Chapter 11 – return of the queen

Waiting until the end of the dinner service before telling the staff about their arrangement with Azula proved an absolute torture to Katara. Suki and Aang had hounded both her and Sokka after their Zoom call with Azula, but with the dinner service about to start and Yue, Jet and Toph still absent, they had just about managed to hold on to their resolution to break the news when everyone was present. Still, the rumors that Azula had called her spread through the restaurant like wildfire, and it had made the service very difficult, mostly because of Yue constantly pestering Katara and making it almost impossible for her to say anything and not be faced with a counter inquiry about Azula.

Katara was relieved when the dinner service finally ended and she did not even bother to count the evening's takings before heading upstairs to share the news with her friends. It was clear that any further delays would result in Suki and Yue carrying out their threats of physical violence unless they were told what Azula had wanted to discuss with her and Sokka.

"Very well, all you impatient people," Katara grinned, then dodging when Yue threw an old stuffed toy seal at her. "And all you violent people," she smirked at Yue. "I can confirm that yes, Sokka and I spoke with Azula earlier, and you will be excited to know that she had an amazing proposition for us. Azula has agreed to come and help us fix the restaurant, and this time she's going to do it properly."

"Azula will be our special consultant for the next six months," Sokka added during a pause in Katara's speech, further stunning their dumbstruck looking friends.

"Well, regardless of Azula's job title, we have agreed that during that time, we will commit to any change that Azula insists on implementing," Katara explained, wanting to make this point absolutely clear in case Sokka was intent on muddying the waters. "That was the only condition Azula had if she was to come here."

"Yes!" Yue exclaimed, once she had recovered from the surprise. She jumped up from the sofa, pumping her fist and then letting out a squeal of happiness that left the rest of the team momentarily deafened. Suki took a few extra moments to recover, but then she also got up to her feet and grabbed Yue, the pair breaking into spontaneous and wild dancing. Katara was very tempted to jump in and join them, but the worryingly thunderous expression on Jet's face stopped her.

"Ah, this is the best news ever!" Yue cried breathlessly after she and Suki had come to a full stop. "Azula is coming back, Azula is coming back!" she added in a singsong voice. "Ah, Kiyi is also going to be so happy. This is amazing!"

"It really is," Suki nodded, with just as much excitement as Yue. She then looked at Sokka. "And you're really willing to give up all this control, especially over the kitchen?" Suki asked.

"I feel like I have to," Sokka replied with a shrug. Seeing the way Suki immediately stiffened at those words, Katara cringed inwardly, knowing what Suki was going to say next.

"So, you wouldn't surrender control in the kitchen to me, but one call from Azula Nakamura, and she gets to run things," Suki said, rolling her eyes. "Fair, that's very fair. Sure, she knows way more than I do about saving restaurants, but still, thanks for the vote of confidence, Sokka."

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Sokka sighed. Suki didn't look appeased, and Katara couldn't really blame her.

"I think this is crazy," Jet said, not looking happy at all. It seemed that Sokka was right and her boyfriend was going to have an issue with this decision. "I'm not questioning that Azula has the expertise, but handing the reins over to her for six months? You can't be serious."

"We're very serious," Sokka replied. His bad mood from Suki's earlier accusation seemed to have lifted instantly upon seeing how annoyed Jet looked at this decision. "It's a unique opportunity, Jet. Six months does seem like a very long time, but it has to do with Ozai Nakamura's sick competition for Azula and her brother. They both have to take over a failing restaurant and turn it profitable, and whoever does better by the end of these six months will be the winner. I think Azula mentioned that her brother will be taking over a restaurant nearby."

"Yes, it's just a few blocks away from here," Katara nodded.

"I just want to say one more time for the record that I think Ozai Nakamura is a heartless monster for what he's doing to Azula and her brother," Yue stated passionately to the nods of everyone around.

"I think we're all in agreement on that," Suki nodded. "Anyway, I'm excited to work with Azula," she said. Katara suspected that it was largely because Suki knew that Azula saw her as a head chef material, more so than Sokka. "And be honest, Jet, you're just jealous of Azula because she's glamorous and we all have fangirl crushes on her."

"I was not jealous for even a second," Jet argued, but Katara was sure that her boyfriend was lying blatantly. "I was just embarrassed on your behalf, but especially for my girlfriend. You were making absolute fools of yourselves, the way you were chasing after Azula."

"I know you were not really jealous, nor did you have any reason to be," Katara decided to placate her boyfriend. She didn't want to deal with six months of bitter jealousy from Jet. Not that she would have to deal with it for six months, as it would finish off their relationship way before that. "And I know I was a bit of a brat during Azula's first visit, but I did apologize for it. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, please trust me," she said.

"That's great, but honestly, I wish you would believe me when I say that's not the reason why I am against this," Jet shrugged. Katara frowned at that comment. She wasn't immediately sure why else Jet would be against Azula's return to The Northern Lights, but now that she thought about it some more, Katara realized that Jet hadn't just looked annoyed when she had broken the news. For some reason, he had also looked very worried.

"Well, I am obviously very concerned," Toph spoke up, distracting Katara's thoughts. "I don't have good experience with any of the Nakamuras. They're all racist towards microwaves. I want you to know that I will defend my babies with my life. And while Azula is a scary bitch, she's not her father. I'll face off against Azula any day of the week."

"There will be no facing off against Azula, Toph," Katara sighed. "Like you said it yourself, with Azula you don't have to worry so much, unlike with Ozai. We'll talk things out with her and if she wants the microwaving to stop, then we'll find something else for you, trust me. I don't want you to stress about this when there's literally no reason for it."

"Well, alright," Toph agreed reluctantly. "But I'll hold you to this promise, Kat."

"And no offense, Toph, but I kind of hope that Azula gets rid of the microwaves," Suki said, not sounding terribly apologetic. "It was clearly a mistake to go back to that."

"I don't think that's the reason why we're failing," Sokka immediately shot back. Toph and Jet also immediately began to grumble in protest, forcing Katara to intervene.

"Alright, alright, we've had this argument before!" Katara exclaimed, raising her voice, something she probably didn't do enough as a manager. "Only for like one hundred seventeen times. There's literally no reason to rehash these grievances when Azula is already on her way and things are going to change anyway, right? Can we at least agree on that?" There was some more grumbling, but eventually the others all settled down and dropped the matter.

"Well, all that arguing aside, I'm very excited about the inevitable changes," Aang spoke brightly with his usual optimism. "Lately, I feel like we've all been stuck in a rut. It's probably because none of the changes we've tried have really worked. I don't see how Azula coming to shake things up could be anything but a good thing, right?" Everyone seemed to be in agreement with this, perhaps with the slight exception of Jet who still couldn't resist an eyeroll.

"I think all of us should adopt Aang's positive attitude," Yue said happily. "Also, I have a proposition. Kat, do you think you could find out when exactly Azula will arrive at the restaurant? I think it would be a great idea if we threw her a welcoming party."

"Yes!" Suki nodded, giving Katara a pleading stare. "Let's have a welcoming party!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Katara laughed, happy to agree. "A welcoming party it is."

Chan Takahashi had a deeply shocked look on his face as he took in the sight of Azula's suitcases stacked in a neat pile in the foyer. "What is this?" Chan gasped, pointing at the suitcases. "Are you leaving me?" he exclaimed dramatically.

"What are you talking about?" Azula shook her head as she stood at the mirror nearby, trying to decide which one of her countless trench coats to wear. "I told you I was going away for work, right?"

"Yes, but why do you need so much stuff this time?" Chan blinked. "You always travel light, with only three suitcases, not… eight?"

"Nine, actually," Azula corrected her pretend boyfriend. "Well, I usually don't go away for six months."

"Six months?!" Chan shouted. "What is this about six months? This is the first time I hear about it! I thought it was one of your regular week-long work trips!"

"Oh," Azula blinked, feeling slightly foolish and guilty. "You know, I had this feeling for days now, as if I had forgotten to tell you some important details. Well, now I know what it was. Yes, my father is sending me to do this new thing in Caldera. It's going to keep me there for six months."

"That's ridiculous even for a fake relationship," Chan shook his head.

"Maybe we can spread rumors that we're having a lot of webcam sex or something like that," Azula shrugged.

"Do you think we could have a sexy Zoom call?" Chan asked hopefully.

"No," Azula said. Chan's face fell in disappointment. "Don't be so glum. We haven't slept together for almost two years. There's no reason for you to constantly act like you miss me. Just think about all the options for hooking up you'll have with me out of your hair. But by Agni, be discreet or I'll scoop out your eyes using your ball cup."

"For fuck's sake, you can be such a frightening bitch," Chan paled at the mental image. "Don't worry, I'll be discreet. As long as you remain discreet yourself."

"You really shouldn't question me," Azula rolled her eyes. "I'm extremely subtle when it comes to hooking up, trust me."

"I'm sure you are," Chan sighed. "I guess you want me to bring these down to the car," he pointed at the suitcases. Azula didn't feel like dignifying something so obvious with an answer, instead choosing to glare at her boyfriend until he started moving. "Are you taking daddy's plane again?" Chan asked.

"Yes, I am taking one of my father's private planes," Azula shrugged. "If there's a way to avoid the crowds of peasants at the airport, I am obviously going to take it." Azula wasn't exactly concerned about her carbon footprint. She often made use of Ozai's private planes, as did Zuko. Instead of a carbon foot print, Azula had a carbon flipper print and she was damn proud of it.

"My girl loves sticking it to the poor," Chan chuckled as he began to haul Azula's suitcases down the stairs, loading them in the back of Azula's Range Rover. "Let me drive you to the airport, at least," Chan said after he was done with the luggage. "I can then take the car back. Also, if we're going to spend the six following months apart, let's at least have a very public and proper farewell kiss. Hopefully one of those paparazzi who lurk around airports will take an interest and we'll get some tabloid coverage."

"I suppose that makes sense," Azula admitted reluctantly. Chan was always trying to use Azula's thirst for fame and relevancy to get as little as a kiss or any other scraps of attention from her. It was honestly a little pathetic, but it was a small price to pay. In a situation where Azula wasn't sure if she would ever feel safe coming out, Chan played an important shielding role for her.

They were soon on their way to the airport, with Azula constantly having to frown at the way Chan was handling her car as his driving skills left much to be desired. "You know, I've been thinking," Chan began.

"Didn't the team doctor say that thinking is dangerous for you after all those concussions?" Azula snorted.

"Ouch, the burn," Chan laughed good-naturedly. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that you going away for so long actually presents me with a problem, now that I think about it. Whenever I'll want to make a public appearance, who am I supposed to bring with me? I'll have to go alone and that's just embarrassing, right?"

"I don't know, what are you driving at, Chan?" Azula sighed. "Can't you take a relative or one of your teammates?"

"I could, but a big part of our arrangement is the perk of being able to appear in public with you," Chan pointed out. "I'm getting so many new social media followers whenever we're seen together in public. And now, I'm going to be denied that for six months. I feel like maybe I deserve some kind of extra compensation."

"I can't afford to pay you more," Azula shrugged. "Once I've defeated Zuko and claimed my own Kitchen Nightmares spinoff show, we can talk about it. Although the deal we have is already extremely generous towards you." Chan gave her a pointed stare that lingered at the hem of her very short skirt. "Ugh, no, I am not sleeping with you, idiot," Azula barked. "It's like you don't understand what the word lesbian means."

"Sorry," Chan at least had the presence of mind to apologize. "But you have to admit, our sex was hot."

"Well, obviously, because I was there and that makes it hot by default," Azula rolled her eyes. "Doesn't mean it was enjoyable, at least not for me. You know, to paraphrase that old joke, I literally did lay back and thought of… well, not of the Fire Nation, but of work and all sorts of new recipes I wanted to try."

"Ouch, brutal," Chan burst into laughter. "I am destroyed."

"Good," Azula smirked. "Anyway, is this a man thing to obsess about women they can't and won't have? Lure of the unattainable?"

"I suppose," Chan shrugged. "What about that sexy Zoom chat, though? Or phone sex, at least? Have a heart, babe."

"Forget it, Chan," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "And stop being so obnoxious, or maybe I'll carve out your heart and serve it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

"Well," Zuko remarked, surveying the slightly spooky looking dining room of The Blue Spirit, all the tables covered with white linens. "This doesn't look too bad. It shouldn't take us more than a week to get it all running again."

"Provided we can find some reinforcements quickly," Mai remarked, standing next to him. She was wearing a very short black latex skirt together with fishnets that never failed to draw Zuko's eyes and Mai knew it perfectly well. Her choice of clothing seemed to confirm the impression Zuko had already gathered when they spoke on the phone. It seemed that Mai was genuinely happy to see him again after a break since the start of the year. "Anyway, the restaurant has only been closed since February, so less than two months," Mai continued. "I don't know why you expected it to be a complete mess."

"I don't know, maybe because I've seen too many filthy restaurants lately," Zuko shrugged. "Anyway, it was really nice of your parents to pitch in and help with the reopening."

"Come on, Zuko, you know why they're doing it," Mai snorted, making Zuko look away uncomfortably. It was true that Ukano and Michi Syun loved him, or rather, they loved the fact that he was the son of the multibillionaire Ozai Nakamura. Mai's parents were already a part of the Fire Nation elite, but in their daughter's union with Zuko they saw a chance to elevate themselves onto the top tier of the world's wealthiest and most influential people.

When a few years ago Mai had gone to her parents with the idea of borrowing some money to open a restaurant to run together with Zuko, Ukano had been more than happy to open his wallet and The Blue Spirit was born. Zuko had even been given the honor to name the restaurant, and he had nostalgically chosen the title of his favorite childhood Saturday morning cartoon based on the adventures of a folklore hero of the Earth Kingdom. They'd enjoyed some success with the restaurant, despite Ozai often calling Zuko away. Recently, however, his father's demands had finally caused both the restaurant and his relationship with Mai to fall into complete neglect, and they had amicably agreed to take a break from their relationship. Mai had closed the restaurant soon after, having trouble finding a chef of Zuko's caliber. Also, Ukano and Michi were suddenly no longer that interested in supporting their daughter now that Zuko was out of the picture.

"True," Zuko nodded. "I'm just glad that you agreed to take advantage of their renewed generosity."

"What can I say?" Mai shrugged. "I like money." She gave Zuko a sharp stare. "That doesn't mean it was an easy decision to let you slink back, Zuko. After all, I know you wouldn't have come back if you didn't need the restaurant for that stupid competition with Azula."

"Ah, come on, Mai," Zuko sighed. "You know that my dad is the harshest taskmaster there is. It wasn't my choice to leave to in the first place." Mai looked skeptical at those words. "I'm being serious, Mai. I was looking for any excuses to come back, I swear. When my father dropped the shocking news about this contest with Azula, I immediately thought that this could be a chance for us to… you know, reconnect," he added, blushing lightly.

"Sweet words," Mai smirked, giving him a light bump with her hips. "Let's see if they get you anywhere."

"You don't think that we needed a break?" Zuko asked seriously. "I wasn't a fan of how much we were arguing towards the end."

"Maybe," Mai shrugged. "I didn't like how you just decided that we were in need of a break, though. But that wasn't what I was the most annoyed with. I was seriously pissed off because it felt that the most important reason why we broke up was the whims of your father."

"I don't think he is specifically against our relationship. He always treated you well during the family gatherings, didn't he?" Zuko asked. Mai nodded reluctantly. "I think he's just very inconsiderate, but that's simply how he has always been." Zuko stopped to think for a moment. "That sounds like I'm defending my abusive father, doesn't it? Yeah, I shouldn't do that, that's fucked up."

"That's not exactly surprising with you, Zuko," Mai smirked, shaking her head. "But I'm intrigued that you've been given six months off the leash. Perhaps-" Mai was about to continue, but then seemingly decided against it. "Well, I suppose we'll see."

"You can't just stop there, Mai," Zuko protested.

"Watch me," Mai looked amused as Zuko was treated to rare laughter from his ex-girlfriend.

"Seriously, though," Zuko said earnestly, reaching out to briefly touch Mai's hand. "Thank you for giving me another chance, Mai."

"Don't mention it," Mai blushed lightly, turning to look away as she moved to retract her hand, but the contact lingered just enough to fill Zuko with feelings of powerful longing. "At least this is going to be an entertaining venture," she said. "It was a boring winter with little to do and parents constantly riding my ass about getting up from the sofa and doing something constructive. I suppose after you left and I had to close the restaurant, I was struck with some kind of curse of apathy. More so than usual, anyway. But with how chaos always seems to follow in your footsteps, I'm sure things will heat up again. Also, Azula is back in Caldera as well and nothing beats a healthy little competition between best friends, right?"

"Right," Zuko said, trying to withhold a frown. He hoped that Mai's old friendship with Azula wouldn't become a factor in this competition. Azula was so wicked and manipulative that it would be just like her to try and use her friendship with Mai to gain an advantage. Then again, Mai was clever and perceptive, and she probably would notice if Azula tried to manipulate her. Perhaps Zuko was worrying over nothing. "So, where do you think we should start?" Zuko asked instead. "There's plenty to do before we can open this place to the public."

"I don't intend to do any menial labor myself, of course," Mai yawned. "Tomorrow morning, I'll get in touch with a cleaning company and they'll take care of everything. Also, I should probably call in some handymen. Some repairs are long overdue, and the sign outside is barely hanging on. It would be a PR nightmare if it fell and squished someone during the grand reopening."

"That would be terrible," Zuko agreed. "Maybe we could get a brand-new sign? This one looks a little worn down and we need something bright and attractive to get the attention of potential customers." The Blue Spirit was on a street in a pedestrian zone that was technically a part of downtown Caldera, but this street skirted the edge of the downtown and saw slightly less traffic. Wedged in tightly between a beauty salon and a massage parlor that actually was a massage parlor (or at least that's what Zuko had been told), The Blue Spirit was a cozy little place that needed to put in an extra effort to stand out from the crowd.

"I will consider that," Mai remarked. "I trust I can count on you to whip the kitchen back into shape?"

"Sure," Zuko smiled. "Shall we go for our old distribution of roles? It seemed to work really well." Back when Zuko was working full time at the restaurant, he had taken care of everything that had to do with the kitchen, working as a head chef, ordering food, cleaning, prepping, the whole spiel. Mai had taken on the role of the manager, overseeing the front of the house, doing the bookkeeping, the hiring and firing, basically all the admin. They were both good at their respective roles, and as long as Zuko didn't try to correct Mai's bookkeeping or Mai didn't interfere with the menu, they were golden.

"It would be stupid to try and fix something that's not broken," Mai shrugged. "We will need to bring in more people, of course. I'll get busy with the hiring tomorrow. Now, I'm thinking we should only have a skeleton team for the relaunch and the first couple of weeks. Then, if everything looks solid, we can hire more people to plug the holes. Until then, we should go with all hands on the deck approach. If you need help with prep or cleaning, I'll wrangle the waitresses into doing it."

"Sounds good," Zuko nodded. Mai was not necessarily very business-oriented the way Azula was, but Mai could still be ruthlessly practical the way Zuko knew he could never be and that made him a bad manager. Thankfully, when the situation called for it, Mai could do the job more than adequately. "I'll still need a sous chef, though," Zuko said.

"Obviously, it's on my list," Mai said. "I'm not going to risk everything with you as the lone chef. Blame my past experience of seeing you dash off as soon as your father calls."

"That's not happening this time," Zuko protested unconvincingly. "Anyway, I'm glad we're getting another cook. We also need someone to work the dining room."

"If I get only one waitress, I might have to pitch in when things get busy, and I don't want to serve customers," Mai made a face. "I'm getting two waitresses. And I'm going to see if I can get Ty Lee to run the front of the house as the head waitress."

"Ty Lee?" Zuko asked, feeling surprised. "Isn't she still working at the Sea World? I thought she was in charge of the sealion show or something."

"She was, but apparently there was some kind of an accident and she might be looking for a new job," Mai explained. Zuko gave Mai a questioning stare, but his ex-girlfriend merely shrugged. "Sorry, the last we spoke, Ty Lee was in a terrible rush and had no time to explain. I'll give her a call later."

"That sounds weird," Zuko said. He didn't know what to think about Ty Lee as the head waitress. He supposed that she had what it took to charm the customers. Zuko only hoped that Ty Lee had become slightly more mature since their high school days.

"I'll let you know if I learn anything new," Mai replied. "Anyway, unless you're eager to get started in the kitchen, there's not much more we can do here today. Why don't we get out of here and get started properly tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds good," Zuko said. "Shall we go and get ourselves a few drinks?"

"Why not?" Mai shrugged. "Also, that was almost smooth coming from you," she added with a grin.

"Hey, I'm not completely hopeless," Zuko protested as they left the restaurant and crossed the street to enter a small and cozy cafeteria. They were soon seated and served with liquor infused coffee. With them both being awful at small talk, however, the conversation was stalling. "Listen, I… uh, had something I wanted to ask, even though it might be a bit premature," Zuko finally decided to say.

"I like it when you're being bold, Zuko," Mai chuckled. "Even when it ends in a disaster, at least it's entertaining to watch."

"Ugh, you're not making it easy," Zuko groaned. "Anyway, I was just thinking. I have the hotel booked until the end of the week and I was planning to do some apartment hunting later today. But I was also thinking… last time I was here, I didn't have to rent an apartment."

"Oh, wow," Mai blinked in surprise. "You're not wrong thinking that's a bit premature."

"Sorry," Zuko apologized quickly, blushing. "You're right. I'll just rent an apartment."

"Oh, I didn't say you should do that," Mai winked at him. "Play your cards right, Zuko, and maybe you'll be able to move out of the hotel without having to rent an apartment of your own…"

The 1st of April fell in on a drizzly Caldera Tuesday as Azula arrived at The Northern Lights a little more than an hour before the lunch service. Azula parked her rent Tesla in the restaurant's car park and got out, frowning as she noticed that the restaurant's windows were sinking in darkness. It almost seemed as if nobody was in, even if Katara had told Azula that they would be opening for lunch. Then again, Azula recognized Yue's car parked nearby, which meant that the restaurant was open after all.

Azula walked up to the entrance and tried the door handle. The doors opened and Azula stepped into the dimly lit dining hall. Her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness when suddenly she was startled by the sound of a small explosion very close by. Azula's heart leapt into her mouth as a series of explosions from firecrackers went off, filling her nostrils and the entire dining room with insufferable acrid odor and smoke.

"Surprise!" multiple voices yelled as the lights went back on and Azula was rushed and surrounded by excited looking restaurant staff.

"Agni, thank you for the heart attack," Azula groaned. "I thought I would find you hard at work fixing the restaurant, not wasting your time on something like this-"

"Oh, shut up, you," Azula was surprised at Yue's forcefulness as the grinning blonde pulled her in for a tight embrace. Suki was next to give her a fierce hug, but that was it when it came to hugging. Azula had long since admitted to herself that she secretly loved hugs from the very few people she actually liked, so she was a little disappointed when Katara limited herself to a warm handshake, same as the rest of the staff.

"We're so glad to see you at The Northern Lights once again," Katara spoke, smiling. "I hope you'll excuse us for throwing you a little surprise welcoming party," she said, leading Azula over to a table nearby and forcing her to sit down in front of a gorgeous looking key lime pie.

"That… actually looks lovely," Azula admitted. She had been unusually nervous this morning, just from thinking about meeting the beautiful ladies at The Northern Lights, and so she had decided to skip the breakfast, something that Azula's stomach now reminded her of as she stared at the delicious looking pie. "Is that from The Jasmine Dragon? It looks very professional," she remarked, watching Suki quickly cut the pie into generous slices.

"It's mine, though I'll admit that I'm not much of a pastry chef," Suki smiled. "I hope it's good. It should be, I had a couple of helpers with very strict quality standards."

"That's us," Yue spoke proudly, placing an arm around Katara's shoulders.

"Well, let's test it, then," Azula said, giving her welcome cake a try. "Oh, this is delicious," she had to admit a while later. "Good idea to balance the tartness of the filling with extra sugar in the crust," Azula added before taking another bite.

"I'm glad it meets with your approval," Suki said proudly, looking pleased.

"Delicious," Azula nodded as she quickly tore through her slice and then did something she allowed herself only rarely and that was to have a second helping of a dessert. Privately, she justified herself with the knowledge that it was going to be a very long day and she would need all the energy she could get. With their combined efforts, the pie was quickly reduced to only a few Graham cracker crumbs, but then Sokka hoovered them all up in his mouth before starting to lick the plate clean like the man-pig that he was.

"I know you're eager to get started," Katara smiled even as she was checking her phone. "But there's really no rush. We can just sit for a while longer and catch up, right?"

"You're acting awfully relaxed for someone with their livelihood on the line," Azula remarked, feeling surprised by Katara's attitude. She had felt way more urgent and determined on the phone and during the Zoom call.

"Well, the truth is that we're expecting another guest for this surprise welcoming party," Yue smiled. "And there she is," Yue added as the restaurant doors opened one more time. Azula turned her head to regard the new arrival, feeling surprised when she saw her half-sister standing there, looking very excited. Kiyi had clearly been pedaling on her bike very hard all the way here because her hair was all disheveled and her cheeks were red from the effort.

"Kiyi?" Azula asked in surprise as she got up from her seat. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Azula!" Kiyi yelled, running up to her sister and wrapping her arms around Azula's midriff. "I need to be back in twenty minutes, so I have… maybe ten minutes to hang out?"

"This really wasn't necessary, Kiyi. I was going to get in touch with you and Ursa soon, anyway," Azula chided gently. She then glared at the others. "Why did you let me have a second slice when you knew that Kiyi was coming? Now we don't have any pie for my sister! What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, Kiyi can have an entire pie to take with her if she wants to," Suki said. Kiyi looked like she was definitely interested in this idea. "We have… like seven pies in the fridge. They're almost just as good, but they didn't quite pass Katara and Yue's quality control. I'm going to fetch one of them for you, Kiyi," Suki said, disappearing towards the kitchen.

"Anyway, I think you can stop trying to squeeze the life out of me," Azula sighed, looking down at her kid sister who was still stuck to her like glue. "I'm guessing that Yue must have told me that I was coming to Caldera."

"Yeah," Kiyi gave Azula a reproachful stare, finally releasing her. "Because obviously you're telling me nothing."

"I was going to just show up unexpected one day. I wanted my arrival to be a surprise," Azula lied. Her tunnel vision had once again kicked in and she had seen nothing but her mission to fix the restaurant, and so she had completely forgotten about Ursa and Kiyi, and perhaps arranging something with them, but now her negligence was making her feel increasingly guilty.

In the end, Azula's guilt forced her to cave in as Kiyi managed to extract a promise to spend time with her and Ursa on Azula's first day off at the restaurant. However, it was very likely that she wouldn't have to fulfil this promise for a good while yet, because Azula didn't intend to take any days off until the restaurant was functioning properly. And with Kiyi eventually departing to return to her classes at school, Azula felt that it was finally time to get around to what she was here for in the first place.

"I know there's not much time left before we have to open for lunch, but I still want to do a quick inspection before we begin," Azula began, speaking in her best authoritative voice. "I'll want to have a brief chat with all of you. I want to know exactly where we stand. Everyone, please take your stations and I'll do a quick tour together with the owners. We'll start at the front of the house."

Suki, Toph and Jet walked off, leaving Azula with the two owners as well as Yue and Aang, the resident waitress and busboy. Azula was about to continue with her questioning, when Katara suddenly surprised her with a sneaky hug out of nowhere. "I'm so glad you're back," Katara whispered in Azula's ear before quickly releasing her.

"Umm, thank you," Azula managed, feeling very distracted by the hug. Still, as taken by surprise as she was, Azula couldn't help but notice that Katara had embraced her as soon as Jet had left the dining room, which was definitely an interesting observation.

"This isn't going to be a quick inspection if you'll keep doing that," Sokka sighed, glaring at his sister. "I'm not winning any points with Suki by not helping her finish prepping right now."

"By all means, go and help her, dingus," Azula snorted. "I didn't know we have fallen behind with the prep. I don't really need you both for the inspection, anyway."

"I bet you don't," Sokka rolled his eyes before retreating. Katara was blushing at the comment, while Yue was grinning like mad and Aang looked confused.

"Ahem… anyway," Azula cleared her throat. "So, how has it been working with customers these past few months?"

"Not as bad as it used to be, actually," Yue said. "Overall, we are microwaving less, and that means we also get less complaints about it. I would say maybe 30% less complaints?"

"I think on average we're returning like six to eight orders to the kitchen per service," Aang said.

"I'm glad there's been an improvement, but that's still pretty bad," Azula winced. "At least you seem to have kept the morale up." Yue nodded at that, smiling, but Azula noticed Aang frowning and averting his eyes. "What?" Azula asked, giving Aang a demanding stare.

"It's nothing, really," Aang replied evasively.

Katara sighed. "Aang is thinking about leaving, and I can't blame him," she explained. "Most of the nights, Yue can handle the dining room all by herself, and since Aang is earning less in tips, he can no longer survive on what I can pay him."

"Believe me, the last thing I want is to abandon all of my friends," Aang sighed, looking guilty. "And I know Katara and Yue are giving everything they can, but it's just… really tough."

"I've given him a small raise, but it's not enough to make up for the loss of tips," Katara said. "It really sucks, because Aang does a lot of extra work at the restaurant."

"And I'm sharing as much as I can from my tips, but there's only so much I can do," Yue spoke gloomily. "My landlord raised the rent again. Kya and I are barely hanging on and avoiding becoming homeless."

"It sounds absolutely dire," Azula said. This was worse than she had imagined. The guilt ripping her chest apart intensified painfully from the realization what these people were struggling with daily. "Alright, we need to address the money flow of the restaurant immediately before I do anything else," Azula decided. "Yue, Aang, don't worry, I'm here to help and I have a plan." Yue and Aang both looked relieved and reassured at that. "Let's head for the kitchen, Katara," Azula said then.

Sokka and Suki were hard at work in the kitchen, busy cutting enormous quantities of various vegetables for both the lunch and dinner services. Azula was pleased that the kitchen looked spotless and the staff had retained their usual good discipline in taking good care of their workplace and making sure that food was not prepared in unsanitary conditions. "I'm guessing Sokka is still the head chef," Azula whispered to Katara.

"Of course," Katara responded with a quiet sigh.

"I'm not bloody surprised," Azula shrugged. She spent a while observing the way Suki and Sokka worked. Suki's technique of julienning carrots and bell peppers was not perfect, but still quite good. Watching Sokka chop onions, however, made Azula cry, and not because of the released enzymes and sulfenic acid getting into her eyes. It was Sokka's knife technique that made Azula's eyes tear up a little. He was trying to chop the onion very finely while cutting it against the grain, and doing so with pondering slowness.

"Ready for inspection, boss-lady," Suki looked up from the cutting board and grinned at her. "You'll find everything shipshape in here, and not just because we knew you were coming."

"I'll have a look all the same," Azula said, doing a cursory inspection of the ovens and other kitchen equipment, finding all the surfaces clean on a satisfactory level. She then moved on to inspect the fridges, discovering that Suki had maintained her good practice of clear labeling of the freezer's contents. "Fair enough, it seems like I have nothing to criticize here," Azula said. "Other than the obscene amounts of frozen food, obviously. I'm going to guess that the basement freezers are also stuffed with frozen lasagna, mac and cheese, crab cakes, risottos and everything you've given up on cooking fresh."

"Guilty as charged," Sokka chuckled. "It's all still tasty and I'll continue to claim that."

"Of course, you will," Azula snorted. "Damn it, I forgot to grab a menu from the dining room," Azula snapped her fingers. "Katara, could you-"

"One menu, coming right up," Katara dashed off, returning moments later with a menu that had grown from one page when Azula had left in September, to three pages now.

"Well, this is an abomination," Azula commented as she started to browse through the menu, spotting several items that had no place on it and ought to be removed as quickly as possible. "Cod poached in milk?" Azula wondered, feeling mildly disgusted by the mere concept of the dish. "That sounds revolting."

"It's Auntie Ashuna's favorite," Katara explained… or at least, she seemed to believe that her words formed a logical explanation, which to Azula it clearly didn't.

"Well, I'm happy for Auntie Ashuna," Azula rolled her eyes. "How popular is that dish, anyway?" Katara and Sokka exchanged guilty stares, while Suki just looked mildly infuriated with them both. "Alright, let me rephrase it," Azula sighed. "Has anyone other than Auntie Ashuna ever ordered it?"

"I don't think so," Sokka admitted.

"Not true," Katara argued. "Someone else once ordered it, but then they changed their order at the last moment."

"You two are insane," Azula sighed. "This is no way to run a restaurant. It's almost like the restaurant is running you!" She returned to studying the menu. "Agni, I can't believe it, you snuck the fucking lobster roll back on the menu," Azula glared at Sokka. "It's not fresh by any miracle, is it?"

"Of course not," Suki replied. "Honestly, though, people actually order it quite a lot. I just don't think many of them come back for more. There's definitely a customer interest in a lobster roll, but I suspect they also expect it to be good?"

"How unreasonable of them," Azula rolled her eyes. "You might be onto something with the idea of a fresh lobster roll, Suki. I'll give it a thought." Suki's smiled broadened and she looked rather pleased with herself. "Let me guess, the canned lobster roll is also one of Auntie Ashuna's favorites."

"It is, yes," Katara admitted.

"I see," Azula sighed, heading out of the kitchen, with Katara trailing her. "I think I'll probably have to deal with this Auntie Ashuna myself. She sounds like a menace." Katara looked a little horrified at that, but she somehow managed to remain silent as they entered the walk-in freezer for a brief inspection, even if Jet wasn't someone that Azula needed to hear from. She already knew what the problem with Jet was, and Azula had a plan for how she was going to deal with that issue.

"It feels very drafty in here," Azula remarked upon the state of the freezers, which were considerably emptier than during her first visit.

"Well, while the menu has grown, it's still way smaller than it was back before your first visit," Katara said. "But also, because we've been struggling for money so much, Jet has to do a lot of last moment supply runs."

"And I bet those cost extra," Azula said. Katara nodded mutely. "Don't fret," Azula tried an encouraging smile, briefly touching Katara's hand. "I have an idea. Well, actually I have a lot of ideas already. And I also know where we need to start. The restaurant is going to be fine, Katara. You're going to be fine."

"I knew that from the moment we had our Zoom call," Katara smiled nervously. "Still, thanks for saying it."

"Don't mention it," Azula smiled back. "Anyway, let's go and have a chat with Toph. I want to see if there are any changes to how the microwaving station is being run."

After Azula and Katara had climbed down the stairs leading to the dark basement, Azula discovered that not much had changed regarding the restaurant's microwaving practices, with the sole exception that the whole operation was downscaled considerably. Instead of ten microwaves, there were now only three, and Toph was standing in front of them, assuming a defensive posture.

"You are not touching my babies!" Toph threatened as Azula and Katara approached.

"You can cut the dramatics, I'm not going to do anything to your microwaves," Azula sighed. "First of all, microwaves have their place at a restaurant, even if it shouldn't play as prominent role as here. Also, there's no reason why I would dramatically destroy the microwaves by lobbing explosives at them the way my father did. And I'm definitely not hauling them upstairs all by myself. So, you can relax, the microwaves are not in any danger."

"Well," Toph relented slightly, but she still remained suspicious. "I don't believe you'd just be okay with us microwaving shit after being so against it the whole time."

"Obviously, at some point, we will be stopping with this whole approach of microwaving most items on the menu," Azula replied. "But there are other issues I plan to address first. Still, you should probably start thinking about other tasks you could perform at the restaurant. And Katara, you're still the manager. This is also a task for you. It's up to you to find something else for Toph to do around here."

"Or else what?" Toph challenged. "You're going to fire me?" Katara looked horrified from the mere thought, and it made Azula sigh inwardly. She loved Katara's softness in their interactions, but when it came to Katara's managerial skills, it was definitely a big downside.

"I'm giving you both plenty of time to figure it out, so that we don't have to let anyone go," Azula said. "In the future, running the microwaves will not be a full-time job. I think it's fair to give you both an early warning about this."

"It is very fair," Katara said quickly, trying to cut Toph's protestations off at the pass. "I know that the way we've been operating is all wrong."

"Says you," Toph snorted. "Anyway, good luck with finding another job for me, Katara. Oh, here's an idea. Maybe I could be the world's first blind waitress."

"Maybe not a waitress, but I know you won't let your disability stand in your way, Toph," Katara said. "You never have. You've just become too comfortable sitting down here in the basement and shoving frozen lasagna into a microwave."

"Well, thank you for the inspiring pep talk, but I have to get ready to do some actual work now," Toph said curtly. Azula normally wouldn't have stood for someone shutting down conversation like that, especially when Toph was expected to listen and take orders from her. Still, Azula was willing to let it slide for now. Her battle today wasn't with Toph.

"I hope you know that I will not drop this," Azula said as together with Katara they left the basement.

"I understand," Katara nodded. She was looking very sad, and Azula was overcome with a powerful urge to reach out and take Katara's hand. It was only at the very last moment that her brain kicked back into gear, warning her about being too obvious with her affections. "It's almost time to open for lunch," Katara said as they stood close at the top of the stairs. "Do you still want to audit me as well?"

"I think I'll give you a pass for now," Azula smirked. "However, I would like to use your office to conduct a… let's just call it an employee performance review."

"Really?" Katara's blue eyes widened in surprise. "And who would you like to interview?"

"The one person that has been evading me thus far," Azula said, narrowing her eyes. "Katara, I need you to track down Jet. It is imperative that I speak to him right away."