Chapter 10

Katara was delighted to be back in Fire Fountain City at the start of April. Ever since they had decided on Yue's tournament schedule, this was the event she had been looking forward to the most. Sure, Shuhon Island was also the place where she had suffered that horrible trauma while facing Ozai Nakamura in the world championship finals, but Katara felt like she had dealt with those events for good. Having her fairly won title restored to her had cured the remaining lingering ills, and she would remain forever grateful to Azula for making it happen.

Fire Fountain City and the rooftop suite of the most luxurious hotel on the island also held some particularly fond memories for Katara and her wives. Thirteen years ago, during their junior tournament days, it had served as a setting for romantic misunderstandings and sexy shenanigans. The icing on the cake of that experience had been the three of them getting drunk at the tournament after party, indiscriminately making out in the bathroom and then getting hauled back to the hotel by Sokka and Suki. They had been roused the next morning with Katara and Yue sleeping soundly on either side of a passed out Azula. The actual threesome between them would come a good few years later, but armed with hindsight, Katara now looked back at that experience and wondered if their unusual relationship was written in the stars already back then.

Azula had pulled all the necessary strings to secure the hotel suite for them many months ago, very mindful of the good memories that it held for them all. They had always played well in Fire Fountain City, but staying at the suite where they would be surrounded by many happy memories would certainly give Yue a massive boost of confidence.

And Yue would certainly need to be in her best shape to do well in this tournament, because it had by far the strongest lineup since the world championship cycle had resumed. Aang and Zuko were back in action, and Toph was never going to miss this star-studded tournament. The old masters, Piandao and Jeong-Jeong, never missed any of the Fire Nation events. The best of the pretenders like Haru and On Ji were present and ready to continue their push to be among the six best players by the end of the season. Minor nuisances like Hahn and Joo Dee made up the numbers, but Katara was particularly annoyed about the participation of Zhao Sakamoto. Not that any of them truly feared Zhao. They had so many good memories of humiliating him again and again in the days before their retirement. Sure, nobody had seen Zhao play for six long years since his prison sentence and forced retirement, but Katara very much doubted that Zhao would suddenly prove to be a massive obstacle.

Still, this was going to be a very challenging tournament, and the three of them were well aware of that fact. Yue had done brilliantly by finishing on the podium in her first two tournaments back from retirement, but this would be her greatest challenge yet. The fact that Yue was coming back into something resembling her old tournament form was giving them all a big boost of confidence. Katara and Azula had been forced to work hard and make sure that Yue didn't remain angry at herself for her Gaoling gaffe, but after about a week of sulking, Yue had finally broken out of her slump and had thrown herself back into Pai Sho practice with renewed energy. They had been hard at work these past three weeks before flying out to the Fire Nation, fine tuning some aspects of Yue's game and developing new strategies for the opponents that Yue found the most challenging to play against.

In short, Yue's return to competition was starting to look like a great decision. Her level of play was already high and would only be rising from here, and she already had results to show. Katara had no doubts that Yue's first tournament win was not far off. Whether it would happen here in Fire Fountain City, Katara wasn't sure, perhaps it was too early to hope for that especially when facing a very determined Zuko and Toph fresh from her Gaoling victory, but Katara believed in her Water Tribe wife and knew that Yue had it in her to win.

Katara had honestly thought that she would be missing her hospital job more than she did. Thinking about the mistake she had made during that ill-fated surgery still soured Katara when she mused about returning to her calling. She couldn't stop feeling that perhaps she had overestimated just how good she actually was. Perhaps she actually wasn't good enough to be entrusted with saving the lives of her patients, especially children. The hospital clearly felt otherwise, and Katara was getting plenty of calls from the administration and her colleagues in the surgical ward, begging her to come back, but Katara made it perfectly clear that for now she was focusing on doing the best job she could to help Yue, and it was not an undertaking compatible with her work at the hospital. The main reason why Katara really missed her old job was that she didn't get to see Ty Lee all that often. Ty Lee was missing her as well, so whenever they were back in Ba Sing Se, Ty was a constant visitor at their estate, either all by herself or accompanied by Jin and Lee.

Katara thought that Azula had planned Yue's schedule very smartly. Azula had made sure that Yue had a tournament to play every other month. This meant that they had three to four weeks in-between tournaments to make the necessary adjustments which consisted of analyzing the games of the previous tournament and then spending time on finding possible improvements. Alongside that, Azula and Katara spent hours poring through the latest theory crafting, trying to find some new tools to incorporate into Yue's arsenal. It was hard but rewarding work, and since they both knew perfectly well what fit or didn't fit Yue's style, they had made some good progress and Yue was now armed with several new openings to surprise her opponents with. The way Azula had organized their tournament and practice schedule while leaving in enough downtime to prevent burnout was impressive. It was a very smart way to handle what would be a full-time job for the next year and a half, and Katara was looking forward to this particular journey.

With the tournament starting tomorrow, the three of them had decided to enjoy a relaxed, stress-free afternoon without leaving the suite and relying on the excellent room service at the hotel. Azula and Yue were already outside on the open roof area, so Katara didn't waste any more time in joining them, throwing a light robe over her shoulders as she stepped outside. Azula was stretched out on a folding chair, enjoying the rays of the slowly fading afternoon sun. She was sunbathing in the nude, and Yue wasn't wearing anything either as she circled slow laps in the swimming pool, stopping and smiling at Katara. Katara allowed the robe to slip from her shoulders, revealing that she too was wearing nothing underneath. In this private location, bathing suits were truly redundant when it was just the three of them.

"Aren't you supposed to ask for help with that?" Azula asked after Katara had sat down in the other folding chair, starting to apply sunscreen.

"I thought about it, but then I realized that it might very well lead to us having sex," Katara winked at her wife.

"Oh no, that would be horrible," Azula gasped. "I'm sure I can keep my burning urges in check at least until later in the evening."

"Oh well, go ahead then," Katara offered the tube of sunscreen to Azula and laid back on the folding chair to enjoy herself as Azula got to work.

"That's hot," Yue commented, having come to a stop, leaning in against the edge of the pool and observing Azula's as always impeccable ministrations. "I want you to do me next, but I also don't want to get out of the water just yet. It feels amazing."

"Well, call on me whenever you have made up your mind," Azula said, moving to work on Katara's legs, making sure that she didn't miss covering a single spot. Katara was starting to feel very warm by now, and it wasn't all from the rays of the hot Fire Nation sun.

"Are you feeling relaxed, Yue?" Katara asked as Azula finally finished applying the sunscreen. It had been extremely enjoyable, with Katara quietly cursing Azula's efficiency. She would have definitely preferred her wife to take a little more time.

"Very relaxed," Yue replied, eventually deciding to get out of the pool. The way water dripped down her perfect nude body made Katara feel even warmer than she already was. It also made Katara think that perhaps she didn't want to wait until the very evening to engage in the particularly exciting activities. "But I'm also giddy and eager to get started," Yue added, grabbing a towel and starting to dry herself off. Katara wasn't sure if she was deliberately standing right in front of her and Azula, giving them an amazing spectacle, but it was certainly working on Katara.

"Are we still talking about tomorrow's game or…" Azula began, her voice coming out a little hoarse.

Yue burst into laughter. "I was thinking about tomorrow's game, but I'm open to other suggestions," Yue winked at Azula. "I mean, I'd be happy to join you on your folding chair, but it doesn't look stable enough to support us both."

"Yes, that is a shame," Katara commented. The banter was filling her head with a lot of exciting and naughty ideas. "It would be amazing to fool around out here by the pool. And it would be something new."

"It's like you read my mind," Azula grinned, nodding at Katara. "And I believe I may have a solution. Why don't we just push one of the suite's beds out here by the pool? It should be easy enough to do for the three of us."

"That's an amazing idea," Yue said, her eyes widening in excitement. "Let's do it!" Katara found herself nodding in firm agreement.

"What, now?" Azula blinked. "It's barely five in the afternoon! We haven't even had dinner yet. I was thinking about calling room service to order something."

"Surely dinner can wait," Katara said, giving Azula a saucy wink. "Right now, I'd rather have you."

"Agni, it's like I'm married to two perpetually horny college girls," Azula groaned.

"And is that supposed to be a complaint?" Katara asked, giving Azula a meaningful stare.

"Oh, not at all," Azula said hastily. "Let's get that bed sorted out, then." She got up hastily to follow Yue and Katara back inside.

"That's right," Yue said, grinning broadly in a way that made Katara suspect that a terrible joke was incoming. "Eating out, first. Eating in, after that."

Katara and Azula exchanged stares and then both let out pained groans. "That was horrible even for you, Yue," Azula winced.

"Still, you can't disagree with her priorities," Katara winked. Azula didn't have anything to add to that.

Fan interest during the first round of the Fire Fountain City tournament was certainly higher than in Gaoling, but didn't quite match the passionate and numerous crowds of Ba Sing Se. Still, Azula was quite impressed with the turnout of both the fans as well as the press covering the event. Suki was once again in the first line of duty, but knowing how busy she was during the match days, Azula and Katara hadn't tried to strike up a conversation. Suki had an outstanding offer to join them at the rooftop suite any time she pleased. Although, perhaps the previous evening would have been an unsuitable occasion for anyone else to join, considering what the three of them had gotten up to by the pool.

Zuko, Aang, Toph and Teo were all staying at the same hotel and they had exchanged some brief pleasantries during breakfast, but with them all having their own preparations, it seemed that any hangouts during the tournament probably weren't in the cards. At least their friendships did not seem to be affected between the tournaments. Azula was in particular relieved that Zuko appeared to be no longer upset over her decision not to coach him, and he'd been a frequent guest at their Ba Sing Se estate, often bringing Kya along with him.

In fact, most of the tournament participants were staying at the same hotel, so Azula had been especially wary of running into Zhao Sakamoto. She definitely was not eager to find herself in the presence of her father's once loyal lackey. Still, as together with Katara they sat down in the stands to observe the games of the first round, even if Azula was supposed to focus on Yue's game with Haru first and foremost, she ended up keeping a close eye on Zhao in his return game against the reigning world champion Piandao Mori.

As Azula had expected, Yue got off to a fast start against Haru, quickly building on her advantage. Still, as much as Azula was invested in Yue's success, she couldn't stop constantly looking over to Zhao's match, expecting Piandao to quickly walk over his opponent. However, the situation on the Pai Sho board did not match Azula's expectations. Zhao appeared like a changed man, looking to have aged considerably over the past almost seven years, his even more impressive sideburns having turned grey and almost matching those of Iroh. And he was also playing like a changed man, posing all sorts of unexpected problems for a surprised Piandao, who was by now in a very difficult position.

"What is going on there?" Katara asked, also having noticed the unexpected development. The defending world champion was really struggling against someone who had been banned from the tour for the past six years for his cheating and supporting the illegal schemes of Ozai Nakamura.

"I literally have no idea, but Zhao is playing like I've never seen him play," Azula was forced to admit. "This is… concerning."

"Maybe it's a fluke," Katara ventured hopefully.

"I don't really see how it could be a fluke," Azula shook her head. "I have no idea what Zhao has been doing all these past few years, but maybe he's been preparing for this? In which case, I may have made a dumb mistake by listening to those who said to just let him have his comeback."

"Let's not be hasty," Katara said. "Maybe he had something specific prepared for Piandao. Maybe he's catching Piandao on an off day."

"Piandao doesn't really have off days," Azula snorted. "No, I'm afraid there's a reason why Zhao suddenly decided to push for getting reinstated to the tour. He must have known that he'll be competitive. I have no idea how, but it looks like he'll be a contender and we'll have to deal with him."

"And we will," Katara said confidently. "We always find a way. Even if it will be hard to see Zhao as a serious challenger and not as a laughing stock."

"I know what you mean," Azula nodded. "I wonder if he's been working with someone to prepare for this. I can't imagine anyone who'd work with a disgraced former pro who's been kicked off the tour."

"Does that matter?" Katara shrugged. "The fact is that he's apparently now a legitimate threat and we need to deal with him."

"You're right, that's all that matters," Azula agreed. "Even this new and improved Zhao will fall under our combined efforts."

"You know he will," Katara nodded confidently as they continued to watch the ongoing games. "Zuko's going to be the first to win, isn't he?" she said, watching Zuko hand another convincing trashing to Hahn Adjuk.

"Obviously," Azula nodded. A few moves later, a dejected Hahn surrendered and shook Zuko's hand with a sour look on his face. "I think our girl will destroy Haru next. Or… hmm, Aang is close to winning, too." Indeed, Aang seemed to be actually playing close to his potential, if this first game of the tournament was anything to go by. The defensive line of Jeong-Jeong was wilting under Aang's assault.

"I know it's maybe not the best news for us, but I'm glad that Aang has discovered his old form," Katara said. "And let's face it, this slump wasn't going to last forever."

"Maybe, but I was hoping that it would last a little longer," Azula frowned. "As we both know, nothing has changed between him and Mai over the past month, so if he was distracted because of that, then that should still be bothering him. Maybe Zuko and Toph gave Aang a big chewing out and that made him shape up."

"That could be it," Katara nodded. "Aang can be easily manipulated by guilt tripping him. Toph in particular knows this. She could always get him to do what she wanted when we were kids," she added as they watched Aang and Yue both end their games in victory at nearly the same time.

"Agni, Zhao is actually going to fucking win," Azula groaned as they continued to watch the games even if Yue had already departed the hall. She'd be held up by the press anyway, so Azula knew they had at least a quarter of an hour to watch the remaining games play out.

"It certainly looks that way," Katara nodded. Piandao had managed to find some counterplay and for a while it seemed like he was evening out the contest. Azula felt slightly more hopeful when she saw Zhao commit a few small errors, meaning that his improved game was still full of imperfections they could exploit, but then Piandao committed a bad mistake because he was starved for time. Piandao somehow survived without running out of time, but he limped over the threshold of forty moves in such a terrible shape that after the officials had added another hour to their timing clocks, Piandao immediately resigned to the shocking gasps of the crowd.

"Well, I'm utterly disgusted," Azula frowned, getting up to her feet. "Come on, let's go. We've seen all there was to see today."

"Sure, Zula," Katara nodded, hurrying to keep up with her. Two more games were still ongoing, but Joo Dee looked to be winning over Siku and Azula didn't see On Ji and Toph escaping a draw in their game. As far as Azula was convinced, it was time to collect Yue, return to the hotel and quickly prepare for her next game against Siku Ikuma. As for the rest of Azula's time, she had already decided to spend it analyzing Zhao's game against Piandao. She was not going to rest until she had figured out how to reduce Zhao to the laughing stock that he was always meant to be.

"No, sweetheart. I'm afraid daddy didn't win today," Zuko smiled, speaking on the phone with his daughter back in Ba Sing Se. "But that's alright. It was still a good result. Piandao is a good player. Not as good as your dad, obviously, but we had to settle for a draw today."

"You'll get him next time, daddy," Kya said eagerly, sounding excited, probably both from getting to speak to her dad and from being allowed to stay up way past her bedtime, as it was already nearing midnight in Ba Sing Se. "What about Uncle Aang and Auntie Yue? And Toph?" Zuko had to smile and roll his eyes at Toph not meeting his daughter's criteria for an aunt because she wasn't nice enough. In Kya's world, it simply meant that Toph was the only one from their group of friends who didn't spoil Kya rotten.

"Aang and Toph also had to settle for peace with their opponents," Zuko explained patiently. "Auntie Yue won, though." Aang had drawn against On Ji, and Toph had failed to overcome the surprise of the tournament so far, the returning Zhao Sakamoto. Yue had dealt with Siku Ikuma without too many difficulties, and she was now the only one with two wins out of two. Yue's play was starting to become a major concern for them all.

"That's great! I hope you'll win and Auntie Yue will come in second!" Kya decided on her ideal tournament outcome. Zuko figured that he could live with that.

"Don't tell anyone, Kya, but I like the sound of that," Zuko laughed. "Anyway, I think it's probably long past your bedtime. Would you give the phone back to your daddy, poppet? I promise I'll call again in a couple of days."

"Okay," Kya replied obediently. "You still remember to bring me some of my favorite fire gummies, right?"

"Of course, I do," Zuko said, withholding a sigh. Azula had introduced Kya to some of the spicier Fire Nation snacks when she was still only four, way too early for such spicy food. Now, whenever Zuko traveled to a tournament in the Fire Nation, Kya always had a list of snack foods that he was supposed to bring back. It was probably Azula who had convinced Kya that the Earth Kingdom's take on the Fire Nation snacks was completely inadequate.

"Hey," Zuko smiled when Sokka's voice replaced Kya's on the phone. "Tough game today, I hear? How are your holding up?"

"I'm holding up just fine," Zuko said. "I just can't wait for one of those tournaments where you and Kya can come along, you know?"

"August and Ember Island can't come soon enough," Sokka said. Zuko could literally imagine his partner smiling as he spoke. "In the meantime, I hope Aang and Toph make for good company."

"Yeah, they're here as we speak," Zuko replied. "Once we've wrapped this up, it'll be time for a bit of practice. Well, if you want details, we actually don't have much prep to do, because Toph and I are going for a draw tomorrow and Aang has Joo Dee. But we're going to do some extra prep for Yue, and then for Zhao Sakamoto of all people."

"Give that creep a good trashing, okay?" Sokka said. "Anyway, it sounds like I shouldn't keep you. Miss you, of course."

"Miss you too, obviously," Zuko sighed. "Everything okay back home?"

"It's all quiet," Sokka chuckled. "Jin offered to cook this evening, and then we watched a bunch of cartoons with the kids. I'm going to put Kya to bed now and then work on a particularly stubborn blueprint for a while."

"Don't stay up too late," Zuko warned.

"You know me, always sensible," Sokka joked. "Talk to you soon then. Love you."

"Love you too," Zuko replied, hanging up the phone handset. Zuko briefly remained standing in the hallway, simply enjoying the feelings of happiness he always got from these conversations. Regardless of how brief these chats were, they were absolutely essential for him to survive these tournaments away from home, helping him maintain a positive mindset. Once the smile on his lips had faded slightly, Zuko returned to join Toph and Aang. It seemed that Toph had found a way to occupy her time by berating Aang about something.

"Is everything okay here?" Zuko asked uncertainly.

"Sure, I'm just making fun of Aang's drawn game earlier today," Toph laughed.

"On Ji is a good enough player to push me to a draw without having to distract me with her cleavage," Aang replied defensively.

"But I bet it doesn't hurt either, does it?" Toph snorted.

"I'll have to side with Aang on this one," Zuko said, sitting down with his bickering friends. "Because then I would have to ask if you were distracted by Zhao's magical sideburns, Toph?" Zuko added with a laugh.

"What? Ugh, shut up!" Toph glared. "That guy is so gross."

"Yeah, but gross or not, he really should be our focus now," Zuko said. "We now have the notations of his first two games of the tournament. That's enough to start developing strategies, wouldn't you say?"

"I would say so," Toph nodded. "As long as we don't forget about Yue. I know everyone was laughing about her dumb mistake in Gaoling, but that bitch really gave me a scare. It was a lot closer than it should have been."

"Could we, I don't know, not call Yue a bitch?" Aang sighed, shaking his head. "I lived under the same roof with her for years."

"But I call everyone a bitch, bitch," Toph sighed, punching Aang's shoulder. "I'm being affectionate. Bitch."

"Ugh, whatever," Aang frowned. "I guess I'm being the sensitive one again."

"That's just your lot in life, Aang," Zuko smirked. "Anyway, let's begin. Where shall we start?"

"I think we should focus on Yue, still," Toph said. "She's clearly the biggest threat. I think Zhao is actually not as good as we fear, and he's just taking people by surprise right now."

"Agree to disagree," Aang said. "I think Zhao is for real. Also, Zuko and I are taking him on shortly, so I kind of want to focus on Zhao?"

"Sorry, Toph, but I'm going to side with Aang once more," Zuko said much to Toph's annoyance. "Zhao goes on the chopping block first."

Yue didn't think that she was being arrogant by not feeling surprised of holding the sole possession of tournament lead heading into the third round of play. Ever since arriving in the Fire Fountain City, she'd been in a very positive mindset, and it had a clear and direct influence on her performance at the Pai Sho board. A lot of it had to do with staying at the familiar hotel suite, associated with so many happy memories. It was doing wonders not just for Yue, but also for her wives, and she couldn't remember Azula and Katara being this happy in a while. Also, perhaps because of their shared nostalgic memories, staying at this particular rooftop suite had also triggered a noticeable uptick in sexual activity, and as a result, Yue felt very relaxed at the Pai Sho board.

In the third round, it was the turn of Jeong-Jeong Kaneko to be the latest victim of Yue's improved form. The aging Fire Nation grandmaster was clearly starting to fade, and more and more Yue was starting to agree with the opinion that he had little hope of qualifying for the world championship finals. It took Yue a little more than twenty moves in their game to secure a favorable position and then slowly strangle the life out of her opponent.

The lack of significant pushback from Jeong-Jeong allowed Yue to for once keep a closer eye on the other games taking place at the same time. One of the games had just ended with Zuko and Toph playing out thirty or so noncommittal moves before agreeing on a truce, as per their arrangement. Yue generally found this agreement between Aang, Toph and Zuko rather annoying, but on this occasion, it was actually helping her. As she kept winning her matches, Aang, Zuko and Toph sharing points between themselves put all of them further and further back. As far as Yue was concerned, her friends were free to keep their arrangement in place, because she was only better off for it.

The rest of the games, while still ongoing, were leaning heavily in favor of one of the contestants. Aang was close to winning against Joo Dee, and he was about to remain Yue's closest pursuer. Just as Yue had expected, Aang seemed to have discovered some of his old spark and he was playing far better than back in Ba Sing Se.

And while Yue was happy for Aang to do well at the tournament, she held no such sentiment towards her other closest pursuer, Zhao Sakamoto. Zhao was currently playing On Ji Takeda, and looked set to celebrate his second win of the tournament. Without Ozai having his back, Zhao certainly cut a less arrogant figure, but Yue still found his mere presence somewhat unnerving and stressful, just because of some of his actions in the past. He'd behaved highly inappropriately and predatory towards Azula while she had been underage, and he'd outright cheated in his world championship game against Katara. While he had never done anything on that level towards Yue, she still harbored massive dislike and even hatred towards the man. It didn't matter whether he had committed his crimes eight or fifteen years ago. In Yue's opinion, Zhao was a terrible human being who had no right to be a part of the Pai Sho tour, and Yue was determined to use the game between them to remind Zhao that he would have been better served remaining in retirement.

Yue also hated how Zhao often walked up to her table in particular and just stood there for several minutes quietly observing the situation on the board. He quite clearly was doing it only to her, and at first Yue couldn't understand why Zhao seemed interested in playing these Ozai style mind games with her in particular. Azula was of the belief that Zhao was trying to get to her by getting to Yue, and having thought about it for a while, Yue had to agree that the explanation made sense. After Azula had condemned him to this long exile and ostracization, Zhao clearly bore a grudge towards Azula in particular. He was most likely looking for some form of revenge.

In the final games of the third round, Piandao and Hahn looked set to score their first wins of the tournament against Haru and Siku, respectively. They were currently too far behind Yue to be of concern, and even Hahn winning a game wasn't something that was going to annoy Yue at this point. She enjoyed having reached a point in her life where anything that Hahn did was simply beneath her notice.

It was on the thirty-sixth move that Yue finally forced Jeong-Jeong to resign their game. The old grandmaster thanked her with a smile before walking off, not looking terribly upset. Yue noticed that two other games had ended at the same time as hers, with Aang and Zhao both scoring wins to keep up the pace with her. Yue found it interesting that Zhao and Joo Dee walked away together, with Zhao appearing to offer words of comfort to the younger woman. Aang and On Ji had stopped near the exit from the hall and they were busy in conversation when Yue caught up with them.

"Congratulations, Aang. And my sympathies, On Ji. Losing to Zhao couldn't have been pleasant," Yue spoke politely, but still, the looks on the faces of both Aang and On Ji suggested that they would have been happier if Yue had just walked straight past them.

"Thanks, Yue," Aang managed to summon a quick smile. "Congratulations on another win."

"Yes, well done," On Ji added without any obvious enthusiasm. "Ugh, I hate that Zhao has suddenly come out of nowhere and is playing way above his old level. I had already started to dream of maybe getting into the final six at the end of the season, but if Zhao is going to play like this…"

"Well, it remains to be seen if he can sustain this form," Yue said. "Maybe this is just a flash in the pan."

"I hope so," Aang said. "We were doing some analysis-" Aang hesitated, looking a little worried about perhaps saying too much. "Anyway, we looked into his first two games, and we think that he might be for real."

"Not what I wanted to hear," On Ji groaned. "And what's with this hanging out with Joo Dee? He could be her father."

"Well, he knew her father, right?" Aang said. "They worked together. Or rather, they committed war crimes together. She probably considers him an uncle or something."

"Gross," On Ji shuddered.

"They definitely need to be kept under a close watch," Yue nodded, having managed to withhold the comment that Zhao probably liked them even younger than Joo Dee. She had no right to reveal the experiences of Azula's teenage years.

"Well, we're working on something for Zhao," Aang said, looking almost eager. "Hopefully we'll be able to put him back in his old place, among the back-markers."

"Well said," Yue agreed. She was relieved that her game against Zhao would be in the final round. By then, she expected that Azula and Katara would have helped her to figure out a solid strategy on how to crush Zhao. Yue wasn't going to let her so far perfect tournament be ruined by a proven dirtbag like Zhao Sakamoto.