Chapter 32
The world championship finals in Pai Sho began on the last Friday of August. Azula, Katara and Yue had arrived in Yu Dao on Tuesday, a day ahead of all the other competitors, settling into their new lodgings at the estate of former governor and herself a crack Pai Sho master, Kori Morishita. With several days of acclimatizing behind them, Azula felt like she and Katara had prepared Yue to the best of their ability. Azula knew that it still wouldn't be easy for Yue to fight her way to the title, because all of her opponents were not only highly skilled, but also highly motivated, and despite Toph being ranked as the top favorite, Azula knew that Yue also had a target on her back and there would be no flying under the radar from the get go.
The first round of the tournament would get under way tomorrow, with Yue playing Aang, Zuko going up against Piandao and Toph facing Zhao. Before the actual play could start, however, the day before was set aside for a dedicated opening ceremony and other events, including a press conference and a brief cocktail party at the end to wrap up the formalities. Azula and Katara were accompanied by Kori as they sat in a fairly packed hall at the museum of modern arts, awaiting the appearance of the competitors as they were about to be presented to the public.
There were many familiar faces in the hall, with Sokka, Teo, On Ji and Mai all sitting a few rows in front of them. Normally, they would all be sitting together, but by the time the others had arrived from their hotel, the hall was already packed and free seats were in short supply. Also, shamefully for a newly constructed building, it was severely lacking in accessibility, so it had taken a while to get Teo's wheelchair up a flight of stairs, which was the real reason why the others had arrived so late. Azula had also noticed Haru sitting nearby, occasionally looking over at Kori. Azula was sure that Kori had noticed her ex, but she resolutely refused to turn her head to face him.
The ceremony started with assorted dignitaries delivering their speeches, starting from the president of the international Pai Sho federation, followed by the president of the local federation and finally, the new governor of Yu Dao, all of them unimpressive public speakers whose speeches dragged at least several minutes too long.
Once the boring part of the ceremony was over, it was finally time to introduce the competitors. The organizers had decided to do the introductions in reverse order of the player rankings, which was why Zhao appeared first, dressed in an impeccable burgundy suit. It seemed as if the organizers had chosen musical numbers from currently popular songs to accompany the appearance of each competitor, and they had selected Another Brick in the Wall as Zhao's theme song. The irony of the selection was not lost on Azula and she was thoroughly amused as she observed the sour look on Zhao's face. Azula wasn't the only one who enjoyed this clever dig at Zhao's past as her father's blindly obedient lackey. Whoever was responsible for selecting the song deserved a lot of praise, or at least Azula thought so.
Still, Azula acknowledged that it was dangerous to underestimate Zhao or mock him openly. Zhao was still a threat, and not just at the Pai Sho board. Azula was reassured by the reports of the detectives in her employment that Mongke and his gang, the Rough Rhinos, were still back in Caldera and hadn't shown any signs of preparing to move to Yu Dao. Azula wasn't going to abandon her vigilance over the matter, however, and she resolved to keep an eye on Zhao's thugs until the final round of the tournament.
Next it was Aang's time to emerge. He was looking dapper in his grey suit with a brown and orange ascot in the colors of the Air Nation. His appearance was accompanied by ABBA's 'One of Us' and loud cheers and applause, a stark contrast to the cold and stony silence of Zhao's reception. It all made sense, of course. Zhao was responsible for the many scars still worn by Yu Dao and its citizens. Aang, on the other hand, represented another tiny nation of the world, so there was immediate solidarity between the people of Yu Dao and the citizens of Air Nation. Of course, the public of Yu Dao were not aware that Aang was not meant to win this tournament, knowledge that would no doubt leave them very disappointed.
Next it was Piandao's time to be introduced to the Pai Sho enthusiasts of Yu Dao. Dressed in a modest black suit that looked to be at least one size too small, he came onto the stage to the chords of '9 to 5', which Azula found both an amusing and very apropos choice. Piandao was a hard worker who had truly earned his spurs. He put in the effort and occasionally got rewarded for it, grinding his way to impressive three world titles. The defending champion received polite applause, but it was a far less enthusiastic reception compared to Aang, the Yu Dao public still holding Piandao's Fire Nation affiliation against him.
Azula had always thought that Zuko looked very uncomfortable in a formal suit, like he didn't quite know what do with himself, and that hadn't changed over the years. Still, Azila had to admit that Zuko looked rather sharp in his dark grey suit. Azula also appreciated the fact that Zuko was the only one who wore a proper tie, Aang going for an ascot, Piandao with no tie and the top button of his shirt opened, while Zhao had decided on a bowtie like the monster that he was.
Zuko was rewarded with slightly louder applause than Piandao. It seemed as if the Yu Dao public was knowledgeable and aware of Zuko's past as a Fire Nation exile. Zuko didn't appear too satisfied with the reception, although Azula suspected that his reaction was more towards the song that was being played during his introduction, someone rather cringingly singing 'Don't stop believing!'
Finally, it was time for Yue to appear on the stage. She looked absolutely stunning as always, wearing an outfit designed and provided by Mai. Yue was wearing white cowboy boots and a free-flowing white dress held at the midriff by a red leather sash. Kori's hairdresser had worked hard on the complicated hairstyle consisting of several interwoven braids. Azula wasn't quite sure who or why had chosen 'Maneater' as Yue's theme song, but dressed like that, it almost made sense. The cheers that Yue received were almost as loud and thunderous as Aang, and Azula suspected that Yue would soon receive further inquiries about a photo shoot for one of the many adult magazines, and their offer would likely be even more lucrative than the last one.
Azula was so taken by Yue's onstage appearance that she was caught staring and almost missed Toph's entrance. Still, Azula had to admit that even if Toph didn't pay too much attention to her appearance, she still managed to look rather fetching. Azula wouldn't have expected the combination of a long green skirt and a brown leather vest to work, but somehow together with Toph's unruly mop of hair it managed to express a kind of defiance of authority that was very appealing. Also, Toph's theme song was 'Hungry Like the Wolf' which was a song Azula really liked and would have happily chosen for Yue, although she had to admit that it was also a great fit for Toph.
With the introductions done, there was a brief pause until everything was ready for the brief press conference. Azula wasn't particularly pleased to hear that the floor would also be briefly opened for the fans to pose their questions. She didn't want to see some idiot blurting out something stupid and potentially upsetting Yue, but then again, their girl was made of stern stuff and perhaps she didn't need to be worried about Yue getting ruffled by something like that.
The press conference opened with mostly softball questions by most reporters, until Suki dropped a nuke on Zhao, asking him how it felt to for the first time in the finals actually be a contender himself compared to constantly carrying water for his now paralyzed master. The question sent the partisan crowd into raptures and made Azula want to kiss Suki, a sentiment she was sure to share with her wives. Zhao clearly didn't like the question, but was forced to take the high road and deflect with a forced sounding joke.
Opening the floor to the public was perhaps not the smartest idea the organizers could have come up with, considering how partisan the crowd was. They had to cut the mic twice when instead of asking a question, fans instead tried to scream abuse at Zhao. The ill-conceived event was nearly over when another fan decided to voice his ignorance and make an annoying inquiry about Yue's relationship status. The question clearly irked Azula more than it did Yue, as Yue merely smiled before offering a rebuke that she was perfectly happy with her relationship status and that she was here to talk Pai Sho and nothing else.
Shortly after, the public spectacle part of the event was over and the competitors were escorted away for a photo shoot. Most of the crowd began to filter out of the hall. The brief cocktail party that would follow was invite only, so Azula, Katara and Kori waited for the spectators to clear out before making their way to the adjacent hall. As Yue's coaches, Azula and Katara were obviously invited, and so were Teo, On Ji and Sokka. Kori had used some of her clout as the former governor to also secure an invite. However, it was a press free event, meaning that both Suki and Mai were locked out. For this reason alone, Azula hurried to catch with the group of their friends before Suki and Mai had taken her leave.
"Did you all get your invites for the birthday party?" she asked quickly, wasting no time. Her birthday was coming up in three days. Azula had made the suggestion to postpone any celebrations until after the tournament, but Yue and Katara would have none of that, insisting that they had a proper birthday party. Azula had been forced into a scrambling mode to arrange something, having to spend a lot of money to secure a venue for them. The restaurant of her choice had already taken many reservations for that evening, and they would now be canceling all of them only because Azula was willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money to have a private event.
Katara had brought up the idea of having the party at Kori's estate, but Azula had shot it down immediately, despite Kori appearing excited to host it. They were already imposing on Kori for six long weeks and it would have been completely disrespectful to further exploit her kindness. Azula already felt bad that she couldn't invite Kori to the birthday party, because she would want to go with Jet. And until Azula felt certain that the meeting between Suki and Jet wouldn't explode in violence, she planned to avoid having them both in the same room. As much as she wanted to have all of her friends present, she could not risk some kind of drama upsetting Yue during the tournament.
"Yes, so you can relax," Mai replied with a light roll of the eyes. All the others also nodded in affirmation. "Anyway, don't you have a cocktail party to attend? I, on my part, can't wait to drag Suki away from all these Pai Sho nutjobs."
"You'll be stuck with Pai Sho nutjobs for six weeks, Mai," Katara astutely pointed out. "If you can't deal with them now, how do you even plan to survive?"
"Vast quantities of rat poison might be required," Mai sighed theatrically.
"Well, if you decide to use it, can you set aside a little portion for me?" Kori asked, smirking. Azula had a feeling that Kori was subtly referring to Haru and his desperate attempts to establish eye contact with his ex. Fortunately, Haru had left the hall together with the other spectators, as he had clearly failed to secure an invite to come and haunt the cocktail party.
"Of course," Mai nodded. "In this group of friends, we support gruesome murder." Everyone except On Ji laughed at that. Azula wasn't surprised that On Ji was taking her time to get used to the group and their sense of humor. Also, perhaps hearing her boyfriend's ex joking about rat poison was a little unnerving.
"Anyway, we won't bother you with more Pai Sho talk, Mai," Azula said, taking Katara's hand to lead her away. "We'll talk later, but for now we have a cocktail party to enjoy."
Arriving at the museum of modern arts for the first round of play, Yue felt very much unaffected by all the attention surrounding the tournament. Azula's idea of securing a comfortable home base while avoiding hotels was already paying off, as far as Yue was convinced. The atmosphere of the tournament would have surely followed them to the hotel, continuing to surround them with its associated stress and tension. At Kori's estate, Yue was able to distance herself from the tournament, and now with a few minutes left before the opening game, she felt the necessary mental sharpness to take on anyone and leave them hobbled in the dust.
With little time left before the opening round began, Yue joined all the other competitors next to the stage. Zhao Sakamoto was hanging out by himself in the corner, enjoying a cup of coffee. Piandao was busy talking through some last moment adjustments with Jeong-Jeong, the older grandmaster deciding to act as a sparring partner for his good friend during the tournament. Aang, Toph and Zuko were talking among themselves, but at least this time upon seeing Yue's arrival, they didn't continue while pretending to ignore her. Both Zuko and Aang waved at Yue, beckoning her to approach.
"Well, you definitely look ready to play," Aang remarked, probably having noticed that Yue was bursting with positive excitement to get started.
"Are you three acting like grizzled veterans who have seen it all and are no longer affected by the occasion?" Yue laughed in reply.
"No matter how many times I've taken part in the finals, it always feels special," Zuko replied. "And there are always some nerves involved, it would be silly to deny."
"True, I guess," Toph admitted, a little reluctantly. "But I'm sure the nervousness will go away once I've bagged the title at least once. I mean, you're not nervous, are you, Twinkletoes?"
"I'm not, and you know perfectly well why that's the case," Aang sighed. Yue cringed inwardly. It didn't feel as if Toph had tried to intentionally remind Aang that he wasn't supposed to gun for the title, but the comment appeared to have gotten to Aang all the same.
"Well, that came out wrong," Toph said. "I just wanted to know if you think you'd be nervous when going for your second title. I mean, Piandao over there doesn't seem to be stressed."
"I think he just hides it well," Zuko snorted. Shortly after, the bell rang, summoning all the competitors to take their seats as the first round was about to begin. Yue followed Aang up on the stage and sat down opposite to him.
Yue and Aang shook hands and wished one another a good game before one of the tournament officials came over and started Yue's timing clock. The world Pai Sho championship finals had officially begun.
Yue had done her best to put everything she had heard about Aang having a rocky summer's prep out of her mind. She was determined to focus only on her own game, and the lines they had prepared together with Azula and Katara. The key in handling Aang was to deny him space on the board as much as possible. For this reason, it was always beneficial to choose an opening that allowed a fast deployment of her Orchid tile. Aang truly enjoyed freedom to operate across the entire board, but he was way less effective when pinned down. Yue had figured it out about Aang's game many years ago, which was why she had such an impressive record against him.
Still, Aang appeared to be well prepared and in a positive frame of mind at the start of their game. For a while, Yue really struggled to contain Aang and pin his forces down. It took her more than thirty moves to finally get a grip on the game and force Aang to retreat into a defensive position where he was far less effective. Aang soon began to grow frustrated and Yue could understand why. He had played a very good game for the first twenty-five moves or so, but Yue had defended with clockwork precision, sometimes finding the only move that would keep her in the fight. Now that she was turning that defense into offense, Aang seemed to be losing heart quickly. By the time they reached the fortieth move and the officials added another hour to their timing clocks, Aang's position was starting to look rather lamentable.
As the third hour of the confrontation began, Yue felt so confident about her chances that she decided to fetch herself a cup of coffee, unbothered by Aang possibly making a fast move and putting her on the clock. Yue didn't think it was arrogance for her to think that she wouldn't need the entire hour of her available time to dispatch Aang now. She had an objectively winning position, after all.
As Yue was fetching her coffee, adding a couple of teaspoons of sugar to make it just as she loved it, pitch black and according to Azula disgustingly sweet, Yue briefly cast her eye on the boards showing the situation in the other games. Zhao was desperately hammering the walls of Toph's fortress but he was not getting through. Zuko and Piandao were locked in such a complicated position that trying to make sense of it made Yue's head spin. Not wanting to be distracted by it, Yue picked up her coffee and hurried back to resume her place at the board.
Aang had made a rather tricky defensive move which made Yue waste a few extra minutes to calculate every possible line and choose the best response. She ended up moving her Jasmine tile to bolster her offensive lines, creating more threats for Aang to counter. Aang defended well, but most of the moves he made were forced ones and the only valid options. Yue knew that if she continued to play precisely then there would be only one winner in this game. Some fifteen moves later, Aang finally admitted the inevitable and resigned the game when it had become perfectly clear that Yue wasn't going to make any mistakes.
"I probably could have resigned a few moves earlier," Aang admitted, smiling and not looking terribly disappointed. "But I noticed you hadn't finished your coffee, so I figured I might as well drag it out a bit."
"Very thoughtful of you," Yue laughed. "Anyway, it really was a good game. I thought we both played really well."
"Yes, I think so too," Aang agreed as they stepped away from the board not to distract the other competitors with their chatter. "It seems like Zuko and Toph are off to good starts as well," Aang said, turning to stare at the display boards. Yue also cast a glance at the situation in the other games. It seemed that Zhao had made an oversight while attacking Toph, or he had simply taken on too many risks, because he was now in full retreat and losing one tile after another as Toph mercilessly pursued her opponent, sure to score a win soon. In the meantime, the complications in the game between Zuko and Piandao had ended in a massive exchange of tiles, and somehow, Zuko had come out of that whole massacre up a couple of tiles. Yue wasn't sure if Zuko himself knew how he had achieved it, but he was now also in a winning position.
Yue considered Toph and Zuko her main rivals for the title, so seeing them both off to a winning start wasn't ideal. Also, Yue's next match was against Zuko, and after winning against the reigning world champion, Yue was sure that Zuko would be brimming with confidence. The next round was shaping up to be a very difficult test.
"Do you want to wait for our friends?" Yue asked as they stood by the stage, watching. "Or should we go and face the press together?"
"Let's go talk with the nice reporters," Aang smiled. "We don't want Toph and Zuko distracting from the fact that you played a really good game and you deserve the full attention of the press."
"Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say," Yue smiled back at her old friend, deciding not to mention that she would be only too happy to not have the full attention of the press.
The birthday party had already taken off and all the guests seemed to be in a good mood, most of them not realizing that Azula herself was feeling absolutely rotten. The reason for Azula's foul mood was Yue's loss against Zuko in a match of the second round earlier in the day. It wasn't that Yue had played badly, quite the opposite. At the time limit for forty moves, Yue had been in the better position than Zuko. However, Yue had ended up losing the game and Azula's stupid birthday was surely to blame.
Yue hadn't even bothered to deny that she had been motivated by the desire to present her win over Zuko as a birthday gift to Azula. It had forced Yue to go for broke in a situation where there were no clear winning lines and it would have been much smarter to settle for a draw. Instead, Yue had taken unnecessary risks and instead of a draw, she was left with nothing from a game that she had dominated. Obviously, Yue was very upset about her failure, with Azula and Katara both sharing her disappointment. And now, even if none of them were in a celebratory mood, they were forced to sit through this party, smiling and entertaining their friends. After all, Azula had already rented the restaurant and sent out the invites, so there was no backing out of it.
The only consolation was that tomorrow was a day off and Azula planned to do everything she could to quickly right the ship and get Yue back in a good place mentally. Yue was going to face Piandao in the third round, and Azula knew that after a disappointing start to the defense of his title, Piandao would be playing very aggressively.
Also, because of what had just happened, Azula was seriously considering banning birthday celebrations throughout the remainder of the tournament. However, Azula also suspected that she would be incapable of not doing something nice for both Katara and Yue for their big days later in September, even if she regretted the distraction that it would cause. Azula realized that it was ridiculous to feel this way, but she felt guilty for her birthday falling in on a date that coincided with the championship finals, almost like it was her fault for being born at an inconvenient time. She didn't voice these silly thoughts, however, certain that Yue and Katara would shout at her for daring to even think something this foolish.
The results in the other games hadn't gone their way, either. Aang had faced off against Toph, with Azula worrying that they would settle for a quick prearranged draw. Azula was relieved that her friends actually played a competitive game, with Aang giving an earnest attempt at cracking Toph's defenses. Still, after the third unsuccessful try at launching an offense, Aang had given up and offered Toph at draw which had been accepted even before reaching the limit of forty moves. Elsewhere, Zhao had somehow succeeded in outmaneuvering Piandao in another wild game. After two rounds of play, Zuko was already pulling away from the rest of the field. Azula didn't think that it was decisive, it was way too early for that claim, but it wasn't a development that she was happy to see.
Still, despite Azula's bad mood at the start of the party, seeing the smiles of her friends, listening to Sokka's terrible jokes and enjoying a few glasses of wine, it was all starting to put Azula into better spirits. Katara and Yue were both smiling by now, starting to look happy and relaxed, and that made it easier for Azula to relax as well. It served as a good reminder that Yue was mentally as tough as they came, and that perhaps Azula didn't need to worry about her wife's ability to bounce back.
Zuko and Toph were both understandably in good spirits, since they were currently ranked first and second respectively. They would face each other in the next round, in a game that was eagerly anticipated by the Pai Sho world. The two old friends were currently using the opportunity to engage in friendly trash talking, with Teo and Sokka both remaining watchful and making sure that everything was kept respectful. Azula wasn't particularly worried about it. It appeared that Toph and Zuko were both having a lot of fun teasing one another.
Aang and On Ji had ended up sitting right next to Suki and Mai. Azula was relieved to see that most of the discomfort among the two newly formed couples had eased by now. Suki appeared completely relaxed as she chatted and laughed with Aang and On Ji, with Mai mostly listening in, occasionally inserting a cutting one liner or merely rolling her eyes.
"Anyway, enough Pai Sho talk," Toph said eventually, turning towards Azula. "Birthday girl, fess up, which one of the gifts is your favorite?"
"Come on, you know that she can't answer that question truthfully," Sokka laughed. "If Azula doesn't say that it was the gift by Kat and Yue, she'll spend the next month sleeping on the sofa."
"Well, you're not entirely wrong, Sokka," Azula smirked. "But I really appreciate you and Teo getting me that 60's horror anthology," she added gratefully, facing Toph. "It's going to see a lot of use."
"Unfortunately," Katara sighed.
"Don't worry, Kat, 60's horror is more campy than scary," Yue grinned.
"I have to back Yue up on that one, so you needn't worry, Katara," Suki said. "Anyway, what did your wives get for you, Azula? Unless it's something that can't be discussed in a polite company, like them agreeing to one of your weird bedroom kinks."
"How do you even know that Azula has weird bedroom kinks?" Mai asked suspiciously.
"She seems the type," Suki shrugged.
"Well, you couldn't be more wrong, Suki," Azula replied, hoping to avoid a treacherous blush creeping into her cheeks. "I'm actually yet to receive my gift from them, but I'm really looking forward to it. Said gift is also the reason why we're ending the party a little early."
"You're really making it sound like it has to do with kinky bedroom activities, actually," Toph pointed out.
"It has nothing to do with bedroom activities," Yue spoke up in Azula's defense. "Also, just to nip any further rumors in the bud, Azula isn't some kind of a freak in the bedroom, okay? She's just the right amount of kinky, so can we please stop bringing that up?"
"I fear the answer to that question is probably 'no'," Katara sighed.
"Yes, please stop talking about my sister's sex life," Zuko added his own sigh. "This is a deeply disturbing line of questioning."
"I'm backing my guy up on this one," Sokka nodded.
"Well, we wouldn't have to prod so much if they'd just tell us what Katara and Yue's gift is all about," Suki shrugged.
"If you would only allow us to explain," Katara said. "Azula's been going on about wanting to see this new horror movie that's set in the Water Tribe polar territories. Something weird is going on in a research station up there."
"Oh, you mean The Thing?" Suki asked excitedly. "I've been meaning to see that, too. It's supposedly really good."
"I guess," Katara shrugged noncommittally. "Anyway, Yue and I have been resisting, until now. We paid an obscene sum of money to a local movie theatre to do a private screening just for us."
"It'll be just the three of us in an empty movie theatre, watching a horror flick," Yue said excitedly, but also shuddering slightly just from thinking about it. "I get shivers when I think of us being all alone in there."
"Okay, I was ready to accuse Azula of being biased towards her wives, but I'll admit, that is a legitimately awesome gift that's impossible to compete against," Suki said. "Also, I have some serious envy right now. That's going to be such an amazing experience."
"Damn, I wish I could-" Toph began, but quickly cut herself off. "I mean, I'm really envious too," she corrected herself. Sokka and Zuko were also nodding at her statement, while Azula was left wondering if Toph had meant to express her regret at being unable to afford doing something like this herself. Azula was still exceptionally well connected, and she was aware that the Beifong family was facing some financial trouble, but with everything else that was going on, she hadn't really looked into it. Perhaps it was time to change that and dig into it some more. Also, perhaps seeing the genuine excitement of her friends, it was only fair to include them in the fun experience.
"Alright, fine, you're all invited," Azula sighed. "The auditorium should be big enough that we can all pick seats far apart and still feel like we're there on our own."
"You don't have to share your gift with us, really," Zuko said quickly. "Katara and Yue didn't mean for us all to tag along and we don't want to ruin it for you."
"No, really, it's okay," Katara argued. "You're all welcome to join us. Right, Yue?"
"Absolutely," Yue was only happy to nod. Azula had a feeling that her wives were secretly glad to have more people with them at the theatre, being the pair of scaredy cats that they were.
"I think On Ji and I are going to pass, though," Aang said. "I wouldn't want to have nightmares before facing Zhao. Zhao himself is a bloody nightmare."
"That's giving him too much credit," Azula shrugged. "But as you wish, Aang. Also, we have to be at the theatre at eleven, so we have about an hour left to kill," she added, seeing that Aang was already preparing to leave.
"Well, there's still plenty of food left, so I know what I'll be focusing on," Sokka said, licking his lips. "But feel free to help me out. I probably won't be able to finish it all by myself."
"Might as well," Suki shrugged, turning her attention back to the cheese plate. "After all, it doesn't look like this party will be getting very rowdy."
"Sorry about that, but I'm sure you understand," Yue offered apologetically, not that it was necessary in Azula's opinion. She was certain that Suki understood perfectly well why they couldn't party hard at the start of the tournament. Besides, those not directly involved with the actual tournament were already hitting the bottle harder than the others. Suki, Mai and Sokka were the tipsiest of the bunch, with On Ji also not holding back much.
"By the way, Suki, when are you thinking of doing the you know what?" Katara spoke up, posing the question that Azula herself had been desperate to ask. They'd given Suki the name and address of Jet's pub, with Katara and Yue encouraging her to go and talk things out. Suki had agreed to do so, but now that she was in Yu Dao, she seemed to be dragging her feet.
"Soon, I promise," Suki sighed, quickly glancing at Mai. Mai didn't appear at all bothered by this turn in conversation. "I plan on drinking throughout the movie, so tomorrow I just might be a bit too tired and nursing a hangover to have that conversation, you know? Maybe the day after that if the next round of play will be boring and I can finish my report quickly."
"It's going to be anything but boring," Toph scowled. "You'll get to sing praises to my glorious annihilation of Zuko."
"The only thing you'll be annihilating is another piece of cake," Zuko laughed back at Toph.
"My only preference for your duel is for it to not produce any actual blood," Suki laughed. "Other than that, I hope I'll get to write about Aang and Yue winning their games."
"I'll drink to that," Yue grinned, raising her glass.
"Same here," Azula nodded, hoping that they would be able to successfully turn Yue's downcast mood around for the match with Piandao. Azula reckoned that getting scared out of her wits by The Thing might be just the reset button they all needed to get Yue's quest for the title back on track.