Chapter 9
"Not a bad plan," Zuko commented, observing the move Aang had just made on the Pai Sho board. "But hardly the most optimal in the situation."
"Oh," Aang blinked, shaking his head. "I think I see what you mean," he admitted. They were sitting in the study at the house Zuko and Sokka shared with Ty Lee and Jin. With the two kids running around and sometimes getting a little loud, it was a slightly noisier setting than Aang preferred for their Pai Sho practices, but at least Kya and Lee had by now learned to avoid Zuko's study while Zuko had his sparring partners over.
"I mean, it's not a terrible move, but there are other moves that achieve the same without unnecessarily endangering your Orchid," Zuko pointed out. "Someone like Piandao would probably think of a way to punish you for that."
"Yes, you're right, I can see now why Yue didn't play this move," Aang nodded. They were going through some of the games played in the previous round of the Gaoling tournament, analyzing the play of their fellow pros and as always looking for some weaknesses or to simply learn more about a competitor's style.
"Exactly," Zuko said as Aang retracted his previous move and began to consider alternatives. "Also, we've been at this for a few hours now. We can stop if you're no longer feeling like it."
"No, I'm good to continue," Aang shook his head with determination.
"Are you sure?" Zuko frowned. "Because it felt like your heart wasn't really in it from the moment we started."
"That's a little rude, don't you think?" Aang looked up at his friend. Zuko sighed and muttered a quick apology, although if Aang was perfectly honest with himself, Zuko wasn't exactly wrong with his blunt observation.
Aang had been in a terrible mood ever since the disastrous Ba Sing Se tournament. His play had been below average because of all the distractions in his private life, and since these distractions hadn't gone away, Aang was still having a difficult time focusing on Pai Sho. With his next tournament scheduled for April, Aang had planned to use some of his free time to see if his relationship with Mai was truly unsalvageable by this point. But now it seemed as if Mai had left Ba Sing Se on a business trip, and she had been going on more dates with Suki before leaving on her trip, so Aang had to admit that things were looking grim. He wasn't going to contest Mai's request for a divorce if it came to that, especially now that it seemed that nothing could be done to avoid it.
Aang's growing attraction towards On Ji Takeda was making the whole situation even more confusing. By all accounts, On Ji was currently single. They had exchanged phone numbers at the end of the Ba Sing Se tournament, and Aang had called her on a couple of occasions back in January, but with On Ji being back in the Fire Nation, their conversations hadn't really gone anywhere. And Aang had become seriously annoyed upon realizing that On Ji had actually decided to attend the Gaoling tournament, even if she had given no previous indication that she intended to do so. If Aang had known of this change of plans beforehand, he would have applied for Gaoling himself, but since he had learned of it at the last moment, there was no longer any way for him to get a spot in the lineup. It was the main reason why Aang was so frustrated to be back in Ba Sing Se, stuck analyzing games with Zuko while being unable to truly focus on Pai Sho.
"I'm just saying that we need to think of a way to snap you out of whatever funk you're in, Aang," Zuko replied. "You're not going to be of much help to me and Toph unless you can get back to your old level."
"That's all you care about, isn't it?" Aang frowned. "Me carrying you to the title, is that it?"
"That's what Toph and I did for you, so yes, that actually is a big part of what I care about," Zuko snapped, starting to get a little heated. "Of course, it's easy for you to play terribly in this situation. You're not going for the title. You can afford to be mediocre. Maybe it's all a part of the plan so that Toph and I release you from our agreement?"
"That's ridiculous," Aang exclaimed, starting to become angry himself. "Sure, I hate our agreement and I wish I hadn't gone along with it, but I did and I will respect it. That's not the reason why my head isn't in the game."
"Then what is the reason?" Zuko demanded. Aang hesitated with the answer. Even if they had been friends for many years now, Zuko wasn't exactly the person that Aang felt comfortable talking to about his private life struggles. The closest friend that Aang had he could confide in was probably Teo, but unfortunately, he was away in Gaoling with Toph. "This isn't… you know," Zuko continued, now looking uncomfortable himself. "About the whole thing with Mai? Because I'm pretty sure she considers the marriage to be over, so… just, you know, accept that and get your head back in the game?"
"What do you mean, she considers the marriage to be over?" Aang asked curiously. "What do you know?"
"Uh, we share this house with Ty Lee? Who is Mai's best friend?" Zuko said, shaking his head. "She knows everything about everyone, and especially about Mai."
"I just can't imagine Mai could get this serious with Suki," Aang blurted out. "Not this quickly, anyway."
"Really?" Zuko sighed, looking deeply frustrated. "Do you know where Mai is right now?" Aang shook his head. "She's in Gaoling. With Suki."
Aang gasped. "Why did nobody tell me that?" he exclaimed.
"I had no idea whether you knew or not!" Zuko groaned. "Anyway, do you see what I mean? Just accept the facts and move on. Plenty of other fish in the sea. I heard the rumors that you were making eyes at On-"
"Okay, uh, can we get back to analyzing the game, maybe?" Aang said hastily, desperate to shut down the conversation. "I feel like I just found renewed interest in Pai Sho. Especially if it means that we stop talking about my private life."
"Well, I'm glad something worked," Zuko laughed. Their attempt to get back into the game, however, was interrupted by Sokka as he entered the study.
"Are you staying for dinner, Aang?" Sokka asked. He was wearing the 'kiss the chef' apron and looking absolutely ridiculous.
"That depends if you have some vegetarian options," Aang replied.
"We don't use the v-word under this roof!" Sokka exclaimed dramatically. He then grinned at Aang. "Although I suppose I could whip up a quick salad for you."
"It's okay, Sokka, don't bother," Aang said. "I should probably be on my way. We've been at this long enough already. Same time tomorrow, Zuko?" he asked, getting up from his seat.
"I guess," Zuko shrugged. "But only if your head really is in it, Aang, or otherwise there's just no point."
"Don't worry about it, Zuko," Aang nodded. "I'll be in a much better shape tomorrow, you'll see," he said, unsure whether it was a promise that he'd be able to keep.
Toph Beifong had no intentions of messing around with some of the weaker opponents that came her way in the later stages of the tournament. So many of the competitors in the Gaoling tournament didn't merit her playing defensively in order to defeat them. Unless she was playing someone Toph actually respected as a serious Pai Sho player, these days Toph felt confident going full offense against the middle of the field players. In the eighth round, Hahn Adjuk definitely qualified as a member of this mediocrity Toph wasn't going to waste her time with. She had chosen an active opening and was dominating the board after the first twenty moves, catching Hahn by surprise. He appeared to be deluded enough to believe that Toph for some reason would play defensively against him.
So far, the tournament had shaped up perfectly for Toph, just as she had expected it to. Toph didn't believe that it was hubris on her part to have such high expectations of herself. She'd won the Gaoling tournament four years on the trot. Just because this year the lineup was a little stronger, it didn't mean that Toph felt any less confident about her chances. She was the hometown favorite and she intended to once again give the small Gaoling crowd something to cheer about.
Staying at the estate in which Toph had grown up in was a nice perk, even if being back home still made her feel rather conflicted. Toph's relationship with her parents had been strained during her teenage years, but lately, while her father had been confined to his house arrest, Lao Beifong had certainly learned some humility. It helped that both of her parents were by now far more accepting of the choices Toph had made in her life, and they were finally embracing Teo and treating him with the respect that he deserved. Even now, her parents were in the stands together with her husband, actively supporting her. Toph couldn't quite see them due to her narrow sightedness, the crowd was one big blur when she turned to look at the stands, but knowing that they were there supporting her felt good.
Toph was glad that her father had abandoned his aspirations for political power and influence. Because of his involvement in the Yu Dao conflict, Lao Beifong was deeply unpopular across the Earth Kingdom, to the extent that Toph worried if it was even safe for her father to leave the estate. Lao refused to be intimidated, however, stoically accepting all the insults and abuse that occasionally came his way, treating it as a part of paying his penance. The only downside of her father's reduced public status was that he was no longer generating any income and would be unable to hold on to the family estate if not for Toph's tournament prize money. Still, Toph wasn't sure for how long that would remain a solution. It was possible that the estate would have to be sold sooner or later.
Toph spent a dozen more moves tormenting Hahn before remembering the age-old adage not to play with her food, finally putting Hahn out of his misery. Since because of her poor eyesight she had trouble seeing the large display boards and couldn't tell how the other games were progressing, Toph as always headed straight for the press zone to hopefully conduct her business there quickly and then learn all the other scores from Teo. She didn't make it very far before she was interrupted by someone calling out her name.
"Toph, wait up, please?" it was none other than Yue Taqqiq, hurrying after her. Toph wasn't upset with Yue or anything like that, but she had been avoiding her friend just a little bit. Toph was certain that the fate of the tournament would come down to the last round match between her and Yue, and she didn't want to be too friendly with Yue before their game, or do anything that would dull the necessary killer instinct to put her opponent away.
"Oh, are you done already as well?" Toph replied, allowing Yue to catch up with her. She wasn't really surprised that Yue had won quickly, after all she had been up against some local schmuck who was probably happy just to get an invite.
"Yes, I didn't have too many issues today," Yue replied politely. Toph felt that Yue was trying to downplay her progress since the Ba Sing Se tournament. She had an impressive record of five wins and three draws so far, but more importantly, she was playing better than in her return tournament. Toph knew that she was in for a hard battle in the final round. "I just wanted to say that it was beautiful the way you destroyed Hahn. It almost brought a tear to my eye."
Toph had to laugh despite herself. "Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing that," she admitted. "He is playing better, though. Marginally. Still not a threat to either of us."
"No, not really," Yue said, smiling as they arrived in the press zone together, where they were asked to wait while the reporters finished interrogating Haru Tamang. Haru had scored a rare easy win in this round, and yet it seemed as if most of the reporter questions still focused on his overall poor play throughout the tournament. Toph had to laugh when she heard one of the more obnoxious reporters once again asking Haru about how he was dealing with the fact that his wife never accompanied him to these tournaments and whether his poor results had anything to do with the constant rumors about the promiscuity of his governor wife.
"Poor Haru, he really doesn't deserve to be asked about that," Yue said. She didn't appear as outraged as her words may have implied, though.
"This is the second time I hear that bitch ask him literally the same question," Toph snorted. "Though, I may have contributed to getting into Haru's head about it."
"What do you mean?" Yue asked.
"Well, after I overheard him being asked that question for the first time, I just told him how impressed I was that he is so confident in the loyalty of his wife," Toph smirked. "And I said that considering what an attractive and desirable woman Kori is, I probably wouldn't be traveling around as much as he does."
"You did not say that, Toph!" Yue gasped, though it seemed like she was also struggling not to laugh.
"I totally did, and I think I really got into his head," Toph shrugged. "All is fair in war and Pai Sho, right?"
"I don't know about that, but I have to admit that it was a masterful way of preying on someone's weakness," Yue smiled. "I would have expected that from Azula. You two have a lot in common, that's for sure."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Toph said as they watched Haru finally hurrying away from the reporters, some of whom then rushed to catch her and Yue, Suki at the head of the group.
"Yet more easy wins for the two favorites," Suki said, having gotten to them first. "Everything seems poised for a final round showdown between the two of you. What are your predictions for the tournament outcome?"
"I've made this place my fortress, and I don't plan to relinquish it," Toph stated confidently. "I hope that Yue will hold on to a podium place, though. She has played a very good tournament and deserves at least some silverware."
"Bold statement," Suki smirked, clearly liking the reply. This was definitely a quote that would move some extra copies of The Harmony Ring. Toph often found the Pai Sho tour to be a little too polite and mild mannered for her liking. If it was up to her, there would be a lot more trash talking and posturing, just to build a bit more excitement around the game. "Miss Taqqiq, your response?" Suki asked.
"May the best player win?" Yue responded in the exact way that Toph had anticipated, annoyingly electing to take the high ground. One thing that Toph respected but also found a little annoying about Yue was how difficult and at times almost impossible it seemed to make the other woman lose her temper.
"But who is the better player?" another reporter cut in obnoxiously, ignoring the withering glare Suki directed at him.
"Do you really need to ask?" Toph replied. "Anyway, if you have no real questions, this interview is over." She turned to walk away, hoping that at least this comment would annoy Yue slightly. As Toph was leaving, however, she heard the group of reporters laughing at something Yue had said in response, and it made Toph scowl as her annoyance rose. Yue was seriously resistant to these kinds of mind games, but surely, she had some weaknesses that could be exploited further down the line.
Yue felt quietly confident ahead of her final round battle with Toph. The previous two rounds had unfolded just like everyone had predicted with them both scoring easy victories. Before this final round, Toph was leading Yue by a single point, which meant that in case of victory, Yue would catch up with Toph on points, but would be placed ahead of Toph in the standings due to winning their head-to-head game. Yue knew that she had to go all in for the win and attack hard from the onset, but fortunately, that was her usual tactic against Toph on any day, so in that sense, nothing about her preparations had truly changed.
Interest in the unusually Pai Sho celebrity packed Gaoling tournament had been middling until this final round. There had been increased news coverage ahead of the deciding games, and people had for once actually filled the stands, brimming with excitement and ready to support their heroine. Toph herself appeared confident as always as they waited for their game to begin, not that this surprised Yue in the slightest. Yue had never seen Toph displaying any nervousness and she didn't expect this occasion to be any different.
Her team of wives, also her coaches, hadn't forced their preparations ahead of the game. At this point, Yue knew perfectly well how to play against Toph. It was executing the plan that was usually the problem, because Toph's stubbornness and willpower when it came to defending her position was legendary. Both Azula and Katara had advised her not to try and overwhelm Toph quickly, but instead try to match Toph's patience. Yue's path to the final round had led through a row of weaker opponents that she had defeated without expending too much energy. Azula and Katara had correctly pointed out that she was well rested and could last the distance, trying to outwait Toph.
Yue decided to go with this advice by the two people in her life she trusted the most. As a result, nothing much happened in her game with Toph until the thirtieth move, by which some of the other matches of the final round had already wrapped up. Yue could tell that Toph was starting to feel a little confused about her lack of commitment to offense, because a draw didn't really suit Yue. With Piandao winning his final game, any other result than a win would leave Yue in the third place.
As the fortieth move and the clock reset rolled around, Yue had made some probing feints here and there, but she still was not committing to a major attack and most of their tiles were still in play. They were now in the third hour of play, and the public in the stands were becoming impatient and confused when Yue refused to go on an all-out attack. "If you want a draw then you only need to ask," Toph said, sounding a little annoyed as she made another defensive move.
"If that was an offer of a draw then consider it rejected," Yue replied. She could tell that for once she was starting to get under Toph's skin, if only a little. Maybe now was the right time to go on the attack. Yue began hitting Toph's defensive position, starting from the flanks and finally probing the center. Toph held out without too many issues, always finding the optimal move to counter the threats. Yue, however, wasn't done, continuing to attack in waves. The second and third wave still didn't seem to shake Toph's position, but as the game moved past the seventieth move, Yue could sense cracks starting to appear in Toph's defenses. It made Yue feel as if she had finally created a real opportunity for herself.
With the game at this crucial point, Yue spent a lot of time considering her next move. Her eventual goal was to penetrate Toph's defenses in the center, but in order to do that, Yue needed to force Toph into transferring her Orchid tile away from defending the center. Yue knew that Toph wouldn't move her Orchid unless there was dire need to do so, such as an imminent breakthrough on one of the flanks. After considering her options some more, Yue eventually settled on a daring plan to blow up Toph's right flank with a double flower tile sacrifice. The first part of her plan went brilliantly and even better than Yue had expected. When Toph realized that her flank was breached, she moved the Orchid away from the center, as expected, giving Yue the opportunity that she had craved for and she wasted no time in smashing through the center. Toph's response took Yue by surprise, however. Instead of trying to shore up her center, Toph used her Orchid to launch a counterattack on the right flank.
Instead of continuing her attack on the center, this new development made Yue pause. Toph's move made no strategic sense at the first glance. Her Orchid was isolated and unsupported by the rest of her tiles. It seemed like a very poorly prepared counterattack and Yue felt like her best course of action was to ignore it and instead simply focus on tearing down Toph's center, but still, she wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing something obvious. Having deliberated upon her options some more, Yue saw no hidden threats and picked up her Rose tile to continue the assault on Toph's center.
Yue was very surprised when just before she had completed her move, one of the tournament officials came up to them and raised his hand. Yue gave the man a questioning stare. In response, he simply pointed at the timing clock. Yue looked at the clock and froze in horror. Her allocated time had run out. With Toph being down for the count, her counterattack had simply been a time-wasting tactic and Yue had somehow managed to overlook the amount of time that was left to her. Yue could do nothing but to stare dumbfounded at the damn timing clock and shake her head in disbelief at what had just happened.
"Well," Toph spoke up, offering Yue a handshake. "That happened."
Yue wasn't sure what to reply to that. She was so mad at herself for this beginner's error. She finally had Toph where she wanted her, all but defeated, and then she had run out of time? Maybe it was a mistake that someone who had been absent from competition for eight long years was expected to make at some point, but still, for it to happen at such a crucial point in time was exceedingly painful. "Congratulations, Toph," she somehow managed, weakly shaking Toph's hand.
"This one will be a topic of conversation for a while," Toph added unhelpfully. "Rough way to lose, I know. You played a pretty good game, I'm impressed. Regardless of what happened, I'll take it, though."
"Of course. You're a worthy winner," Yue replied. She really wasn't in the mood for talking, even if she didn't think that Toph was trying to rub it in. Toph was never one to be overly sympathetic and Yue neither expected nor wanted a shoulder pat from her acerbic friend.
"Well, time to go and soak up all that delicious glory," Toph grinned before getting up and walking up to the stands. The spectators, who had for a while appeared confused as to what had happened, had finally realized what was going on and were responding with wild cheering for their victorious favorite.
Yue still felt too shellshocked to move from her seat, needing more time to recover from this bitter and embarrassing defeat. Her eyes sought out her wives in the crowd, quickly spotting Azula and Katara among the other spectators. Katara had buried her head in her hands, looking disconsolate, while Azula was simply staring straight ahead as if she still couldn't quite believe what had happened.
The reaction of her wives made Yue feel even more rotten about this missed opportunity. She hadn't just let down herself. She'd let down the two people she cared about the most and who were prepared to dedicate two years of their lives to help Yue achieve her dreams. Azula and Katara deserved a better effort from her, and Yue was determined to make sure that nothing like this happened ever again.
"She's taking it hard, isn't she?" Suki asked. She was taking the same flight back to Ba Sing Se as Azula, Katara and Yue. With a couple of hours left before having to depart for the airport, Suki had gone up to the throuple's suite to hang out for a while, but for now she only had Azula for company. Katara was stuck in the bathroom with Yue and the retching sounds coming from the bathroom painted a clear picture. Suki had noticed Yue hitting the liquor really hard last night at the hotel restaurant.
"Yes, even though we've been telling her that it's not the end of the world," Azula shrugged. "Honestly, that's just a part of being competition rusty. It just happened at the worst possible time, really," she added with a sigh. "Thank you for not being savage about it in your article, Suki."
"Of course, that goes without saying," Suki smiled. It was true that if some old pro like Piandao or Jeong-Jeong had made such an embarrassing oversight, Suki would have probably made fun of them in The Harmony Ring, but she would never do that to Yue, not when it was only her second tournament back from a lengthy hiatus. All things considered, everybody agreed that Yue was doing very well.
After a bit of small talk, the bathroom doors finally opened and Katara emerged together with Yue. Yue still looked very pale and she was leaning heavily on Katara. "I can't believe we let her drink so much, Zula," Katara sighed, looking upset. "I fear she has mild alcohol poisoning."
"Oh, shit," Suki exclaimed, while Azula looked mildly horrified. "Is it okay for her to fly?"
"I'll be fine," Yue croaked weakly.
"No, you'll be suffering, but you'll have a doctor with you all the way, so it should still be safe," Katara sighed again. "What possessed you to sneak a bottle up to our suite and finish it without me or Azula even noticing?"
"I was just trying to forget about the embarrassment," Yue admitted, looking a little ashamed. "And I know, you're going to say that it's understandable, and sure, I guess it is. I'm not upset about being the laughing stock for the other pros. I'm mad at myself for letting you two down," Yue sighed miserably.
"What are you even talking about?" Azula groaned. "You've been on the podium in the first two tournaments since your return. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it was going to work out so well. How could you even think that you were letting us down?"
"I agree with Azula," Katara spoke sternly, guiding Yue over to the bed and helping her sit down. "And let's not forget that you were kicking Toph's ass. That's far more important than what happened in the end. You just proved to yourself that you can play with Toph."
"That is kind of important," Suki pointed out, watching Katara pour a glass of orange juice for Yue and then pass it over to her Water Tribe wife, together with some aspirin. After Yue had swallowed the pills and emptied the glass of juice, Katara forcefully pushed her down on the bed and with a stern glare prevented Yue from even thinking about getting up. "As for that mistake, listen to your wives, Yue. It's nothing to beat yourself up over. It's like in that song, right? Everybody's gotta learn sometimes," Suki hummed to the popular tune that seemed to be on every radio station these days.
"I hate that song," Yue groaned.
"Nonsense, it's one of your favorites," Katara snorted.
"Not anymore," Yue whined.
"She's an annoying drunk," Azula commented, winking at Suki. "Anyway, let's just ignore her whining. You're probably doing a bigger article on the tournament once we get back to Ba Sing Se?"
"You know the drill," Suki nodded. "There will be a lot to cover. I don't see any reason why I should go into the details of this final round game again. It's going to be more of a summary of how everyone did across the entire tournament. That's how I usually handle these post-tournament articles."
"Anything interesting that stuck out for you, Suki?" Katara asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm starting to see some patterns between this tournament and the one in Ba Sing Se," Suki replied. "You know how everyone predicted that the final six for the world championship title will be Yue, Zuko, Toph, Aang, Jeong-Jeong and Piandao? Well, I'm starting to think that Jeong-Jeong is not going to make the finals. I think age is catching up with him and he's running out of steam."
"That's entirely possible," Azula admitted. "But so far Aang has actually done even worse than Jeong-Jeong."
"Sure, but Aang will bounce back once he sorts his head out," Suki replied. She was perfectly aware that her affair with Mai was one of the issues messing with Aang's head, but she refused to feel guilty about it. "I'm not confident that Jeong-Jeong has it in him anymore to bounce back."
"Interesting," Katara mused. "So, who do you think could take his place in the finals? I guess my bet would be on Haru."
"Ugh, no, he's been playing awful," Azula snorted. "Although, I suppose he could still bounce back, similarly to Aang."
"It's possible that it might be Haru, but I feel like everyone is still overlooking On Ji," Suki smiled. "She played really well in Ba Sing Se, and now she finished fourth here. That's her best result ever at pro level. I think her star is in ascendancy."
"You could be right," Katara admitted. "As always, I'm looking forward to reading your article." Katara then shot her a wicked grin. "But finishing the article probably isn't the only reason why you're excited about going back. Tell us about all the plans you have with Mai."
"I can't believe how nosy you are, Kat," Suki groaned. "It's because you've been working together for years with Ty Lee, am I right?"
"No, she's always been nosy," Azula shrugged. "Anyway, you don't have to tell us anything, Suki. We always end up finding out anyway whether we want to or not. It comes with having Ty Lee as a friend."
"Of course," Suki sighed. She hesitated a little bit. Azula had been friends with Mai at a very young age and probably knew Mai better than anyone here. Also, Suki was very curious. "Can I ask you something, though?" she looked at Azula.
"Sure, but you should know that I give terrible relationship advice," Azula said.
"But fortunately, I'm here to help out with that, so please, ask away, Suki," Katara added quickly.
"It's just that Mai… does not talk much," Suki said hesitantly. "And most of the time I'm struggling to make sense of what she wants. I don't want to stupidly say too much… you know, go for more than what she wants, or is ready for? If that makes sense?"
"It makes perfect sense to me," Katara nodded. "What do you think, Zula? What is Mai looking for right now?"
"Ugh, you think it's so easy for me to read her?" Azula groaned. "I honestly don't know. What I can tell you is, don't go for too much too soon. Mai is rather set in her ways. I think she sometimes fears change? Start with something small, perhaps?"
"Like what?" Suki asked. This advice didn't sound very helpful so far.
"I think Azula means small steps like for example…" Katara said thoughtfully. "If she stays over at your place, maybe mention that she's free to leave some of her stuff over. Or if you're staying with her, ask if it's okay to leave your toothbrush and toiletries, things like that? You know, small ways of hinting that maybe you want something serious?"
"Yes, thank you, that's what I meant," Azula nodded gratefully.
"Oh, I see," Suki smiled, suddenly feeling a lot more hopeful. Now it seemed like a far more useful information that she could actually put to use. "Thank you, that really helps."
"Don't mention it," Azula said. "Advancing the lesbian agenda is kind of our thing," she added, making everyone in the room burst into laughter.
"Also, I feel like the aspirin is starting to kick in," Yue said, looking and sounding a little bit sprightlier. "Can you switch on the TV, Kat? It will help me forget that I feel like crap."
"Not sure you should be forgetting that, but fine, I'm in a charitable mood," Katara said, doing as Yue had asked.
"Oh, this is perfect," Yue smiled at the intro song to Yes, Minister, a clever and currently very popular sitcom. "Let's kill the time until our flight by laughing our asses off. You in, Suki?"
"Sure," Suki grinned, perching down on the bed next to Azula. Despite the slight tension that Yue's return to competition had brought to their group of friends, Suki was very happy about Yue's comeback, and not just because it was good for The Harmony Ring. Azula, Katara and Yue were among her most favorite people to hang out with, and she was looking forward to the next year and a half with the throuple once again being a part of the pro tour.