Chapter 32 – Zuko kills Jet
Mai Syun lounged on the living room sofa, wearing nothing but a lacy black negligee, yawning as she browsed social media sites on her phone, watching Azula's campaign to bring down Zuko's lobster roll slowly gathering steam. It was three in the morning, but despite feeling exhausted following another sexy romp with Ruon Jian and On Ji, Mai found herself unable to sleep. Her morbid curiosity about the eventual fallout from this latest confrontation between the Nakamura siblings kept her awake, and she couldn't help but wonder just how bad it was going to get.
As Mai had predicted, Zuko had thrown a jealous hissy fit after learning that Mai was making good on their agreement to date other people. Even though Mai had immediately pointed out Zuko's hypocrisy, he hadn't calmed down fully and was still angry at her. If Zuko learned that Mai had helped Azula and Katara bring down his fake Mo Ce Sea lobster roll, Zuko would probably see it as the ultimate betrayal and there would be no coming back from that. Mai was by now having serious second thoughts whether helping Azula had been such a great idea after all, but she had allowed her annoyance with Zuko to guide her decision making. Mai tried to comfort herself with the thought that despite Azula's bitchy streak and occasional nastiness, she had never used anything Mai had told her in confidence against Zuko, and Katara was obviously too obsessed with Azula to consider sharing the secrets of Azula's childhood friend.
Mai acknowledged that her strategy to get Zuko back was very risky and possibly flawed. Despite all of his aggressive bluster, Zuko was a painfully sensitive guy and it would be all too easy to push him past the point of no return. It wouldn't even matter if objectively Zuko had treated Mai unfairly plenty of times in the past, and that he was doing so again. Mai knew that she couldn't count on Zuko to be fair, especially when it came to trust and loyalty. Zuko could become very paranoid about the few people he trusted turning on him, so Mai knew that Zuko would likely see her actions as an act of betrayal. But if the alternative was to be always taken for granted, what else was there to do?
Still, Mai didn't want to give herself a complete pass over this breakdown in the relationship with Zuko. Mai knew that she was often too closed off emotionally, and she could be spiteful and stubborn, which was why she had continued to have casual sex with her coworkers. It was no longer even about using them to make Zuko jealous, because after the initial flareup once Zuko had found out, the method seemed to have lost its efficiency. Now she was doing it mostly out of spite because Zuko had literally moved in with Jet.
At least Ruon Jian and On Ji were both pretty good in bed, or at least they were less selfish lovers than Zuko. The drawback of this casual sex was that it kept feeding Ruon Jian's delusions of marrying her, which was why Mai always made sure to never have Ruon Jian over without inviting someone else along, usually On Ji. The sous chef of The Blue Spirit was still salty at both Zuko and Jet, which explained her eagerness to join in on the fun. Mai suspected that On Ji was probably also hoping to get Zuko jealous, but in Mai's eyes, On Jin just wasn't in the game, despite what the other girl thought herself.
So, Mai knew that she was playing a risky game with Zuko, but a part of her still felt like she had to do it. Mai had always believed that eventually she and Zuko would somehow figure out a way to have a functional relationship, but by now they were both in their mid-twenties and still struggling to make it work. Despite how much losing Zuko for good would hurt, perhaps it was time to put everything on the line, and either finally make it work or move on before she died of old age while waiting for Zuko to grow the fuck up.
Still, seeing the angry responses on the Twitter page of The Blue Spirit piling up, Mai became very concerned that perhaps she had gone a little too far in her attempt to stick it to Zuko. At least it was Jet who was going to catch the immediate fallout of Zuko's rage. It wasn't as if Zuko was going to kill Jet, but there was no telling how bad things could get if this entire scheme had been Jet's idea to begin with.
Azula was once again experiencing trouble trying to gather her bearings and get a firm grip on her surroundings. She remembered leaving her apartment not too long ago – but not before pressing the softest of kisses against Katara's forehead while the other girl was out cold from all the booze and weed that they had consumed.
Then Azula remembered having a long internal debate of whether to try and make the short drive to Jet's apartment or simply call an Uber. She had gone with the safest choice of calling an Uber, but only because she had remembered about the Groucho glasses still in the pocket of her coat. If she was going to help Zuko clear up all traces of murder, then it was important that she couldn't be identified on her way to Jet's apartment, and so the disguise worked brilliantly to make her unrecognizable.
Azula had forgotten to remove the disguise when knocking on the doors of Jet's apartment, so she had ended up giving an already panicking Zuko yet another scare. Seeing how her brother was on his last nerve, Azula had then forced him to sit down and they had smoked a big fat joint to steady their nerves and make sure they remained completely rational while figuring out the best way to dispose of Jet's body.
"Alright, are you done with your panic attack?" Azula asked, looking at her brother as he took another big hit from the doobie. Zuko then proceeded to break down in a series of hacking coughs before looking up at Azula with reddened and watery eyes.
"Yes," Zuko wheezed. "Or… maybe not," he added, wringing his hands nervously. "Agni, what am I going to do!" Zuko exclaimed dramatically.
"I reckon about twenty to twenty-five years," Azula quipped.
Zuko looked like he was about to burst into tears. "What if I told the police that it was an accident?" he asked. "I could say that Jet tripped as he was getting up from the sofa."
"And punched himself squarely in the face as he was falling?" Azula gave Zuko a skeptical stare.
"You're right, I'm done for," Zuko cried, jumping up from his seat and walking up to the prone form of Jet. "This is so typical of Jet, always getting me into trouble! Seriously, I should kick his ass some more!" Zuko glared, looking like he was about to assault the unmoving body.
"Wait, hold on!" Azula rushed to intervene, dragging Zuko away from Jet's body. "Agni, if you're so aggressive even after smoking a joint, I'm very concerned about your levels of anger management," Azula rolled her eyes. "Remember, we need to remain rational about this! That's why you called me over, right? You needed someone with rational solutions."
"Sure, rational solutions, sounds good," Zuko eventually nodded in agreement. The two Nakamura siblings stood over the corpse for a while, deep in thought. "Let's eat him," Zuko said suddenly.
"Wait… what?" Azula blinked. "Listen, it's way too early to throw out casual suggestions of cannibalism. We should explore other options first."
"Like what?" Zuko looked at his sister.
"Well, I'm not actually convinced that Jet is completely dead," Azula frowned. "What if he's just stunned? I think you should give your boyfriend the kiss of life."
"I will most certainly not," Zuko shook his head. "You're just waiting for an opportunity to snap a quick photo of me kissing another guy, and then you're going to send it to father and get me into trouble."
"What, into more trouble than accidental manslaughter?" Azula rolled her eyes. Still, it looked like Zuko wasn't going to budge on this. Azula let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, step aside, I'll do it myself," she said, trying to step around Zuko in order to approach Jet. For some reason, Zuko kept blocking her off, though. "What's the matter?" Azula exclaimed in frustration. "Are you going to let me do it or not?"
"I'm not letting you make out with Jet," Zuko snapped jealously.
"Wait, so you're not going to do it yourself, and you won't let me do it either?" Azula exclaimed, completely incredulous. "You're just going to let your boyfriend die?"
Zuko looked very torn at Azula's accusation, eventually caving with a sigh. "Alright, fine… I'll do it," Zuko said. "But not a word of this to father, got it?" he warned.
"Trust me, I recognize that we have bigger concerns right now," Azula rolled her eyes again as Zuko finally got down on his knees next to his boyfriend and started to vigorously blow air through Jet's parted lips and into his lungs. "Well, how is he looking?" Azula asked after Zuko had been at it for a few minutes.
Zuko pulled back and regarded his efforts. "He's certainly looking fatter," Zuko remarked. "Mind you, at least some color has come back to his cheeks."
"Yes, but I don't think it should be bright purple," Azula observed worriedly. "I don't think this is working." She thought for a moment, eventually snapping her fingers as an idea came to her stoned mind. "What if we shocked him back to life?" she mused. "Obviously, we don't have a proper defibrillator, but we could always improvise. Why don't we just tear out electrical wiring from the wall and shock him with electricity?"
"That might just work!" Zuko exclaimed hopefully, dashing off to grab some tools with which to assault the wall socket. Meanwhile, Azula quickly popped into the kitchen and after a short search, managed to find an unused pair of rubber gloves in a compartment under the sink. Having put on the rubber gloves, Azula returned to the living room, where Zuko had successfully ripped out a large chunk of electrical wiring, as good as destroying large parts of the wall in Jet's living room.
Using the rubber gloves, Azula safely got hold of the electrical wiring and removed the wall socket still dangling at the end of the wires. She walked up to Jet's prone body holding the wires in her hands. Azula was about to use the electrical wiring to shock Jet, but then she remembered what had happened when she had offered to do mouth to mouth on Jet. "On second thought, I don't want to make you jealous yet again, so maybe it's best if you do it," Azula said as she thrust the wiring into the hands of the unsuspecting Zuko.
Zuko was immediately shocked by the electrical current, making his hair stand up on his head. "Damn it, I forgot you don't have the gloves," Azula exclaimed, quickly grabbing the wiring out of Zuko's hands. Zuko just stood there with an absent look on his face, steam rising from the top of his head, his hair making him look like a spiky hedgehog.
"That was actually… somehow enjoyable?" Zuko spoke up unexpectedly. "I feel like the people who hook up car batteries to their nipples might be on to something."
"That… sounds like something you should take up with Jet once we have successfully revived him," Azula said, feeling mildly disturbed as she dropped down on her knees and began to work, applying shock to various parts of Jet's body, starting from his nostrils and ending up with his crotch. However, no matter how hard Azula tried, it seemed to be of no use. Jet remained unmoving. "Well, that was pointless," she exclaimed in frustration, tossing the wiring aside. "He's definitely dead, so let's focus on getting rid of the body."
"I've been thinking," Zuko spoke up. "Tomorrow is trash collection day. You know how those garbage truck drivers never actually bother to check what's inside the dumpsters? They just hook them up to the truck and empty everything into the compressor. If we tossed Jet's body into one of those big dumpsters, with a little bit of luck, he'd end up on the landfill and nobody would be the wiser!"
"That's actually not a terrible idea," Azula admitted, feeling vaguely impressed. "Wait a moment," she suddenly paused. "If tomorrow is trash collection day, those dumpsters are probably already overflowing and there won't be any room for a body in there. We should first check if there's any space before we haul Jet's body all the way downstairs."
"Very smart," Zuko nodded, acknowledged his sister's clever suggestion. "Let's go check the dumpsters first," Zuko said, leading Azula down the stairs and over to a small roofed enclosure where several bins of different sizes and colors had been placed, encouraging responsible recycling. As Azula had suspected, there were no specifically designated bins for dumping the bodies killed by your raging sibling with anger management issues.
"Alright, here's hoping there's some space left," Zuko said, opening the largest of the dumpsters, looking very startled after he had done so. Curious about Zuko's reaction, Azula also approached the waste container, blinking when she spotted a wild-haired girl sitting inside the dumpster and reading the riot act to a pair of slightly ashamed looking raccoons. "Uh… hey there, Jin," Zuko awkwardly greeted the girl, much to Azula's surprise acting like he knew her.
"Umm… hi Zuko," the weird girl called Jin replied, looking just as startled as the Nakamura siblings. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here. Well, let me tell you what I'm definitely not doing here. I'm definitely not looking for any of your personal items to place on the little shrine devoted to you that I definitely haven't built in the basement of The Blue Spirit."
"Oh, good," Zuko looked relieved. "Because that would be a little too weird even for you." Jin laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, so if you're not doing that, what are you up to?"
"Well," Jin began, licking her lips nervously. "I'm… helping you recycle properly. You know how terrible Jet is about responsible recycling, right? I just found this replaceable razor cartridge among the organic waste," Jin tutted before giving Zuko a curious stare. "By the way, is this yours or Jet's?" she asked, holding up the cartridge.
"Uh, I think that's mine," Zuko replied.
"Excellent," Jin grinned, quickly pocketing the item.
"And what's with the racoons?" Zuko asked, as Azula wisely decided not to interfere. This Jin girl was giving off vibes that were a little too deranged even for Azula.
"Oh, they're just messy," Jin sighed, lightly bopping one of the raccoons on the nose. "I'm trying to teach them the importance of responsible recycling, so that they're at least better at it than Jet. We're off to a promising start."
"Okay," Zuko said, sounding slightly confused. "I'll let you get back to it," he added, closing the dumpster and retreating, Azula quickly setting to follow him back to the apartment. "Ugh, what rotten luck," Zuko cursed while walking. "There's no way we can dump Jet's body in there with Jin lurking about."
"Obviously not," Azula agreed. "Anyway, my mind is still reeling from you having such a dedicated stalker. I'm actually very jealous about it," she admitted.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get one of those sooner or later," Zuko said as they arrived back at the apartment.
"Hopefully," Azula nodded. "Still, we need to solve the issue of how to get rid of the body," she said.
"I'm still in favor of eating him," Zuko stated with conviction.
"I mean, it would solve the problem," Azula replied, recognizing the internal validity of Zuko's argument. "It's just that I'm not sure whether I'm stoned or drunk enough to actively engage in cannibalism."
"That can be easily solved," Zuko said. "Let me quickly raid Jet's weed and booze stash." Azula waited patiently for a few minutes before Zuko returned with a baggy of weed, a bottle of scotch and also some cutlery.
"Very thoughtful and efficient of you to fetch knives and forks already," Azula remarked as Zuko quickly rolled a joint for them to share.
"Well, we're going to need them in a moment," Zuko said as he lit the joint and took a long drag before passing it over to his sister. They spent the next quarter of an hour gulping down the scotch almost like it was water, while finishing off the joint. As they rose to approach Jet armed with cutlery in their hands, Azula experienced the severe effects of both a powerful high and mild alcohol poisoning as the room spun around her dangerously fast. She somehow managed to retain her balance, following Zuko as he made his way over to the inanimate corpse.
"Where do you want to start?" Azula asked, standing over Jet's body and feeling a little indecisive.
"I have no idea… there's so much to choose from!" Zuko exclaimed, actually sounding a little excited as he rolled Jet over. "I guess I'll start here," he said, ramming the fork into Jet's left buttock with force. Azula thought it was fascinating how the fork went in almost up to the hilt, meeting little resistance. Apparently, Jet had quite the buttery ass.
"Shouldn't you have… I don't know, pulled down his pants first?" Azula asked, a little incredulous.
Zuko didn't reply immediately, looking like he was lost in thought… or simply lost, which wouldn't have been surprising considering how drunk and stoned out of his mind he clearly was. "Wait a minute," Zuko finally said, clambering up to his feet and forgetting all about the fork that was left sticking out of Jet's butt cheek. "I have an even better idea," Zuko said. "Eating him here would get really messy and we'd leave bloodstains all over the carpet, right?"
"Right," Azula nodded. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, I was thinking… we don't have to eat him ourselves. We could have someone else eat him for us!" Zuko exclaimed.
"Brilliant!" Azula rubbed her hands, feeling relieved. "To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to have Jet in my mouth." She blinked, making a face upon realizing what she had said. "Yuck, that sounded really gross. Anyway, what was your idea, Zuko?"
"Well, I figured I would call Bumi's Kebab Palace and ask the man himself if he maybe needs a supply of meat. Everything goes into kebabs, right?" Zuko asked.
"Alright, you do that," Azula snorted. "Meanwhile, I have an even better idea of how to dispose of the body," she whispered to herself as Zuko went into the kitchen to make the phone call. While Zuko was talking with Bumi, Azula decided to act on her absolutely amazing weed-inspired idea. She quickly rolled up the carpet in Jet's living room, dragged the corpse into the center of the room and then rolled the carpet over it. Just like that, the dead body was gone!
"Damn," Zuko exclaimed, returning to the living room and looking upset. "Bumi said their family Alsatian got run over yesterday so he's good on meat for another week or so. Aren't we unlucky?"
"What do you mean?" Azula looked up at her brother.
"I mean, what are we going to do about the body now?" Zuko gave Azula an exasperated stare.
"What body?" Azula asked with a proud look on her face.
Zuko cast a glance around the room with incomprehension on his face, to be replaced by sheer amazement. "Azula, that's absolutely-" he began to speak while walking towards her, only to trip on the body under the carpet and almost breaking his face against the edge of the table. "That's absolutely pathetic and won't fool anyone," Zuko glared at her.
"Hey, don't knock my great idea," Azula huffed. "Anyway, it's early days. I was thinking that we could flatten him out some more, then he would be less noticeable under the rug."
"That sounds fair," Zuko nodded in agreement as they walked up to where Jet's body was lying under the carpet and spent a couple of minutes enthusiastically jumping up and down on Jet, trying to make him flatter. Because of all the weed they had smoked, both Azula and Zuko got winded very quickly, however, and had to put a stop to these strenuous activities. "You know, I'm not sure we actually accomplished all that much," Zuko remarked, looking at the hump under the carpet that somehow looked bigger than before. "I don't think this is going to work."
"Ugh, I hate it when you're right, but unfortunately, I have to agree," Azula sighed, feeling a little annoyed when her amazing idea was proven to be less than amazing.
"We'll have to think of something else," Zuko said, sounding a little desperate. "We can't give up! I can't go to prison, Azula! Do you know what they do to handsome young guys like me in there?"
"Alright, just calm down!" Azula snapped, getting tired of her sibling's dramatics. "I actually just came up with an even better idea while you were busy panicking!" Zuko stopped his whining to give Azula a pleading stare. "There's a bus station just outside the building, right?" Zuko nodded quickly, while looking a little confused. "So, I had this idea. Why don't we stick Jet on the bus?"
"Great idea!" Zuko cheered. He then paused, thinking. "No, wait, stupid idea. The conductor will notice that he didn't pay his fare."
"Ugh, you misunderstand me," Azula groaned. "I meant that we stick Jet on the roof of the bus. As soon as the bus comes in for a stop, we push him out of the window and he should land right on the roof."
"That's an even stupider idea," Zuko glared. "You don't get conductors on the roof!"
"Exactly!" Azula shouted. "That's what makes the plan so flawless! Nobody will find him by the time the bus gets to the depot, and even then, they won't know where he came from. They will just assume that he's some rando with a hobby of… I don't know, bus-surfing?"
"Alright, I'm convinced," Zuko finally caved in. "Anyway, if we're going to do it, we better act first, because there's a bus at the traffic lights!"
Azula and Zuko quickly pulled the carpet off from Jet's body and then dragged the corpse over to the window. As the bus came in for a stop, they had successfully managed to squeeze Jet partway through the open window. "Alright, on the count of three," Azula said. Zuko nodded, and they got ready to push Jet all the way through the window, but before they could finish the count, the corpse suddenly stirred and let out a loud groan, shocking the two siblings.
"My head…" Jet moaned, dangling precariously out of the window after the Nakamura siblings had released him and taken a few steps back. Eventually, Jet managed to pull himself back into the apartment, standing up very unsteadily. Azula thought that it was rather remarkable how Jet could stand up at all considering all the physical abuse they had inflicted upon him. But then again, perhaps it was unsurprising that Jet could endure insane amounts of punishment and was very hard to kill, because his closest living relative was probably some kind of gross giant roach.
"Jet, buddy, you're alright!" Zuko exclaimed, looking hugely relieved.
"I'm not so sure about that… I hurt all over," Jet groaned. "What happened?" he asked.
"You had a really bad trip, mate," Zuko lied quickly. "I don't know what it was that we smoked, but you went absolutely crazy. You tried to throw yourself out of the window!"
"I don't remember any of that," Jet rubbed his brow, looking very confused. He reached behind his back and with a yelp of pain removed the fork that was still lodged into his buttock. "And why is there a fork up in my ass cheek?" Jet asked, wincing in pain.
"This is what I meant by a terrible trip, Jet," Zuko said sagely. "You actually attempted to engage in auto cannibalism. You must have thought your ass was a burger."
"That's insane," Jet groaned. It was only then that he actually seemed to notice Azula's presence in the room, staring at her wide-eyed. "Also, what is Azula doing here?" Jet demanded.
Zuko and Azula both paused, exchanging uncertain stares. Zuko eventually spoke up. "Azula… uh, what Azula?" he said, managing to sound surprisingly convincing. "Maybe you need to lie down, Jet?"
"You mean that's not Azula standing right over there?" Jet pointed at her. Zuko managed to appear very sad as he shook his head.
"Hi, Jet," Azula raised her hand and waved at Jet. "That's right, Zuko can't see me, because I'm a figment of your imagination."
"Damn, I see what you mean about a horrible trip," Jet shuddered. "I really need to lay down, but before I do that, I'm going to flush my entire drug stash down the toilet. We don't want a repeat of this. I mean, throwing myself out of the window is one thing, but I'm drawing a line at hallucinating your bitch sister," Jet said, hobbling past Azula and out of the living room.
"That was a close call," Azula said. Zuko nodded at her, looking even more relieved. "I should make myself scarce because we don't want to push our luck, right?"
"Right," Zuko nodded gratefully. "And thank you for helping me out, Azula. I really mean it."
"Obviously," Azula snorted. "I wasn't going to let my brother end up in jail. Who do you take me for?"
Zuko looked greatly touched by his sister's words. "That is an unusually sweet sentiment from you, Zula," he smiled.
"Oh, I didn't mean it in a sweet way, obviously," Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't want you to end up in jail because I can't stand the thought of you escaping all the torment that I intend to put you through in the future."
"Of course," Zuko groaned.
"Also, I hope you realize that it was me who took down your fake lobster roll," Azula announced proudly.
"I figured," Zuko sighed. "I couldn't imagine anyone else who would be capable of pulling such a bitch ass move."
"Exactly," Azula grinned, making finger guns at her brother. "Until the next time, Zuzu, may it not come soon."
Zuko didn't say anything else as Azula quickly made her exit before Jet returned and became suspicious. Once outside of the apartment building, Azula called for an Uber and settled in for a wait. It was already past 5am and the sun was rising behind the little enclosure with all the trash bins. Azula noticed that the strange Jin girl was still hanging around. She was carrying a plastic bag with all kinds of junk, probably her haul of Zuko's trash, and the raccoons were still following her around, but now the original pair were joined by two more raccoons, a trio of crows and a squirrel.
Since Azula had nothing better to do while waiting for her Uber, she decided to go over and see what Jin was up to. "Hey, so… it seems like your lecture on recycling is going down well," Azula said as she walked up to Jin.
"I would like to think that they're getting the message, but I'm not actually insane enough to believe that," Jin chuckled. Azula was surprised to discover that the girl actually had some self-awareness. "Still, the raccoons came back and they brought friends, so… we're having fun."
"To each their own, I suppose," Azula shrugged. "You're very weird, but also, seemingly harmless."
"Uh, thanks, I suppose," Jin grinned, giving Azula a long stare. "And you're very pretty. Still, I wish Zuko and Jet would realize that they don't have to hire a prostitute when they want to have some three-way fun. I'd be down to join them anytime if only they promised to be nice."
"What are you talking about? I'm not a whore!" Azula bristled. "I'm Zuko's sister!"
Jin gasped, clutching at her chest. "You're the evil witch we're supposed to compete against!" she exclaimed dramatically.
"Hey, I'm not evil-… well, actually, I can't really object to that after trying to throw Jet out of the third-floor window," Azula admitted. "Alright, I suppose I'm a little evil, yes."
"But maybe not, though," Jin gave her a scrutinizing stare. "I'm not getting a very evil vibe from you. Also, I know that Ty Lee thinks the world of you, and she's the sweetest girl I've ever known. She wouldn't like you so much if you were rotten to the core."
"Uh… thank you," Azula managed an awkward smile, noticing that her ride pulled up at the side of the street. Azula slipped her hand into the pocket of her coat, retrieving the Grouch glasses. "Hey… do you want these?" she asked Jin.
"Is there anything connecting them with Zuko?" Jin asked.
"Well, I used them to successfully give Zuko a small fright," Azula chuckled.
"Alright, that counts," Jin exclaimed happily, snatching up the glasses. "Thank you! You're actually really nice! Guys, let's give three cheers for Azula!" she told the raccoons. Azula rolled her eyes as she turned to leave, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling at Jin's menagerie making cute animal noises at her.
A short drive later, Azula arrived back at her apartment. It was already half past five in the morning and after an insane day, Azula was literally dying on her feet. She kicked off her shoes and shed her coat, but she had no energy to undress herself any further as she stumbled into her bedroom to find Katara still out cold. Azula slumped down on the free side of the bed, waking Katara up as her friend stirred lightly, moving closer to Azula.
"Where did you go?" Katara muttered, still sounding half-asleep as she reached out and wrapped her arms around Azula's waist.
"I had to help out my brother," Azula replied, looking on with fascination as in her half-asleep state, Katara pulled her close, settling into the position of being the big spoon for Azula. "He killed Jet during an argument, and I had to help him get rid of the body," Azula added, feeling like she had to explain further.
"That was very nice of you," Katara whispered softly, soon after dozing off and starting to softly saw logs with her face pressed into Azula's mussed up hair. As for Azula, she simply felt too tired to worry about being caught in this emotionally vulnerable position with Katara. Instead, she allowed herself to be held, feeling safer and more comforted than ever as she drifted off to dream of talking raccoons and a strange new hobby of bus-surfing.
Suki snapped out of her sleep to face the white noise of the static on the TV screen in front of her. Perhaps starting their watch of Princess Bride with a four-year-old at eleven in the evening was not the smartest idea, because one after another they had all fallen asleep during the watch. Suki had lasted the longest, but at the end of another exhausting day at work, sleep had overcome her as well, and now she found herself lounging on the sofa with Yue collapsed against her from one side and Kya from the other.
Having checked the time, Suki was surprised to see that it was almost three in the morning. She felt slightly guilty looking down at the little girl next to her. Kya deserved to be sleeping comfortably in her own bed, and Suki was going to make that happen. Both the mom and her daughter had changed into their PJ's before sitting down to watch the movie, so all Suki had to do was to pick Kya up and carry the girl over to her own bed in the adjacent room. Suki managed to do so without waking Kya up, even if she ended up stepping onto a dropped Pai Sho tile that went deep into her heel, nearly making her curse aloud.
Having settled Kya down onto her bed, Suki pulled the duvet over her and made sure the girl was comfortable. Kya was smiling in her sleep, probably dreaming about the adventures of Westley and Buttercup. Suki couldn't stop thinking what an amazingly cute kid Kya was, not that she expected Yue's child to be anything else other than utterly wholesome. Seriously, Azula was all kinds of crazy for walking away from the opportunity to become Kya's parent. Sure, Kya had her annoying moments like any small child, but on the whole, she was surprisingly low maintenance and especially now that she had been taught Pai Sho, Kya could often entertain herself for hours just sitting by the game board and studying one of her Pai Sho books bought for her by Azula.
Looking down at Kya, Suki felt a brief pang of regret about never even bringing up the question of having a child with Sokka. Suki had always assumed that Sokka would say no, either because things hadn't worked out with Yue, or just because they were both busy and overworked, and simply didn't have the time to be good parents – which was obviously a bullshit excuse because Yue somehow managed to do a good job as a single parent. Still, seeing how much joy Kya brought into Yue's life, it was difficult not to have regrets, especially when at the end of the day, Suki now returned to an empty apartment, with nobody waiting for her there.
Suki shook her head, refusing to indulge in her maudlin thoughts any longer. It was pointless to think of these past decisions and regret roads not taken, especially when it was in her power to change things going forward. Suki wasn't someone who dwelled on things, so she resolved to stop thinking about it as she returned to Yue, still fast asleep, sunken on the sofa now that she no longer had Suki to lean against.
For a moment, Suki considered waking Yue up to bid her goodnight before heading back to her apartment, but Suki simply didn't have the heart to wake Yue. The thought of carrying Yue to her bed just like she had done with Kya occurred to Suki, and she was having a hard time dismissing the idea. Sure, Yue was neither small nor very light, but Suki prided herself in being both physically strong and scrappy, so with a little bit of effort, Suki managed to gather Yue in her arms in order to carry her bridal style.
Suki came very close to bumping Yue's head against the door frame several times, but eventually, they managed to arrive safely in Yue's bedroom, where Suki lowered her best friend on the bed without waking her. Suki was then momentarily caught staring at the sweet smile on Yue's beautiful face, finding it very hard to pull herself away and leave. Once again, Suki found herself thinking how crazy Azula was to walk away from both Yue and Kya. Of course, it was possible that Azula could still reconsider and come back, but for some reason, that thought made Suki feel very conflicted, like she wanted to oppose that even while realizing that it could be a very good thing for everyone involved.
Still, Suki couldn't stick around any longer, watching Yue sleep without feeling like some weirdo. She reached out, brushing the errant strands of blonde hair out of Yue's face before turning to leave, only to find her arm suddenly seized. Suki almost failed to suppress a scream as Yue reached out and tugged roughly on her arm, saying nothing, like she was acting in her sleep. Suki was caught frozen, unsure of what to do, but Yue kept yanking her arm, more and more insistently. Suki eventually gave in, allowing herself to be pulled down onto the bed, where Yue embraced her from behind, squeezing her tightly, almost as if she mistook Suki for her favorite plush toy.
Suki felt a little tense to begin with, but she eventually relaxed when Yue's grip on her eased slightly. Still, she didn't think that she would be able to get out of the bed without waking up Yue, so it seemed that she was now stuck there, having to spend the night as Yue's plush toy, getting squeezed and cuddled with. Unsurprisingly enough, Suki was more than happy with this fate.
Katara was having a strange but exciting Saturday morning. She was over the moon having awoken in Azula's bed, cuddling with the target of her romantic obsession. Katara had tried to make the moment last for as long as she could, but she had eventually been forced to let go of Azula, because peeing Azula's bed would have been the opposite of romantic.
Katara's memories of the previous night were rather fuzzy because of all the weed and booze she had consumed, but waking up fully clothed suggested that nothing too sexy had happened between her and Azula. Still, Katara wasn't disappointed about that. If they were to have sex again, Katara wanted to have all of her facilities fully intact for it. Also, it seemed like taking small and slow steps with Azula produced far more promising results. When Yue had jumped in at the deep end, pulling Azula in with her, it had just ended up scaring Azula. Perhaps if Katara made her presence feel almost natural to Azula, they would become even more inseparable than they already were.
Katara had woken up at half past ten in the morning, already late for the lunch service, not that she was in a state where she felt capable of handling a shift. Also, she just didn't have the heart to wake Azula, especially considering that Azula had been up all night, helping her brother with something that Katara couldn't remember. It was now a quarter past twelve and Azula was still fast asleep, leaving Katara in a state of uncertainty whether she was supposed to stick around or leave discreetly.
In the end, Katara decided to stay, having convinced herself that Azula might be feeling poorly after waking up and might need her help. She was confident that the restaurant could handle a lunch service without her and Azula, so she had texted her rather unimpressed brother to inform him about their absence. Sokka had sent her a collection of whiny texts in response, but things had worked out perfectly fine in the end when Ty Lee had unexpectedly offered her help. Apparently, Zuko had canceled the lunch service at his restaurant, so Ty Lee was very happy to help out at The Northern Lights and earn some generous tips. Ty Lee had also sent Katara a photo of herself in The Northern Lights uniform which made Katara experience some interesting but very conflicting feelings towards her brother's new girlfriend.
While Katara was waiting for Azula to wake up, she started to experience a severe bout of hunger. Katara rarely ordered takeaway, so she decided to raid Azula's kitchen, hoping that her friend wouldn't mind if she helped herself. In the end, Katara decided to whip up a quick frittata from all the supplies she could scrounge in Azula's fridge. As the frittata was happily sitting in the oven, Katara spent the time waiting by engaging in some not too intrusive investigation of Azula's apartment.
Obviously, Katara wasn't surprised to discover that Azula's wardrobe was ridiculously large, and many articles of clothing in it appeared to have never been worn. Aside from the wardrobe, Azula's apartment was almost a little ascetic, but perhaps that wasn't surprising because it was after all a rent apartment and Azula wasn't making any plans for a permanent stay in Caldera City. Still, Azula had a rather large and varied collection of books, as well as a gaming console that appeared to be seeing regular use. Katara briefly wondered what kind of games Azula would be into. She decided that Azula was probably into competitive shooters where she could make teenage boys cry and throw their controllers in a fit of rage after she had humiliated them.
One thing that Katara failed to spot were any kind of family photos or something of similar sentimental value. Obviously, Katara didn't expect Azula to have a wholesome photo of herself and Zuko on display, but Azula was rather defensive of her father, and yet there were no photos of Ozai, with or without Azula. It gave Katara hope that perhaps Azula's connection to her father wasn't as unshakable as it sometimes felt.
"Something here smells good," Katara almost yelped when her musings were interrupted by Azula's voice. Katara turned her head to regard Azula standing in the kitchen doorway, yawning widely. She looked very disheveled, hair sticking in every direction, and the clothes she had worn yesterday were all rumpled, giving Azula a rare non-perfect appearance. Katara found it irresistibly cute.
"I was so bold to assume you wouldn't mind me cooking," Katara smiled at Azula. "I'm making a frittata and there should be enough for two. Also, good morning, sleepyhead."
"Morning," Azula yawned. "Anyway, I'm glad you decided to cook because I'm starving." She gave Katara a curious stare. "Also, I'm intrigued to try your cooking."
"I'm very conscious about being judged by a celebrity chef," Katara joked. "Please, don't set your bar too high, though, I'm just an amateur cook. Although, it is my father's recipe, so I hope I'll do it justice."
"Can't wait to try," Azula nodded, pouring herself some coffee. "Smells like it should be ready about now?"
Katara checked the timer on her phone. "Good nose," she smiled, winking at Azula. Katara then quickly removed the frittata from the oven, pleased to see that it was not jiggly and the firmness was even across the whole surface. "I know you chefs are all about letting the food rest, but-"
"Screw that, I'm hungry," Azula interrupted, her almost childish excitement making Katara laugh softly. "You can let your half rest if you like, I want mine now."
"Alright, alright," Katara chuckled, quickly cutting the frittata into smaller pieces and transferring equal amounts onto two plates. Azula snatched her plate before Katara could even make a move to pass it onto her friend. "Is it any good?" Katara asked, a little anxiously, as she watched Azula dig in.
Azula didn't reply until her mouth was empty again. "I may be a little biased because I'm starving, but this could legitimately be the best frittata I've ever had," Azula said, giving Katara an inquiring stare. "What's your secret?"
"Well, there is one trick to making a good frittata, but the secret is my dad's, not mine," Katara smiled. "My dad told me that people usually pour the egg mixture into the hot pan with the filling and then stuff it in the oven, but then because of the way heat is distributed, the edges of the pan burn before the middle is fully cooked. So, he taught me to pour the egg mixture into a cold pan, and only then add the filling."
Azula looked stunned. "I'm shocked I didn't even know that," she exclaimed, surprised. "Your father is a very smart man."
"He has his moments," Katara laughed. "The downside is that this method doubles the number of pans one has to clean afterwards."
"Pfft, don't concern yourself with that, it's what the dishwasher is for," Azula shrugged before continuing to munch happily. "I'm still a little tired, though," she admitted a short while later. "Do you think I could finish my breakfast in bed?" Azula asked.
Katara thought it was rather ludicrous that Azula even asked if she could do something in her own apartment, before realizing that Azula was worried that Katara might think that she was being disrespectful to the meal she had prepared. "Of course," Katara nodded. "And I should finish my own half and be on my way. You might be pleased to know that while the restaurant is ticking along nicely without us being there, the others probably still expect us to show up for the dinner service." Azula snorted, rolling her eyes. "Also, I really need a shower and a fresh change of clothes," Katara added.
"You can grab a shower here," Azula suggested. "And I can lend you whatever clothes you like." Katara wanted to protest, but Azula verbally steamrolled her, continuing. "Actually, I can think of several of my outfits I would really want to see you in," Azula said. She then hesitated, blushing lightly. "Or… well, that I think would suit you nicely."
"You're making it very hard for me to refuse," Katara admitted.
"That's kind of the whole point of my offer," Azula grinned victoriously. "Then it's settled. Let's keep hanging out and I'll drive us to the restaurant later in the afternoon. In the meantime, let's have breakfast in bed while watching some silly game show and mocking dumb people for wasting their 50/50 or calling a friend for completely trivial questions that even Ty Lee would know an answer to. Oh, and I suppose you might want to hear the story of how Zuko almost killed Jet last night."
"I vaguely remember dreaming about something like that," Katara said, feeling confused. "Are you saying that it wasn't a dream?"
"Zuko and Jet probably wish it was," Azula laughed before linking arms with Katara. "Anyway, come on, girlfriend. This is one story full of physical abuse and gaslighting that even someone as soft-hearted as you will enjoy a great deal…"