Chapter 12
The moment Azula's falling body hit the ground, Katara was already in motion. Katara didn't care if an active shooter was still on the scene, she had only one thought on her mind, and that was to save her wife. As Katara had dropped to her knees, with the corner of her eye she noticed that Joo Dee was standing as if frozen. Her expression was one of complete shock, and she didn't look capable of firing again, which was just as well, because a few moments later she was very safely tackled from behind by a burly man with a dirty t-shirt sporting the caption 'Security'.
The first step which was to check the victim for bullet wounds obviously proved academic. Only one shot had been fired, but it had struck Azula in a very bad spot, the left side of her abdomen. Katara couldn't find an exit wound, which meant that the bullet was still lodged somewhere inside. Katara quickly retrieved a plastic bag from her purse and placed it over the abdominal wound, pressing down hard to staunch the bleeding. It was absolutely vital to get Azula's blood to start clotting in order to buy her more time.
"Is anyone going to call the paramedics?" Katara shouted when the people around her appeared completely useless and the security guy was too preoccupied with pressing Joo Dee's face into the floor tiles. "Yue! Do something! Tell the hotel staff to call for help!" Katara kept shouting when Yue still wasn't moving. She wasn't mad at Yue for being shocked at seeing Azula's blood everywhere, it disturbed Katara as well, and she was far more used to these types of situations than Yue. Still, she couldn't let Yue freeze when it could lead to Azula bleeding out.
"Please, save her, Kat," Yue uttered, finally gathering her wits and running off as quickly as she could with her high heels.
It took almost seven minutes for the paramedics to arrive at the scene, and these were some of the longest minutes in Katara's life. The security guy had hauled Joo Dee away, so Katara had been left to sit by Azula's side all by herself, continuing to press down on the wound while praying that help was on its way, because it was clear that Azula's injuries were of the critical kind and required immediate surgery.
As the paramedics laid out the gurney next to Azula, one of them tried to get Katara to move away, wanting to take over, but Katara absolutely refused to budge. "I will keep the pressure on the wound as you move her onto the gurney," she said, immediately taking control of the situation. "Quickly, now!" she added when the paramedics seemed confused by her initiative.
"Are you a doctor, ma'am?" one of the paramedics, a young man who couldn't be older than mid-twenty, asked.
"I'm not just a doctor, I'm a surgeon with a hospital in Ba Sing Se," Katara replied quickly. "Now listen to me carefully. Do you see how her abdomen is starting to swell? This means either intestinal damage or damage to the abdominal wall. She needs to go into surgery immediately."
The paramedics exchanged more stares, but decided not to argue. After Katara's urgent instructions, they now moved with practiced efficiency and in less than a minute Azula was on the gurney and being rushed towards the ambulance, with Katara still not letting go of the wound, continuing to press down with considerable force.
"Do we just let her-" one of the paramedics appeared confused when Katara got into the ambulance with them, not even considering the option of leaving Azula in the care of these people regardless of how professional they were.
"She seems to know what she's doing, so yes, I think we do," the third member of the paramedic team, an older and rather stressed-out looking woman with greying hair snapped.
"Trust me, you want me here, not that you could get me away from Azula's side even if you tried," Katara snorted despite the gravity of the situation as the ambulance was finally moving and on its way towards the nearest hospital. Katara had lost the sight of Yue in all the chaos, but she had noticed her wife also trying to get into the ambulance, but the paramedics had slammed the doors in Yue's face. Katara felt bad knowing that Yue was probably losing her mind right now, but on some level, she was relieved that Yue wasn't here, seeing Azula like this. Yue wouldn't have been of any help, and the sight of Azula being this badly injured would have simply sent her spiraling into panic.
"Have you called ahead already?" Katara asked, trying to remain calm. Even if it seemed as if she had managed to successfully staunch the bleeding, Azula was very pale and her breath was shallow. Azula going into cardiac arrest on top of everything would make this incredibly dangerous.
"Yes, they'll be ready to operate right away," one of the paramedics replied. Apparently, the driver had already made a call to the hospital. The efficiency of the crew made Katara feel a little more reassured. "You've ever dealt with something like this yourself?" the paramedic asked.
"More often than I thought I would," Katara sighed. "I'm hoping to become a pediatric surgeon one day. But right now, I'm a general surgeon at one of the hospitals in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se."
"Oh, wow, that's the slums, isn't it?" the younger of the paramedics asked. "I bet you get to see a lot of gunshot wounds."
"Well, it's pretty evident that she's seen plenty of those," the female paramedic pointed out. "Listen, I know that this would be a breach of the protocol, but I think you should be there during the surgery. You clearly know what you're doing. You can relay the information to our surgeons even better than we could."
"I'm glad we won't have to fight about that," Katara said, allowing herself a small smile. "Because I had no intentions of leaving Azula's side anyway."
Yue had no idea how she'd ended up in the surgery ward waiting room of the hospital Azula had been taken to. Everything around her was a blur, including the passage of time. The hands of the large wall clock were moving, but they didn't mean anything to Yue. The only comfort to her came from knowing that Katara was apparently in there with Azula, fighting to save their beloved wife.
Nothing else than concern for Azula existed for Yue, and while she was aware of people trying to speak to her or pressing a cup of coffee into her numb hands, none of it really registered with her. Yue only reacted when an indeterminable time later, she watched Katara walk out of the surgery ward.
Yue stood on very shaky legs, feeling someone supporting her from behind as she dared to look into Katara's face. She immediately let out a withheld breath of relief. Katara looked worried and exhausted, but if the worst had come to pass and they had lost Azula, then Yue knew that Katara would not be able to keep herself together like this. The way her wife looked made Yue's heart soar with hope and she took a few steps towards Katara. As their eyes met, Katara shook off her tiredness and all but ran up towards Yue and they melded together in an embrace, sobbing into each other's shoulders and remaining like that for a good while.
Yue eventually pulled away from the embrace. "How is she?" she dared to ask.
"Weak, but stable," Katara replied, sounding a little shaken. "I'm so relieved that my worst fears didn't come to pass."
"What do you mean?" someone asked, standing behind them and sounding just like Zuko. Yue turned around, feeling shocked when she saw all of their friends having gathered there, Zuko, Aang, Toph, Suki and Mai. Yue had no idea how long they had been present. Had one of their friends taken her to the hospital hours ago? She honestly could not recall.
"I feared damage to major organs or intestinal rupture, so in that sense our girl got lucky," Katara sighed. "But there was heavy damage to her abdominal wall and it was causing severe internal bleeding. The important thing is that Azula is no longer in immediate danger, so we can all just take a deep breath and relax."
"I don't think I'll be able to relax until I see Azula for myself," Yue managed weakly. Relief was starting to return and steady her, but her legs were still shaking badly.
"That will have to wait until tomorrow, love," Katara spoke reassuringly. "She won't be waking up before the morning, anyway. Good thing tomorrow is off day… although that's the least of our concerns right now."
"Damn right," Yue nodded. She couldn't even imagine thinking about Pai Sho. Azula was all that mattered right now.
"What even happened?" Zuko asked. "We were up in my room for a practice session when I saw police and ambulance lights flashing in my window. Then we saw Joo Dee being escorted away and we came to investigate."
"Mai and I had just arrived at the hospital and we saw Azula being taken away on a gurney," Suki said. She also looked very shaken.
"Did you bring me here?" Yue asked, looking at Suki and Mai, the two women nodding in response. "Thank you." She turned back towards Katara. "Kat, is there really no way I could see her now? Not even for a moment?"
"I'm sorry, love, but by now Azula is safely in PACU, and they're monitoring her very carefully," Katara smiled reassuringly. "This really is a very well-staffed and professional hospital. We don't need to be concerned about Zula, not anymore. This isn't like my workplace, where I sometimes feel like I'm working in a field hospital."
Yue was very tempted to add something about how Katara could easily find employment in a hospital such as this one because she was a talented and sought-after specialist, but this was definitely neither a good place nor time for that debate. Besides, Yue was certain that Katara's reasoning for choosing her workplace had not changed, not even in the light of the recent events at her hospital.
"What was Joo Dee trying to pull, anyway?" Toph asked, sounding angry. "If this is about her daddy, she's like six and a half years late for revenge."
"Seems like it really was about that," Katara replied. "She ranted about the upcoming movie based on Azula's book that's in production now. Something about Azula profiting from Long Feng's death."
"Considering that Azula did more than anyone else to end the war, I think she's entitled to all this fortune," Mai shrugged.
"True, although Toph also did her share of work to stop the war," Aang said, looking up at Mai and then averting his eyes with an awkward expression on his face.
"Yeah, exactly," Toph nodded. "I'm not saying this because I think I deserve the money Azula got for her book. I'm saying that if Joo Dee wanted to target someone, I deserve her ire more than Azula did."
"I think that might be why Azula actually downplayed your involvement in the events when she wrote the book, Toph," Yue said softly. "She didn't want some old Dai Li loyalist targeting you like Joo Dee just did."
"I didn't ask that stupid ass bitch to protect me," Toph snorted. "If she'd just told the truth, maybe she wouldn't have gotten shot. Bloody idiot."
"Don't worry, Toph, you'll get your chance to tell Azula how much you care about her soon," Katara pointed out astutely with a grin on her lips.
"What?" Toph frowned. "Oh, I'll tell her something alright, such as what a frigging idiot she's being."
"She's even more of an idiot than you think, Toph," Yue sighed. "She took a bullet that was meant for me. She literally jumped in between me and Joo Dee."
"But you said that Joo Dee was trying to get revenge on Azula, not you?" Aang asked, looking confused.
"Yes, but just like she lost her father, Joo Dee wanted Azula to lose someone she loved," Katara explained. "And nobody should be surprised that Azula took a bullet for Yue. She's extremely protective of those she loves, and we in turn love that about her."
"We do," Yue spoke quietly, struggling to fight off the tears. "Although I wish she hadn't done that. It makes me feel guilty that she's in there because of-"
"Because of that bitch Joo Dee," Zuko snapped angrily. "Nobody else is responsible for what happened other than the one who's hand pulled the trigger. Nobody else!"
"Zuko is right, love," Katara spoke softly, embracing Yue again. "Joo Dee could have just as easily decided to fire at me, and Azula would have chosen to protect me as well. Would you want me to feel guilty in that situation?"
"Of course not," Yue whispered. "Oh, I see what you're saying. Okay, that's… that's a good point."
"Miss Enuaraq?" a stern male voice interrupted them suddenly, forcing the two women to part. Yue found herself looking at a middle-aged Fire Nation man with a thin goatee, wearing a surgical gown. "I merely wanted to thank you for your assistance. That was very impressive," the man spoke, sounding full of praise. "Although, I must say, I'm not used to taking the backseat during a surgery that I am expected to perform."
"I'm very sorry," Katara managed, blushing beet red. "Please don't take this as me questioning your competence, doctor. I swore that I would simply stay and watch, but… she means too much to me and I simply couldn't stand aside."
"Wait, they let you operate on Azula?" Zuko asked, looking stunned. "Isn't that against all regulations?"
"Why are you complaining?" Mai snorted, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you hear that your sister will recover?"
"I'm not complaining, I'm just expressing my surprise," Zuko retorted defensively.
"I suppose it went against all regulations, yes," Katara agreed. "But I assume that they called my hospital and had my credentials checked."
"We certainly did, and I am not surprised about the complimentary way your colleague spoke about you, Miss Enuaraq," the Fire Nation surgeon said. "The way you took charge of the situation was very impressive. You were an example of professionalism and not just throughout the surgery. The way you administered first care most likely saved our patient's life. You have impressed the entire ward, doctor," he added, giving Katara a respectful salute.
"Thank you for your kind words, doctor," Katara replied, blushing.
"You saved our wife," Yue spoke quietly after the Fire Nation doctor had left them. "Thank you. I love you both so much, Kat. I couldn't bear to lose either of you," she said. Katara simply put her arms around Yue's shoulders again for another embrace. There weren't many positives to take from this entire mess, but Yue hoped that the way Katara had saved Azula's life would go a long way towards restoring Katara's confidence in her abilities, confidence that had been badly dented ever since the incident last fall. After all, helping Yue win the world Pai Sho title wasn't something that was supposed to be a permanent job. Yue hoped that she could do her part and the next fall Katara could return to her medical career.
"Well, if they're not going to let us see Azula tonight, then I know what I want to do," Zuko said, still looking and sounding angry. Yue figured that Joo Dee could count herself lucky that the police had gotten to her first before she had come across an enraged Zuko. "I want to get completely and utterly drunk. Who's with me?"
"That sounds perfect, actually," Suki said, shooting a quick glance at Mai. After a brief pause, Mai nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'll pass, I don't drink alcohol anyway," Aang said predictably.
"Weak," Toph scowled at their Air Nation friend. "I want to get thrashed, too. What about you two, Water bitches?" she looked at Yue and Katara.
"I feel like I need a drink, but I'm also insanely exhausted," Katara sighed.
"I'm also very tired, but I kind of want to pass out drunk tonight," Yue said. "How about we go back to our penthouse suite, all of us… although, I guess you don't have to come if you don't want to, Aang." Aang shook his head at that. "We have a fully stocked bar, and this way Katara and I can drink as much as we want and pass out safely."
"Sounds perfect," Zuko nodded, rubbing his hands. "Sweet alcohol induced numbness, here we come!"
The seventh round of the Fire Fountain City Pai Sho tournament resumed on a sour note. It wasn't just the Pai Sho world that had been rocked by what had happened a couple of days ago. Azula Nakamura was a famous enough celebrity that an attempt on her life made the headlines of newspapers globally, and caused an outpouring of support from all corners of the world.
The day before, Toph had spent time with Azula at the hospital together with the rest of their group, but Toph had not stayed for too long. She and Teo both had an ingrained hatred for hospitals, with both of them having been sickly children and having spent way too much time around various doctors during their respective childhoods. It had been very distressing to see Azula so out of it and hooked up to all those scary tubes. Even with Katara and all the nurses reassuring them that Azula was going to be fine, it had left Toph shaken. She didn't care that it was standard practice to observe Azula closely for the next few days. All this talk about possible sepsis, various infections or peritonitis was really scary, and Toph knew that she wasn't the only one affected. The results at the Pai Sho board spoke for themselves.
Toph had actually spent the seventh round in the spectator stands with her husband, listening to Teo narrating the flow of the ongoing games. The reason why Toph was not playing was completely unprecedented in the world of Pai Sho. Her opponent had been arrested and charged with attempted murder. It was an open and shut case that was sure to send Joo Dee away for at least ten years, and the international federation of Pai Sho was more than likely going to ban her for life from playing in their tournaments.
Her friends did not enjoy this unwanted luxury of getting a free win, however. From the way Teo explained the situation in their games, Zuko, Yue and Aang were all struggling. Yue committed one disastrous error after another and lost to Piandao in twenty-six embarrassing moves. She had taken three breaks to visit the bathroom during that short game, probably because she kept breaking down and had to stop herself from crying on stage. Katara, who had been watching the games with her and Teo, had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout, leaving without a word as soon as Yue had shaken hands with Piandao. Toph had no doubts that they would be heading straight for the hospital to spend more time with Azula.
Aang and Zuko had also played absolutely horrible. Aang's bad play had still been enough to salvage a draw against Hahn Adjuk, but that alone was very telling. Aang would normally be able to beat Hahn while giving his opponent a handicap of a couple of tiles. As for Zuko, he somehow managed to lose to Haru Tamang, which considering that Haru's career had been trending downwards for a while now, was a major embarrassment. Zuko's heart clearly wasn't in Pai Sho, though. He also left the stage in a hurry, no doubt rushing to the hospital to be with his sister.
Their struggles were now playing right into the hands of assholes like Zhao Sakamoto. Even if it had taken him more effort than Toph would have expected, Zhao had eventually defeated Siku Ikuma, an outcome that moved him right up in the tournament standings. Because of her free win, Toph was now leading the tournament together with Yue, both of them on five and a half points. Zhao and Piandao followed with five points, with Zuko and Aang lagging a further half a point behind.
Still, as together with her husband Toph left to return to the hotel, she found that suddenly being in the tournament lead did not give her the satisfaction that she would normally expect it to bring. Yes, Toph often gave Azula a lot of crap, just as she did to all of her friends, but the fact remained that she and Azula were tight, having gone through thick and thin together as friends. Getting excited about winning an important Pai Sho tournament suddenly became that much harder when a treasured longtime friend was in a fight for her very life.
Aang Jetsun was sitting at the bar in the hotel's restaurant, staring down at the gin and tonic he had ordered. This was the first time in his life when Aang had actually ordered anything alcoholic for himself, because for the first time in his life he was experiencing an overwhelming urge to get drunk. Still, now that he had his drink, he'd been staring at it for good twenty minutes without taking a sip.
It wasn't that Aang was completely shattered because of what had happened with Azula. It was certainly horrible even if it seemed that the news coming from the hospital were promising. Some of the doctors had been concerned about something and had recommended exploratory laparotomy, but Katara had intervened in these plans by insisting that this invasive and dangerous procedure was unnecessary, because all of Azula's vital readings suggested clear improvement. So, it seemed that Azula was pulling through, but obviously Yue and Zuko remained completely incapable of focusing on their Pai Sho.
At times like these, thinking about Pai Sho felt so… irrelevant, especially because Aang already struggled to motivate himself. He'd been enjoying a much better tournament up until Azula had been shot, so at least he had proved to himself that he still had what it takes to play at the highest level. But in light of what had happened, Aang would have almost preferred for the tournament to be canceled. The purely financial considerations for continuing, such as sponsor agreements, felt gross to him, especially when he and some of the other competitors were clearly failing to perform to their ability. Whoever ended up winning the tournament would never be able to make the claim that the best player had won.
Aang himself had struggled mightily in the latest round, just about managing to eke out a draw against Haru. Aang would be facing Piandao in the next round, and with no motivation to actually prepare for their game, he had no illusions about how that contest was going to end for him.
Aang was very pleased that Toph hadn't taken advantage of Yue's demoralized state in the game between his two friends. It was clear that Toph was a lot less affected by what was happening than Yue, and if Toph had wanted to, she could have trounced Yue easily. Instead, they had made barely ten moves before agreeing on a draw and embracing each other on the stage. The sweet moment between friends had caused the spectators to give them a standing ovation. To Aang it felt like further condemnation of the tournament officials and their decision to continue on with the tournament.
Of course, Toph and Yue's decision not to do battle was playing into the hands of the other competitors. At least Zhao had failed to take advantage, as a motivated Jeong-Jeong had held him to a draw. Piandao had demolished Hahn, however, and now he was tied on points with Toph and Yue for the tournament lead. Everything was now pointing towards Piandao winning the tournament, although Zhao was still threatening. Aang had very little faith in any of their group of friends being able to bounce back after something as traumatic as this. Zuko certainly was not showing any signs of recovery. He had lost to Siku Ikuma in the latest round. Even if Siku was a solid player, under normal circumstances she simply would have stood no chance against Zuko.
"Are you going to drink that?" Aang jumped suddenly when he found himself addressed by a soft woman's voice. He turned around to find On Ji standing just behind him. She was wearing a lovely black evening dress with a modest cleavage and a bit of a slit running up to mid-thigh.
"What?" Aang blinked. He then remembered about his gin and tonic. "Oh, that! Honestly… probably not."
"So, why did you order it?" On Ji asked curiously, eyeing the chair next to Aang. Aang quickly pulled up the chair for her and she sat down, smiling.
"You know, I think I wanted to feel drunk without actually drinking," Aang replied, aware that he was making no sense.
On Ji merely laughed in response. "Has anyone ever told you that you're goofy?" she chuckled. "But that's alright. I like goofy." Aang found himself blushing at that comment. "I can understand why you would want to feel drunk, though," On Ji said, speaking more somberly. "I feel so bad for your friend. Azula can be… very intense, but I respect a lot of what she's done, and not just for the world of Pai Sho."
"Yes, she's a very unusual but good friend to have," Aang smiled. "She's going to be alright, though. They're giving her very good chances to pull through."
"That's great to hear," On Ji smiled back at him. "It's still something that's hard to shake off, isn't it?"
"It's more than just that," Aang shrugged. "I just don't want to be playing Pai Sho right now."
"I get what you mean," On Ji nodded. "It felt strange to not be playing today, having to watch you from the stands, because my opponent has been arrested for attempted murder. It's just crazy, isn't it?"
"It is," Aang nodded. "At least you got a free win out of it all."
"I would have preferred that none of this happened, and I got to actually whoop Joo Dee's ass at the Pai Sho board," On Ji shrugged. "Anyway, so you're not drinking that?" she pointed at his gin and tonic. "Because I kind of want to feel drunk myself, but I don't mind enjoying a drink on my way there."
"It's all yours," Aang chuckled, pushing the glass towards her. "I'll be happy to order more for you."
"Aang Jetsun, you wouldn't be trying to take advantage of a lady admitting that she wants to get drunk?" On Ji winked coyly as she took a sip of her drink.
"Uh… no?" Aang blushed darkly, struggling to come up with a more coherent answer.
"Relax, I'm just teasing you," On Ji grinned smugly. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cute when you blush like that?"
"I don't think so," Aang shook his head. It wasn't the kind of thing that he would have expected to hear from Mai.
"Well," On Ji drawled teasingly. "Then just know that you definitely are cute when you blush like that."
"Ugh, this is just sad to see," Suki commented, observing the games of the ninth round from her little booth up in the press box. Mai was sitting next to her, also watching the proceedings with interest, even if she had never been particularly passionate about the sport of Pai Sho.
"Those two will not recover from this, that much is clear," Mai nodded, referring to the quick losses once again suffered by both Zuko and Yue. Yue had just lost to On Ji, while Zuko had been steamrolled by Jeong-Jeong, and even Mai with her laywoman's eye had been able to tell that Jeong-Jeong hadn't been made to work very hard for his win.
Mai understood perfectly well why Yue and Zuko were completely incapable of focusing on Pai Sho. Mai prided herself in being unflappable, but she'd been badly rattled by what had happened to Azula. Like most of their friends, she could no longer use the elevators in the hotel, because that meant passing the spot where Azula had nearly bled to her death. And even if Azula was doing much better by now, she was not completely out of the woods yet, as there were still risks of potential infection. It meant that nobody could relax fully, at least not yet. It also meant that their friends and family back in Ba Sing Se were going absolutely insane. Mai had already been forced to talk Ty Lee out of booking the earliest possible flight several times.
"Aang isn't going to last much longer, either," Suki commented. Mai could see that Piandao was about to crush her husband. Mai once again was failing to summon any particularly strong feelings on any matter involving Aang. She supposed that it had been the prevailing problem with their marriage in its final years. She also wondered if Suki had expected her to react in some specific way.
"I'm sure he's also affected by what happened to Azula," Mai said eventually.
"Oh, undoubtedly," Suki nodded. It seemed that Mai had erred and this wasn't Suki probing about the status of her relationship with Aang. Suki was simply doing her job and observing the games. She couldn't very well ignore the fact that Aang was on the stage and taking part in the tournament.
Mai was aware that keeping her marriage in this barely alive state was not helping anyone. They both had accepted that there was no getting back together, or at least Mai hoped that it was clear to Aang. It had to be, because she'd seen him at the bar with On Ji Takeda, flirting. She couldn't understand why Aang wasn't pushing for divorce because he seemed willing to pursue On Ji? And On Ji didn't seem like the kind of woman who would be happy to accept that Aang remained legally married to someone else.
That was really Mai's main reason why she was not pushing for the divorce herself. The whole process felt so embarrassing and she hoped that sooner or later On Ji would push Aang to just get it done. At least her marital status didn't seem to be bothering Suki. It hadn't bothered her when they had made that drunk decision to have mindless sex, and it hadn't bothered her all those times afterwards. And why would it bother either of them? It was not like they could get married anyway, not that Mai would have been interested. She felt very strongly about being done with marriages. Now she just needed Aang to hurry up with that damned divorce.
Mai couldn't deny that her relationship with Suki was working out a lot better than she had imagined it would. At the start of their affair, Suki had still pined a little after Jet, but she seemed well and truly over it by now. They were both strong and independent women who valued their own careers and had deep respect for the work of their partner. Mai had always been around the Pai Sho circuit from her teenage years, even if she didn't play herself, while Suki and all the other girls from their group of friends had a keen interest in Mai's work as a fashion designer. Aside from that, Mai appreciated that Suki did not make any demands or place any expectations on her. She simply didn't have to worry about any hurt feelings with Suki. That hadn't been always possible with Aang.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if Toph is winning?" Mai asked a while later. "That means at least she'll be keeping pace, yes?"
"That's right, even a distracted Toph is too much for Hahn Adjuk," Suki nodded. "Toph will still have the lead together with Piandao, but they play each other in the next round and honestly, I'm not giving Toph good odds in that game."
"I see what you mean," Mai replied. "And then there's that asshole Zhao Sakamoto. How frustrating to see him just sitting there and enjoying his win without a contest." Mai paused a little. "What do you make of Azula's assertion that he put Joo Dee up to it?"
"I honestly don't know," Suki shrugged uncertainly. "I mean, it could be true, but there's no way it could be proven. I hope Azula doesn't fall into that conspiracy rabbit hole. I don't think it would be good for her."
"Probably not," Mai agreed. Soon enough, she was watching the contestants of the final ongoing game shaking hands. "So, a mercifully short round today. That means you should have an easy time wrapping things up," she said. Her flight back to Caldera was tomorrow morning, where work would have undoubtedly piled up for her during this week she had spent with Suki and their friends.
"Yes, we'll have the rest of the day to ourselves," Suki smiled. "But you'll probably want to visit Azula one more time before leaving." Mai nodded at that. "And after that, celebrating our final evening here will be a somber affair, regardless of how hard we try to take our minds off Azula."
"Well, I'm prepared to try, anyway," Mai shrugged. "It might take getting seriously drunk and then having to board a flight while nursing a nasty hangover, but I'll make that sacrifice."
"Look at you, starting to make sacrifices for me," Suki teased.
"Shush," Mai said warningly. "Don't make me reconsider."
"Oops, my bad," Suki grinned. She leaned in quickly, pressing her lips against Mai's for a quick kiss. "Forget I said anything," she added with a wink.