Chapter 88

The last week of June had finally arrived as Azula and Katara stepped off the plane in the Caldera City international airport. For once, Azula was actually looking forward to returning to the Fire Nation, but it was not the crucial qualifying tournament that was the main reason for her excitement. No, about two weeks ago, they had received a call from someone Azula had almost not expected to hear from ever again, her once best friend and first girlfriend Ty Lee Watanabe.

And Ty Lee certainly had one hell of a story to tell. She had spent almost an entire year in service of the Fire Army Medical Corps, stationed in Yu Dao and constantly finding herself in mortal danger. The Fire Army's withdrawal from Yu Dao had given Ty Lee the opportunity to get out and resume leading a civilian life, but she was still in a tricky situation because she suddenly found herself alone in the Fire Nation capital, with barely a yuan to her name. Because of her involvement in the Ba Sing Se riots, Ty Lee now found herself blacklisted from entering the Earth Kingdom, at least while the current Dai Li regime was in power, and thus reuniting with her family was not in the cards.

Ty Lee was understandably depressed about the situation, but at least she had been able to get in touch with Mai. Her old friend had been happy to come to Ty Lee's rescue, and Ty was currently living at Mai's downtown Caldera apartment, at least until she found some means to sustain herself. Azula suspected that Mai was actually quite happy to have someone staying with her. Because of how much Mai had come to enjoy her visits to Ba Sing Se, she seemed to have become more aware of the loneliness she experienced when she was back in the Fire Nation. Now, with Mai having gone to Ba Sing Se, Ty Lee had been forced to stay behind and look after the apartment. And since there was plenty of space at Mai's apartment, Azula and Katara had been invited to stay there as well, instead of bothering with a hotel. The two girls had been more than happy to accept the invitation.

Having rented a car at the airport, a red Corvette of a similar model to what she owned back in Ba Sing Se, Azula and Katara made their way to Mai's downtown apartment block. Azula couldn't wait to see Ty Lee once again and she was having serious trouble respecting the speed limit, Katara constantly having to chide her. Sure, their friendship with Ty Lee had taken a sour note in Ba Sing Se because of all the romantic complications, and because of Ty's relationship with Yue not working out, but as far as Azula was concerned, that was all in the past. After what Ty Lee had been through, Azula wasn't going to bring up any of those things and she was certain that Katara also wanted to move on and look to the future instead of dwelling on the past.

Having made it to the apartment in record time and having successfully dodged any vigilant cops, Azula left the Corvette in the private parking lot of the apartment complex and the two girls then dragged their heavy suitcases up the stairs to ring the doorbell of Mai's apartment. The qualifying tournament was not a long one, only ten games, but because of their importance, they got a day off after every match, so the whole event still stretched out across three long weeks and they had come to the Fire Nation well prepared.

Ty Lee eventually opened the doors and for the next few minutes, nothing coherent was said because the time was filled with mostly relieved laughing, crying and hugging between the three girls. Eventually Azula and Katara carried their suitcases across the doorstep and dumped them in one of the free bedrooms, then returning to the living room to resume catching up with Ty Lee. Before anything could be said, however, Azula pulled out a thick blue envelope and handed it over to her old friend.

"What's this?" Ty Lee cautiously took the envelope. She peered inside, blinking when she saw a pile of banknotes. "Azula, I can't take this-"

"What are you talking about, Ty, this is your money," Azula sighed at her friend. Ty Lee looked at her in wide-eyed incomprehension. "Look, just because you went through all that crap, my father didn't stop his payments, right? I figured that you would really need that money whole you're in Caldera, so I withdrew it and brought it with me. Since I opened the account for you, I still had access to it," Azula explained.

"Oh… wow!" Ty Lee gasped. She let out a giggle. "Can you believe I actually forgot about that? Hah, I'm almost like a rich lady now! I can pay rent, and I don't have to like, get any crappy job by tomorrow. This is awesome!" she exclaimed, hugging Azula again.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy, Ty," Azula smiled. "We'll stop by one of the local banks and open another account for you. Then I can set up an automatic transfer of money so that you can withdraw it here in Caldera."

"Wow, that would be really sweet," Ty Lee gushed. "Thanks, Azula."

"You're welcome, Ty," Azula said. "You probably have a lot of crazy stories from Yu Dao, right? On one hand, I'm not sure I even want to know about all the horrors of war, but on the other hand, I am morbidly curious…"

"I get that," Ty Lee nodded. "I mean, I don't really want to tell you about the hospital work, even if I know you're not squeamish and Katara studies medicine, so I guess you wouldn't be too freaked out about all the battlefield amputations and horrible disfigurements I got to see." Azula winced slightly at that. Like Ty Lee had said, she wasn't exactly squeamish, for example she had the highest tolerance towards horror movie gore, but actual real violence did feel a great deal different. "So, if I were to tell you some of my craziest stories, those would all be about the risky missions I went on with the Freedom Fighters. Like that one time when Jet led us-"

"Wait, excuse me?" Katara interrupted Ty Lee, looking mildly shocked. Azula also felt a little taken aback. "Did you just say Jet?" Katara asked.

"Oh… didn't I mention during the phone call that I ran into Jet in Yu Dao?" Ty Lee blinked.

"No!" Azula and Katara both exclaimed aloud.

"Uh, it must have slipped my mind," Ty Lee blushed scarlet. "Yeah, the Freedom Fighters brought him to my hospital last fall. He was really badly shot up and he barely made it. He stayed like over a month at the hospital and I got to nurse him back to health. And I got to take care of him in a lot of other ways, too," Ty Lee grinned wickedly.

"Wait, did you and Jet?" Azula blinked. Ty Lee nodded smugly. "Did you two just decide to forget about Suki?" Azula asked.

"Oh, come on, she wasn't there," Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "Jet said that he probably would never make it back to Ba Sing Se anyway, and he had told her to move on when he left. And I also wasn't sure that I would ever get out of Yu Dao in one piece. Look, there was misery all around us, okay? Don't judge me too harshly for wanting something nice while surrounded by so much ugliness."

Azula exchanged a conflicted stare with Katara. Her girlfriend also seemed to be struggling, uncertain how to react. Eventually, Katara rose from her seat and walked over to the phone. "I'm going to call Suki right away," she said decisively. "I don't care what Jet told her upon leaving, I know that she still worries for him, so I'm going to let her know that Jet was still fine until a few weeks ago."

"Kat, are you going to tell her about him and Ty?" Azula asked nervously.

Katara froze for a moment, pondering furiously. "No, I… I'll pretend that I didn't hear about that," she sighed. "If Jet makes it out of Yu Dao alive and shows up in Ba Sing Se, I'll let him tell Suki himself. And I'll make sure that he does tell her," Katara finished, her fingers starting to turn the dial.

"I think that's probably for the best," Azula muttered. She had been in close contact with Suki as of late, both because she wanted to keep the avenue of working for The Harmony Ring open, but most importantly because she actually liked Suki. Azula knew that the girl from Kyoshi Island still pined for Jet, which was why Ty Lee's casual reveal of cheating felt so upsetting. Suki had recently tried to resume dating, but she'd never gone on a second date with any of her potential paramours. She simply wasn't ready to give up on Jet so quickly, even if Jet seemed to have given up on her. Then again, Azula had no idea what sort of pressure Jet was under having spent a year in a warzone. Maybe without this solace provided by Ty Lee, he would have already gone crazy. It was a tough call to make.

"I really didn't think that we were doing anything wrong, Azula," Ty Lee said, ignoring Katara quietly talking on the phone nearby. "I still don't."

"Fair enough," Azula shrugged. "Was it hard to leave him behind there?" she asked.

Ty Lee blushed darkly for some reason. "I… was actually going to disobey the evacuation order and remain with the Freedom Fighters," she said, looking a little embarrassed. "But then, one evening I just passed out cold and woke up on the afternoon of the following day on a transport ship, halfway back to the Fire Nation. I don't know what happened. One of the doctors said I had been pumped full of sedatives, but I don't remember taking any."

Azula sighed, rolling her eyes inwardly. Ty Lee could sometimes be a little dense. "Were you with Jet the evening before you passed out?" she asked. Ty Lee nodded. "And had he been trying to discourage you from staying in Yu Dao?" Ty Lee nodded again. "Come on, Ty… he obviously spiked your drink and hauled your ass onto that ship to send you home to safety. And honestly, I applaud him for that."

Ty Lee's eyes welled with tears. "He wouldn't…" she whispered. Azula gave her a sympathetic stare. Ty Lee sniffled for a bit before blowing her nose and eventually calming down. By now, Katara had ended her call with Suki and had rejoined them. "No, I suspect you're right, Azula," Ty Lee finally admitted. "Ugh, that guy! I trusted him, and he goes and pulls something like that on me? What an asshole…"

Azula exchanged a quick stare with Katara. "I heard most of that," Katara told her. "By the way, I think I managed to cheer Suki up a little, so that's good."

Azula nodded at her girlfriend, then turning back to face Ty Lee. Obviously, she didn't like seeing Ty upset, however, she was incredibly grateful to Jet for getting Ty Lee out of that meat grinder safe and alive. If Jet ever made it out in one piece himself, Azula was going to make sure that he knew how grateful she was. "Anyway, are we good not talking about Yu Dao anymore?" Azula asked. "I don't really want to indulge in too much grimness on the eve of the tournament."

"Sure, we don't have to talk about the war," Ty Lee seemed only happy to agree. It didn't take long for all traces of distress to disappear from her posture. Azula really wished that she could pull such a mood switcheroo at will, but she could only do that with her outwards appearance and deep inside she continued to dwell on things overly long.

"You haven't been back in the Fire Nation for a very long time, right?" Katara asked. "How long has it been, six years? Or was it seven?"

"More than seven, actually," Ty Lee replied. "Yeah, at first it felt weird to be back, but honestly, Caldera hasn't really changed much at all since I left. It didn't take me too long to get used to being home again. And the weather is just so much nicer than anywhere else, right? Oh, and all of my favorite places I hung out at before my family had to leave are still there and open. I know that your tournament is like, really important and stuff, but I hope that we can still go out and have some fun now and then."

Azula looked over at Katara. They would definitely have to prep very hard for their games, but a lot of theory groundwork had already been laid down back in Ba Sing Se. Ever since they had learned who their opponents in the tournament would be, they had done intensive research and compiled detailed dossiers on all of their competitors, including Yue's opponents in her Agna Qel'a tournament. Azula was sure that they could allow themselves a bit of a leeway and didn't have to lock themselves away at the apartment for days of nothing but preparation. It also helped that Azula had discovered that her father was away at the Fire Fountain City, advising Zhao on his quest to qualify, so she didn't have to fear some foul play from Ozai. Furthermore, it seemed that Katara was of one mind with her about this, as she gave Azula a firm nod. "I think we can go out and have some fun after our opening round tomorrow," Azula said.

"And hopefully, we'll have a reason to celebrate," Katara said, smiling. She didn't look at all nervous even if she was facing Jeong-Jeong in her opener, while Azula had an easier start against a lesser-known Fire Nation master. All in all, both Azula and Katara were in high spirits at the start of the most important tournament in their lives up to this point. It was just a shame that only one of them would make it through to the next stage of competition.

"I don't think Knotweed is what you want to play in this situation," Yue said, looking at the position on the Pai Sho board. They were sitting at a table in Aang's hotel room, stuck analyzing the Air Nation boy's game from earlier in the day, a draw against an opponent he probably should have defeated. "Sure, you're throwing a spanner in the works for the other guy, but it's really just a mild inconvenience while you just lost tempo on developing your own pieces."

"Oh, I think I get it," Aang said, nodding. "Yes, you're right. I should have played more actively here. Like literally anything would have been better, I think. I could have brought my White Jade into play. That would have really made him scramble."

"Exactly," Yue smiled at the Air Nation boy. They had both enjoyed good starts to their tournament. Yue had two wins out of two, while Aang had a win and a draw. Of course, neither of them had played Pakku yet, and the tournament favorite was also on two wins, so nothing decisive had happened just yet. Still, they had started well, and that was always helpful in bolstering their confidence.

"I think I could have played the endgame a little better, too," Aang said. "I feel like I let him get away with mistakes a few times there as well."

"Well, let's take a look," Yue said. They followed Aang's notations to advance the game a little until they hit the endgame, starting to ponder upon Aang's choice of moves. Yue soon became a little distracted and even frustrated from how Aang occasionally kept checking his wristwatch with a worried look on his face. Yes, Yue was aware that Aang was accompanied at the tournament by his girlfriend and she understood that they wanted to spend time together, but shirking on prep because of that felt deeply unacceptable to the Water Tribe girl. She firmly followed the school of thought that you simply had to do your prep thoroughly regardless of how much time it took. Obviously, it was a lot easier to follow that rule with a couple of Pai Sho obsessed girlfriends, and Mai was not particularly interested in Pai Sho in the first place, but Yue assumed that Aang was being serious about wanting to win the tournament. Skipping on his prep was definitely not a way to achieve that.

"Do you see what I mean?" Aang asked, pointing at the isolated Rhododendron tile of his opponent. "I'm pretty sure I should have been able to capture this tile."

"I can see a couple of ways to do that, yes," Yue nodded. "But I think you were short on time, weren't you?" Aang nodded back at her. "Well, it's understandable that you didn't spot the move. I've seen Bumi use it against Ozai in the finals before."

"Oh, I think I know that one!" Aang exclaimed, grinning. He reached out to grab his Chrysanthemum tile before moving it, threatening to form the Harmony Ring. His opponent now had to move his already isolated Rhododendron even further away from the rest of his tiles just to block the potential Harmony Ring. Capturing the Rhododendron after that became a mere formality. "Damn, that would have been a beautiful win, if only I had spotted the move!" Aang sighed, looking a little disappointed with himself.

"Don't get down on yourself, Aang," Yue smiled at him. "It was still a pretty good game, but if I were to give you one piece of advice…" Aang gave her an expectant stare. "Your problem really isn't spotting the right move and you know that. Your problem is that you have to manage your time better. You sometimes waste too much time on trivial moves because of what I think is indecision. You have to trust your instincts more. Commit to a plan and execute, that's what I always tell my students."

"It is a brilliant advice, the only problem is that I keep forgetting it when I actually sit down and start playing," Aang sighed. "Anyway, we've spent way too much time looking at my game. We should take a closer look at your amazing win," he said.

"We can do that," Yue nodded, but before they could even clear the board from tiles, the doors to Aang's room opened and Mai stepped inside, looking a little impatient.

"Are you done yet?" she asked, looking at Aang. "It's been more than three hours already, so I think I've waited enough."

"You're right, Mai, but I just feel guilty about not being of much help to Yue," Aang sighed. "All we did during these three hours was dissecting my game…"

"I'm sure you can set aside a few hours tomorrow for that," Mai said. "I've already got the tickets for the movie, and if you tarry around any longer, we're going to miss it."

"Of course, I don't want to miss out on seeing Conquest of the Planet of the Apes with you," Aang replied. He then shot Yue an apologetic glance, looking rather trapped.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Aang, just go and have fun with your girlfriend," Yue sighed at him as she got up to leave. "If you want to do more prep tomorrow, just come and find me. I'll probably be in my room, chilling and not doing much."

"Alright, Yue," Aang looked relieved. "We'll squeeze in a few hours tomorrow, I promise." Mai for once did not seem annoyed by Aang saying that, giving Yue a brief nod as she walked past the Fire Nation girl to return to her hotel room. Yue still couldn't quite grasp why Mai was occasionally so curt with her. Mai hadn't been onboard with Yue's relationship with Ty Lee, and Yue had kind of proved Mai right by botching her romance with Ty, but it seemed to go beyond that. Maybe it was just something about her personality type that Mai didn't particularly like, because she didn't seem to think very highly of Katara either. Or maybe she disapproved of the relationship they were having with Azula? It all felt a little weird to Yue, but Mai wasn't an easy person to approach, so Yue couldn't quite motivate herself to just up and ask the surly tawny-eyed girl about her standoffish attitude.

Here in Agna Qel'a, Mai's main problem with Yue seemed to be that Yue was dragging Aang into doing too much prep. However, Yue didn't know Mai well enough to feel certain about her motives. She didn't want to assume that Mai was simply being selfish and wanted to monopolize Aang's time at the expense of reducing his chances of winning the tournament. It was very possible that Mai simply believed that overdoing preparations could cause more harm than do good, and sometimes that was a valid concern, Yue understood that well enough. She just wasn't sure if Mai, not being a Pai Sho player herself, was in the position to make that kind of a call. Yue certainly believed that Aang could benefit from more prep, but she wasn't going to push for that if it meant interfering in his relationship with Mai.

Not having a reliable sparring partner was not ideal for Yue's own prep, but she supposed that she would be able to manage. Besides, Aang was probably the worst sparring partner among the Gaang, simply because he struggled to hold his focus the longer the prep dragged on, so Yue supposed that she wasn't losing out on too much. It helped that they had done such an amazing job when preparing back in Ba Sing Se. The notes they had taken on Pakku's style of play were so comprehensive that they could probably be compiled into a book. Yue could probably get away with doing very little prep during the tournament, but considering the importance of the event, she still wanted to be as prepared as she could possibly be.

This was where not having Katara or Azula with her was definitely showing. The way they sometimes lost all track of time at the Pai Sho board was kind of crazy. On some occasions, they had sat down for a few hours of practice at six in the afternoon to then forget about everything else in the existence and snap out of their obsessive daze ten hours later at four in the morning, having only taken toilet breaks in between and realizing that they were absolutely starving. On one such occasion, they had ended up cooking dinner at four in the morning. The life of a Pai Sho professional could sometimes become ridiculously insane, but Yue wouldn't trade it for anything, not when she could share it with her two amazing girlfriends.

Having made it back to her hotel room, Yue spent half an hour trying to do some prep on her own, but she quickly discovered that she wasn't in the mood for it. By now, Yue was experienced enough to realize that if she wasn't in the mood for Pai Sho, then it was best not to try and force it. She then spent an hour reading, soon growing bored of that as well. Spirits, it was only her fourth day in Agna Qel'a and Yue was already missing Azula and Katara like crazy. She briefly considered calling her girlfriends, but because of the time difference, it was still fairly early in the morning in Caldera City and it was likely that Azula and Katara were sleeping in on their off day.

Yue briefly entertained the idea of descending downstairs to the hotel's bar for a few drinks. Tomorrow was a day off between the matches, so she could allow herself to indulge in a drink or two. The only thing stopping her was that on the previous two occasions when she had sat down at the bar, she had ended up having to suffer deeply unwelcome attentions from several young males seeking company and entertainment. Dealing with them had been very vexing and Yue wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with that tonight. Then again, sitting alone in her room the entire evening felt a little pathetic, so Yue decided to give the bar another try. She spent a few minutes retouching her makeup before slipping into black leather pants and a baggy grey sweater, letting her hair all the way down and hoping that by dressing less provocatively she would reduce the attention that a single young female like her was bound to attract at a bar. Spirits, this was yet another reason why she missed her girlfriends so much, particularly Azula's ability to send men whimpering and fleeing after they had as much as looked at one of them the wrong way.

A good quarter of an hour later, Yue was sitting at a table in the hotel bar and idly sipping her vodka martini while ignoring the gross salty peanuts someone had helpfully brought up to her table. Yue couldn't stop her thoughts from turning towards Azula and Katara once again. Even though they had been together for more than a year already, the intensity of longing still felt as strong as it had been at the very start of their relationship, which rather astonished Yue. She wondered if this was what people who truly believed in the concept of soulmates felt like. Yue also often wondered what it was that made the three of them such a good fit, which clearly went beyond their passion for Pai Sho. For every single thing that Katara and Azula had in common, they seemed to have an aspect in which they were complete opposites. Sometimes these opposing values could lead to some minor tensions and arguing, and Yue saw herself almost like a binding agent whose job was to intervene and help bridge these opposing values. So far, it had been working out more than fine and Yue saw no reason to think that they couldn't continue in the same vein.

When it came to Yue's own needs in their relationship, she felt like she was getting spoiled rotten and far beyond what she could have hoped for or deserved. The richness of their emotional and physical connection was astonishing, and between Katara's gentle softness and Azula's fierce intensity, Yue felt like she was getting the best of both worlds. Yue herself was somewhere in the middle between her two girlfriends, and she knew that her partners cherished her adaptability. Sometimes Azula wanted to give into her occasionally manifesting submissive side, and Yue was much more at ease being slightly rougher with Azula than Katara was. And sometimes Katara would end up getting all worked up about either some terrible political take or social injustice, in which case Yue was perfectly happy to let Katara work out her frustrations as Yue filled the submissive role for her Water Tribe girlfriend.

Thinking about Azula and Katara competing for the only ticket through to the finals felt almost physically painful to Yue. She truly couldn't decide who she favored to prevail, but since she knew how desperate Azula was to face off against her father, Yue thought that perhaps Azula deserved to progress slightly more than Katara did, but she also felt guilty for preferring one of her girlfriends above the other, at least in this one instance. Then again, Katara had made the better start to the tournament. She had beaten Jeong-Jeong in the first round, while Azula had managed a draw against the same opponent in the second round. It was by no means a decisive turn of the events, because Piandao had two wins out of two, so there was still everything left to play for.

As Yue was longingly thinking about her amazing girlfriends while sipping her drink, someone predictably decided to sit down at her table uninvited. When Yue turned towards the inevitable annoying young male to send them packing, she almost let out a gasp when she realized who her uninvited companion was, none other than her loathsome, abusive ex-husband Hahn Adjuk.

"I was wondering who the sexy girl drinking all alone by herself was," Hahn grinned at her obnoxiously. "Then I realized… why it's only my lovely ex-wife."

"What do you want, Hahn?" Yue sighed. She hoped that she could get rid of him without creating a drama, but she was certainly prepared to do whatever it took.

"Nothing but to wholesomely occupy my time," Hahn chuckled at her. "And you looked downright sad and lonely. I couldn't just stay away and not come over to tell you how gorgeous you look tonight. Ba Sing Se has been treating you well, I see."

"Are you being serious now?" Yue asked in disbelief. "You're trying to hit on me after everything you did? Just how desperate do you think I am?"

"Are you saying it's not working?" Hahn shot her a beaming smile, but it just made Yue wince inwardly. She had to admit that objectively Hahn Adjuk was a handsome guy, but Yue knew that she would never be able to look past all the times he had belittled her and assaulted her physically. She wasn't one of those unfortunate abuse victims trapped in tainted dependence mistaken for love. She had broken her cage and escaped a long time ago.

"It's really not," Yue snorted.

"Ah, too bad," Hahn chuckled. "You must still be in your pussy eating phase then, I guess." Yue's reaction was almost instant. With a flick of her wrist, she emptied her vodka martini right into Hahn's face. "Shit, it burns!" Hahn cried, rubbing his eyes frantically. "What did you do that for, you bitch?" he yelled at her, ensuring that everyone's attention in the bar was suddenly focused upon them.

"That was barely a tenth of what I would gladly do to you, asshole," Yue snapped, getting up from her seat to walk away. She was done with the hotel bar, which was a bit of a shame because it was a nice place and the bartender was always happy to whip up anything Yue's heart desired, but unfortunately, the place also seemed to attract the worst kind of scumbags.

"You're not going anywhere! I'm not done with you yet," Hahn made an effort to chase after her, but with his eyes still sore and watering from being doused in vodka, Hahn struggled to see clearly, crashing into another patron. There was a lot of cursing and sounds of fighting behind Yue's back as she walked away from the chaos quickly spreading throughout the bar. The last thing Yue saw when she turned to look back was a small but brawny looking guy picking Hahn up and then putting him through the table wrestling-style. Yue was grinning like mad all the way back to her hotel room.

Once she was back in her room, however, her mood quickly began to sour again. The very thought that Hahn was lurking around the hotel was rather unnerving. Even if Yue refused to fear him anymore, the fact was that he was physically bigger and stronger than she was, and he had a history of getting physical with her, so Yue definitely did not want to be caught alone with him. And after this incident, Hahn would probably be even more determined to stir up further trouble for her. Hahn was well aware that Yue was taking part in the most important tournament of her life, and it would no doubt delight him immeasurably if he could cause enough of a distraction for Yue to make her fail. Once he recovered from the beating that he had received during the bar brawl, Hahn would probably be back, looking for some kind of a payback.

All this made Yue consider an offer she had received on the eve of her departure to Agna Qel'a. She had been reluctant to accept it, and she still felt the same way, but now, with Hahn making his very unwelcome and distracting reappearance, Yue felt that perhaps her continual stay at the hotel might prove detrimental to her chances of winning the tournament. Certainly, moving elsewhere meant that arranging their prep sessions with Aang would be a little harder, but it wouldn't be an insurmountable challenge. She could always come to the hotel for a few hours, or Aang could come to visit her, taking Mai with him if she so wished.

Finally, having made her decision, Yue picked up the phone and dialed a number. After a while spent waiting, her call was eventually answered. "Yes, who is it?" a slightly gruff male voice asked.

"Good evening," Yue said in a neutral tone of voice. "I'm sorry for calling you at such a late hour."

"Yue?" the man's voice immediately warmed up considerably. "Of course, as I've told you before, call me at any time."

"Thank you," Yue said. "There's only one reason why I'm calling, really. I wanted to ask about the offer to stay with you during the tournament. Is it still on the table?"

"Of course, darling," the older man replied, sounding slightly concerned. "Is everything alright, Yue? Tell me when you want to come over and I'll send a car to wherever you are to pick you up."

"I'm at the hotel, and I'm good to come over right now. A car would be nice, too," Yue smiled despite internally still feeling rather conflicted.

"I'm sending the chauffeur over to fetch you right now, Yue," the man told her on the phone.

"Alright," Yue said. "Thank you, father."

Next chapter: The important qualifying tournaments continue with everything still to play for.