Chapter 34 – slippery pete swims again

At the end of yet another grueling but rewarding week of hard work, Katara was very much looking forward to the return to the forest cottage. Their previous visit to the cabin had been all sorts of spicy fun, and Katara was hoping for at least a repeat of that experience, or even better, an escalation of sexy shenanigans. A slow Sunday evening allowed them to close the restaurant a few minutes past eight, and then Katara, Yue and Suki piled into Azula's already pre-loaded car and off they went, making the slightly less than an hour drive to the forest cabin.

Whenever Katara did something only with her besties Suki and Yue, she always felt a little guilty for excluding the others, but on this occasion, it helped to know that the rest of their friends had exciting plans of their own. Toph and Aang had left the restaurant carrying a stupid amount of leftover food and wine that wouldn't otherwise survive until Tuesday. Toph planned to go back to the amusement park on Monday because she had become addicted to the rush of the rides, and Aang wanted to accompany his best friend. Aang had talked about wanting to complete the rollercoaster ride without throwing up, but Azula speculated that Aang actually had an eye on the mascot of the amusement park, an anthropomorphic lady fox. Katara hoped that Aang wasn't in for a disappointment of discovering that just because the costume itself was that of a female fox, it didn't mean that it was worn by a cute girl and not by a sour-smelling neckbeard boiling in his own sweat.

Sokka had also made plans for Monday, which included taking Ty Lee and Kya on a wildlife spotting boat tour departing from the marina of Caldera City and making a wide circle around some of the islands of the archipelago before returning three hours later. Katara had gone on this same tour some six years ago with her dad, and she had loved it. The boat was huge and very comfortable, having three decks and all the possible amenities, including a well-stocked cafeteria serving delicious home-made ice cream and lemonade. The tickets cost a pretty penny, but after a couple of profitable months for the restaurant, they were finally in a spot where they didn't have to count every cent. It was an experience that almost felt surreal to Katara after spending so many years in near poverty.

Ty Lee was very much onboard with this wildlife spotting tour because she was hoping to reconnect with her sealion friend, Slippery Pete, who had returned to his natural environment, hopefully thriving there. Katara wasn't so sure if Pete would recognize Ty Lee several months later, but Ty Lee was a very memorable person, so perhaps it wasn't so unlikely.

Katara was especially glad that Ty Lee got to do something that was surely going to cheer her up after she had been down throughout most of the week. Ty Lee wasn't happy with the current vibe at The Blue Spirit restaurant, and she was desperately trying to think of ways to fix the drama tearing her workplace apart. The lobster roll scandal had failed to break up Zuko and Jet. Zuko might have been insanely angry at Jet for the whole scheme of supplying cheap low-quality lobster, but he was also feeling guilty and simping hard after having knocked Jet out in a fit of anger. So, the bromance was still going strong, and it was splitting the restaurant right down the middle.

Since Ty Lee loved to chaotically rant about everything that went on at work, she had also told them that lately, Mai had stopped showing up for work, only coming in twice a week to make sure that Ruon Jian was staying on top of the admin work. Ty Lee had come back to work at The Blue Spirit at Mai's invitation, and she probably wouldn't have done that if she didn't think that she would be working alongside her best friend, but now Mai was largely absent and as a result, Ty Lee was having way less fun at work. Ty Lee was trying to think of some way to snap Mai out of her funk, but so far, nothing she tried had produced meaningful results.

Lastly, Kya also seemed happy to let her mother go and get up to some wild shenanigans on her day off work. Of course, Kya had also been plied with plenty of treats and gifts to ensure her compliance, but perhaps it hadn't even been necessary because she seemed very keen on staying with her dad and going on this wildlife spotting tour with Sokka and Ty Lee. While Yue was definitely spoiling her daughter whenever she could, Kya was still growing up to be fairly independent and self-sufficient, and it was rare for her to throw temper tantrums whenever her mom wasn't around to coddle her.

Kya had also enjoyed the whole adventure with the supposed gypsy curse, because it had allowed her to do a sleepover with Kiyi, who was quickly becoming something of a hero, role-model and as good as an adopted older sister for the little girl. Kya's obsession with Kiyi had also created an issue where Kya became a terrible little gremlin to her other babysitters because she tried to make a point that nobody else could look after her as well as Kiyi could. This behavior was giving Yue a mild headache as she was quickly losing more and more backup babysitters. Yue had tried to explain to Kya that Kiyi couldn't physically handle the load of being her only babysitter, but the message hadn't sunken in yet. Right now, the solution was for Yue to occasionally bring Kya with her to work where the staff collectively looked after her as much as they could.

Still, all these concerns could be set aside for a day and a half as the four ladies finally arrived at the forest cottage and began to settle in. Azula once again hijacked the posh bedroom with in-suite bathroom, but the others were happy to let Azula have it, because she had been the one to secure this little getaway. Yue and Suki once again claimed the second largest room with twin beds, and Katara happily settled in the single room between the two larger bedrooms.

The day had been long, and with all the traveling and settling in, by the time they all came back downstairs to crack open a bottle of wine and make themselves comfortable, it was already half past ten in the evening and they all appeared a little exhausted and sleepy. It was quickly agreed that the best way to round off the evening was by watching a movie, and as it tended to happen, Azula and Suki ended up overwhelming Katara and Yue with their insistence on watching yet another horror flick. Admittedly, Katara allowed herself to be easily convinced because she saw strategic opportunities in clinging to Azula following jump-scares and some of the more gory and disturbing kills, and Yue probably voiced her assent with similar ideas in mind.

In the end, Katara had to admit that she actually rather enjoyed 'Abigail', as some of its themes and the ending had an almost wholesome vibe to it. Also, she had seized on several opportunities to cling to Azula, which had made the viewing experience even better. Katara had noticed that with Yue sitting between Azula and Suki, she had sometimes clung to Azula and sometimes to Suki, which was certainly an interesting observation.

"Well, I rather enjoyed that," Yue was the first to speak up as the credits rolled. "Although, it sucks that Sammy died. I really hoped that she would make it."

"She had a pretty cool death, though," Suki pointed out. "And she got to kill some idiot as a vampire, that's pretty badass."

"True," Azula nodded. "Still, you were a little naïve to hope that Sammy would make it. Characters like her always die in these movies."

"I think Yue just liked her because she looks a bit like Kathryn Newton," Katara laughed.

"You might be onto something there, Kat," Yue admitted. "And it's a nice compliment to say that I look like Kathryn Newton because she's gorgeous."

"She really is," Azula nodded, smiling.

"I don't know who would disagree with that," Suki shrugged. "Although, it would be a hard choice between her and Melissa Barrera. I just wish Melissa would have some badass piercings, that would make her insanely hot."

"You and your piercings," Katara laughed. "You think everyone needs them in order to be hot."

"I definitely don't think that," Suki protested. For some reason, she seemed to be focusing her stare on Yue at that moment. "But I'll admit that I am considering a new piercing."

"Oh, that's exciting," Yue looked very intrigued. "What were you thinking about?"

"Tongue," Suki replied. "But I'm a little worried about it," she admitted. "What if a piece of metal in my mouth messes up with my ability to properly taste the food? So, I'm still thinking about it."

"That's a legitimate concern," Azula remarked. Katara expected Azula to just outright tell Suki that it was a bad idea, but slightly surprisingly, Azula refrained from making any further comments about it. "How many piercings do you have already?" she instead asked, looking curious.

"Oh, this is getting interesting," Suki grinned. "See if you can guess it."

"Well, I don't want to just blindly guess, not when I can actually count," Azula smirked. "Although it's hard to tell with ears, you could have seven or eight holes in there."

"I'll make it easy for you," Suki said. "I haven't removed any of my piercings."

"Alright, then," Azula said, rubbing her hands as she rose from the sofa to approach Suki. "Okay, that's three in your left ear and two in the right, that's five already. Two in left eyebrow, one in the right, we're up to eight. Nose and a couple in lower lip, that's eleven."

"Doing well so far," Katara cheered. "But these are the easy ones."

"Oh, we're getting there," Azula smirked. "I've seen your navel piercing before, so that's twelve. And with the nipple studs, I think we're up to fourteen."

"Wait, how do you know about Suki's nipple piercings?" Yue asked, frowning lightly.

"Well…" Azula hesitated. "When you two were convinced that the restaurant's basement was haunted, Suki and I went to investigate, and while there, we just started making out. And when I was feeling Suki up, I could easily tell that she has nipple studs." Azula looked over at Suki. "Anyway, did I guess it right? You have fourteen piercings?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Suki drawled mysteriously. "What if I have a pierced clit, or labia?"

"I guess Azula didn't find that out during your basement making out session," Katara remarked.

"No, unlike me, she was really shy about stuffing her hand down my panties," Suki laughed. "Anyway, that was a fun little distraction, until we were pussy blocked by our resident giant parrot."

"Sucks for you, I guess," Yue replied, sounding a little tense.

"It did suck for me, especially considering that both you and Kat have already hooked up with Azula," Suki replied, making Katara and Yue exchange slightly guilty stares. "So, I was actually going to let Azula do a very thorough inspection of my piercings, upstairs, in her bedroom. What do you say, Zula?"

Azula went very red in the face at this unexpected proposition, and instead of responding to Suki, she instead turned to look at both Katara and Yue, appearing very uncertain. On her part, Katara was feeling more conflicted than ever. Everything within her screamed to protest against this, and at that moment, she was very mad at Suki for coming up with this idea after Katara had made all these plans for her own move on Azula. And yet, at the same time, Katara knew that she couldn't deny Suki this opportunity without risking damage to their friendship. Their agreement about casual hooking up among their little group was still in place, and Katara protesting about it now after she had already hooked up with Azula once would make her look like a selfish, petulant and altogether, a bad friend.

"Go for it," Katara ground out, managing a very forced smile. "You two deserve to have some fun, too."

"Yes," Yue nodded, looking very stiff and tense. "It is only fair," Yue forced herself to add, even though she looked like she very much didn't care about fairness at that particular moment.

"Very well," Azula said with an odd look on her face, almost as if she had expected or hoped for Katara or Yue to put up a fight. "Let's go, Suki," she said, accepting the hand offered to her. "Also, you better have a piercing down there or else I might sue you for deceptive advertising," Azula spoke as the pair walked up the stairs, leaving Katara sitting with a very straight back and fighting herself against glaring daggers at the retreating pair.

As soon as the doors to Azula's bedroom upstairs fell shut, Katara bolted up from the sofa and began pacing back and forth. As for Yue, she left the living room without saying a word, returning shortly afterwards with a bottle of scotch in her hand. Yue quickly opened the bottle and poured a generous amount of the amber liquid in their wine glasses, pressing one of them into Katara's hand. The pair exchanged a look full of understanding before swallowing the contents of their glasses and wincing as the whiskey burned in their throats.

"So, what are we supposed to do while they're-" Katara exclaimed irately, cutting herself off because she didn't want to finish the sentence.

"I don't know," Yue shrugged helplessly as she sat back down. "I can't even think about sleeping right now. I suppose if we drunk all this whiskey, we might knock ourselves out."

"I guess that's one option," Katara fumed. "At least then we wouldn't be able to overhear anything."

"I suppose we could watch another movie," Yue suggested. "That could also help drown out any noises. Although, I can't see how I could possibly focus on a movie just now."

Katara nodded absentmindedly, another idea entering her mind as she glanced at Yue. Yue was her ex, her first real girlfriend and someone she considered her best friend alongside Suki. Katara knew that she would always love Yue for as long as her heart kept beating. But now, because of this rivalry over Azula, Katara couldn't deny that things felt a little tense between them, and that simply didn't sit right with Katara. Perhaps, through a more drastic solution, they could get rid of these tensions between them.

"Or, alternatively…" Katara spoke in a husky voice as she reached out to play with a lock of Yue's hair. "We could just follow their example…"

Yue's cheeks reddened instantly, making her appear even more desirable. "Really?" she sounded surprised. "I wasn't sure you'd be open to that…"

"Why not?" Katara shrugged. "It's not like we're looking to get back together. We're both seeking a pleasant distraction for one night, yes? Also, when we made this arrangement of casually hooking up with Azula, I figured that also makes it okay for us to hook up with each other."

"A fair point," Yue acknowledged. "So, a hookup?" she gave Katara a very intense stare. "You don't think it might be a bad idea?"

"I don't see the harm in it," Katara said, not that she was in the mood to seriously consider all the potential ramifications of hooking up with Yue. Right now, she was mostly interested in finding a powerful distraction, one that a strikingly beautiful woman like Yue could definitely provide.

"So, you're saying that I'm overthinking it," Yue smirked as Katara was already leaning in.

"You definitely are," Katara whispered before claiming Yue's lips in a searing kiss that lasted a good while and left them both panting upon separation. "Wow," was all Katara could say. "It's all starting to come back to me now."

"No kidding," Yue gasped. "I had forgotten what an amazing kisser you are." Hearing that, Katara moved to straddle Yue, kissing her again and again, hands roaming all over each other's bodies and tugging at their clothes.

"Right back at you," Katara exhaled, leaning in to nibble on Yue's earlobe while her hands slipped under Yue's top. "I'm really getting in the mood very quickly…"

"Spirits, me too," Yue replied with equal passion in her voice. "Let's go upstairs."

"Agreed," Katara smiled. "Your room, though. I don't know if I want to be next doors to Azula and Suki."

"I was actually going to suggest your room," Yue replied with a wicked grin on her lips. "I'm pretty sure we're going to be louder than those two… at least I intend to make sure that you're very loud, Kat."

"Challenge accepted," Katara grinned. "My room it is."

"And there we go," Zuko said proudly, sitting down on the sofa in Jet's living room and staring at the repaired wall they had been working on for the past week. Even if Zuko could have easily afforded to pay someone to carry out the repairs, he considered it a matter of honor to handle it himself. After all, the damage caused was largely his fault, with some contributions from his deranged sister. But Azula hadn't actually told him to rip the wiring out of the wall in a way that would completely destroy all the plaster and tear apart the wallpaper.

"As good as new, right?" Jet chuckled, sitting next to Zuko and offering him one of the beers he had just cracked open.

"Well… sort of," Zuko laughed uneasily. He wasn't really all that skilled with DIY as his father had never considered those skills important for Zuko to learn. Zuko had picked up a few things here and there while living apart from his father, but he still wasn't very good with DIY, and sadly wall repairs was one of the things he clearly wasn't great with. The reason why the fixed wall didn't look even more sad and depressing was mostly down to Jet actually having some talent as a handyman, a talent that he displayed very rarely due to extreme laziness.

"I appreciate the effort," Jet said more seriously. "After all, I am to blame for all those laced drugs that caused us both to flip out."

"Think nothing of it," Zuko spoke hastily. "Water under the bridge." He still couldn't bring himself to tell Jet the truth of what had happened that night. It was a little odd that Jet hadn't asked why the lobster roll had been hastily taken off the menu the following day, but perhaps all that beating Jet took, had dislodged some of his memories. But even more likely was that Jet was well aware that the whole lobster roll mess was his fault to begin with, and he simply felt relieved that Zuko was not bringing it up and was willing to let the matter die.

"Well, I look at this as a proof that we work well together," Jet winked, nodding at the slightly shoddy looking wall.

"Maybe," Zuko conceded. "But I would still insist that we move the bookshelf over there to cover most of that mess."

"Sure," Jet shrugged, not looking terribly interested. "But we don't have to do that now. After so much heavy work, I think we deserve to chill and relax."

"Do we?" Zuko frowned. "Last time you said we should chill and relax, for some reason it involved playing Elden Ring, and I almost punched a hole in the other wall."

"Well, I can't help it if you suck at gaming," Jet laughed. "You can always watch me play and take notes to get good."

"Yeah, that sounds riveting," Zuko rolled his eyes. "How about we do something else instead?"

"Hmm," Jet mused, stuck thinking intensely. "We could watch the Miss Fire Nation beauty pageant, get drunk and play Fuck Marry Kill with the contestants," Jet eventually suggested.

Zuko considered the offer for a while. "Alright, that actually sounds fun," he admitted, getting up from his seat. "I'll go fix us some snacks first, though," Zuko said, heading for the kitchen. On his way, Zuko felt the phone in the back pocket of his jeans vibrating. Dreading another frightening social media notification, Zuko quickly checked his phone, letting out a relieved breath upon seeing that it was merely a notification of 'this day in your history' from the cloud storage of his phone's photo gallery.

Curious, Zuko unlocked his phone and checked out the photo that had been randomly selected for him. It was a photo of Mai, taken exactly one year ago at an executive picnic hosted by his father. Mai was wearing a sumptuous black dress and matching fingerless gloves, with black veil covering her face. Mai was wearing only a few subtle goth accessories, probably because she knew that Ozai disapproved of her usual style of clothing. The expression on Mai's face was that of a faint smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Lost in the memories, Zuko started browsing the photo gallery with other shots from the event. He had obviously focused on taking pictures of his girlfriend because she looked spectacular, but there were shots with the rest of his family, both Ozai and Azula. His sister looked as irritatingly perfect as always, dragging her toy boyfriend around like a lost puppy on a leash. The vacant look in Chan's eyes really made the comparison with a lost puppy work perfectly.

As Zuko looked through these photos, he suddenly realized something that hadn't occurred to him before, and it was how Mai's expression always seemed to be the same, that almost smile. Zuko had always interpreted it as an expression of boredom, but now he was no longer so sure. Now, Mai's expression seemed to him almost indulgent or tensely patient, as if she didn't want to be there, but had still showed up, perhaps because she knew how important it was for Zuko?

This realization bothered Zuko more than he had expected it to, and so he began to browse photo galleries of more past events that Ozai had insisted he brought his girlfriend to. Strikingly, Mai always wore the same patient expression of silent suffering. Zuko didn't like how this thought of Mai making all these sacrifices, regardless how big or small, made him feel. It probably had something to do with how it had never occurred to Zuko to indulge Mai in something that he himself didn't want to do. He had always made excuses, claiming to be busy when Mai asked if they could have dinner with her family. He had also tried to stand in the way of Mai's friendship with Ty Lee and Azula, mostly because he was paranoid about his sister messing with his relationship, but he had never truly considered that Ty Lee and Azula were Mai's only real friends. It was truly starting to feel like Zuko had been the one doing all the taking, while Mai had been doing most of the giving in their relationship.

And what if their co-ownership of The Blue Spirit was yet again Mai indulging Zuko's whims, and not something that she actually had much passion for herself? She had pleaded with her parents to give her this opportunity to run the place with Zuko, and what had he done in return? He'd broken up with Mai and made the working conditions at the restaurant so toxic that Mai no longer wanted to be there, even if the place was technically owned by her parents. Zuko really didn't like how breaking everything down to the brass tacks made him look, and it was starting to fill him with overpowering feelings of guilt over how he had left things off with Mai. Perhaps he could still do something to-

"How are those snacks coming along, Zuko?" Jet yelled from the living room, interrupting Zuko's trail of thought. "The pageant is about to begin and you're going to miss stuff! Also, one of these bitches is hilariously cross-eyed, you've got to see it!"

"I'm coming!" Zuko shouted, pocketing his phone and rushing to get the snacks, for the moment putting his guilt over the breakup with Mai aside.

"Damn," Katara muttered, still breathing hard as she disentangled from the tangle of limbs that she and Yue had ended up in. "That brought back some memories, didn't it?" she smiled weakly, settling more comfortably into the pillows and looking down at Yue.

"Sure did," Yue managed, still panting quite hard. She reached out to run her hand along Katara's side, glistening with perspiration. "Makes me wonder why we ever broke up in the first place," Yue said.

"Is that a serious question?" Katara wondered.

"No," Yue shook her head. She then paused for a moment. "Well… maybe," she admitted. "I mean, we've always been in agreement about blaming the distance, right?" Katara nodded at that. "Just makes me think, if the distance hadn't been an issue, would we have stayed together?" Yue asked.

"It's impossible to say," Katara sighed. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, but… probably not," Yue said thoughtfully. Katara felt a little surprised by Yue's words, fixing her with a firm stare as a way to demand an explanation. "I feel like we both want to play a similar role in a relationship. I don't want to generalize or force us into some boring stereotypes, but I think we both have a bit of a nurturing streak when it comes to relationships, don't we?"

"I suppose," Katara admitted. "So, you're saying that we're just too similar to be together?"

Yue once again fell silent for a while, busy thinking. "Not necessarily," she said eventually. "I think we work together really well. I had that feeling of being able to finish your sentences when we were dating. It was very harmonious. But at the same time, I almost feel like… maybe we're better as best friends?"

"Best friends sounds great to me," Katara smiled. Her smile then faded, giving way to a more serious expression. "And as best friends, maybe it's time we addressed the elephant in the room. Or, the elephant in the adjacent room, to be more precise."

"Oh," Yue's expression clouded slightly. "You mean Azula and Suki."

"Among other things," Katara sighed. She was relieved that at least the distraction had worked perfectly. There had been some very passionate sounds coming from Azula's room just as Yue and Katara had started to get busy with their foreplay, but fortunately, by the time the two Water Tribe girls had worn themselves out, Azula and Suki had also fallen silent.

"Not going to lie that my feelings are a little bit hurt," Yue admitted.

"Likewise," Katara agreed. "And it doesn't feel right, because in my mind, I know that Suki deserves to hook up with Azula, and I would be a bad friend to deny it to her. But at the same time… I'm sorry, but I can't deny having feelings for Azula. And I know that technically makes us rivals, because-"

"Not necessarily," Yue interrupted her, making Katara look at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

"It's… confusing and hard to explain," Yue sighed. "I'm not sure why my feelings are hurt, whether it was because Azula hooked up with Suki, or because Suki hooked up with Azula."

"I'm not sure I under-" Katara began, stopping when her brain caught up with her tongue. "Wait, I do see what you mean. How did I not realize it earlier? We've all seen you and Suki becoming closer over the past month."

"Well, it's not quite like that," Yue blushed heatedly. "Like… nothing sexy has happened. But Kya and I have come to rely on Suki a lot, and we both love it."

"Have you talked about it with Suki?" Katara asked.

"Goodness, no!" Yue exclaimed. "I'm honestly afraid to." Katara gave her best friend a sympathetic stare, waiting for her to explain further. "I just think Suki might find it weird to think about something more than friendship after we've already been friends for so long. And also, we're both Sokka's exes, that also would make it very strange, wouldn't it?"

"Not for this group of friends, I would say," Katara chuckled. "Anyway, I think you're worried over nothing, Yue. I've seen the way Suki sometimes looks at you, especially as of late. I think she would be open to something more. Also, Kya obviously loves her, so that's another point in her book."

"Are you sure that you're not encouraging me just because it would leave you with an uncontested path to Azula?" Yue asked, giving Katara a skeptical side-eye.

Katara blushed hotly at the insinuation. "Alright, fair enough, I'm not exactly unbiased in this situation," she was forced to admit. "But I guess you'll have to make a decision soon, because those who wait too long can sometimes end up with nothing and I really don't want that to happen to you, Yue. You and Kya deserve the world."

"Thanks, Kat," Yue smiled, pulling Katara closer for a soft kiss on the lips. "And I'll be completely honest with you. I feel like… my heart might be leaning towards Suki, but one of the reasons why I haven't said anything is that I'm just not completely sure what my feelings for Azula are. I don't want to give Suki the wrong idea because what if Azula reconsiders about giving us a chance? I don't know if I could say no to that, and then I would end up having deceived Suki, you know?"

"Alright, I get that, babe," Katara said, snuggling closer against Yue's side. "It's like… there are almost too many beautiful women in our lives, right? What a headache!"

"Yes, a real third world problem to have," Yue chuckled. "Anyway, regardless of how it all pans out, I want to have your back throughout it all, Kat."

"Same," Katara replied. "Which is a funny way to put it, considering that I just had all of you, not just your back." The pair burst into laughter at that, not caring whether the ruckus they were making woke up their friends in the adjacent room or not.

Shortly after the large cruise boat had departed from the Caldera City marina, Sokka could already tell that the wildlife spotting tour was going to be a success, judging from the broad smiles on the faces of both Kya and Ty Lee. The boat was amazing and the tickets were well worth their price, because even with a swarm of summer tourists descending on Caldera City, there was plenty of room on the boat for everyone. There was even a cozy kid's corner on the upper deck that had immediately captured Kya's attention. Most of the kids had been drawn to the foam ball pit, but Kya had gone straight for the massive sorting tree, working to solve it together with another girl and making a new friend, while Sokka and Ty Lee sat at a nearby table, sharing a large milkshake.

Sokka supposed that some more judgmental people would probably condemn Yue for abandoning her daughter on a rare day off from work in order to indulge in all sorts of depraved orgies with the other girls, claiming that such behavior was unbecoming of a responsible mother. Sokka had never harbored such thoughts because he knew that Yue worked as hard as anyone at The Northern Lights, not counting the hours and regularly pulling six days a week. If Yue's idea of fun was to get ravished by equally horny sapphics, then she had certainly earned her right to do so. It wasn't as if Sokka had anything to complain about, since this left him to spend the day with two of his currently favorite people in the world.

Grinning, Sokka reached out to gently swipe his thumb across Ty Lee's chin, wiping away stray droplets of the milkshake. The pure, undiluted affection in Ty Lee's large grey eyes as she stared at him never failed to send Sokka's heart racing. At first, Sokka had thought how Ty Lee wasn't the kind of girl that he usually went for, but as time passed, Sokka began to realize that he had only felt that because of a very surface read of his girlfriend. As Azula had told him on several occasions, despite the fact that Ty Lee had some wacky beliefs and often said outlandish and silly things, she wasn't at all stupid. The problem was that Ty Lee had an incredibly short attention span and it took a huge effort to keep her focused on one thing at a time.

Still, Sokka saw this as an interesting problem to tackle, and he already felt like he was making progress by having found some audiobooks by expert naturalists that had captured Ty Lee's interest. Ty Lee absolutely adored animals and absorbed facts about the natural world like a sponge. It was both amusing and endearing to cuddle up with his girlfriend at the end of a long day and listen to her ramble about all the fascinating animal facts she had learned recently.

As Sokka enjoyed the milkshake while lazily talking with his girlfriend, Kya and her new friend had finished playing with the sorting tree and now the other girl was trying to teach Kya how to handle the hula hoop. Sokka smiled at his daughter's dogged determination to get it right, even though Kya was just a little too small to get a grip on the hula hoop. As Kya and her friend were playing with the hoops, some Earth Kingdom tourist started to yell at her kid who was going crazy in the foam ball pit. The pouting kid was on the way back to his parent, clearly not looking where he was going and Kya ended up striking him on the upper arm with the hula hoop. The contact was very light, but the older looking boy immediately took an exception to it and shoved Kya. Sokka felt blood rushing to his temples as he saw his daughter landing on the soft mat, unhurt, but looking shocked.

Sokka was still getting up from his seat to interfere when Ty Lee was already next to the bratty boy, moving as fast as lightning. She got in the kid's way, stopping him from leaving. "Apologize for pushing her," Ty Lee insisted, pointing at the slightly confused and disoriented looking Kya.

The boy looked a little scared, but said nothing, stubbornly refused to apologize. By now, his mother was on her way, screeching at Ty Lee. "Your little brat struck my boy first, I saw everything!" the Earth Kingdom Karen cried. "My sweet little pumpkin has nothing to apologize for! If you only looked after your own daughter-"

At this point, the other woman put her hands on Ty Lee in order to push her away from the boy, which proved to be a very bad move. Sokka couldn't quite tell what Ty Lee was doing because she was moving so fast, grasping the woman's arm and twisting it behind her back. Sokka could see Ty Lee whispering something in the other woman's ear from behind, and he could only guess at what was being said from the way Karen's eyes widened in fear. Ty Lee must have done something else as well because the other woman cried out in pain before Ty Lee finally released her. The Earth Kingdom Karen instantly muttered a quick apology at Kya before grabbing her kid and storming off in a hurry.

Sokka wasn't quite sure what to make of that exchange, but his first concern was with his daughter. Sokka walked up to Kya and picked her up, giving her a comforting hug. "You okay, poppet?" he asked, seeing that the girl looked a little upset.

"I don't understand why they were so mean," Kya sniffled.

"Don't think about them, sweetie," Sokka tried to comfort his daughter. "Ty Lee and I will always be looking out for you. Did you see how Ty chased them off?"

"Yes!" Kya cheered up immediately. "That was awesome!" She turned to Ty Lee. "How did you do it?"

"Yes, you didn't hurt on threaten that other woman, did you?" Sokka wondered.

"Sokka, you know I'm all sweetness and light, and I would never do anything as mean as that," Ty Lee grinned, not particularly convincingly.

"Well, whatever you did, I agree with Kya that it was awesome," Sokka said, hi-fiving with his daughter.

"I'm glad you approve," Ty Lee smiled. "Anyway, how about we get some ice cream for you, Kya? It'll help you forget all about that rude boy and his mother, right?" Kya nodded excitedly and Ty Lee quickly ran off to fetch some ice cream for the little girl.

Half an hour later, with the ice cream devoured, Kya was back in her best mood as the boat left the open waters and entered the archipelago proper, coming up to the first of the smaller islands where they could observe several colonies of cute seals, barking at them as the boat sailed past. Earlier on, they had already witnessed dolphins swimming alongside the boat, the sight making Kya almost dangerously excited.

And Kya wasn't the only one getting a little too excited, because having seen the seal colonies, Ty Lee had assumed that sealion sightings were also likely. It was clear that Ty Lee still missed her sealion friend from the burned down Sea World, and she was constantly calling out Slippery Pete's name and doing some rather complicated whistling that was supposed to make Pete reveal himself by doing his signature trick, a triple backflip. Sokka thought that it was highly unlikely that they would come across Slippery Pete, but he obviously didn't want to discourage his girlfriend and dash her hopes.

"This is great," Kya spoke excitedly as they waved to even more barking seals, while Ty Lee had dashed off to the other side of the boat to call out to what she believed was yet another potential Slippery Pete sighting. "I only wish mom and Suki were here to see this," Kya added wistfully.

"Mom and Suki?" Sokka asked, feeling a little curious. "But not Katara and Azula? Aren't they your favorites, too?"

"Well, sure," Kya conceded. "But mom and I both like Suki best right now."

"You do, hmm?" Sokka remarked, wondering what exactly he had missed. It hadn't completely escaped him that Suki and Yue had recently become closer than they had ever been, but for some reason he had never considered that his two ex-partners could be getting together. It was a slightly odd thought, but certainly not an uncomfortable one. "What do you like best about Suki?" Sokka decided to prod further.

"She's just… so cool," Kya gushed. "And she always has time for me. Also, even if she's badass, she's not so good at Pai Sho, so I can beat her most of the time."

"I agree that Suki is very cool," Sokka chuckled. "And what do you think your mom likes about Suki?" he asked.

Kya blushed slightly, leaning in closer to her dad. "I think mom wants Suki to stay with us and not go back home in the evening," she whispered.

"I see," Sokka remarked, noticing that Kya looked a little worried. "What's wrong, poppet? What are you afraid of?"

"Azula stayed with us and then she went away," Kya sniffled. "I don't want Suki to stay with mom only to then go away. Mom and I were both so sad when Azula did that…"

"Ah… of course," Sokka sighed. "I don't think Suki would go away, kiddo. But I don't blame you for being worried. These things can get very complicated," he tried to explain, while already pondering whether to have a discreet conversation with Suki. Sokka definitely wanted the best for everyone involved in this situation, especially for his daughter, but he also knew that matchmaking wasn't exactly his forte. Katara was way smarter about this relationship stuff, so maybe he could first have a word with his sister.

"Ugh, false alarm," Ty Lee startled Sokka when she spoke up suddenly, having returned from her Slippery Pete watch. "And now we're about to turn back, so I guess this reunion wasn't meant to be."

"Sorry about that, love," Sokka smiled, putting an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Hey! What's that?" Kya exclaimed, pointing at something in the water, a large shape quickly catching up to the boat. The large creature then revealed itself by jumping out of the water and launching into an impressive series of backflips, barking excitedly as it easily caught up with the boat again.

"It's him! It's Pete!" Ty Lee exclaimed, bouncing excitedly near the railing and forcing Sokka to hold his girlfriend around the waist out of fear that she might launch herself overboard. "I knew I would find you again, buddy!" Ty Lee cheered, waving at her friend who happily barked in return.

"Look!" Sokka called out, pointing at another similar shape as it swam up to Pete. Another sealion head then popped out of the water, joining in to bark at the boat. The two sealions continued to swim alongside the boat, doing more and more backflips. The other sealion seemed to be a little smaller and wasn't as good at doing backflips, while still making a commendable effort.

"It's a girl sealion!" Ty Lee gasped. "Pete has gotten himself a girlfriend! Good job, buddy!" she cheered, giving her sealion friend thumbs up. "And he's taught her backflips, just how I taught him. Aww, I think I'm going to cry," Ty Lee sobbed, tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks. With Kya sitting on his shoulders, Sokka embraced his girlfriend as they continued to watch the two sealions playing in the water, eventually barking their farewells as the boat continued on what was surely the best and most successful wildlife spotting tour of all time.

Having woken up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes the following morning, Katara decided not to disturb Yue as she slumbered peacefully next to her. Instead, Katara got out of the bed, dressed herself and proceeded downstairs to make herself a cup of morning coffee. It was nine in the morning and the cabin was sinking in comforting silence, with Azula and Suki also not making a single sound. Being the first one up and about was a new experience for Katara, and she used the opportunity to do some tidying up while her coffee was brewing and her friends slept soundly.

A few minutes later, holding a mug of coffee in her hands, Katara stepped out on the porch. She let out a muffled yelp upon almost running into someone already standing there, managing to silence herself when she realized that she had almost crashed into Azula. "Goodness, you scared me!" Katara exclaimed, having nearly spilled hot coffee all over them both.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I had no idea you were up and about," Azula replied quickly.

"You didn't?" Katara wondered. "I know I made some noise while tidying up. You must have been very deep in thought."

"No, I was just-…" Azula began, her words trailing off as she blushed lightly. "So," she began a while later. "You and Yue, hmm?"

"Yes?" Katara shrugged, curious about Azula's reaction. "But also, you and Suki, right?"

"It was just a little fling, I thought that was clear," Azula said hastily. "I didn't expect that you and Yue would immediately be all over each other," she added, sounding a little upset.

"Well, that was our own little fling," Katara said. "It doesn't mean we're getting back together. Although, there's nothing that would stop us from doing that if we so chose." Azula nodded, looking a little less tense as they continued to stand there on the porch, slowly sipping their drinks. "By the way, what was the count in the end, fourteen or fifteen?" Katara asked. Azula gave her a confused stare. "Suki's piercings," Katara sighed.

"Oh!" Azula blinked. "The bitch was totally blowing hot air in our faces about possibly having pussy piercings. She's got nothing down there."

"Disappointing," Katara chuckled. "Well, I hope you still had fun."

Azula looked a little hesitant before replying. "It was fun, yes," she replied curtly, causing Katara to glare at her and force Azula to elaborate. "It was like my body was there, having fun, but my thoughts were elsewhere," Azula said.

"And where were your wandering thoughts?" Katara prodded.

Azula blushed fiercely, averting her gaze. "Just… you know, thinking that we should rent this cottage a few more times," Azula said awkwardly. "And then… well, maybe we could try… different sleeping arrangements. If you would be up for that…"

Inwardly, Katara was cheering wildly at Azula's awkward proposition, but outwardly she managed to remain cool and collected as she gave Azula a very controlled smile. "If you were to secure the cottage for another weekend, I will see what I can do to accommodate your proposal," Katara said.

"Oh, good… that's good," Azula managed, smiling nervously, while Katara could barely restrain herself from jumping from joy. Azula was definitely showing some signs of jealousy and possessiveness, and to Katara it felt like she was finally making progress in tearing down some of the walls Azula had built around her.