Chapter 92

Katara stared at the remaining tiles on the Pai Sho board, not quite able to believe her own eyes when facing the situation in which she found herself in. Her second round game against the defending world champion Ozai Nakamura had been unfolding better than she could have hoped for. It was around the fortieth move that Ozai's insincere and oily smile had disappeared completely. Around the fiftieth move he was glaring at her so hard that Katara could almost feel a burning sensation within her skull, but fortunately she was able to resist the attempted distraction. By the sixtieth move, Ozai looked ready to commit bloody murder upon realizing that he had no path to victory in this game. He had then reluctantly muttered his offer of a draw, hastily shaken her hand and departed with haste, ignoring all the attempts by the tournament organizers to remind him that he was supposed to make himself available for the press.

Having achieved the remarkable feat of securing a draw against the world champion, Katara for once was happy to enjoy her spot in the limelight as the reporters all rushed to crowd her, ignoring Gyatso who had destroyed Long Feng, and Yue who had scored a crushing win over Zhao. "You just forced Ozai Nakamura to drop his first points in the tournament," Suki turned to Katara, the Water Tribe girl taken aback from how many dictaphones she suddenly found showed in her face. "That must feel good, yes?"

"Oh, it feels amazing," Katara smiled broadly. "I have now taken points from both pre-tournament favorites, Ozai Nakamura and Gyatso Jetsun. Obviously, I am delighted about my start to the tournament."

"Perhaps we should start considering you as a serious contender for the title?" another journalist asked.

"That would be extremely premature to do," Katara replied, laughing. They had all agreed to keep their hopes grounded, regardless of how well they were doing. Not letting success get to their heads was how they were going to perform well in the tournament. "I am here simply to get my first taste of the finals and get some experience, I have no aspirations beyond that," Katara added, earning herself nods and smiles from the journalists.

It took another twenty minutes for the press to finally exhaust their interest in her and Katara was finally released to leave the Royal Theatre. The rising popularity of Pai Sho and the growing crowds of fans outside the theatre building had forced the tournament organizers to make some adjustments to ensure the safety of the competitors. They were now supposed to leave through a side entrance that was connected to a gated off parking lot used by the theatre staff, shielding them from the fans gathered outside. As Katara walked up to the Cadillac, she was surprised that instead of waiting for her to climb in, Azula and Yue actually got out of the car. Moments later, Katara found herself being smothered in a tight three-way hug.

"You did it, Kat," Yue whispered in her ear. "You denied Ozai a victory!"

"I love you so much, Kat," Azula whispered in Katara's other ear. "Seeing the look on my father's face when he stormed off was like a balm to soothe all of my old wounds."

"It did feel good," Katara admitted as they got back into the car, Katara this time taking the back seat. "But next time when I'm facing your father, Azula, I'm going for the win."

"Of course, you both are," Azula nodded. "We're going to prep exactly for that. You've both got some experience under your belts now, so there's no reason to hold back anymore. We're still conserving your strength in these early stages, so remember to avoid games dragging past eighty moves. We don't need that sort of fatigue. It's going to tell later in the tournament."

"Heard and understood, adorably gorgeous whip-cracking mistress," Yue grinned at Azula.

"You're going to take my words seriously, Yue, or I swear-" Azula growled at the white-haired girl, only for her expression to soften moments later. "But it was a beautiful victory over Zhao, Yue. And I especially loved how efficient you were."

"That's right," Yue tossed her gorgeous white locks. "I barely broke any sweat."

"I'll have you breaking plenty of sweat in two days, you braggart," Katara laughed. She was facing Yue in the next round. Katara was both excited and reluctant about playing her love. Katara felt excited because she always loved to compete against Azula or Yue. It was rare when a game between them didn't become an instant classic. But she was also reluctant because at least one of them would be losing points, and Katara hated that thought.

"Only in two days?" Yue gave her a naughty wink. "I was planning on making you break sweat later tonight."

"Don't make me crash the car, Yue," Azula admonished, her voice trembling slightly. Katara could see Azula's face turning red in the rear-view mirror. "Anyway, if something of that sort is happening tonight, I should like to hope that I'm invited," Azula added.

"We wouldn't dream to leave you out, Zula," Yue grinned. "You definitely deserve to be rewarded for all of your hard work. I can't believe how well you have organized everything."

"We're very far from perfection," Azula harrumphed, not looking very pleased. "Just take the breakfast this morning. One side of Katara's toast was way too close to being burned. And Yue, your Eggs Benedict were not runny enough."

"I thought everything was just fine," Katara said.

"Yeah, I really didn't mind the way the eggs were prepared," Yue nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm sorry but just fine isn't enough for my girls. Everything will be perfect, even if I have to do everything myself," Azula said stiffly. "Also, it's too late to take anything back, I already spent twenty minutes chewing out the kitchen staff, so I'm sure there will be a marked improvement tomorrow. Also, I found a speck of dust on the back of one of the chairs in our suite, so rest assured that the cleaners are going to hear from me tomorrow."

"Azula, has anyone ever told you that you really are this serious force of nature?" Yue giggled at their girlfriend.

"I don't even know what that means," Azula shrugged at that.

Katara burst into laughter. "It simply means that we adore you for everything you're doing for us, love," she said with a broad smile on her face.

Yue frowned at the situation on the Pai Sho board in front of her, but it wasn't because she didn't like what she was seeing. In fact, her position carried with it several advantages, a far more active and advanced tile structure being only one of them. Somehow, by the fiftieth move, she had ended up in this situation where she was on the verge of prevailing against Katara, yet it wasn't bringing her as much joy as she thought it would.

The main reason for Yue's internal conflict was the match currently being played at the table next to theirs. Ozai was crushing Long Feng with ease in a complete sham of a contest. The game had already been decided by the thirtieth move, but the two men were simply dragging the affair out to make it appear more respectable. Azula had told them that in the next round, Ozai would repeat the same with Zhao. This was the reason why trying to defeat Ozai Nakamura in the finals was next to impossible. He had these two personal point donors who gave him two free wins in every round-robin, while Katara and Yue had to fight for every point. It was all just so brutally unfair and it made challenging Ozai feel like a truly Sisyphean task.

It was also the reason why Katara and Yue had discussed making a similar arrangement to what Ozai had with his two cronies. Yue had suggested giving four free wins to Katara. Katara had shot down that idea immediately, instead insisting on giving four free wins to Yue. Yue had vehemently refused and they had argued bitterly for almost an hour, until Azula had returned to the suite. Azula had then angrily cracked their heads together before shouting at them for being complete idiots. After that, Yue and Katara had both made solemn wows to perform to their best in every game among themselves, and they both had earnest intentions to follow through with this promise.

And as far as Yue could tell, Katara had tried her best, but Yue had simply enjoyed a bit of a lucky break. Katara had actually played the better opening and she had been in the process of deploying her tiles for a full-frontal assault, but Katara had been unnerved when she had missed Yue's counter play opportunity on the left wing. It wasn't a crucial mistake, but it had allowed Yue to really muddle the situation on the board, and once the confusion had cleared, Katara's frontal assault suddenly appeared unsustainable, forcing her tiles into retreat. Yue had then rallied by claiming the initiative before chasing Katara's tiles all across the board and then surrounding them for one final siege on Katara's position.

As their game reached the sixtieth move, Yue felt like she was getting closer and closer to the final breakthrough. She was still weary of Katara having some trick up her sleeve, though, so Yue resolved to remain patient. It then took her by complete surprise when on the sixty-second move Katara reached out and stopped the timing clock, resigning the game.

"What are you doing, Kat?" Yue asked quietly as they shook hands. "You could have fought on."

"Remember what Azula told us," Katara smiled at her. "We need to keep our games short. Why would I spend thirty more moves to stave off the inevitable and exhaust us both?"

"I suppose…" Yue admitted, frowning. She didn't think Katara's position was so bad that a defeat was absolutely inevitable or at least Yue did not feel completely confident of her victory. Then again, maybe Yue was underestimating herself. And she was in the clearly advantageous position, so perhaps Katara had been right to resign. They had agreed not to throw games, but they had also agreed to conserve their strength, so Katara's decision seemed to make a lot of sense.

Still, Yue remained a little uneasy about what had happened even when she was sitting in the backseat of the black Cadillac, almost half an hour later. "Azula?" she asked as they were about to leave the Fire Fountain City and hit what passed for a highway on Shuhon Island. Azula had decided to treat them to a visit at a country farm raising ostriches, appalled when Yue and Katara had both confessed to have never tasted an ostrich steak. "Don't you think that Katara resigned too early today?" Yue asked.

"What are you talking about, love?" Azula sounded frustrated. "I thought Katara should have resigned at least five or ten moves earlier. I was literally just chiding her about that, didn't you hear?"

"I'm sorry," Yue blushed. "I was miles away."

"Anyway, you were about to crush Katara, Yue," Azula continued. "We agreed that if one of you gains a decisive advantage, the other should resign without wasting time and effort. I thought we were in agreement about that."

"We are," Yue nodded. "I just… wasn't sure if my advantage was decisive."

"Yue," Azula said sternly. "Do I understand anything at all about Pai Sho?"

"What are you talking about?" Yue blinked. "You are a Pai Sho Queen, a prodigy."

"Then trust me when I say that your advantage was decisive," Azula snapped at her. "And if you don't trust me, we can go over the game one more time when we get back to the hotel. Actually, we'll probably be going over that game a lot, mostly for Katara's benefit, though."

"It wasn't my best showing, I know," Katara sighed.

"That's not what I meant," Azula said. "It just illustrated your only weakness that I've noticed. Every time someone plays Knotweed into the melee, it seems like you panic, Katara."

"Not every time," Katara said defensively.

"Well, excuse me for not being nuanced enough," Azula snorted. "It's still a weakness and you better pray that nobody else notices it before we have had a chance to correct it. And it means that later tonight and all day tomorrow you are going to do so much prep that your legs will be numb and your ass will be sore from sitting so many hours at the Pai Sho board."

"I think Katara wishes that her ass would be sore for a different reason," Yue giggled naughtily.

"Oh, I will make arrangements for that as well," Azula said. Katara had gone quite red in the face, but she also looked rather excited. "By the way, Yue," Azula spoke up a while later. "I looked into renting something for the weekend and I found the loveliest bungalow some ten miles outside the city. And it's also really close to the airport for those flying in on Saturday."

"That sounds amazing, thank you for taking care of this, Azula," Yue smiled. Her twenty second birthday was on Saturday and Azula was making all kinds of preparations for it. Yue simply couldn't wait to see what Azula had arranged for the occasion. She knew that Aang, Mai and Ty Lee were flying in on Saturday, but she didn't think that anyone else would be coming. Making the journey all this way to the Fire Nation just for her birthday wasn't something she expected her friends to do, but since Aang was coming to visit Mai anyway, they had an easy time including Yue's birthday among their plans. Yue was even looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with Ty Lee. So much time had passed since their breakup and she wanted to hang out with someone she now saw simply as a good friend.

"Don't mention it, love," Azula replied. "It means that on Saturday, once you're done with your matches, I'll go and drop you two off at the bungalow. After that, I'll drive over to the airport to pick up Mai, Ty Lee and Aang. Once we're all there, the party can truly begin."

"No surprise visitors?" Yue asked guardedly. Azula always had some tricks up her sleeve, she had learned as much about her girlfriend.

"Not this time, Yue," Azula shook her head. She then frowned, looking a little conflicted. "Actually…" Azula began, then falling silent.

"Speak to us, Zula," Katara urged their girlfriend.

"Yue, your father reached out to me," Azula confessed. "He wanted to come here for the weekend of your birthday."

"Oh," was all that Yue could manage. She was still sorting through her complicated feelings towards Arnook Taqqiq. By now, she could be civil around her father if it was necessary, but she still did not feel like seeking his company unless she had to. He had broken her trust in such a fundamental way, and even his remorse had felt shallow. Her father had earned himself some of Yue's goodwill by letting her stay with him during the Agna Qel'a qualifying tournament, and by giving Mai the opportunity to advance her career as a fashion designer, but these were only two steps on the long road Yue felt her father had to walk to make up for what he had done to her.

"I told him to stay away," Azula said. "I hope you're not angry."

"No… not at all," Yue managed a smile. "Thank you, Azula. I'll call him on Saturday. I don't necessarily want anything more than a phone conversation with him right now, anything else would be too distracting. You made the right call, because I definitely did not want him coming here," she said. Yue noticed that Katara looked saddened, but she didn't say anything. Yue could guess what was going on in Katara's head. Katara always wanted everyone to get along. It was probably upsetting her that Yue didn't have a good relationship with her father, but things were what they were, and Yue wasn't going to pretend that she had fully forgiven her father just to make Katara happy.

"Glad to hear it," Azula sounded relieved. "I might not know your father very well, but I doubt he would be much of a party animal. In fact, he would probably be more of a party pooper."

Katara actually burst into laughter at that. "Well, you're definitely right about that, Azula," she said, struggling to contain her laughter.

Round 4 results:

Ozai Nakamura 1 - Zhao Sakamoto 0

Gyatso Jetsun 1 - Yue Taqqiq 0

Long Feng 0 - Katara Enuaraq 1

Standings after Round 4:

1.-2. Ozai Nakamura, Gyatso Jetsun - 3.5

3.-4. Katara Enuaraq, Yue Taqqiq - 2

5. Zhao Sakamoto - 1

6. Long Feng - 0

Round 5 results:

Ozai Nakamura 0 - Gyatso Jetsun 1

Zhao Sakamoto 0.5 - Katara Enuaraq 0.5

Long Feng 0.5 - Yue Taqqiq 0.5

Standings after Round 5:

1. Gyatso Jetsun - 4.5

2. Ozai Nakamura - 3.5

3.-4. Katara Enuaraq, Yue Taqqiq - 2.5

5. Zhao Sakamoto - 1.5

6. Long Feng - 0.5

Azula was rather proud of her inspired choice of a rented bungalow for Yue's birthday party. It wasn't a huge place, but more than enough for six people, and together with Yue and Katara they had already claimed the somewhat narrow but very cozy and romantic attic space, offering an unforgettable view of the cliff encased bay next to which the bungalow was located. Indeed, the place came with its own little private beach, which probably justified its steep price, but Azula didn't care about trivialities such as higher costs. Nothing could ever be too expensive for one of her girls.

Katara and Yue had both drawn their games earlier in the day, and Azula had worried that it would put them both in a poor mood for the birthday party, but then her father had done them all a huge favor by blowing his game to Gyatso. As a result, Katara and Yue had actually gained some ground on Ozai, which was what Azula had been hoping for. With one fourth of the tournament behind them, Katara and Yue were exactly where Azula had wanted them to be, in the perfect position from which to strike. Azula hadn't wanted them to be closer to the leaders, because then Ozai would have taken notice, and fortunately neither of the two girls had also fallen too far back to recover.

Having some friends over at the bungalow definitely helped to create the atmosphere of a birthday party. While Azula was always happy to spend time with just her Water Tribe sweethearts, this was a special occasion that deserved this kind of a party feeling. Mai, Ty Lee and Aang had brought gifts for Yue, including an outfit from one of Mai's summer collections for one of the Caldera City fashion houses. It was an amazing combination of a casual red t-shirt, burgundy leather hat, jacket and matching miniskirt, together with knee length black leather boots. Yue had immediately changed into her new outfit despite it not quite being beach wear, but it was definitely a huge success as far as Azula and Katara were concerned. Katara was definitely better at wearing red, but even so Yue looked absolutely gorgeous and both Azula and Katara were determined that she wear the outfit for the rest of the evening. Of course, Azula also looked forward to a point much later in the evening when said outfit would come off, but lately she had become much better at cultivating patience. It seemed to be paying off for her in some very rewarding ways.

Despite the weather having been absolutely picturesque and allowing them to make great use of the beach to swim and sunbathe, the weather gods had then decided to throw a spanner in the works. Just as they had set up a barbeque on the beach and started to grill, one of those unexpected tropical showers had suddenly showed up completely out of nowhere. It was absolutely pouring down within a minute, and the only thing they could do was to grab everything they could, and run back to the bungalow screaming like mad while leaving the grill behind to become utterly drenched in the rain.

Still, the birthday was far from ruined by this unexpected turn of the events. There were plenty of supplies back at the bungalow, a fully loaded fridge including both a chocolate cake and an angel cake, as well as plenty of booze, so they were not in any danger of starving. Azula actually found it quite romantic to sit inside and listen to the tropical storm raging outside, wind whipping the roof of the bungalow and pelting it with heavy raindrops. It was the perfect weather to cuddle up to someone and feel safe and protected from the nature's wrath roaring outside.

"Really strange for the weather to turn like that," Aang remarked as they were all sitting in a loose circle on the thick living room carpet, lounging on cushions and spare pillows. The wind had really picked up a few minutes ago, literally howling through the entire bungalow in a slightly scary way. Azula was more than happy to have Yue's warmth to cuddle up to, Katara trapping the birthday girl between them from the other side. "I don't remember it doing that when we came here before," he added.

"You don't really get tropical storms like this in spring or summer," Azula explained. "Start of September is a little early for proper storm season, but I guess one of these storms just wanted to stop by and be an uninvited guest for our birthday party."

"Thanks a lot, storm," Yue grumbled, though in all honesty she looked pretty happy about life in general. Being trapped between her girlfriends, getting drowned in affection and being constantly fed cake and poured wine seemed like a recipe for happiness as far as Azula was concerned.

"How is everything back in Ba Sing Se, Aang?" Katara asked casually, just to keep the conversation alive.

"We haven't even been gone for two weeks, Katara," Azula said. "I doubt anything much would have changed."

"Hey… even when we were still back in Ba Sing Se, it didn't really feel like we were living in the Earth Kingdom," Katara replied. "Because of all the prep you made us do, I felt like I was living in some parallel Pai Sho universe."

"Yes, I felt exactly the same way, like time had lost its meaning completely," Yue giggled. She turned to Azula and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "The prep was totally worth it, though, love."

"Eww, gross," Mai felt obliged to make the mandatory comment, despite having become quite relaxed about sucking faces with Aang in public.

"Come on, they're cute," Ty Lee giggled, elbowing Mai in the side. At first, Mai and Aang had been leaning in against each other, but upon noticing that Ty Lee was sitting all by herself, Mai had literally pulled her friend up against her. Ty Lee was looking much happier now, and Azula was relieved to see that Ty Lee was able to look at Yue being affectionate with her and Katara without experiencing any lingering jealousy.

"They certainly are," Aang laughed. "Anyway, Katara, you know I don't pay much attention to politics. I don't think anything has changed, though."

"Nothing has changed, no," Mai sighed. "I still have to deal with annoying questionnaires while traveling. Please fill out this Dai Li sanctioned form before entering the Earth Kingdom territory. Do you plan to commit any acts of sedition or terrorism while visiting the Earth Kingdom, yes or no? Well, that one was a real brain scratcher."

"And I still can't travel to the Earth Kingdom because the Dai Li have put me on their list of potential terrorists," Ty Lee pouted. "They're such assholes."

"Why isn't the situation becoming normal again if the conflict in Yu Dao is over?" Katara asked, turning to look at Azula.

"I have no idea, but my guess is that the governments are working on some kind of a treaty behind the scenes and it's probably taking a lot of time to finalize," Azula shrugged. "These negotiations can be very difficult. Everyone's trying to help themselves to a larger slice of the pie. Meanwhile, regular people like us have to deal with all the inconveniences."

"Tell me about it," Mai sighed. "Just when I'm having to do more and more traveling, it has become a real pain in the backside. It's not just between Ba Sing Se and Caldera. Now I also need to be in Agna Qel'a quite regularly."

"How is the working relationship with my father?" Yue asked curiously.

"Very good, although I don't really interact with him all that much, he simply provided the funding and created the opportunity," Mai replied. "His brand managers are very laid back, however, at least compared to what I'm used to. Everyone is so fucking high strung in Caldera, it's unbelievable. Ba Sing Se is… you know, I thought that people there have no taste, but I was ignorant about how much of a melting pot that place really is. I think that I could actually find a niche for my designs there."

"Oh, does that mean you're thinking about moving?" Azula asked excitedly.

"Aang, have you perchance popped the big question?" Yue teased.

"Uh, no comment," Aang replied, looking a little red in the face.

"Stop pressuring my boyfriend, bitches," Mai barked at them. "As for moving to Ba Sing Se, yes, I have decided that I'll do it as soon as the situation allows for it. I don't want to chance it until I know that the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have stopped measuring their dicks. Once they sign their treaty or whatever and we finally have peace and normalcy, I'll make the move. I don't want to one day wake up in Ba Sing Se to discover that our countries are yet again at war and that I'm considered a potential spy and a terrorist and my fashion collections have been canceled."

"I know exactly what you mean," Azula nodded. "This uncertainty is exactly why I haven't bothered the Herald to take me back. I'll keep on working with Suki's Pai Sho magazine until there is some clarity."

"Yeah, and maybe then I can also go back to the Earth Kingdom," Ty Lee said hopefully. "Although I want to first go to Yu Dao to look for Jet, and only then go back to Ba Sing Se, hopefully with him."

Azula didn't reply immediately, feeling a little awkward and judging from the brief silence, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Uh, Ty?" she tried eventually. "I think if there's an actual amnesty for the draft dodgers, Jet would probably already be back in Ba Sing Se before you would even make it to Yu Dao," Azula said.

"Hmm, you may be right," Ty Lee nodded at her. "I guess I'll just go to Ba Sing Se and look him up."

"Well, hopefully that will work out, but if it doesn't, at least you can be with your family again," Azula said, Ty Lee smiling brightly at her. It seemed that nobody had the heart to tell Ty Lee that by now Jet was most likely dead. Yu Dao had been under full Earth Kingdom occupation for months now, and stamping out the last remnants of the Freedom Fighter resistance was high on the agenda of the Dai Li military forces. Also, if Jet somehow managed to survive this conflict, Azula had no idea why Ty Lee was so certain that Jet was going to wait for her instead of heading back to Ba Sing Se to reconnect with Suki. Azula wasn't going to say anything to make Ty Lee upset, however, at least not now when everyone seemed to be in a good mood and it was Yue's birthday.

"I actually have some news to share with the three of you," Aang spoke up then. "Well, only Mai knows about this, so I guess it'll be news for Ty Lee as well," he said, looking excited.

"Don't leave us in suspense too long, Aang," Katara said, sounding impatient.

"Right," Aang grinned. "Well, I've told you many stories over the years about all the challenges of living in the Air Nation, the rampant poverty and the overall lack of opportunities, it's a really hard life up in the mountains, right? I might have also mentioned how the country's power grid is in a state of complete disrepair, absolutely inefficient and covers maybe 40% of the territory. The rest of the country are still forced to use yak butter lamps, can you believe that? Also, we are buying most of the power from the Earth Kingdom coal plants down on the plains, and we're doing it at a crazy markup. It's no wonder that the country is so impoverished."

"Do you have some ideas how to improve things, Aang?" Yue asked.

"I actually do, yes," Aang nodded. "Just think of the Air Nation and tell me what's something that we have plenty of up in those mountains."

"Well, you have plenty of rocks," Yue chuckled.

"Also, a lot of snow," Katara added.

"All I know is that you have such intense cold spells up there that they would probably kill me in a few days," Azula shrugged. Air Nation was probably her last choice of a vacation spot in the world, vaunted spirituality or not. Azula simply wasn't a very spiritual person at heart. Yue was probably the only one from their threesome who cared about that sort of thing, and also only in passing.

"I think you also have a lot of yaks," Ty Lee tried. "Maybe you just need more yak butter."

"More yak butter always helps, but the answer I was looking for was wind," Aang replied, smiling. "The wind is always howling up in the mountains. Now, we have tried buying some Cabbage Corp wind turbines, but the attempts to use them have always ended up in failure, because they're really not suited for the conditions we have up in the mountains, and they're just way too large and cumbersome. So, I've been working on this side project as a part of my engineering coursework, looking for ways to modify these wind turbines and make them more efficient to use in our specific environment. Four months ago, I submitted my research to a government commission overseeing technical innovation. And two weeks ago, I finally got an answer from them. I have been given a government grant of fifty thousand yuan to continue my research and build a prototype wind turbine."

"That is absolutely remarkable," Azula couldn't help but be impressed as they all broke out in cheers and loud congratulations. She had known that Aang was a bright kid, but this was above anything what Azula had expected. This was on the level of Sokka casually putting together a robot arm in his spare time and treating it as a completely normal thing. Azula suddenly realized that she had somehow managed to surround herself with an absolutely extraordinary group of young people, and her life had become a lot richer for it.

"Yes, this seems like a really wonderful way to give back to your country," Yue spoke in agreement.

"I couldn't agree more, people of the Air Nation deserve to enjoy the same prosperity as people elsewhere in the world," Katara nodded.

As the others continued to press Aang for more details about his plans, Azula's thoughts slowly began to wander elsewhere. Her fantasies briefly lingered on all the things she and Katara intended to do to Yue once the lights went out later in the evening, but then her thoughts inescapably turned back towards the tournament and their task at hand. As much as Azula would have loved to spend another day at the lovely bungalow, it wasn't really suited for Pai Sho prep, and the presence of their guests would be too much of a distraction. They would be returning to the hotel tomorrow afternoon, while giving Aang, Mai and Ty Lee a lift back to the city. Aang wanted to spend some time with Gyatso, while Mai and Ty Lee planned to hit the shops and then later explore some of the city's nightlife together with Aang. Needless to say, Katara and Yue were forbidden to even think about something like that, and it didn't matter that it was Yue's birthday and she had earned some spoiling.

On Monday, the tournament would resume with Yue playing Ozai and Katara going up against Gyatso. Azula felt as if her two charges were really coming into a rich vein of form and were poised to strike. She couldn't wait to see the look on her father's face once Katara and Yue had shown the true extent of their talent. And yet, at the same time, Azula also dreaded that moment, because Ozai thus far hadn't shown his true colors only because he didn't think he had any reason to consider Katara or Yue as credible threats. Azula was certain that it would change soon, and she couldn't help but be just a little concerned about what Ozai's reaction would be.

Next chapter: We still have plenty of the tournament to cover. Let's see if Azula's predictions are right and Katara & Yue start to raise their level of play.