Chapter 10 – fire sibling rivalry, Round 213
Azula arrived at the Nakamura Corp headquarters in Ba Sing Se jittery with nerves ahead of the upcoming meeting with her father. Season 8 of Ozai's Kitchen Nightmares had finished airing three weeks ago, and it was finally time for a debrief and evaluation as her father decided which one of his children had performed the best and had proved themselves deserving of having their own spinoff show.
Azula didn't know what she would do if she were to lose this competition to Zuko. She'd been the heir apparent since early childhood, or at least Ozai had always implied it. And yet, she was still constantly pitted against Zuko in various contests, with this sword hanging over her head, threatening her status as a favorite. Perhaps it was Ozai's way of keeping her sharp and hungry. In any case, for almost fifteen long years Azula had never once failed to beat Zuko and she wasn't going to start a losing streak now.
Still, Azula was concerned ahead of this meeting. She had seen the episode ratings on the internet, and they had been uncomfortably close. Azula's episode at The Northern Lights had blown up as predicted, and another episode at a Gaoling gastropub had done well, but the third one had proved to be a dud. However, Zuko had struck some accidental fortune by stumbling into a couple of viral episodes as well. The episode on the family run southern Earth Kingdom restaurant had exploded on social media, because the family running this establishment had accidentally revealed themselves as being… dubiously close. Zuko had lucked out with running into some absolutely deranged characters in his episodes, resulting in good viewership numbers. In short, Azula wasn't confident that she had this in the bag, and that was a very unusual and uncomfortable feeling for her. She could only hope that the in-depth analytical data her father had access to would elevate her over Zuko.
Once Azula had arrived at her father's office on the twenty-fourth floor, she was further upset by Ozai's secretary telling her to wait. Her annoyance only grew when she clearly heard the voices of her father and brother coming from the office. Ozai didn't sound happy, however, so perhaps that was a good sign for Azula as she settled in to wait impatiently, perfectly manicured fingernails tapping agitatedly against the windowsill as Azula stared down at the antlike shapes of normies crowding the streets below, going about the dull routines of their dismal lives.
Ozai had built these massive headquarters from which to oversee his global culinary empire almost twenty years ago, moving away from Caldera City. Ba Sing Se had a population that almost rivaled the entire Fire Nation, and Ozai had eight restaurants in the capital of the Earth Kingdom alone. Business wise, moving his HQ to Ba Sing Se had been a no-brainer, Azula freely admitted that. She thought that the people who accused her father of lacking loyalty to the Fire Nation were insane, because Ozai was still a Fire Nation supremacist at heart.
Azula paused her musings in order to glare at the secretary once more. The insipid woman merely shrugged apologetically. Ozai was still busy schooling Zuko over something probably trivial, forcing Azula to sigh as she continued to wait, trying to distract herself with wandering thoughts in order to avoid becoming more stressed than she already was.
It was the middle of March and spring was finally in the air, not that Azula truly had the time to appreciate it. She had been insanely busy ever since the turn of the year. Ozai had her traveling all over the Earth Kingdom, solving problems and putting out fires at his restaurants all over the place. On top of all that, Ozai had also made her a judge in one of his MasterChef shows. Of course, in true style of her father, after getting Azula all excited, he had then slyly mentioned that it was for his MasterChef Junior show, news that immediately deflated Azula's enthusiasm. Certainly, it still meant regular appearances on the TV screen, but it was at the cost of enduring a bunch of smelly little rugrats and having to tell them that their horribly bungled dishes were actually commendable efforts, because for some reason Azula was not allowed to be vicious to children and eviscerate these little twerps the way they deserved it.
This just wasn't what Azula wanted. Ozai was still feeding her crumbs, making sure that she remained a minor celebrity, most of the time not even referred to by her name, but simply as 'Ozai's daughter'. Azula wanted to be a proper A-list celebrity in her own right, and having her own prime time slot TV show would get her there. She could not allow Zuko to take away something she so clearly deserved.
Finally, the doors to her father's office opened and Ozai stepped outside. "Is she here?" Ozai asked his secretary before looking up and noticing Azula. "Ah, there you are," Ozai said impatiently. "Well, are you coming or not?" He added, making Azula feel like she was late for the meeting.
Azula quickly followed her father and took the free seat at his heavy mahogany desk. Only then did she look up at her brother, sitting there and looking a bit like a whipped dog. Azula blinked in surprise when she noticed that Zuko was wearing half of a brioche bun as a tiny little hat, while the other half of the bun was tied to his chin. "Are you trying a new look, Zuko?" Azula burst into laughter. "I think it fits you."
"That's not Zuko you're talking to," Ozai spoke sternly. "Who are you?" he looked at Zuko.
"An idiot sandwich," Zuko sighed despondently.
"That's right, you're an idiot sandwich," Ozai repeated. "Do you know why your brother is an idiot sandwich, Azula?"
"Well, where do I even begin?" Azula smirked.
"I know, right," Ozai laughed, winking at her. "But no, let's be real for a moment. There's a specific reason for this dressing down. You see, I sent Zuko to Omashu to investigate the rumors that one of my head chefs there had a drug problem. But it seems like the idiot sandwich here was under some misapprehension about how to sort this problem. Zuko, you were supposed to fire the guy, not to engage in a weekend smoke session with the entire kitchen staff!"
"Wow, that's… something," Azula shook her head, feeling both horrified and yet somehow strangely impressed. Addictions were a serious problem in the culinary industry. The long hours, the incredible amounts of stress and the physically demanding work in a hot kitchen pushed many cooks past their breaking point. Azula herself was no stranger to both marijuana and alcohol, but she never engaged in substance use before or during service. That was a sure way to ruin one's career as a chef.
"Anyway, enough about that," Ozai said dismissively. "You're both here for a different reason, and that is your Kitchen Nightmares contest, so let's get to that. And Zuko, get rid of that bun, you look ridiculous."
"Thank you, father," Zuko grumbled, quickly removing the brioche bun with another weary sigh. Azula regretted not having taken a quick picture while she had the chance.
"First of all, I want to say that Season 8 of Ozai's Kitchen Nightmares has been a smashing success," Ozai began proudly. "We have beaten the viewership records of the previous two seasons, which is obviously good news, so congratulations to me for doing such a stellar job. And I suppose you two deserve some credit for pitching in on some of the episodes." Azula and Zuko exchanged quick stares, neither of them saying anything. Of course, Ozai would not miss a chance to put them both down at once.
"Anyway, I suppose you are mostly interested in the viewership of the episodes in which you took part," Ozai continued, fiddling with his laptop. "I have the data right here in front of me, and let me tell you that I'm in complete shock from what I'm seeing." Azula felt absolutely sick to her stomach after hearing these words, while a cautious and slightly nervous smile appeared on Zuko's face. "Azula, the total viewership across the three episodes you did is 10.67 million viewers. It's respectable and slightly above the season average. Zuko, your three episodes scored a total viewership of 10.63 million."
Azula let out a sigh of relief, feeling the pressure on her chest ease, allowing her to take a deep breath. "I was worried there for a moment," she admitted, smiling. "Sorry, Zuzu, but my winning streak continues."
Azula was shocked when her father slammed his fists on the desk, forcing both her and Zuko jump in fright. "How dare you?" Ozai yelled at a very confused Azula.
"Father?" she managed, feeling stunned.
"Look at him!" Ozai pointed at Zuko. "You beat the idiot sandwich by the slimmest of margins! 10.67 to 10.63! You have a lot of nerve to declare that a victory! That's not a victory in my eyes!"
"But-" Azula thought about protesting, but the fiery anger in her father's eyes made her back down in a hurry. Azula sagged in her seat, feeling her heart sink in her stomach. She had disappointed her father. Was there anything else she could do that was worse? Surely, she didn't deserve to have a show of her own, or any other nice things.
"We'll get back to what it means for your competition in a bit," Ozai said sternly. "First, we're going to look at some additional data about the audience breakdown. It's something that's important to consider going forward and thinking about the kind of content that's suitable for you. Let's start with viewers above 60 years. Zuko, you have an edge with the geriatrics. Azula, old people hate you."
"The feeling is mutual," Azula rolled her eyes.
"I never thought that old people liked me all that much," Zuko shrugged. "I mean, grandpa Azulon threatened to kill me how many times?"
"Yes, he loved to do that, didn't he?" Ozai laughed heartily. "Ah, good times."
"No, they weren't," Zuko scoffed.
"Shut up," Ozai glared. "I say those were good times, and my word is the law around here. Anyway, moving on with more stats. There's a really clear breakdown in the age group between the ages of 40 to 60. Nearly all women in this age bracket want you, Zuko. So, whenever you run into issues with your gloomy goth girlfriend, be aware that you can always find a milf to hook up with."
"I'll keep that in mind," Zuko replied, grinding his teeth.
"Azula, obviously all the men in this age bracket are lusting after you as they go through their midlife crises," Ozai laughed. Azula physically shuddered at this piece of information, a reaction that her father seemed to find particularly amusing. "The breakdown in the age bracket of 25 to 40 is very close, but slightly leaning towards Azula. And the younger viewers skew towards Azula even more, but it's a small and not a very significant part of the audience, so it doesn't really matter. But it just proves that I was right to put you on the jury of MasterChef Junior, Azula."
"Of course, father," Azula nodded obediently. "But what does this have to do with the competition between me and Zuko?"
"We'll get there, don't rush me," Ozai scowled. "There's another peculiar statistic that I wanted to bring up first. The number of viewers identifying as queer has increased by 85% over the past three seasons. And for some reason, they almost unanimously seem to favor you, Azula."
"That's… uh, that's very strange and disturbing, father," Azula managed, cold shivers of fear running through her. She noticed Zuko giving her a sidelong stare, almost looking like he was about to say something. Azula couldn't imagine that Zuko knew her secret, though, because he would have surely told Ozai the truth that was certain to ruin Azula.
"I'll say," Ozai nodded. "That's not a part of the audience we should be chasing, anyway. Everyone knows that homosexuals can't cook. Peculiar, though. Whatever it is that you're doing that attracts these queers, you should probably stop."
"As soon as I figure out what it is," Azula quickly promised, desperate to move on.
"Anyway, let's get back to the competition," Ozai said. "As I said before, I refuse to acknowledge such a paltry advantage as a victory. Therefore, I declare this contest having ended in a draw that should leave you feeling ashamed, Azula."
"Works for me," Zuko said, predictably looking satisfied. This was the first time in fifteen years he had avoided being crushed by Azula, so obviously he was more than happy to take the draw.
"I'll except your verdict, father, but what does it mean going forward?" Azula asked. She knew that there was nothing to gain by pushing against Ozai's decision. It would only earn Azula her father's ire and she didn't want that. On the other hand, she was starting to suspect that Ozai simply didn't want to give either her or Zuko this spinoff show, and so he was looking for ways to back out of what he had promised.
"We will obviously need a new contest to settle this once and for all," Ozai declared predictably, making Azula suspect that her theory of Ozai not wanting to give either of them a promotion was correct. This new contest would probably be something lengthy and complicated, and would further delay the launch of the spinoff. "Fortunately for you two, I have already figured out what I'll want you to do."
"What is it, father?" Azula asked, the first to lose her nerve after Ozai had gone for a dramatic pause. She was sure that this new contest would be something humiliating, but hopefully it at least wouldn't involve sexy bikini car washes.
"Starting from the 1st of April, I will want each of you to take over the running of a currently failing restaurant," Ozai explained. "You will run this failing business for the next six months straight. During these six months, I will test your leadership skills in various ways, and at the end of this time period… so, on the 1st of October, I will evaluate how well you have performed. This will mean both the finances of the restaurant, the quality of food, your review scores on Yelp and TripAdvisor, and several other criteria that I will keep secret for now."
"That sounds… interesting," Azula said, feeling very intrigued. This was way better than what she had expected. Running her own restaurant was a very compelling prospect, and she welcomed the chance to show what she could do in a managerial position. Also, there was no way that she could lose this challenge to someone like Zuko who had already proved to be a disastrously bumbling administrator. The only drawback to Ozai's plan was the length of this assignment, full six months that would keep Azula out of the spotlight and elbow deep working non-stop to save some rundown dive.
"I agree," Zuko nodded, also looking excited. "Which restaurant are you giving me, father?"
"I am giving you nothing, you donkey," Ozai snapped. "The part of the assignment is that you find yourselves a failing business and convince the owners to let you run it. You two were supposed to establish your own ties in the industry by now, so show some hustle and work those connections! I'm not going to hand everything on a plate for you! If you fail to find yourself a restaurant by the start of the next month, that's it, you have forfeited the competition."
Zuko and Azula exchanged confused stares. Azula's mind was still reeling with all the possibilities offered by her father's surprising plan when Zuko spoke up again. "What about taking over a restaurant that recently closed and reopening it?" Zuko asked. "Would that count?"
"I mean, you can't have a more failed restaurant than one that's closed, right?" Ozai rolled his eyes. "Obviously, that works."
"Alright, great," Zuko looked mighty relieved. "In that case, I might have something."
"Don't tell me that you're thinking about The Blue Spirit," Azula snorted. The Blue Spirit was a Caldera City restaurant owned by Mai's family, Ukano and Michi Syun. Mai's parents hadn't been involved in the day to day running of the restaurant. They were rich Fire Nation elites who had bought it to get their daughter interested in entrepreneurship, handing it over to Mai, who had then brought in Zuko to help her. But with Zuko traveling all over the world on Ozai's behalf, Mai had quickly lost interest in the place and it had eventually closed due to neglect.
"And what if I am?" Zuko shot back irately.
"I mean… I don't really care," Azula smirked. "But I know that you're currently in the doghouse with Mai. I look forward to hearing about you crawling on your hands and knees, begging her to take you back and then end up only pissing her off even more when she realizes that you only did all of that because you need her to reopen the restaurant."
"I…" Zuko was about to utter a sharp retort, before sagging in defeat. "Ugh, I hate how Mai still tells you things like that," he groaned. "We haven't broken up, just to be clear. We're just taking a little break, but I think it might be time for it to end."
"Of course," Azula laughed. "And obviously, Mai tells me everything, and so does Ty Lee. We may not see each other often these days, but we're going to be besties until the day we die, you can be sure of that."
"Charming," Ozai commented on their exchange with a bored yawn. "Azula, do you have any ideas yet?"
"I do, actually," Azula said excitedly. She had made her decision as soon as her father had explained the terms of the competition. There was only one restaurant she wanted to go back to and fix properly. "Do you remember The Northern Lights? The restaurant in Caldera City we fixed back in September?" Azula asked. Ozai nodded, still looking bored. "From what I hear, they are still in a deep financial hole," Azula said.
"I'll have my people confirm that," Ozai said. "After all, I have to be certain that the restaurant is actually failing. But if everything checks out, I don't see why you couldn't choose it, if the owners agree to let you take over. And it would be very convenient for me if you were both in Caldera."
"And only a ten-minute walk from each other," Azula smirked, shooting a quick glance at Zuko. The proximity of The Blue Spirit offered plenty of possibilities, including that of sabotage. Azula wondered whether Zuko was thinking the same, before deciding that her brother was too dimwitted to think of that.
"Well, I suppose that settles it," Ozai said. "You have your arrangements to make, so I suggest you go and get to it. There's not much time left before the contest begins and you still have plenty to take care of."
"I'm going to call Mai right away," Zuko said, getting up to leave, but not before bowing respectfully to their father.
"There's just one thing I wanted to ask about, father," Azula spoke after Zuko had taken his leave. "Can I please tell Katara that Jet is stealing from the restaurant? If I'm not allowed to fix that issue then I won't be able to make the restaurant profitable." Ozai gave Azula a blank stare. "He was supposedly buying in very expensive produce, but he actually bought it very cheap and pocketed the difference."
"Sounds vaguely familiar," Ozai hummed. "Oh yeah, I remember now. It was the asshole who burned my hand!"
"No, that was Sokka," Azula explained. "I'm talking about Jet Patel, the food manager. Although you kept calling him Jeb. You didn't allow me to tell the owners about his embezzlement because you didn't want to ruin his relationship with Katara."
"I did? Well, whatever, I don't give a shit. Handle this however you want, and please don't bother me with such trivialities in the future, Azula," Ozai spoke dismissively. "You can go now. I have a lot to do."
Azula wandered outside of her father's office in a confused daze. Of course, her father didn't even remember who Jet, Katara or Sokka were, while she had obediently stuck with the order that Ozai himself had long since forgotten about. Azula suddenly realized that the only reason why Ozai had forbidden her from telling Katara was that he simply saw it as yet another petty test of her loyalty. Realizing that she could have told Katara the truth months ago without any repercussions made Azula absolutely sick to her stomach, and she felt like punching herself in the face for her stupidity.
Azula was still internally screaming at herself when she ran into Zuko out in the hallway. Zuko had just finished talking on the phone, grinning like an idiot. "Well, I just spoke with Mai," Zuko announced. "She said that she's been missing me and she wants me back."
"Mai said that?" Azula gave her brother a skeptical stare. "In those exact words?"
"Well, no, I translated from Mai-speak," Zuko admitted sheepishly. "But that's what she meant. Anyway, I'm out of here. Are you coming?" he asked.
"Yes," Azula nodded as they proceeded towards the elevator together. There was no reason for her to continue hanging out with Zuko now that the meeting had concluded, but Azula supposed that she was not above showing some civility towards her less gifted brother. And with anger and self-hatred still ripping her at the seams, perhaps there was a way in which Zuko could actually be helpful. "Zuzu, could I ask you for a favor?" she asked sweetly.
"A favor?" Zuko blinked, completely taken by surprise. "Why would I hand out any favors for you?"
"Just hear me out, okay?" Azula asked as they both came to a halt some ten yards before reaching the elevator. "You're actually going to enjoy this."
"I very much doubt that," Zuko grumbled, but at least he was still sticking around.
"Oh, you will," Azula smiled. "I want you to hit me."
"I'm sorry, I may have misheard you there," Zuko said. "Did you say that you want me to hit you?"
"Yes, that's right," Azula nodded insistently. "I may have done something incredibly stupid and I was going to punch myself in the face, but then I realized that I could never hit myself as hard as I deserve, so I figured that you could help me with that. I know you've dreamt about hitting me plenty of times."
"I haven't, actually," Zuko protested. He then blushed. "Well… not as often as you think, anyway. And no, I am not going to hit you. You're such a weird freak, you know that, right? Besides, this is probably one of your schemes. If I were to hit you, you'd just run to the cops and get me detained, and then you'd win the competition by default."
"I'm not trying to pull a scheme, Zuko, honest," Azula groaned. "Okay, fine, you don't have to punch me in the face or somewhere where it would leave a mark!" Azula thought for a moment. "Just punch me in the stomach."
"I don't want to," Zuko frowned. "This is sick."
"Come on, when are you going to get another opportunity like this, you idiot?" Azula decided to try a little bit of goading. "I'm practically begging for it and you still won't do it? Pathetic loser."
"Shut up!" Zuko exclaimed, pushing her and then throwing a very weak punch at Azula's midsection, one she barely felt.
"What the fuck was that?" Azula laughed. "That was weaker than a mosquito bite, you pussy! I swear, you couldn't fight your way out of a pap-" Azula didn't get to finish her sentence as Zuko struck her again. This time it was a proper punch that left Azula utterly winded and gasping, unable to draw breath.
"Uh… are you okay?" Zuko asked, looking concerned. "Fuck, I knew this was a terrible idea!"
Azula was trying her best to tell her brother not to worry, but no words came out of her mouth, only gasps as she kept failing to draw breath. Everything soon went black and when Azula opened her eyes again, she was lying on the floor, with Zuko looming over her and holding something incredibly foul smelling against her nose. "Argh, get that away from me!" Azula yelped, batting Zuko's hands away and quickly jumping up to her feet, instantly regretting her haste as pain shot through her entire body.
"It's just some smelling salts, dumbass," Zuko sighed at her. "Anyway, what the fuck were you thinking, provoking me like that? I knew you were insane, but that was next level idiocy. Are you okay now?"
"Yes, obviously," Azula lied. She was in a lot of pain, but that had been the idea to begin with. She deserved to be in a lot of pain because she was an idiot who had let down Katara, Yue, Suki and the others at The Northern Lights. "That was a very precise hit to the solar plexus. I don't recommend the experience."
"No shit," Zuko rolled his eyes. "Can you walk?" he asked, reaching out to support her. Azula batted his hand away and made an effort to walk on her own, but her legs almost gave out under her and she ended up embarrassingly leaning in against Zuko after all. "Listen, I know we're in a competition and there will probably be bad blood between us again soon," Zuko spoke as he helped her make the last few steps to the elevator. "But that doesn't mean we have to treat each other like shit all the time, right? We can be civil towards each other now and then, I'm sure."
Azula considered Zuko's words for a moment. She supposed that her brother had a point, but at the same time, competition and survival of the fittest had been beaten into both of them since early childhood, and it was definitely easier to compete against someone you had convinced yourself of hating. But Azula also couldn't deny that sometimes not being at each other's throats felt… nice? "That's not a terrible idea, Zuzu," Azula was forced to admit as they finally made it into the elevator. "I propose a truce at least until the start of the contest," Azula proposed, offering her brother a handshake.
Zuko shook her hand without much thinking. "I accept," he said, smiling. Azula also smiled, even if she knew that the truce was not meant to last. Still, she supposed that it was better than nothing.
It was a quiet March afternoon between the services at The Northern Lights restaurant. Katara was busy loading up the industrial dishwasher in the kitchen. Nearby, Suki and Sokka were prepping for the evening service, replenishing some of the ingredients that had been used up during the lunch. Aang had been recruited into helping and he was currently busy chopping onions nearby, a big grin on his face. Katara found it rather unfair and annoying that the onions didn't seem to be affecting Aang, but a couple of yards away from the prep station, Katara's eyes were watering and tears were spilling all over her cheeks.
It was just the four of them at the restaurant for now. Toph had quickly finished doing inventory downstairs, making sure that she had enough frozen crap in her fridges to reheat. She had then gone for a walk in the park directly opposite to the restaurant. Jet was out on a supply run. They were running out of money faster than ever, and as a result, Jet was forced to do more and more last-minute shopping. It was not his fault, of course. Because of their money issues, the walk-in cooler was the emptiest it had ever been. As for Yue, she was busy collecting Kya from kindergarten and spending time with her at home until Kiyi showed up to take over her babysitter duties.
Katara wished that she could summon some kind of enthusiasm for the evening service. Sadly, by now the question was no longer about turning things around and making a profit. It was about how much money they would lose every time they opened their doors for service. It was slowly draining Katara of all joy, not just for her job, but for life on the whole. Katara felt like she had become stuck in a rut, a grim mire from which there was no escape. If something didn't change this very instant, Katara wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before she lost her remaining sanity.
It was at the conclusion of this grim thought that Katara heard the buzz of an incoming text message, the screen of her phone flashing momentarily. Katara quickly finished loading the dishwasher and pressed a button to start a new washing cycle before picking up her phone and checking the message, almost dropping the phone when she saw who was messaging her.
"I don't fucking believe it," Katara gasped, seeing Azula's name pop up on her phone screen. It was at least two long months since Azula had last been in contact with anyone at the restaurant. It was hard not to be upset about losing all contact with Azula, but Katara knew better than to take it personally. Kiyi had admitted to having trouble reaching Azula herself because her older sister was absolutely swamped with work, and Katara had to accept that explanation. And yet, here was Azula, messaging her after months of silence.
"What is it, Kat?" Suki looked up from her pots and pans. She was making orange sauce ahead of the evening service and the delicious aroma was constantly reminding Katara that she needed to eat something before the service.
"It's Azula," Katara exclaimed. The others all looked shocked and excited. "And she wants to speak with us," Katara said.
"That's amazing!" Suki beamed happily. "Call her and put her on speakers?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Katara said, having read the follow-up text by Azula. "I misunderstood that. Apparently, Azula has something that she wants to discuss with me and Sokka?" Suki's face fell immediately. Katara made a mental note to later give her friend a big hug as an apology for falsely raising her hopes.
"Do you know what it's about?" Sokka asked, looking very curious. He was busy working on some lasagna that would later be split into portions, frozen and delivered downstairs for Toph to reheat.
"Not a clue," Katara shrugged. "But you know, Azula is like an international woman of mystery. Anyway, she wants to do a Zoom call with both of us. And she wants to do it now."
"I would honestly tell her to take a hike because I'm busy, but I won't because I'm too curious," Sokka sighed. "Oh well, I guess the lasagna can wait. Let's go to your office?"
"Sure, but I might need time to set everything up," Katara said. "It's been a while since I last did a Zoom call."
"I'll just set it up so I don't have to stand around and wait for twenty minutes," Sokka grumbled.
"Perfect, I knew you'd want to do it," Katara chuckled as the siblings proceeded towards the restaurant manager's office, where Sokka quickly set up a Zoom call with Azula Nakamura.
"You can let her know that we're ready," Sokka said after he had finished fiddling with the Zoom settings and together with Katara they had taken their seats at the desktop screen. Katara quickly fired off a text and moments later, Azula was connecting to the Zoom call.
"Where are you?" Katara blurted out as soon as Azula's face appeared on the screen and she took in the strangely empty, soulless feeling white room Azula was in. "Uh, I mean… hi, long time no see!" Katara quickly added, blushing.
"Hey," Azula smiled in reply. "It's good to see you, too. I'm in Ba Sing Se. This is supposed to be my office at the Nakamura Corp HQ, but I can't remember when I last spent any time here. I guess it shows."
"It really does," Sokka said, looking rather impatient, while Katara was willing to simply wax lyrical about anything that would keep Azula on the call. "Anyway, we were all very surprised to hear from you again, and even more surprised that you wanted to talk to me and Kat? What's going on?"
"I'll explain in a minute," Azula said. "But before we start, please tell me that the restaurant is still failing."
Katara felt her mouth falling comically open at Azula's shocking comment, while Sokka simply looked deeply upset. "What the fuck, Azula?" Sokka glared at the screen. "Why would you wish failure upon us? That's such a bitchy thing to say!"
Azula's eyes widened and she suddenly looked terrified, as if she had only now realized that she had committed a faux pas. "Damn it, I didn't mean it like that!" she exclaimed hurriedly. "Please, will you just let me explain everything from the start? I have a proposition for you two, but it requires certain context that you need to be aware of. Will you please hear me out?"
"Of course," Katara spoke, smiling encouragingly. Sokka still looked mildly annoyed, but he didn't hesitate before giving Azula an encouraging nod.
A few minutes later, Katara sat in her seat, blinking at the screen wide-eyed as she struggled to process Azula's lengthy explanation. "And that's how I ended up in this situation where I need to find a failing restaurant," Azula finished her tale. "And that's the crux of the proposition I have for you. What do you think? Do you accept?"
"Yes!" Katara exclaimed with literally no time spent contemplating her decision.
"Uh… can we not be so hasty about this?" Sokka asked, looking conflicted. "I think we should discuss it first."
"What is there to discuss?" Katara burst out heatedly. "We reached the point of being willing to try just about anything a long time ago! Now, Azula herself is offering to come and fix the restaurant properly, and you want to waste time discussing something? Stop looking this gift horse in the mouth!" Katara then blinked, giving Azula an apologetic stare. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to compare you to a horse." Azula merely rolled her eyes before snickering adorably.
"I'm not questioning Azula's ability to get us back on our feet," Sokka argued. "It's just that this taking over and running the restaurant as a boss for six long months is… I don't know, it sounds excessive."
"Agni, it's really hard for you to surrender even an inch of your power, isn't it?" Azula sighed. "You two will still remain the owners, while I'll be something like the executive manager."
"I'm not sure…" Sokka appeared unconvinced, much to Katara's eternal frustration that was starting to accumulate inside of her, building up to a massive rant.
"Is it the job title that bothers you so much?" Azula snorted. "By all means, call me a special consultant instead, if you prefer that. The only thing I care about, and the only firm condition I have is that you don't challenge the changes that I want to make."
"So, effectively you would be the boss, regardless of your job title," Sokka said. "Don't misunderstand me, I know that having you here is the best chance we have of saving the restaurant."
"It really is," Katara nodded firmly. "And that should be all that matters to us."
"I suppose you're right," Sokka sighed. "I should just get over my ego, I guess. It's probably not common for owners to be as involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant as we are. Most owners probably bring in a competent executive manager and take the backseat. As long as they can afford to hire a competent manager in the first place, of course."
"Well, it's your lucky day because I'm the most competent manager you could ever hope to find, and I'm offering to fix your place at no cost," Azula said confidently. "As far as I'm concerned, this is a match made in heaven. We both need one another, but if you decide to turn my offer down, I'm sure I can easily find another restaurant that will love to have my expertise."
"Alright, you've won me over," Sokka finally relented. "You're our new special consultant slash executive manager. Also, this decision was in no way influenced by the knowledge that Katara would kill me if I turned your offer down."
"I would never kill you, Sokka, you know that. Now, serious maiming on the other hand…" Katara chuckled, playfully cuffing the back of Sokka's head. "I'm overjoyed to have you back with us, Azula," she then beamed at the screen again. "When do you want to start?"
"Well, our competition with Zuko kicks off on the 1st of April, so I would rather not waste a single day," Azula replied. "Zuko will be reopening a restaurant that closed recently, so he will have way more to do to get everything up to speed. He'll have to hire new staff, and he's likely to fall behind. I plan to use this time wisely and get a jumpstart on him."
"I see," Katara remarked, exchanging a slightly confused look with Sokka. This kind of fierce competition with a sibling felt very wrong to Katara, but then again, so much about Azula's life that they had discovered seemed deeply fucked up, and Katara was sure that they had only scratched the surface. "Anyway, April is just five days away, and you're still in Ba Sing Se."
"I know," Azula nodded curtly. "There's a lot to do and I need to start making my arrangements. First order of business is to find myself a nice rent apartment in Caldera for the next six months."
"Is, uh… is your boyfriend coming with you?" Katara decided to ask, cursing the way she sounded so awkward.
"What? No, of course not," Azula looked very surprised, shaking her head. "Chan is in the middle of the football season. I think? Anyway, he's too busy with his own career to spend six months away from the team in Caldera City."
"I see," Katara allowed herself a small smile. "I just thought that you might miss him because six months is such a long time. But I'm sure he'll visit often."
"Hmm? Oh, yes… yes, I'm sure he will," Azula replied. Katara thought that for some reason Azula looked the opposite of excited when thinking about her boyfriend Chan Takahashi visiting her, but maybe she was just imagining things. "Anyway, I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement. I will have the Nakamura Corp team of lawyers draw up a contract for us and you'll have all the legalese mailed to you within a day or two. I'll be sure to list my job title as special consultant, just to soothe your fragile ego, Sokka."
"Gee, thanks," Sokka snorted. "Anyway, thank you for thinking of us when this whole thing went down. Like you said yourself, there are probably dozens of restaurants who'd love to have you."
"Yes, I was so happy to get your text," Katara grinned happily. "Sokka and I both really appreciate this opportunity, and I can't wait to see you at the restaurant again," she added, leaning in against Sokka's shoulder as they waved their goodbyes to Azula. "What a stroke of luck, right? This just might save us!" Katara raved. "I can't wait to tell the good news to the team!"
"Yes, I'm sure Jet will be delighted to hear about this arrangement," Sokka grinned evilly.
"Oh… damn it, you're right," Katara gasped in realization. She had once again gotten carried away as soon as Azula came into the picture. "He was insufferable at the end of that single week – although I'm sure he'd rightly point out the same about me – but now it will be whole six months of Azula at the restaurant. I will really have to tone down my excitement, I suppose." Katara then gave her brother a searching stare. "But won't you also have an issue with Suki fangirling?"
Sokka's expression darkened slightly. "I wouldn't let something like that stand in the way of us saving our restaurant," Sokka replied. "But also, there's something else you should know. Suki and I had a serious talk a few days ago. We agreed that maybe we should consider dating other people. Not that I worry about Suki and Azula for obvious reasons, but… yeah, Suki is kind of free to see other people, I guess."
"I'm so sorry, Sokka," Katara sighed, pulling her brother into a tight hug. The feeling that Sokka and Suki were slowly drifting apart had been growing over the past few months. Their clashing visions for the direction of the restaurant had led to some nasty fights, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before their failing business would destroy yet another relationship. Certainly, Sokka had not said that he and Suki were breaking up, but starting to date other people was an ominous sign. "I really hoped that you two would pull through," Katara whispered into Sokka's shoulder.
"Well, it is what it is," Sokka replied, clearly struggling to keep his voice from breaking. "Let's just hope that we can at least save the restaurant and avoid taking another loss."
"You really didn't have to skip work in order to play taxi for me," Smellerbee told Jet after she'd gotten into the car and strapped herself into the driver's seat. "Ever since the surgery, you and Longshot have been watching over me like a pair of protective hawks. It's like you don't get that I was way more likely to run into some kind of trouble when I was pre-op."
"Sorry," Jet replied sheepishly as he started the engine of his car. "We're just really excited for you." Bee had undergone the gender reassignment surgery almost two weeks ago, and while she was still dealing with some physical discomfort from the surgery, mentally she was the happiest Jet could remember. Bee's therapist also saw it as a sign that the surgery had clearly been the right path to take. It made Jet almost feel justified in taking the money from the restaurant, because the cause had so clearly been worth it. "Anyway, did you get it?" Jet asked before pulling out of the parking lot.
"Sure did," Bee grinned, waving her new ID card in front of Jet's face. Jet caught her hand and held it still so that he could take a closer look.
"Nice," Jet also grinned. "Happy with your choices for this awesome new identity?"
"I think so," Bee nodded. "I've been stuck with this Bee moniker for more than ten years. It made sense to pick something that sounded similar, right?"
"Whatever you say… Beatrice," Jet chuckled, wincing when Bee punched his shoulder.
"You're still calling me Bee, dork," Smellerbee, or Beatrice, said. "Anyway," Bee's voice turned more serious. "I know I've said it many times before, but I really want you to know how grateful I am for everything you did for me."
"Don't mention it," Jet shrugged as they continued on their way back to Bee's studio apartment which she shared with Longshot. "We couldn't have done this without the whole crew pitching in, especially Longshot. You knew we would make this a real group effort, right? We Earth Kingdom orphans will always look out for each other."
"True that," Bee nodded earnestly. "I'm just relieved that you can now stop taking from the restaurant. I would have felt so bad if you and Katara broke up because of it. I've heard you say that she's the best thing that has ever happened to you, and I agree."
"Yeah, Katara is great," Jet said uncomfortably.
Smellerbee frowned, giving Jet a searching stare. "I mean, you literally have no reason to keep… ugh, and I hate to even use the word, stealing," Bee said. "So, you're not doing that anymore, right?"
"Of course not, who do you take me for?" Jet managed a reasonably convincing laugh that seemed to put Bee at ease. Unfortunately, it did nothing to silence Jet's screaming and flailing conscience. Obviously, he should have stopped taking from the restaurant as soon as Bee's surgery had been paid for. But taking from the restaurant had become as natural as breathing for Jet, and his feeble willpower had always been his Achille's heel.
Jet knew that the stealing had to stop. He just needed to borrow a little more for the big party they were planning for Bee during the weekend, but Jet swore to himself that after this one last time, he was forever done with swindling Katara and Sokka.