the Earth Kingdom for that of the plucky rebel territory.
Reaction from the crowd was predictably mixed. At first there was deadly silence as most people probably had the same initial shocked reaction as Katara. Then the real reaction came, a lot of loud booing, but also many cries of support that encouraged Katara. Omashu was not too far from Yu Dao, and there were close ties between the two cities. Many people in Omashu were legitimately afraid of the conflict spreading and eventually enveloping their city as well. Simply put, the anti-war sentiment was particularly strong in Omashu, and there were good reasons for it. Kori and Haru had made a very smart and deliberate move here, aware that their actions would not face as much backlash as in any other Earth Kingdom city.
That said, regardless of the crowd's reaction, rules were rules and the actions of Kori and Haru were clearly breaking the protocol. The tournament officials were immediately on the stage to remove the rebel flags and award both Kori and Haru losses by default. The two culprits were then escorted off the stage and away, large portions of the crowd giving them a standing ovation, causing a massive disruption in all the ongoing games. Katara was relieved that she was playing On Ji and it didn't really matter how distracted she was. She took less than a dozen moves to finally push her advantage home, shaking On Ji's hand before turning to check how her loves were doing. Seeing that Azula and Yue were in command of their respective matches, Katara decided to quickly leave the stage to hopefully catch up with Kori and Haru, as she was eager to exchange words with them.
Katara found Kori and Haru in the foyer of the exhibition hall where the tournament was being held, surrounded by a gaggle of journalists. If Kori's intent had been to draw attention to the Yu Dao conflict, then her plan was working out perfectly. Unfortunately, this meant that Katara had no hope of engaging them in a private conversation, not with all of these journalists salivating and slobbering all over them. One of the reporters noticed her milling about uncertainly and decided to approach her for a brief interview.
Katara answered the questions as politely as she could, but she was becoming a little angry when the reporter from Ba Sing Se acted as if the whole episode involving Kori and Haru had never even happened. "Since you clearly do not intend to ask me about the incident which took place during the current round, I would like to make my own statement," Katara spoke up. The reporter looked really nervous at that. "I wish to make my disapproval known in case the tournament officials decide to disqualify Kori and Haru. I agree that rules are important, but being able to voice your opinion should be a sacrosanct right that transcends tournament rules, and I simply don't believe that my peers deserve a harsh punishment."
The nervous looking reporter thanked her for the interview and then quickly made himself scarce, probably to do some creative editing of her comments. Katara frowned at that thought as she continued to stand there and wait for the reporters to lose their interest in Kori and Haru. While Katara was waiting, Azula and Yue arrived to join her, having won their respective games. "Those assholes decided to disqualify Kori and Haru," Yue spoke angrily.
"I had a feeling they might," Katara nodded. "I just gave an interview to one of the Ba Sing Se rags and told them that I disapprove of censorship."
"Pure queen move," Azula grinned at her. "Seriously, though, I think Kori and Haru were counting on being disqualified, and those dumb officials just gave them what they wanted. Now they look like victimized martyrs, persecuted for their views."
"Well, they kind of are persecuted," Yue remarked. "But I get what you're saying. This story is going to blow up now, and it'll probably reach Ba Sing Se, which is not what the Dai Li would have wanted."
"Exactly," Azula nodded. "Anyway," she looked impatiently at her Water Tribe girls. "Can we go now?"
"I was hoping to talk with them," Katara spoke pleadingly, pointing at Haru and Kori. The reporters were slowly starting to disperse, having satisfied their immediate curiosity, and once Piandao and Jeong-Jeong emerged in the foyer, the reporters switched their attention to the tournament favorites, abandoning Kori and Haru. Katara immediately seized the opportunity and walked up to the pair, Azula and Yue tailing her.
"That was really ballsy, you two," Azula spoke up first, nodding at the pair with approval.
"Thanks," Kori replied. Her voice sounded a little sterner than Katara remembered it. She really had changed quite a bit, starting with the steelier look in her eyes and the harsher, more angular facial features. "They gave us exactly what we hoped for. This was what I decided to leave Yu Dao for," she added.
"Can I ask you what exactly happened in Yu Dao?" Katara asked. "We were quite concerned for you. I asked Haru about you back in Gaoling, but even he didn't know what was happening."
"Ugh, where do I even begin?" Kori shook her head, looking exasperated. "I probably have enough material for a book. Hey, that might actually not be a bad idea, it would make for good propaganda," she winked at Haru.
"That wink probably means that I would be the one writing the book," he sighed good-naturedly.
"Obviously," Kori snorted. "Anyway, to answer your question, everything started off quite well. I was held under house arrest together with my family, supposedly for our own protection. But the Earth Kingdom soldiers did treat us well. Not that I was actually cooperating, I kept slipping out and contacting my friends among the Freedom Fighters, feeding them all the information I kept overhearing from the Earth Kingdom soldiers at my family estate. That was really exciting."
"Aren't you a brave little revolutionary," Azula smirked.
"That's me," Kori nodded. "Anyway, that was all fun, but when the Earth Kingdom began the first of its big pushes and a lot of people died by getting caught in the crossfire, my father became livid with how the Earth Kingdom was handling the situation. I had been doing my best to plant the seeds of independence in his head, so I guess something just clicked when he saw how little the Earth Kingdom generals valued the lives of our civilians. Unfortunately, my father decided to be stupid and laid into a couple of Dai Li agents, accusing them of mismanaging the situation. They freaked out, thinking that my father was about to switch sides – which admittedly he was about to do – and so, they came up with this brilliant plan to kidnap me in order to ensure my father's compliance."
"We're largely familiar with this part of the story," Azula remarked, looking a little impatient. "How did you escape the Earth Kingdom captivity?"
"I was broken out by the Freedom Fighters, with some help from the Fire Nation military," Kori explained. "That was really scary, but also exciting. Although, it was pretty horrific the way they shot up the cell leader. He was a sweet chubby cheeked guy, and really into me to boot. At least the rest of us got out okay. But yeah, the Freedom Fighter cell I used to work with has a new leader now. He's a recent recruit, not very experienced, but showing a lot of promise. He's also a great deal hotter than Sneers," she laughed. Haru sighed and shook his head at that. "Aw, sorry babe, I shouldn't have said that. You know I'm prepared to be exclusively yours, you just need to ask."
"We'll talk about that later," a very red-faced Haru muttered.
"So, what do you plan to do next, Kori?" Yue asked. "The International Federation will probably ban you for a very long time for this offence. They're really desperate to appear neutral on these matters."
"I guess we'll just go on a tour of the Earth Kingdom and try to drum up more support for independence, while avoiding Ba Sing Se," Kori replied. "That's the only reason why I agreed to leave Yu Dao, after all. I wanted to stay and keep working for the Freedom Fighter cell, but that new leader of theirs… he has these antiquated and noble notions about women in combat situations," she frowned. "I also contacted my father, but he had already decided to set his notions of independence aside just because he was so afraid that the Dai Li would do something to me. What a weakling."
"Isn't it a reasonable concern that the Dai Li might try to hurt you, now that you're doing your activism on the Earth Kingdom soil?" Katara asked.
"Just think of how that would look, a well known outspoken critic of the Dai Li run government goes missing or is found dead," Kori shrugged. "Besides, their grip is weak in the provinces. No, I should be okay as long as I stay away from Ba Sing Se. Anyway, was there anything else you wanted to know? Because I have a scheduled radio interview coming up," Kori said.
"No, this is fine," Katara smiled supportively. "I'm definitely going to stand up for the independence of Yu Dao whenever I can do so without suffering damaging repercussions." Azula and Yue nodded in agreement to that.
"I don't want you to get yourselves banned on the behalf of me and my people," Kori replied, looking grateful. "Anyway, maybe we'll run into each other at some point," she nodded at them, turning to walk away. Haru uttered a hasty farewell before setting to follow his girlfriend.
"That girl is pretty damn crazy," Azula stated, looking rather impressed.
"No surprises there," Yue shook her head. "She's experienced an actual war. She's seen people get killed. Someone who liked her died while rescuing her. That's messed up."
"Yes, I always thought that we were lucky to be living in an age of peace," Katara sighed. "Anyway, while this is obviously important, we can't let this distract us from our Pai Sho goals, am I right, girls?"
"That's right," Yue nodded. "This is going to create some havoc, though. I was scheduled to play Haru tomorrow, but I guess I have a day off now?"
"Less prep means more fun for us," Azula said with a wicked smile on her lips. Katara found herself blushing, suspecting just what the Fire Nation girl had meant by that. The three of them weren't really obsessed with sexual intimacy. On most nights they fell asleep while cuddling among the three of them, happy to leave it at some light making out. But the memories of their first time together in Omashu brought out something far more intense in all three of them. There had been a marked uptick in their sexual encounters since arriving in Omashu, not that Katara was complaining. She was trying not to overindulge, but at the same time with girlfriends as sexy as Azula and Yue, it was almost impossible not to get carried away.
"We'll see about that, I suppose," Katara replied. "We're definitely not neglecting our prep in favor of fun." Katara then noticed the conspiring wink that Yue shot Azula at her words. With great effort, Katara managed to suppress a giggle and instead went for a fake disapproving frown that failed to impress her irrepressible girlfriends. Regardless of how much prep they ended up doing, it seemed clear to her that some fun would be had afterwards, and Katara could not think of a single complaint to voice about that.
The ejection of Kori and Haru from the tournament caused a great deal of turmoil for both the organizers and the participants, not to mention the general public of Omashu. The organizers were certainly facing a lot of backlash from the massively anti-war sections of the public. However, they were trapped between a rock and a hard place, because the International Federation of Pai Sho was clear in its stance, there would be no mixing of Pai Sho and politics. Yue considered that opinion ridiculous, because sports had been inherently politicized from its earliest inception, and Azula had quickly brought up many examples from the history of the Old Empire and its chariot races, and the politicized factions that had formed around them. Still, Kori and Haru were kicked out of the tournament and banned from playing in official events for six months. Kori absolutely loved this because now she could flaunt her victim card to anyone who would listen to her.
The participants were also affected, because the points they had scored against Haru and Kori had been taken away with their ejection. This meant that both Piandao and Jeong-Jeong lost two of their wins. Yue and her girlfriends had not yet faced Kori or Haru, and so they ended up getting several unexpected days off which they wisely used for extra prep ahead of their matches against Piandao and Jeong-Jeong. This unexpected stroke of good fortune paid off. While Yue had enjoyed a day off, Piandao had played out a tough and grueling four hour draw with Jeong-Jeong. On the next day, Yue felt fresh as a daisy when she faced a very tired Piandao and rolled over the former world champion like he was nothing more but a back-alley amateur. Katara and Azula were likewise able to exploit their suddenly beneficial schedule and take advantage of feeling fresh and relaxed. Katara was able to defeat Jeong-Jeong, while Azula stunned everyone by defeating the two greats back to back.
Just like during the U21 finals in Omashu, the final placement on the podium was decided in matches among the threesome. Yue had yet again lost to Azula, but she had won against Katara. Katara had come very close to defeating Azula, but pressed for time, she had let their Fire Nation sweetheart off the hook and the draw had been enough to give Azula the tournament win. Yue had placed second, much to her own astonishment, and Katara had taken the third place, tied on points with Jeong-Jeong, but placed above him because she had defeated him in the match between them. With the three of them claiming the entire podium and sending such renowned grandmasters as Piandao and Jeong-Jeong home empty-handed, if the Pai Sho world had not taken notice of their rise by now, then it definitely was going to stop and listen now.
Yue thought that both the Fire Nation grandmasters had looked quite stunned about the outcome of the tournament, as if they hadn't quite expected them to be this good. Again, this told Yue that Piandao and Jeong-Jeong hadn't been studying their games from Gaoling and Ba Sing Se. As the Pai Sho world started to recognize them as genuine threats for tournament victories, the great grandmasters of the world were bound to start preparing more seriously for matches against them. Yue knew that these first tournaments were so successful because they were being underestimated, but that was not going to last much longer. Still, Yue felt supremely confident that even with the Pai Sho world taking them more seriously, they would still continue to perform very well. And she also had to hand it to both Piandao and Jeong-Jeong because despite obviously feeling disappointed about their results, they both had been very complimentary towards all three of them and the way they had played during the tournament. It was so flattering to receive recognition from grandmasters they had grown up admiring and respecting.
After the tournament had ended, Azula came up with a suggestion that they had earned some extra time off to celebrate their success. Between the three of them, they had earned thirty thousand yuan in prize money, and more and more sponsorships were heading their way soon. Azula had canceled their flights back to Ba Sing Se, instead selecting the Kyoshi Island as their next destination. They had then rented the most expensive suite in the most expensive hotel on the island and had spent three days straight on just the most insane and wild partying Yue could ever remember taking part in. There had been way too much drinking and way too much sex… no, that latter part was not true, Yue didn't think that there could ever be too much sex with her girlfriends, but it was definitely a massive escalation over what they normally got up to.
By the end of their three wild days and nights of Kyoshi, it seemed as if there was no nightclub or a casino they hadn't visited and left a huge wad of cash at. One evening, after getting seriously shitfaced, Azula had even managed to drag them into a strip club. Yue knew that if she had been sober, she would have never consented to going somewhere this sleazy, she had massive issues with how the society treated sex workers, and her girlfriends were of one mind with her, but all of these issues had felt far less significant while they were hilariously drunk. Yue and Katara had even ended up buying Azula a lap dance from a seriously hot Water Tribe girl, and while they had all found it very funny at the time, Yue felt rather squeamish about it later. At least the girl giving Azula the lap dance seemed to enjoy herself a lot more than when serving her usual customer base, so there was that.
Eventually, their last morning on Kyoshi Island arrived, and just in time as well, because they had nearly blown through most of their prize money, leaving them with just enough for the plane tickets back to Ba Sing Se. Yue couldn't bring herself to act like a serious and responsible adult, however, because she was having way too much fun. The fact that even Katara went along with everything helped to allay any concerns Yue might have had. They had earned this opportunity to blow off some steam after all the effort they had put in to come so far. Spending so much money wasn't really a concern either. Their monthly income was by now more than what they could figure out to do with, and more sponsors were lining up to court them. Three days of luxurious excesses wasn't something that they had to feel guilty about.
Yue shifted on the bed as she recognized the sounds she was hearing, those of a running shower. Not long after the sounds stopped, Yue spied Katara leaving the shower with a towel wrapped around her, another towel around her head. Yue quietly observed Katara as she sat down by the mirror and started to dry her hair. Yue savored the warm feeling pooling in her chest every time she could observe Katara and Azula like that, just casually being themselves. Yue felt like she could stare at her girlfriends the whole day without wanting to do anything else. Unfortunately, at some point, Katara turned towards the bed and tossed a towel which hit Yue square in the face, Katara somehow having sensed that she was being watched.
"Stop being so lazy and go grab a shower," Katara chided her. "We have to start getting ready soon. We don't actually have the money to buy new tickets if we were to miss our flight."
"Azula would probably drag us to a casino and end up risking everything we have at the roulette table in exchange for plane tickets," Yue chuckled quietly.
"Oh yes, because she had such great success at the roulette table earlier," Katara rolled her eyes. "How much money did she lose? Three thousand yuan, or was it closer to four?"
"Uh, try more like six," Yue snorted. Katara let out a groan. "Ah, come on Kat. Don't spoil the memories by going all responsible on us now. We had a lot of fun, didn't we?"
"I suppose we did," Katara smiled. "Even though I sometimes felt like we were having almost too much fun. By the way, is Azula even alive? She's been awfully quiet, no snoring at all."
"She's alive, dead girls don't produce this much body heat," Yue chuckled. She reached out and gently shook Azula by seizing her deliciously naked shoulder. Azula's body jerked in response and she reacted by taking a swipe at Yue, just narrowly missing.
"What-… what the-" Azula blinked in confusion as she reared her head, then wincing in pain. "Owie," she croaked. "My head…"
"The bartender did warn you about all those tequila shots, Zula," Katara said.
"I thought he was just being annoyingly boring and lawful," Azula groaned.
"Do you need my help to get to the shower?" Yue offered. "I hate to rush you, but Katara's kind of right and we should get a move on. We don't want to miss our flight."
"Bah," Azula grunted, falling back into the pillows. "I wish we wouldn't have to go home yet. I could just call Iroh to wire us some more cash…"
"Azula, I think Yue and I have fallen behind on our studies enough as it is," Katara said. "And you have some catching up to do yourself." Yue sighed inwardly at the reminder. Azula and Katara had only very few theoretical courses remaining in their study years, while Yue's teaching courses were drowning in theory. She'd have to pull a lot of all-nighters in order to do some insane catching up, but as far as she was concerned, it was all worth it in exchange for this sort of fun with her girlfriends.
"I guess you're right," Azula sighed. "And I have been missing the kitties."
Yue immediately saw an opportunity. "Don't tell me that after these three wild nights you still want more puss-"
"Yue!" Katara yelled, cutting her off. "What the hell is up with that potty mouth? Are you like twelve or something?"
Yue grinned like a madwoman. "No, but I do love to rile you up, Kat, and you make for such an easy target," she giggled.
"Sorry, Kat, but Yue's kind of got you there," Azula joined in, laughing softly. "Hey, I totally get why she's doing it, too. You are like ridiculously hot when you're fuming with outrage."
"Ugh, you two," Katara huffed as she tried to ignore them and continue to work on her hair. Yue could see that she was smiling happily as she worked, though.
"Alright, champ," Yue said then, taking Azula by the hands and pulling her Fire Nation girlfriend up in the bed. "Let's get you to the shower, shall we?"
"Ugh, I feel so woozy," Azula groaned. Yue had a feeling that she was faking it, though. "Maybe you should come and help me. I'm liable to slip and fall down." Now Yue knew that it was all an act.
"Oh, for crying out loud, Yue just help her already," Katara sighed, shaking her head. "I don't care how you take your showers, just get it over and done with, and if you're in there for more than ten minutes, I'm going in and spraying you both with cold water."
"She's back in the harsh taskmistress mode, isn't she?" Azula looked at Yue. "I guess it means that the fun times really are over," she sighed, a little petulantly.
"Oh, I wouldn't think so," Yue chuckled, leaning in and kissing Azula on the lips. "As long as the three of us are together, I have a feeling that the fun times will never truly be over."
Next chapter: we'll take a look at the November tournament in Agna Qel'a. Also, Sokka and Katara have some things to share with their family regarding their new relationships.