Chapter 101

Having been back in Ba Sing Se for a couple of weeks, Katara was starting to feel as if she had truly turned the page on the upsetting events of the previous fall. She had taken things very easy over the first week back, gradually assuming more and more of her tasks and responsibilities as time progressed. As the start of April rolled around, Katara finally felt ready to move on with her life, and for the next few months, that would mean mostly focusing on her education. She had already been in touch with her Lower Ring hospital and they had reiterated their interest in continuing to work with her, all the way from her clinical courses to hopefully residency and full employment. Katara was due to resume a more in-depth attachment to one of the GPs at the hospital she had already worked with before. Katara was more than a little eager to get back into the swing of things.

Yue was the one whose studies had fallen behind the most, and Katara felt a tinge of guilt about that. She didn't like Yue pulling so many all-nighters, and quite often either she or Azula had to physically drag their struggling girlfriend away from her textbooks and to the bed where she would be forced to get the necessary rest. Yue's teaching practice lasting for two months was set to begin next week, and on top of that she also had to catch up with all the theoretical coursework she had missed out on. Yue also insisted on keeping up the Pai Sho practice with Azula. Katara was getting a little worried that Yue's schedule might become unsustainable very soon and she resolved to watch out for any warning signs about Yue's health taking a hit from her pushing herself much too hard.

When it came to Azula, she seemed to have the easiest time of them all. Her studies continued to consist largely of her work placement with The Harmony Ring, and she wasn't exactly overburdened by writing the occasional article for the biweekly magazine, leaving her with plenty of time for intense Pai Sho practice. Azula also received a lot of fan mail, due to her involvement with The Harmony Ring and previously the Ba Sing Se Herald, not to mention her overall popularity as a rising Pai Sho starlet and simply because Azula was ridiculously attractive. This wasn't to say that Katara and Yue didn't receive fan mail, they both had devoted followers, especially in the Water Tribe, and also locally in Ba Sing Se, but even if Katara and Yue put their fan letters together, that stack still fell a little short when compared to Azula's fan mail.

Katara was quite astonished when none of her remaining sponsors had decided to cut her off now that she was no longer actively playing Pai Sho. She had spoken with the representatives of some of her sponsors, and it appeared that the events of the last year's finals were slow to fade from the memory of the general public, so her popularity was still reasonably high. Also, she apparently had both the looks and the wholesomeness that her sponsors seemed to appreciate a great deal, so all of them were eager to continue working with her. Yue had a similar story with her sponsors, mostly manufacturers of hair care and beauty products who wanted to keep her as the face of their companies. And Katara could understand that perfectly well, Yue was strikingly beautiful and her hair was gorgeous. Of course, Azula was beating them on the sponsorship front as well. A couple of weeks ago, Azula had taken part in the filming of an ad for a new line of lipstick, and it was now being ran constantly on the local TV channels. Seeing her perfect red ruby lips smirking at them from the TV screen had boosted Azula's ego to unprecedented levels, but Yue and Katara both found it more amusing than obnoxious.

When it came to their Pai Sho plans, not much had changed with both Katara and Yue remaining resolute about missing out on this cycle of world championship. Katara still wasn't sure if she would have the appetite to return for the next cycle, while Yue was slightly more optimistic about making a comeback. As for Azula, well, she was happy to take a little break of a few months to clear her head, do extensive practicing and simply work on getting her mojo back. Katara could tell that Azula currently wasn't keen on playing tournaments, as it would mean that because of their study commitments, neither Katara nor Yue could travel with her. So, Azula had postponed her tournament plans until at least June, and she hoped that Katara and Yue would have more time to help her then.

Katara earnestly wanted to help Azula on her quest, the same way they had been helping each other in the previous cycle. However, she wasn't sure if she would be ready to deal with the intensity of tournament play as soon as June. She didn't want to disappoint Azula by dismissing the idea already ahead of time, though. If the worst came to pass, Yue could go with Azula and help her without Katara being there. Yue was of more help than Katara was, anyway, at least currently and in the near future. Yue seemed to be more eager to practice with Azula, and she could do it for many more hours than Katara without suffering any ill effects. Katara was also joining the practice sessions and they made her feel like the good old days when they had sat at the board for up to ten hours a day. She had to take things slow, though, easing herself back into the routine carefully. The first week, Katara had only been able to sit down with Yue and Azula for an hour at best before she had started to feel a little anxious. The week before she had pushed her limit to a little over two hours before any ill effects began to manifest.

Katara knew that she was on the right track, but there was something that she hadn't told her girlfriends about just yet. The truth was that no matter how hard she tried to get back into her mindset of old, Katara simply didn't feel as passionately about Pai Sho as she had felt before. Perhaps that passion would return at some point, but as of now, it was gone. Still, Katara didn't want to dwell on it too much. Perhaps as she continued to help Azula to prepare and get ready for her tournaments, the appetite for Pai Sho would return on its own.

And as their friends began to arrive for a little impromptu party at the International House of Lesbians, Katara had no time for any maudlin thoughts. Zuko had returned to Ba Sing Se a few days ago, having won a major tournament held on Kyoshi Island. It seemed as if combining the tournament play together with Sokka's vacation had done wonders for Zuko, and he had played with rare and truly inspired flair, scoring many impressive victories. The girls had all agreed that throwing a little party for Zuko would be only appropriate, and all the members of the Gaang and their associates had come to join the celebrations, namely Suki, Toph and Teo.

"Nice tan, Zuko," Suki laughed once they had all sat down at the large kitchen table to partake in all the snacks and booze on offer. "If I hadn't seen the victor's trophy with my very own eyes, I would think that you and Sokka spent all those three weeks on the beach!"

"Laugh it up, Suki," Zuko grumbled at her, though he did look quite pleased with himself, and deservedly so. The Kyoshi tournament had featured a particularly strong lineup with the best Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation grandmasters save for Ozai Nakamura. Ozai had pulled out at the last moment due to unspecified reasons. "I'll have you know that I worked extremely hard to win this trophy," Zuko added.

"It's true, he sometimes even brought his Pai Sho board to the beach," Sokka laughed, lightly punching his boyfriend's shoulder.

"That should be considered a crime," Yue argued.

"Indeed, the lifeguards on duty ought to have confiscated the board," Suki agreed.

"Don't worry, I made sure that he never got much prep done while at the beach," Sokka chuckled meaningfully, making Zuko's cheeks go somewhat red. Azula made a face at that exchange.

"Do you have any idea why your father decided to withdraw?" Katara asked, deciding to intervene and save Zuko from any further teasing.

"Not really," Zuko shook his head. "And I am not vain enough to delude myself into thinking that he withdrew because he didn't want to face me. He probably had some Pai Sho unrelated matters he had to take care of." Katara saw Azula nodding thoughtfully at that, looking like she agreed with her brother's theory.

"I don't think he's going to withdraw from the August tournament in Caldera City," Azula said. "They've been advertising for it extensively, and our father's face is on the billboards all over the Fire Nation. It's why I'm also going to apply for that tournament."

"This is the first time you've mentioned this," Yue looked surprised. Katara also felt a little blindsided. Azula had said that she was going to wait until summer before applying for tournaments, but she hadn't disclosed any details. "Did you just decide that on the spot?" Yue asked.

"Well, no, I had been thinking about it for some time," Azula admitted. She looked a little worried, glancing from Yue to Katara and back. "I thought that since it was many months away there was no need to bring it up. Did I mess up?"

"No, I'm just… a little worried, I suppose," Katara said hastily. She wasn't upset as such. She would have preferred that Azula would discuss the schedule with her and Yue in private instead of bringing it up in front of everyone unexpectedly, but it wasn't worth feeling angry about. "After all, it is Ozai we're talking about," she added, realizing that perhaps it was the reason why Azula hadn't brought it up earlier, not wanting to trigger her.

"I understand that, Katara, but I really need to test myself against him again," Azula insisted. "I need to know where I stand."

Yue gave a reluctant shrug. "It's hard to argue with that," she admitted, looking at Katara. "If we want Azula to go all the way, it's probably a good idea for her to measure herself against Ozai." Azula looked relieved at their approval.

"I may join you for that tournament, I think," Zuko said.

"Same here," Aang raised his hand, eager to visit Caldera for obvious reasons.

"Well, it's a good thing that Teo and I didn't have our hearts set on Caldera, or else it would have become a little crowded," Toph snorted, Teo nodding as he sat next to her. "At some point we probably need to sit down and sort out the schedule once again, don't you agree, Azula?" Toph asked.

"Probably," Azula nodded. "I wanted to really push my tournament schedule for the summer, doing one every month. This way Yue and Katara's studies won't suffer so much should they agree to accompany me."

"Of course, we will," Yue spoke resolutely. "That sounds like a good idea, as long as you feel prepared for such an intense schedule, Zula. Three tournaments in three months, that's pretty punishing." Katara felt her spirits sink a little from having heard these plans, because she knew that even if she managed to motivate herself into helping Azula throughout the summer, there was no way she could cram in so much intense Pai Sho practice over three hard months. She would probably have to skip at least one, perhaps even two of these tournaments.

"I've been sitting idle for way too long, I'm bursting with energy," Azula said. "I think I'm ready to really push this. I think both you and Katara will agree that I'm ready after all the prep we've been doing."

"I think so, yes," Katara nodded cautiously. Azula was starting to get into a better shape, inching closer and closer to her best Pai Sho form. There was no reason to believe that Azula wouldn't be ready to destroy all of her opposition come the summer.

"Just to make it clear, which tournaments are you eyeing, Azula?" Teo asked.

"Omashu in June and Kyoshi Island in July," Azula replied. "And then after those I thought I'd just stick with the local ones in Ba Sing Se, that should see me safely through to the qualifiers."

"Sounds like a solid plan," Aang nodded. "I was thinking of doing the Ember Island one in early June. They hardly ever hold tournaments there, and Mai tells me that it's a beautiful spot, so I'm keen to go there."

"I was thinking of that one as well," Zuko nodded, Aang grinning and giving him an excited fist bump. "It really is a beautiful place. We used to have-" he suddenly fell silent, a sullen look settling on his face.

"Zuko, the Nakamuras have an estate literally in every corner of the world, of course our family would have a summer retreat on the Ember Island as well," Azula said. "But you're right… for a beautiful place it sure holds some tainted memories." Zuko gave her a reluctant nod at that.

"Anyway, I think that's our summer schedule set," Aang spoke excitedly, rubbing his hands. "I really believe that when we sit down like this again in the fall, all of us here will be on course to qualify for the next stage," he said hopefully. Katara sincerely prayed that the hopes of their young friend would come true.

Zuko was currently doing the best from the Gaang, and he was as good as locked in for qualifying. Aang also seemed to be well on his way to go through. Azula had only played two tournaments so far, while not being at her best, so she was languishing on the cusp of qualifying, but Katara was absolutely certain that once Azula rejoined the pro tour while close to her best shape, she would shoot way up to the top dozen in the rankings. Azula was simply too good not to make it through to the next stage. Toph also maintained very good chances of making it through, with Teo a little behind her and Azula, with slightly lower chances of qualifying. Curiously, Haru Tamang and Kori Morishita were both playing really well during this championship cycle, and by Azula's reckoning were above both her and Toph, threatening to break in among the twenty best. It truly did seem as if the newer generation of Pai Sho talents had arrived to stay and dominate.

"Nice job ignoring me and Teo, Twinkletoes," Toph glared at an apologetic looking Aang. "We hadn't chosen our tournaments yet, if you don't mind."

"Sorry, Toph," Aang apologized meekly.

"I'll think about possibly forgiving you, Twinkletoes," Toph snorted. She then turned towards Azula. "Teo and I will go back to Gaoling in July, to do… you know, our thing. I think we'll pass on any other tournaments for the summer."

"I really appreciate that, Toph," Azula nodded at the Earth Kingdom girl.

"Yeah, well… now that you've managed to entangle me in that mess I kind of want to get to the bottom of it all," Toph rolled her eyes.

"I seriously hope you're not endangering yourselves by all this digging around," Yue said worriedly. Katara nodded, silently agreeing with her girlfriend. She knew that Azula had asked Toph to snoop around her family mansion during the tournament in February, and Toph had brought back photo copies of some invoices that according to her made no sense, but Katara was a little sketchy on the details because Azula was apparently still looking into the matter.

"We're going to be just fine, don't get your panties in a twist," Toph snorted. "That said, Azula, have you made any sense of those invoices yet?"

"I'm having some of my old acquaintances at the Herald doing some research for me," Azula replied. "But I've already heard back about some preliminary findings. There are some items on those invoices that can't be linked to any Earth Kingdom manufacturer."

"Well, the Air Nation doesn't have any arms manufacturers," Aang shrugged. "I would say that it is because we are pacifists, but the truth is that we just wouldn't have the resources to manufacture arms even if we wanted to."

"I think that the Water Tribes government has declared its neutrality in the Yu Dao conflict and has refused to aid either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom," Yue said. "I think they're only sending humanitarian aid to Yu Dao. Do I have that right, Kat?"

"That's exactly how I've heard it, love," Katara replied.

"But Toph, if your father is selling arms that aren't of Earth Kingdom, Air Nation or Water Tribe make, that can only mean one thing," Sokka gasped.

"Yes, exactly, that's where the connection between my father and Lao Beifong comes in," Azula nodded.

"I can't imagine our father being so brazen as to sell arms to a country the Fire Nation is currently at war," Zuko exclaimed, looking shocked.

"You can't imagine him being so brazen, seriously?" Azula gave him a look of disbelief. "He's been getting away with everything including literal murder for more than a decade. If that doesn't breed delusions of omnipotence, then I don't know what would." Katara nodded in agreement with her girlfriend. She could certainly imagine Ozai believing that he could do literally anything and get away with it. And she wanted to believe that it might also prove to be his downfall, but last autumn's events in the Fire Fountain City had destroyed Katara's naïve belief that everyone got what they deserved in the end.

"Okay, but can you prove any of this?" Zuko asked. He was starting to look excited.

"Can I prove it just with these invoices?" Azula said. "No, there's no way, we need a lot more than this. That's why I'm hoping that Toph can find out more when she goes back to Gaoling."

"Well, I'll certainly try," Toph nodded. "I'll tell you one thing," she said then. "I've never seen my father the way he was during our last visit. He was like a changed man."

"What do you mean, Toph?" Katara asked.

"He looked like he had aged ten years over the span of two," Toph replied. "He was nervous and agitated. I think that being involved in this dirty business is starting to get to him."

"I spied him watching the news from Yu Dao when they gave the Earth Kingdom casualty count," Teo added. "I thought that Lao Beifong himself was about to start weeping. I think that he's starting to break down. He was certainly treating me with far less disdain than during our previous visit, and that's saying a lot!"

"Anyone complicit in that massacre should feel responsible," Yue said sternly.

"Yes, well, moral outrage notwithstanding," Azula gave Yue an impatient stare. Katara found herself frowning at that, being firmly in Yue's camp on this matter. "This could be an opportunity for us. Toph, I'm sure that if Lao is working with my father, Ozai would have made sure to explain what Lao could look forward to if he started to wag his tongue about what's really going on. But it also seems as if your father is starting to feel like he's at the end of his rope, so… if push comes to shove, would you be willing to lean on him? You know, like guilt trip him hard into confessing?"

"Oh, I'm not good at guilt tripping, that's just not my way of doing things, bitch," Toph shook her head. "But if we're all out of options, I… guess I could try? Look, you know that I act like I don't care, but all those thousands dying in Yu Dao? That's fucked up, okay? My father or not, I want to stop it if I can."

"Thanks, Toph," Azula nodded grimly. "I promise that I won't ask you to confront your father directly unless it becomes absolutely necessary." Toph nodded back at her, after which a slightly uncomfortable silence spread around the table.

Katara didn't really find this somber mood fitting what should have been a celebration of Zuko's success, so she tried to think of a way to change the topic to something less dark and glum. Looking at Suki across the table from her, Katara suddenly remembered to ask about something that had been on her mind for a while now. "Hey, Suki can I ask you a question?" Katara said, Suki immediately looking up at her and smiling. "When is The Harmony Ring going to publish something about that speed Pai Sho tour Azula did back in February?" she asked, feeling puzzled as to why Suki's expression immediately went completely blank.

"Uh, what speed Pai Sho tour, Katara?" Suki blinked at her.

"Azula went on a couple of week's long speed Pai Sho tour," Katara repeated, suddenly becoming aware of the very uncomfortable look on Azula's face. Yue had also sensed that something was wrong and now turned to look at Azula. "Azula, umm, did you or did you not go on this speed Pai Sho tour?" Katara asked, already fearing the worst.

"No, I… there was no speed Pai Sho tour," Azula admitted, looking very guilty as she spoke. "Instead, Zuko and I went and stayed with "Guru" Pathik for a couple of weeks."

"You stayed with "Guru" Pathik himself?" Katara was taken completely aback by surprise. "How did you even get him to agree to see you, he's such a recluse! Oh, Uncle Iroh must have reached out to him, am I right?"

"It was something like that," Azula shrugged noncommittally.

"Wait a moment," Yue suddenly spoke up, looking suspicious. "This doesn't explain why you didn't tell us about staying with Pathik. What gives, Azula?"

Azula was suddenly struggling to find words, looking back and forth between Yue and Katara, uncertainty written all over her features. "Come on, Azula," Sokka spoke up, his voice unusually stern. "I'm not going to sit here and watch you continue to withhold the truth from my sister. If you don't tell her, then I will."

"Does everyone around this table know what's going on except for me and Yue?" Katara asked, starting to feel rather frustrated as she waited for Azula to finally speak up. Everyone around the table shook their heads with the exception of Sokka and Zuko.

"Okay, so I wasn't exactly there to bask in his Pai Sho expertise," Azula finally admitted. "You all have heard the legends of how unflappable "Guru" Pathik used to be at the Pai Sho board. There are stories about people chucking actual coins and tossing cigarette butts at him during a speed Pai Sho match and he still didn't bat an eyelid. I figured that this was the kind of mental fortitude I would need in order to defeat my father. Zuko and I spent a couple of weeks with Pathik and did some mental exercises, a lot of meditating, that sort of thing. I think it's really going to help me when I face my father again."

Katara didn't like this explanation at all, and not just because Azula's tone of voice suggested to Katara that her Fire Nation girlfriend was still not giving them the whole truth. "I don't buy it, Azula," Katara shook her head. "If it was just some innocent meditation with the old "Guru", why the hell would you not tell us about going away for two whole weeks for that?"

"It was a bit more than just meditation," Zuko sighed, shaking his head as he shot Azula an apologetic stare. Azula shot a deeply hurt look back at her brother, but still kept her mouth shut. "Honestly, there was a lot of abuse hurled at us both. The training was all about pushing us to the limit of breaking, both mentally and physically. I would say that those were very extreme methods of making us mentally tougher, almost bordering on torture."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Azula muttered, but Katara could barely even pay attention to her girlfriend's words. Everything was coming through to her as if through a haze, she was struck by such utter disbelief of what Azula had done. That she could go as far as this… Katara suddenly felt like she couldn't be around Azula because a wave of outpouring emotions was rising within her chest and if there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was to lash out at her girlfriend in front of everyone. Katara did the only thing she could think of, quickly getting up to her feet and all but running out of the estate, heading down the street in a random direction, her temples thundering as she could literally feel the blood boiling in her veins as she trembled with outrage.

"Katara, please… wait!" at some point she became aware of Azula's voice as her girlfriend was desperately trying to catch up with her. Katara reluctantly stopped at the side of a street, allowing Azula to reach her and then waiting as her girlfriend recovered from her mad dash.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Azula finally managed. At least she had the decency to look genuinely apologetic, but it wasn't really soothing Katara's anger right now. "You have every right to be upset, Kat, I understand that. But you have to understand me as well. I knew that you would become angry with me if I told you about my plans before going through with them."

"And why would I be upset about these plans?" Katara glared at her girlfriend.

"Because you would have been worried that I would get hurt?" Azula at least guessed correctly. "But it's alright, Kat. I made it through the training, and I'm now mentally as tough as ever before. Nothing bad happened to me, okay?"

"How do you know that?" Katara asked sharply. Azula gave her a blank stare. "How can you be so sure that you're really alright?" Katara repeated insistently.

"I mean," Azula began hesitantly. "I feel fine. I haven't had any episodes. My sleep is almost as good as before the training, so I think I'll be just fine."

"And what about lasting long-term effects, did you consider those?" Katara made a step towards Azula, jabbing a finger against her chest. "You just decided that you're going to be fine before going through something so insane without consulting anyone? Does your therapist know about this?" Katara asked. Azula predictably shook her head. "What do you think she would say about it?" Azula remained silent at that.

"I'm not sure what to say, Katara, other that I'm sorry about keeping this from you," Azula said, her voice trembling slightly. The fear in her eyes appeared genuine. "I may not have thought everything through, I can admit that."

"It's a little bit worse than just not thinking things through," Katara snapped at her. "We had a talk about this last July after I beat you to the ticket into the finals. You said that you would never put your Pai Sho goals above our relationship, remember?"

"I did say that, yes," Azula nodded in agreement. "But Kat, that was before my father humiliated you in front of the whole world. You need to understand that there's literally nothing that I won't do in order to make him pay for hurting the girl I love."

"That was exactly what I didn't want to hear, Azula. I don't want to see you pursuing this revenge at any cost," Katara said angrily. "What's the point of revenge if you end up risking and potentially sacrificing the most important thing in my life for it?" Azula gave Katara a look of desperate incomprehension at that. "I'm talking about you, idiot!" Katara raised her voice to the level of shouting. Anger surged within her and before she could stop herself, she had already put her hands on Azula, shoving her hard. Azula landed with her ass on the pavement, looking up at Katara with a shocked look on her face. "You were willing to undo all the progress you've made over the past four years, all for this quest of vengeance. It could have destroyed you! And now I'm going to lose my sleep worrying that it still might! How could you even think of endangering everything that we have, Azula? Does it really mean that little to you?" Katara continued to shout at her before finally running out of steam.

"Don't say that, Kat, please. You mean everything to me, I swear. And I don't know if I can explain why I did what I did in a way that makes sense," Azula admitted forlornly. "Seeing you spending so much time at the asylum, I just began to feel such anger towards my father for what he had done. There was so much rage inside of me. I guess… maybe it overrode all common sense. Hurting him was everything I could think of." Katara felt her anger starting to cool a little at Azula's words. She could empathize with what her girlfriend had been going through emotionally. If Ozai had put Azula in the mental asylum again, Katara knew that she also would have struggled to reign in her thirst for revenge.

Katara kneeled next to Azula on the pavement. "Okay, I understand that," she said, nodding. "But it doesn't change the fact that you did things that we had agreed would be completely unacceptable in our relationship, Azula. Especially considering how badly you were hurt after I kept the truth from you about the horses all those years ago. You just did something very similar to me, Azula. You should have known how much that would hurt me and Yue."

Katara could sense that tears had been building inside of her girlfriend for a good while now, and finally the dam burst, Azula breaking out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. "I'm so s-sorry," she somehow managed, her shoulders shaking. "You're right, I should have known. Are you… are you breaking up with me?"

"I don't want to break up with you, you idiot," Katara sighed. "But do we have a future if you keep placing Pai Sho above our relationship? I can't accept that, Azula."

"It won't happen again, I swear," Azula sobbed, giving her a desperate stare. "You mean everything to me, Kat, both you and Yue. It's for you that I did it… even if I knew that you didn't ask me to, and that you wouldn't approve, but I just… I don't know, I suppose I didn't truly realize the full consequences of my actions, and I'm really sorry about that. I should have known, given what happened with the horses. But I also gave you all another chance, and I forgave you, so-"

"And so you think I should give you another chance as well," Katara said, frowning. "I suppose I can't refuse that, even if I'm still frightened about what you might be tempted to do in the future in order to prevail against your father," Katara sighed reluctantly.

"I'm done with endangering myself and our relationship, I swear," Azula implored her. Katara sensed that Azula was being earnest with her now. Azula normally considered herself above begging and groveling, but right now she looked to be so terrified about losing her that she seemed willing to do almost anything to prevent that from happening. "If I ever have any ideas like this again, I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place, discuss it all with you and Yue."

"That's the most frustrating part about it all, Azula. You knew what the right path was, but you just chose to ignore it," Katara said stiffly. Azula's crying seemed to intensify at her words. Katara sighed, angry at herself for being so softhearted and loving the idiot in front of her far too much. She couldn't resist placing a comforting hand on Azula's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Alright, that's enough tears, Zula. I suspect that Yue will be just as mad at you about this as I am, but I won't torment you with the threat of leaving you, Yue and I both love you too much for that."

Even after hearing those words, Azula simply couldn't shut down the valve to keep the tears from pouring down her cheeks, her shoulders still continuing to shake. "I need you two so much…" she managed, hiccupping badly.

"Then you can't treat us this way, Azula," Katara said. She perched down on the pavement next to Azula and placed an arm around her girlfriend's shoulder. "And when it comes to Pai Sho, I feel like this episode has completely turned me off from the game. I don't want to be a part of something that makes you want to endanger your mental health in such an irresponsible way."

"I… I understand," Azula managed, sounding upset, but Katara knew that she had to stand firm on this. Pai Sho was an important part of their lives, and it played a big part in the bond between them. But she couldn't allow Pai Sho to take precedence over everything else, like Azula had just done. Katara had to make certain that she would not be on board with this.

"I hope you don't feel like my participation in your Pai Sho practices is conditional to us being together," Katara remarked.

"Of course not," Azula replied. "It doesn't change in the slightest how much I love you, Kat. I'll understand if you don't feel like taking part in the practice after this."

"Thank you," Katara said. She could sense that Azula was very upset about her decision, but Katara was certain that she was doing the right thing. Azula had to learn that pulling such an idiotic stunt would have consequences. Katara knew that she loved Azula too much to even think about breaking off their relationship, but she could break off the bond that linked them through Pai Sho. That seemed like a fitting punishment for what Azula had done. "We should probably head back, love," Katara said softly after they had been sitting on the pavement for a few minutes, the Upper Ring streets fortunately never all that busy.

"No, I don't think I could face the others right now," Azula managed, sounding deeply ashamed. "Perhaps you should go and fetch Yue, though. I owe her the same apology than what I gave you."

"You most certainly do," Katara said. She didn't feel like leaving Azula all alone right now, however, because she was in quite the state. Katara pulled Azula closer in for a hug. "I'll just stay with you for a little longer, okay? And Azula, unless it's somehow not clear to you, despite me being incredibly angry with you right now, I do still love you with all my heart, okay?" Azula's only response was a strangled sob as she buried her face against Katara's chest.

Next chapter: Let's fast forward a couple of months ahead to see whether Azula's actions have had adverse effect on the relationship between our girls.