Chapter 22
4 Years after the Hundred Year War
Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se
Azula was enjoying a quiet and relaxing morning in her gilded cage at the guest quarters of the Royal Palace. She had asked to be served breakfast while enjoying a long soak in the bath, afterwards picking out a book from the collection on offer and lying down to enjoy a bit of reading. Despite feeling relaxed after the bath, Azula still had trouble focusing on the book's plotline, her thoughts constantly turning in the direction of a certain waterbender, wondering what Katara was up to, and hoping that Katara would soon stop by for a visit.
The princess was already starting to become slightly anxious when the doors to her quarters opened and Katara strode in, dressed in a splendorous, regal looking blue dress. Still, even though Azula was rather taken by Katara's stunning appearance, she immediately noticed that the usually calm looking waterbender was slightly red in the face, her brow heavily creased with concern. "Oh, this makes me so mad! You won't believe what they're trying to pull now!" Katara exclaimed, having slammed the doors behind her.
"What happened?" Azula asked, forcing herself to remain calm. It felt like a bizarre role reversal. Usually, she was the one raging, and Katara the one calming her down.
"I went to speak with King Kuei thinking that we're going to have a chat like old friends, but instead, he had this awful woman with him there, this Inspector Lao Wan, asking all kinds of insulting questions and making insinuations!" Katara growled, clenching her fists as she paced back and forth Azula's room.
"What sort of questions?" the princess asked. She had to admit, seeing Katara like this, angry and passionate, was rather... thrilling.
"I think she was trying to lead me into admitting that infiltrating the Royal Palace had actually been some sort of sinister plan from the start," Katara snorted dismissively as she looked at Azula. "Can you believe that?"
"I most certainly can," Azula shrugged. "These people won't rest until they have me in chains, rotting away in some dungeon. It's not like it is just Long Feng who had it in for me, you know?"
"I'm starting to realize that, yes," Katara grumbled. "That doesn't mean I'm going to let them punish you for something you didn't do."
"Well, I appreciate-..." Azula began her reply, but at that moment they were disturbed by an insistent knock on the doors. Despite her not answering, the doors were opened regardless and a group of guardsmen walked in, accompanying by some intimidated looking palace clerk who wouldn't meet Azula's eyes.
"Do you mind?" Katara turned angrily upon the intruders. "We were talking! The king will hear about this rude interruption!"
"I'm afraid that this interruption follows the order of King Kuei," the clerk bowed at them insincerely. "We are to take Princess Azula away for questioning."
"Well, you are certainly moving fast now," Katara glared at the clerk, hands on her hips. Azula was forced to admit that Katara looked incredibly hot and sexy when she gave into this kind of righteous anger. "Where was all this efficiency and watchfulness when Long Feng was making yet another grab for power, I wonder?"
"They just don't want you to coach me after your own interrogation, it is obvious," Azula told the waterbender.
"I suppose," Katara's expression softened immediately as she turned to face the princess. "Azula, please don't lose your temper, regardless of how frustrating this might be for you. This is too important..."
"Don't worry, I've got this," Azula tried to sound reassuring as she replied, even if deep inside she was not at all certain whether she had everything under control. The princess then reluctantly raised her hands and watched as the shackles were slapped around her wrists, the guardsmen then escorting her away, to a different wing of the palace.
As she was shown inside a sparsely furnished room, featuring only a single wooden desk and two chairs, Azula noticed that unlike for Katara's interview, King Kuei was not present, most likely for safety reasons. The shackles only made it hard for her to bend, not impossible, not to mention that she could bend using her feet if necessary. Admittedly, it would be less efficient, but more than enough to take down a non-bender weakling like King Kuei.
A woman sat in one of the chairs by the desk, facing her as she entered. The woman stood, pointing at the empty chair, expecting Azula to sit down as she introduced herself. "Princess Azula, my name is Lao Wan," she said in a tight, clipped tone of voice. "Please, sit down."
"Before I do so, I want to know if I'm being accused of anything," Azula replied. She wanted to test this woman in a little battle of wills, just to see how she would react.
"Why would you think that?" Lao Wan asked. "We are simply having a conversation."
"How lovely," Azula drawled. "I'm sure you are aware that my Fire Nation citizenship is still valid. Unless there have been some recent changes to international law, you must know that if you want to press charges against a Fire Nation citizen, you must make the assistance of a legal representative available to said citizen. Usually, it would be handled through the Fire Nation embassy here in Ba Sing Se, unless I'm mistaken."
The woman's face soured immediately once Azula had finished. "No charges are being pressed against you," she eventually ground out. "At this time. I am simply seeking to clarify certain facts that have been uncovered during my investigation."
"Is there any reason why I should feel compelled to answer these questions?" Azula asked.
"Your refusal to do so will be considered suspicious by the investigators," Lao Wan replied.
"Well, I would still prefer to have a legal representative with me, even if I'm not being charged with anything," Azula said. "In fact, I would prefer if this interview was delayed until my brother arrives in Ba Sing Se."
The investigator quickly looked up at her, a flicker of nervousness in her pale grey eyes. Azula grinned inwardly, realizing that she had scored a hit. She had suspected that something like this might be going on… the Earth Kingdom officials were eager to wrap up the investigation before Zuko reached the capital because they knew that her brother would put some major pressure on King Kuei. There was a reason why they were in such a hurry to interrogate both her and Katara. They had to find something that would help to quickly convict Azula before Zuko arrived and her brother's advisors started to flex their legal muscle against this sham of a case.
"That would be... unwise of you," Lao Wan recovered to reply. "We are making rapid progress in untangling this case. I expect it to be all wrapped up before Fire Lord Zuko arrives in Ba Sing Se. I have no doubt that he will find no fault with our conclusions," she finished, inadvertently confirming Azula's suspicions and revealing her motives.
"Well, if you are doing so well in building your case, I don't really see why you need anything from me," Azula smirked as she finally chose to sit down. She truly enjoyed frustrating the woman on the other side of the table. Lao Wan was the kind of person that really rubbed Azula the wrong way, besides, there was nothing for the princess to gain by answering the investigator's questions. There was only the risk of implicating herself.
"Very well, if you do not feel like answering any questions, then allow me to lay out the case as it stands right now. Perhaps you will have some comments you would like to make afterwards," Lao Wan decided to try a different strategy.
"By all means, entertain me, investigator," Azula snorted.
"We believe that your violent attack on the Earth Kingdom officials months ago at the Fire Nation capital indicates that you have long harbored hostile intentions towards the Earth Kingdom, perhaps seeking some sort of revenge," Lao Wan began, speaking with confidence. "The ill-conceived plan of Fire Lord Zuko to transfer you to the North Pole, and the Dai Li's justified attempt to apprehend you, provided you with both a motive and an opportunity to put your plan of revenge in motion. How am I doing so far, princess?" she asked.
"I applaud your imagination," Azula smirked. "Have you ever considered writing fiction? I would become your number one fan."
Lao Wan glared at the princess, then forcing the stoic mask to slip back onto her face. "All you had to do was to convince Master Katara to willingly go along with your plan," the investigator continued. "She is a well meaning and trusting young woman, while you are known for your skill at deception and manipulation."
"Oh, is this where we say nice things about one another?" Azula mused, thoughtfully tapping an elegant finger against her chin. "I... like what... you have done with your hair? It has that quaint wet poodle appearance."
The left eye of Inspector Lao Wan twitched nervously. "Joke all you wish, princess, but we know for a fact that you manipulated Master Katara to go along with your plan. She told us as much herself."
The smirk faded from Azula's face. The investigator was right in that manipulating Katara had been her plan to begin with, but that had changed far beyond her initial intentions. Besides, Katara would not have said that she had been manipulated... would she?
"I don't believe you," she blurted out without thinking. "You're lying."
"Don't expect Master Katara to keep covering for you, she will stop doing so once she is reminded about your true nature," Lao Wan said. "Or for... any other reason."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Azula narrowed her eyes at the irritating woman.
"While Master Katara is a highly revered war hero, she still took part in a violent intrusion of the Royal Palace, and she is complicit in the deaths of eight Dai Li agents," Lao Wan replied simply. "It is possible that charges will be brought against her as well. It will all depend on her... cooperation," the woman added with a smug smirk on her face.
Azula felt blood violently pounding in her temples at that comment, urging her to leap to her feat and use all her limited bending to melt the flesh of this impertinent woman clean off from her bones. For a moment, she seriously considered giving in to these urges. Only the image of Katara's face as the other girl pleaded with her to remain patient, stopped Azula from following through with a violent outburst. Ever so slowly, the princess calmed down from the words that had been meant to provoke her, realizing that Lao Wan was merely bluffing. Now, she needed to use this knowledge to trick the investigator into revealing her true motives.
"You won't get away with trying to put this on Katara! She hasn't done anything wrong!" Azula exclaimed, making sure to appear believably passionate.
"She was present during the confrontation," Lao Wan pointed out. "Of course, there would be no need to go through all this unpleasantness if we had a written and signed confession from you," she said, opening her folder of documents and pulling out a parchment that appeared to contain a prepared statement.
"No, thank you, that sort of desperate entrapment is not going to work on me," Azula snorted, shaking her head in amusement. It was now absolutely clear to her what was going on here. The palace officials wanted to wrap the case up quickly before Zuko's arrival, but for the outcome to be accepted without causing a political scandal, they needed the evidence to be damning and indisputable. This was either Katara testifying against her, or Azula herself signing a confession. They had tried to talk Katara into testifying against her, which had failed, and Azula most certainly was not going to be tricked into accepting the blame.
"I will see you rotting in an Earth Kingdom prison, mark my words," Inspector Lao Wan finally allowed a flicker of emotion to enter her eyes, glaring angrily at Azula. "I'm going to make sure that you never again know what it means to be a free woman."
"I can't wait to see you try," Azula smirked. "But for now, I'm done answering your questions. In fact, I'm done talking with anyone until my brother arrives in Ba Sing Se," she added, turning her back on the fuming investigator, Lao Wan quickly picking up her document folder and heading for the exit, ordering the guards outside to take Azula back to her quarters.
The princess was delighted to find Katara still present at her quarters after the palace guards had escorted Azula back to her room. Katara had been lounging on her bed, but she immediately jumped up to her feet at the sound of the doors opening, blushing slightly as the book she had been snoozing with dropped to the floor. She waited for the guards to remove Azula's shackles and then to leave them alone before running up to the princess and reaching out to supportively hold her hand.
"Are you alright? How did it go? You didn't set half of the palace on fire, did you?" Katara asked, breathlessly overwhelming Azula with her questions.
"No, I did not set anyone on fire, even if I was tempted," Azula rolled her eyes. "Have you so little faith in me? I suppose I deserve that..."
"No... no, you don't deserve that, and I apologize for the suggestion," Katara's face fell as she spoke. "I asked you to place your trust in me, I should extend the same courtesy to you. And I really do, I was... just worried."
"I know, but there's no reason to be worried," Azula smiled at the waterbender. "Let's sit down and I'll tell you everything that I've learned... it's quite important for you to know," she said, pointing at the fluffy cushions by the extinguished fireplace.
By the time Azula had finished explaining everything she had learned, the look on Katara's face was a mix of understanding and frustration. "Right, so that's their strategy," the waterbender sighed. "I wonder about their motivation. Is it more about wanting to get back at you, or are they just trying to find a way to deflect from the uncomfortable truth that they allowed Long Feng to sneak in through the back door and as good as resume control over the government."
"I think setting me up to take the blame fits both of those purposes perfectly," Azula shrugged.
"They're not going to get their way," Katara nodded defiantly. "Thinking that they could persuade me to turn on you! How little do they know me..."
"Yes, they don't realize that you're quite the principled do-gooder," Azula grinned at the other girl. In response, Katara glared at her, but then burst into a short bark of laughter.
"Anyway, now that we know their plan, how do we respond?" Katara asked.
"Well, if you ask me, then we should respond by not responding at all," Azula replied. "Like I said, we don't gain anything by talking. If they come to summon you for another interrogation, just refuse. They're not going to forcefully drag you away for an interview, you're too well respected. If they try anything with me, I'll just stubbornly keep my mouth well shut."
"So, we're hunkering down until Zuko arrives," Katara mused. "I suppose we can do that. It's just... a little frustrating that it's more or less out of our hands right now."
"There's always the option of escaping," Azula winked at the other girl. "And I mean the two of us escaping together... like I said, I don't want to get you into trouble by taking off on my own. But just think about it, we could become two fugitives on an epic road trip to the North Pole..."
"It's tempting," Katara actually appeared excited about the idea. "I had a lot of fun on our trip to Ba Sing Se, after all. But I'd rather have our names cleared of any wrongdoing. It is the right thing to do, even if it means that we'll have to simply sit around for the next three days until Zuko arrives."
"I figured you'd say that," Azula chuckled. "Now we'll just have to find something to do..." she remarked thoughtfully, her eyes falling on the Pai Sho board nearby. "Hmm, do you know how to play Pai Sho?"
"Well... I know all the moves. Zuko taught me some of the basics," Katara smiled. "I doubt I'm any good, though."
"Let's see if I can ascertain your level of play with one simple question," Azula said. "What are your thoughts on the spotted badgermole variation of the Omashu opening?"
Katara frowned, looking slightly confused. "What's an opening?" she asked.
Azula groaned, facepalming. "Well," she added with an amused grin on her lips. "At least we won't run out of things to do over the next three days..."