Chapter 27
Following their return from the Kyoshi Island, during the first couple of weeks of April, Azula made no mentions of her grand plan of preparations for the finals, leaving Katara and Yue largely alone to relax and go cold turkey from Pai Sho. Katara and Yue both made good on this opportunity because even if Azula remained tight lipped about her plans, still twisting and tweaking the details, the two Water Tribe women knew that this period of rest and relaxation would not last for long. And indeed, starting from mid-April, Azula had them back on light practice combined with participation in weekend speed Pai Sho tournaments that took place every week in Ba Sing Se.
Katara hadn't enjoyed her first taste of return to semi-competitive Pai Sho. She'd never been very good at speed Pai Sho, simply because it went against her very nature of hating to be rushed. Yue was a little better than Katara, but speed Pai Sho also wasn't where her strengths lay. It was Azula who was the unofficial and unrecognized goddess of speed Pai Sho.
Speed Pai Sho had over the years forged a little ecosystem of its own, separate from the classical Pai Sho. Most of classical Pai Sho players looked down at their speed Pai Sho counterparts, thinking them less talented. Speed Pai Sho enthusiasts thought that the classic players were arrogant and elitist gatekeepers, and they considered themselves the true grassroots movement that kept the game popular among the masses. The truth was that speed Pai Sho specialists had never achieved any notable success at classical tournaments, while only a few classical Pai Sho players had managed to beat the best speed Pai Sho enthusiasts at their game.
Azula was one of those rare exceptions to this rule. She had always enjoyed a reputation as a quick thinker, and it became particularly obvious during these speed Pai Sho events. Even if Katara was not doing particularly well at these weekend tournaments, she still found something enjoyable and worth supporting about groups of grassroots enthusiasts, simply coming together over the weekend and throwing whatever money they could afford into a shared pot as a prize fund. Sometimes one of the local businesses would also pitch in by throwing some extra money at the organizers in return for getting to slap their name all over the tournament banners.
Also, as soon as the improving spring weather allowed it, these events would be held outside, in public spaces such as parks or squares. Any passersby were encouraged to stick around and watch, and there was never any talk of charging a fee, giving these tournaments even stronger grassroots feel. And as soon as news began to spread that Azula, Katara and Yue were now playing these tournaments regularly, the events began to draw large crowds, which Katara found very flattering.
Considering that Katara, Yue or Azula had never shown any contempt for the speed Pai Sho players, they were welcomed warmly by the local community of speed enthusiasts. Azula in particular was quickly obtaining a status of great reverence. She was winning every tournament she entered, and it was never even a close contest. Since Azula didn't exactly need the prize money, she had tried to refuse it, but the organizers had clearly felt insulted by her refusal to accept the money. So, Azula had instead devised a clever plan. Whatever prize money Azula won, she put right back into the pot of the next tournament she entered. However, Azula quickly realized that the one oversight in her plan was that she just kept winning and her share of the prize money just kept building up. In the end, Azula solved it by entering a tournament, placing the money into the pot, and then pulling out of the tournament, which allowed someone else to win and claim the prize money. Azula gained a lot of fans with her actions. Everyone knew what she was doing, but since this solution allowed everyone to keep their dignity and didn't feel like Azula was extending charity towards the less fortunate, it was warmly accepted by all those involved.
While Azula was having a ball at these tournaments, Katara had initially struggled mightily, finishing near the bottom. She was improving with every tournament, though. A month later, Katara was now firmly established in the middle of the pack, feeling happy about her progress. Yue was doing even better. Her first tournament had been below average, but she'd also seen steady progress since then, lately managing to score a couple of third places, still coming nowhere near Azula. Katara and Yue were both forced to admit that they saw a merit to Azula including speed Pai Sho in their preparations. Something about playing the rapid game kept their minds very sharp, and going back to classic Pai Sho prep, Katara and Yue both discovered that they suddenly found themselves more focused than ever before.
Somehow, the news of them focusing on speed Pai Sho at this stage of their final preparations had reached Aang, Zuko and Toph. Now and then, their friends would show up at these events to watch them play, obviously keeping particular attention on Yue. None of their friends made the decision to join in, however, not even Zuko, despite him probably being the second-best speed Pai Sho player in Ba Sing Se, after Azula. Katara could see that Zuko, Toph and Aang were a little puzzled as to why they were bothering with speed Pai Sho. Still, they declined the invitation to join these tournaments with them, and Katara could understand why. Yue was by now becoming quite accomplished at speed Pai Sho. The others did not want to risk getting clobbered by Yue and thus giving her any psychological advantage ahead of the finals. The mind games were about to become even more important than ever before.
It seemed as if Azula wanted to keep up this routine of light practice together with speed Pai Sho tournaments at least until their scheduled week-long trip to Yu Dao during the second week of June. Whatever plans Azula had in mind for them, Katara and Yue had decided not to question her, because they trusted their Fire Nation wife, and Azula's plans generally had the habit of working out. Also, Katara was slowly warming up to speed Pai Sho, even if she had just failed to once again finish higher than the middle of the pack in the latest tournament, they had all taken part in.
Katara had managed to score a quick but meaningless win in her final round match, and now she was free to join the small crowd of spectators surrounding the table where her wives were fighting each other. The game meant little because Azula had already secured the tournament win and Yue would finish just off the podium, but as always, the matches between them got really heated. To Katara, they weren't quite as fun as their games of classic Pai Sho, because there was just no way for Katara to beat Azula at the speed game. She could hang with Azula for a little while, but as soon as Azula began to create some complications on the board, Katara needed more and more time to figure out what was happening. With merely ten minutes allocated for the entire game, there just was not enough time for Katara to calculate everything, and most of their matches ended by Katara committing an error because she was low on time.
Katara was doing a lot better against Yue, and their record in head-to-head games was close to even. Yue just wasn't as good at complicating the situation on the board as Azula was, not when time was so limited, and this allowed Katara to keep up and usually correctly estimate Yue's plans. Overall, Yue did slightly better at the speed game, and she occasionally managed to hold Azula to a draw, but those occasions were very rare. On this particular occasion, Yue found herself really struggling. She was low on time, low on remaining tiles and low on hope for success. It didn't take long for Azula to bully Yue into submission as the small crowd of spectators showered Azula with admiring applause. Shortly afterwards, Yue was free to join Katara as they stood waiting for Azula, their wife in the meantime patiently signing the autographs for some of the eager spectators.
"What's holding her up?" Yue asked, once the Pai Sho enthusiasts surrounding them had dispersed. Katara looked around for Azula and noticed that after having reluctantly collected the prize money – that she would end up returning to the pot anyway – Azula had remained behind to discuss something with a pair of guys, organizers of many of these day-long events and decent speed players themselves.
"No idea," Katara shrugged. "She was the one desperate to go out tonight, so…"
"Well, I'll be just as happy to stay in," Yue said. Any further conversation between them was interrupted as a group of young girls approached Yue, Katara recognizing them as Yue's charges from the Pai Sho club at her academy. Now that they were back in Ba Sing Se, Yue made sure to find at least a couple of hours every week for a quick visit with her girls. From the way Yue was swarmed by her students and swamped with questions, words of encouragement and wishes of good luck, Katara could tell that Yue was just as beloved at the academy as before going on this long hiatus.
Katara ended up waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour until Azula and Yue both extracted themselves from their conversations and caught up with her. Obviously, Katara wasn't surprised about Yue indulging her students, but Azula usually wasn't one to stay behind for a lengthy chatter with the organizers. She was all about quickly collecting her winnings and getting out of there. "What was that all about?" Katara asked as they walked back to their car nearby.
"Some rather interesting developments," Azula replied. "It seems like the speed Pai Sho enthusiasts across the world are starting to get organized. These guys told me how they reached out to the international Pai Sho federation to see if they would be open to cooperating, but they pretty much got snubbed."
"I hate that attitude by the classic players, it just helps nobody," Yue sighed.
"Exactly right," Azula nodded. "So, these guys are now thinking about creating an independent speed Pai Sho federation. You know, bringing some structure and organization to this whole grassroots thing. They have big dreams about hosting an official speed Pai Sho world championship sometime down the line."
"That sounds exciting," Katara said, even if she knew that this was one title which she had no hope of winning. "But why were they taking so much time to tell you about it?" she asked.
"Well, they obviously want me onboard," Azula shrugged. "They're a smart bunch. They know all about the reforms I pushed through on every level of the international federation and they know that I'm good at organizing and getting things done. They'd be stupid to not want me involved."
"Arrogant, but also not wrong," Yue laughed.
"How am I arrogant?" Azula scoffed. "I'm just stating the facts. Are you going to question that I'm amazingly talented at this?"
"Obviously not," Katara said quickly. "So, did you agree to help?"
"Don't be silly, of course not," Azula sighed, looking a little frustrated. "Have you forgotten that we're in the middle of something here? Such as helping Yue win the title?"
"I was thinking about after we've done helping Yue," Katara sighed.
"Oh," Azula hesitated. "Yes, I mentioned that I might be interested. But I won't get distracted thinking about that now. It's not a subject for conversation because all of our focus needs to be on Yue."
"Flattered, but I think it's fair if you have something to look forward to after you're done helping me on my quest," Yue said. "After all, I have the academy and Katara has the hospital. We already have plans after October. It's fine if you have something as well."
"Yue is right," Katara nodded. "Also, it didn't escape me that you mentioned a speed Pai Sho world championship. You'd stand a really good chance of winning, I'm sure. Is that something you'd be willing to take part in?"
"I'm seriously considering it," Azula admitted. "They were trying to tempt me with it, too. And it is tempting, right? Winning the first ever speed Pai Sho championship and making a bit of a history?"
"You should go for it, Zula," Yue smiled. "Take off whatever time you need. Katara can help me without you for a while, especially if we follow your masterplan of preparation."
"What are you talking about?" Azula grumbled as they finally reached the car and got in, Azula taking the wheel. "Stop being ridiculous. That speed Pai Sho championship is at least several years away. Like I said, right now my sole focus is on helping you, and there's nothing that is going to change that."
Standing on the porch of the house rented by Zuko and Sokka, about to ring the doorbell, Yue still wasn't entirely sure that she was doing the right thing by coming alone, without telling Azula and Katara what she was up to. She'd been invited to meet with Zuko, Aang and Toph to discuss some kind of nebulous shared strategy for the upcoming finals. Yue had run into Zuko a couple of days ago while on her way to Madame Macmu-Ling's academy, and he'd invited her to this meeting. It had almost felt as if Zuko had been waiting to ambush her with the invitation. It certainly wouldn't have been the weirdest and most awkward Zuko thing to do.
Yue had immediately asked if Azula and Katara were also invited to attend the meeting. Zuko had immediately become very flustered, replying that they were welcome to join, but that this was primarily meant for the four of them who would be actually taking part in the finals. Yue had then spent a while pondering on how to proceed, but she had eventually decided to attend all by herself. She figured that Zuko, Toph and Aang might not speak freely if Azula was present.
Hoping that she had made the right decision, Yue eventually rang the doorbell. After a little bit of waiting, the door was opened by Sokka. He was wearing an apron and gloves liberally covered with spatters, most of them looking like of blood. "Uh, hey," Yue greeted him with an awkward smile. "I've seen way too many horror movies by now to be frightened by the appearance, but you do look the part. All that's missing is a meat cleaver."
"Oh, I left that in the kitchen," Sokka laughed, moving aside and letting Yue through. "Yeah, sorry about that, as you can tell I'm cooking. We're having meat with meat later."
"Obviously," Yue grinned, stepping across the doorstep and kicking off her shoes. "Are the kids around?" she asked.
"Ty and Jin took them to the park," Sokka replied. "But they'll be back in a few hours, so if you were to stick around for dinner, you'd get to meet them."
"Maybe," Yue shrugged uncertainly. "I don't even know what Zuko and the others want to discuss with me."
"I have it on good authority that it's top-secret stuff," Sokka winked at her. "Only kidding. I don't actually have any idea. I have a feeling that they're focusing on the wrong things again, instead of just preparing for the tournament. But I'll let you find out for yourself. I trust you remember the way."
"Of course," Yue nodded, heading towards the study which Zuko, Toph and Aang used for their Pai Sho prep, finding the trio waiting for her.
"Hey, glad you could make it," Zuko greeted her with a smile, Toph and Aang likewise offering their greetings. Zuko immediately seemed to relax, perhaps because he didn't see Azula and Katara accompanying her. Of course, to Yue it also suggested that she was probably going to be offered something that was not beneficial to her and that Azula would most likely fiercely oppose.
"Well, I was too curious not to attend," Yue replied, taking the seat that was offered to her. "What did you want to discuss? I presume you didn't invite me over for a prep session."
"No, we know that you don't need any extra prep, not with Azula and Katara on the case," Aang chuckled. "We wanted to talk about something else. A while ago Azula gave us all that dressing down for arranging draws among ourselves and how it was stupid of us to do that. And she was right to say all of that."
"She totally was," Toph nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I didn't realize that it was actually making Pai Sho way less fun for me," Zuko said. "But the three of us got thinking about how maybe for the finals we still need some strategy. If the four of us beat the crap out of each other, Zhao or Piandao could easily coast to the title, and I'm sure we'd all rather see one of us winning than Piandao or Zhao."
"I might be persuaded to see your point," Yue admitted. She was a firm believer that the best player of the tournament deserved to win the title. But also, Piandao already had three titles, while Zhao had none, and Yue desperately wanted to prevent him from succeeding, even if by some miracle Zhao were to prove himself to be the objectively best player during the finals.
"Here's what we've been thinking," Toph said. "For the first half of the tournament, ten games, we play each other as hard as we can. But once we reach the halfway mark, we band together behind the one of us who's ahead in the standings."
"Hmm," Yue mused, suddenly realizing something. "Wait a moment! That's the arrangement you've used in the previous finals! That actually explains the patterns we saw when analyzing your games… that's how you won the title, wasn't it?" she asked, looking at Aang.
"It's true," Aang admitted. "I was ahead at the halfway point, so later in the tournament Toph and Zuko pitched a few soft ones to me."
"It definitely increases the chances that one of us will win," Toph said.
"Agreed," Zuko nodded. "What are you thinking?" he asked, looking at Yue.
Yue hesitated, not sure what to think. Her friends had used this arrangement at least twice before. Once it had helped Aang win the title, but then in the most recent finals, Zuko had somehow managed to blow his chance even if Aang and Toph had given him some easy points. That must have felt rather embarrassing, and it was no wonder that Zuko had struggled with confidence so badly at the start of this new qualifying cycle. But also, his failure went against the assertion that this arrangement somehow made winning the title a certainty for one of them.
"I don't know," Yue admitted. "I'm just not fond of these arrangements. When I was in the finals with Katara, we did nothing of the sort. I'm leaning towards letting the best player win, as it really should be."
"Even if it's Zhao?" Zuko asked astutely.
"Yes, that's the danger of not having an agreement in place," Yue sighed. "I don't want to see Zhao winning, that's true."
"Just take the offer then," Toph shrugged. "I get that you were upset that we didn't include you in our arrangements right away. And I admit, that was a little shitty. But we're willing to include you now, because it's the right thing to do, clearly."
"I agree," Aang nodded. "We're meant to be all on the same side here, Yue."
"I suppose so," Yue said reluctantly. "I guess-" she began to speak before realizing something and then mentally slapping herself. Yue had almost forgotten something extremely important. She was historically considered a slow starter, someone who needed time to play herself into a tournament. Yue had no idea whether this knowledge was the reason why Zuko, Aang and Toph were willing to extend this offer to her, or whether it played no role in their decision, but she suddenly realized that it was highly unlikely that she'd have the most points out of their foursome at the halfway stage of the tournament. This arrangement was most likely dooming her into helping Zuko or Toph win the title, and she wasn't interested in doing that.
"What is it?" Zuko asked, looking a little impatient.
"Sorry," Yue said, shaking her head. "I can't agree to this."
"What do you mean?" Toph asked. "What about Zhao?"
"I haven't forgotten about Zhao," Yue said firmly. "But you know what's the surest way to make sure that Zhao doesn't take the title? Winning all four games against him and leaving him in a massive hole he can't climb out of. That's exactly what I intend to do."
"Well, we all intend to do that," Zuko shrugged. "Doesn't mean it's going to happen."
"Are you sure we can't convince you, Yue?" Aang asked. "Wouldn't it be nice if we all could work together on this?"
"Yes, especially because you felt left out when we didn't include you in our deal right after you came back," Toph said. "Weren't you upset by that? Now we're letting you in on it, and you're saying no? How does that make sense?"
"Well, I was initially upset because I didn't know the specifics of your deal. I just thought it was some kind of anti-Yue coalition," Yue sighed. "Now that I know what the deal entails, I'm happy not to be a part of it. This isn't me being all judgmental, by the way, I don't think less of any of you for doing it. It makes sense on a lot of levels. And I hope that my refusal to join in won't stand in the way of our friendship."
While Yue recognized the legality of prearranging match results, she was never fond of the practice and she wished that there would be a reliable way to prevent the practice. In reality, however, if two professional players had previously agreed on a certain outcome, there was no way to stop them from memorizing and repeating a certain sequence of moves that would lead to this desired outcome. And honestly, that wasn't even Yue's main reason for refusing the deal.
Yue's main reason to turn down the offer was the still stark memory of Zhao and Long Feng losing to Ozai on purpose during the finals when she and Katara had taken part. Obviously, what her friends were doing was far less blatant than Ozai's lackeys channeling four wins each to their boss, a massive boon. The way Aang, Zuko and Toph determined which one of them would be their chosen candidate for the title still had an element of fairness and sportsmanship to it, only receiving a little supportive push across the finish line. And yet, it was enough for Yue to reject the deal.
"Why would it harm our friendship in any way?" Toph laughed. "Stop being such an overly dramatic bitch."
"I agree, it won't change anything, at least not on our end," Zuko nodded. "But you must also accept that all of us will give you no quarter throughout the entire tournament."
"That's fair, I promise not to complain about that," Yue replied. "And even though I can't join your arrangement, I want you to know that I really appreciate you making this offer to me. It means a lot," Yue said, meaning every word. She only wished that her friends had invited her to a meeting like this as soon as she had announced her return to competition. Certainly, she wouldn't have accepted the offer back then either, but at least then she wouldn't have been left feeling so excluded for so long, and a lot of hurt feelings would have been spared. But that was in the past, so Yue decided not to dredge it all back up again.
"Of course, we wanted you to be a part of this," Aang smiled. Yue wondered if something had changed about their agreement and Aang was once again allowed to go for the title even if he hadn't yet helped Zuko and Toph to win their own respective trophies. Still, after she had turned down the offer, it didn't seem like it was a fair to prod for details.
"Anyway, once again, thank you for the offer, but I should get out of your hair now," Yue said, getting up from her seat. "You probably want to get on with your prep," she added before leaving the room.
On her way out, Yue popped into the kitchen to see Sokka working on some kind of a complicated looking stew that involved at least three different proteins. "How did it go?" Sokka looked up from the cutting board, having noticed her standing there.
"I think we came to a sort of understanding, if not agreement," Yue smiled.
"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that," Sokka's face fell. "Does that mean you're not staying for dinner?"
"I honestly didn't think about that," Yue admitted. The meeting hadn't gone terribly, so Yue was quite certain that she was still welcome under Zuko's roof.
"Please, stay," Sokka said, giving her a slightly pleading stare. "The kids will be thrilled to see you. It's been a while. And Ty and Jin would also love the company. They're a little sick of Zuko, Aang and Toph always talking Pai Sho and little else."
"Uh, I'm kind of up to my neck and ears into Pai Sho right now as well, Sokka," Yue winked at him.
"Yeah, but unlike those three, you don't talk about Pai Sho all the time," Sokka smiled. "Come on, just stay, it'll be fun. And you're going to love this stew, I promise. It's a Fire Nation recipe but with a Water Tribe twist."
"Hmm, I'm intrigued," Yue admitted. "But if you're making a stew, it's going to take at least a couple of hours, right?"
"Not when I'm using a pressure cooker," Sokka grinned. "It won't even take an hour."
"Alright, you talked me into it," Yue said, pulling up her sleeves. "But only on the condition that you let me help."
"You've got yourself a deal, lady," Sokka smiled, tossing an apron her way. "Now, grab yourself a cutting board and get chopping!"
"Well, that could have gone better," Zuko sighed after Yue had left him alone with Aang and Toph.
"It also could have gone worse," Aang said, looking relieved. "I don't know, perhaps Yue not joining our arrangement is for the best. I find it way more important to preserve our friendship, anyway."
"That's very true," Zuko agreed. "I had major doubts whether Yue would accept the offer, and I was proven right. But you were also right to push us into making the offer, Aang. It would have been bad if we kept cutting deals behind her back."
"That's probably true," Toph shrugged. "Cutting deals behind her back seems like a terrible idea also because Azula will find out about it anyway. And then she'd invite us for another gathering of friends and proceed to chew us out just like the last time."
"That is also a good reason not to try it," Zuko managed an awkward laugh.
"It's hard to say if her being onboard would be beneficial or not," Toph said. "On one hand, we remove her as a potential rival. On the other hand, there's a risk that we all end up supporting her quest to become the champion. I'm leaning towards siding with Twinkletoes. It's probably better that she doesn't join us."
"Well, at least we know where we stand now, and we can prepare with that knowledge in mind," Zuko said, nodding at the Pai Sho board nearby. "And speaking of preparing…"
"I don't know, I'm not really in the mood for prep today," Toph shrugged. "We've been doing that a lot lately, anyway. I almost feel like we've been overdoing it."
"Yes, me too," Aang agreed predictably. Over the years, he had built up his stamina for longer prep sessions, but he was still the first one who started to wilt at around the mark of five to six hours, much to Zuko's frustration.
"Well, as you both know perfectly well, we have a lot to go through, especially since you both pushed for prepping individually throughout July," Zuko shrugged. Of course, it wasn't surprising that Toph in particular wanted more prep time on her own. The first half of the tournament, they would be playing each other hard, with no quarter given. Toph wanted to prepare for him, and Zuko would similarly use the month of July to prepare surprises for both Toph and Aang. "Are your plans for July still on?" Zuko asked.
"Yes, everything is already arranged," Toph said, electing not to delve into finer details. Of course, Zuko knew perfectly well that Toph was planning to travel to Gaoling, together with Teo. She would be staying at the Beifong estate, well isolated from any outside noise, focusing only on her preparations. Teo was a very capable motivator and a solid sparring partner, but Zuko was sure that Toph would have arranged for other opponents as well, probably players with similar styles to him and Aang.
"There's been a small change to my plans," Aang said, making Zuko raise a curious eyebrow. He knew that Aang was planning to stay with On Ji in the Fire Nation, also getting to know her family. To Zuko, that seemed like a terrible plan, laden with way too many distractions from Pai Sho, but if Aang was determined to fail, that was his own prerogative. "We're going to take a week out of our stay in the Fire Nation and take a flight to the Air Nation to spend time with Gyatso. With things becoming more serious, I thought it was time for On Ji and my foster father to get to know each other better."
"That sounds… great," Toph said in a voice that clearly suggested that she also considered Aang's plan of combining Pai Sho practice with getting to know On Ji's family a disastrous idea of epic proportions. "What about you, Zuko? Serpent Lake is still the plan?"
"Certainly," Zuko replied, also declining to elaborate. He'd discussed the matter with Iroh a long time ago, making sure that his uncle had nothing on his schedule throughout the month of July. With Azula, Katara and Yue traveling to Cape Kuruk, there was no danger of them getting interrupted during their sparring sessions. Secreting himself away at the Serpent Lake estate was Zuko's favorite way to fine tune his preparations. His uncle was no longer the player he once was, but he was still an excellent mentor and Zuko's first choice of a coach, after Azula had stood him up in favor of Yue. Zuko would have to sweep Yue aside, though, together with the rest of the competition. And with a little bit of luck and plenty of hard work, Zuko was ready to finally make this the year of his triumph.