Chapter 43 – the pig of war rides again
"Alright, I think we have everything set for our romantic evening that will convince Jin that we are the greatest lovers in her life," Zuko said proudly, looking around Jet's apartment. "The table is set, the turkey is sitting in the oven, champagne is in the ice bucket and the caviar is ready to be served. Are we missing anything?" he asked, turning towards an equally proud looking Jet. "Have you scattered the rose petals in the bedroom?"
"I most certainly have," Jet nodded. "All the other bedroom stuff is also prepared, blindfolds, silk strings, whipped cream, a jar of honey-"
"Alright, alright, I'll take your word for it," Zuko said hurriedly. "Still, I wonder if we could make the atmosphere a little more romantic. We have flowers, candlelight and sappy music, that's all good, but maybe we can do more."
"We could dim the lights?" Jet suggested.
"I didn't think your lights had a dimmer switch?" Zuko wondered.
"They don't. I was thinking of using a hammer," Jet shrugged.
"Uh, how about we skip the dimmed lights then," Zuko frowned. "I think the setting is plenty romantic as it is. Now we just need Jin to arrive."
"Oh, she'll be here," Jet chuckled knowingly. "After we put our seductive moves on her over the past few days, she's going to melt like butter for us."
"Hmm," Zuko didn't appear convinced. "And yet, to a casual observer, it might have appeared that she only agreed to this date after I promised her a raise."
"Merely a coincidence," Jet snorted, briefly glancing at his phone. "Anyway, is she running late? Wasn't she supposed to be here already?"
"Well, what time is it, anyway?" Zuko wondered, peering at his phone. "Yeah, she's running late, that's a little rude." Zuko then noticed something. "Wait, what's this? A text message… from Jin?"
"What does it say?" Jet asked, leaning in to look over Zuko's shoulder. "Is she letting us know that she'll be late?"
"No… ugh, it's much worse," Zuko growled, feeling very tempted to smash his phone against the wall. "She's apologizing for taking a rain check. Apparently, she had simply forgotten that she had already promised Ty Lee to attend her boyfriend's birthday party."
"Jin chose Sokka's birthday party over us? That's fucked up!" Jet fumed. "Probably one of those girl solidarity things with Ty Lee. Women, sometimes you just got to hate them, am I right?"
"Yeah, I wish we could do without them because sometimes they're just the worst," Zuko sighed. "And we worked so hard to prepare, too! But you know what hurts the most, literally? The fact that I allowed you to pull out my nose hair! With pliers!"
"It had to be done, Zuko," Jet nodded severely. "If Jin had seen that, she would have been tempted to pull on it and expected the butler to come in."
"Normal people at least have a pair of tweezers for that," Zuko grumbled.
"Hey, it's not my fault that my Manscaped shipment was stolen by my neighbor," Jet complained. "The bitch uses it to groom her cats and refuses to hand it back."
"Oh, whatever," Zuko rolled his eyes. "Well, since Jin has cruelly stood us up, let's just eat that damn turkey and drink the fucking champagne. And let's do it while bitterly complaining about how all women are conniving bitches."
"Exactly," Jet nodded, attempting a brave smile. "Jin has no idea what she's missing out on, so it's really her loss. We can still make a nice evening out of a bad situation, am I right?"
"I think so, yes," Zuko nodded. "After all, we wouldn't want to let all that whipped cream in the bedroom going to waste, right?"
The birthday party, held in the large apartment above the restaurant, was slowly kicking into a gear. Despite having been in a largely downcast mood for the past couple of weeks, Azula was determined to have a good time at the party. After she had slightly patched things up with Katara, Azula had been feeling a little better, at least when she was not thinking too hard about the promise that she had made to ask her father for a permission to date another girl. It was a promise that she intended to honor, but since thinking about it was liable to send her spiraling towards a full-blown panic attack, Azula planned to do her best to keep herself distracted with the help of both booze and weed.
Most of the guests were already present, save for Aang who had gone to fetch Mingxia, and Ty Lee who was running late after having to close up at The Blue Spirit. Yue, Suki and Kya had brought the latest additions to their little family with them, and everyone was busy obsessing about the kittens. Azula couldn't deny that the three little fur bundles were absolutely adorable and it made her wish for a lifestyle that would be more compatible with being a cat owner. Currently, two of the kittens were fast asleep, with Lily having curled up into a ball and Rose using her sister as a pillow. Chrissy was the only one up and awake, receiving plenty of attention and petting from her adoring fans.
Azula had already presented both Toph and Sokka with their gifts, both of which had been received very well. Toph was ecstatic about her Torture Me Elmo doll and had already spent some time playing with it and laughing herself silly. As for Sokka, he had given Azula a bone crunching hug after she had presented him with a particularly expensive Gundam action figure for Sokka to assemble and paint. Obviously, Sokka was a massive mecha anime geek and already had a dozen of Gundam figures on display, which Azula had keenly noticed. This latest action figure was sure to keep Sokka occupied for a long time, and Azula suspected that Ty Lee might not appreciate that, but since the birthday boy himself appeared happy, Azula didn't really care about what Ty Lee would think.
"I think I've figured out a way to also get myself an adorable kitten," Kiyi said. She was one of the guests currently sitting around the cat basket and playing with little Chrissy. She hadn't been specifically invited to the party, but since she had been hanging out at Yue's place earlier, Kiyi had just tagged along with the others and obviously nobody took an issue with that.
"I thought you already had a way to get yourself a pet, Kiyi, and it was by studying hard and improving your grades?" Katara asked. She had immediately assumed the role of the party hostess, looking after the guests and making sure that nobody was lacking for drinks or snacks. Nobody had asked Katara to do that, but somehow, she always took it upon herself to oversee and organize. Seeing Katara rushing back and forth, barely sitting down for more than a minute, filled Azula with a strong urge to simply grab Katara's hand and pull the other girl down on the sofa with her. Still, given where she stood with Katara right now, Azula didn't dare to act quite so bold.
"Sure, but that's going to take ages and I want a kitten now," Kiyi stated. "So, I've decided to blackmail my mom instead."
"That's an awful thing to do, Kiyi," Yue looked scandalized. "I think you should stick with improving your grades. It will make you feel like you truly earned your reward."
"Well… I already feel like I deserve to have a pet," Kiyi frowned, clearly disagreeing with Yue. Azula found herself smiling and nodding faintly, expressing silent approval of her sister's methods. "Also, don't worry, it's not some kind of bad blackmail. Maybe I shouldn't have even called it blackmail, it's actually something good, I think."
"That doesn't sound like blackmail, no," Suki chuckled, shaking her head. "What's your plan, little lady?"
"Well, my mom really wanted us to go on a winter holiday trip north to the Water Tribes," Kiyi explained. "I think she had started to see someone from the Water Tribes? Or at least she was thinking about dating this guy? Anyway, when she told me, I started screaming and yelling."
"What a mature reaction," Toph snorted, listening in on the conversation.
"Hey, I got freaked out, okay?" Kiyi snapped. "I don't want no stepdad because stepdads suck. However, I do want a pet more than I don't want a stepdad. So, I was thinking, maybe I could tell Ursa that she can see this guy and we could go on this trip of hers. It could even be nice. I've always wanted to see the Water Tribes."
"It's really lovely back home in winter," Yue sighed wistfully. Azula felt a tug in her chest upon realizing that Yue probably missed her homeland dearly. How long was it since she had last gone back to the Water Tribes? Azula knew that she hadn't visited ever since giving birth to Kya, so it must have been at least four long years. "And I'm sure that this man is probably very nice. Your mom is a good judge of character. I'm sure she wouldn't date a complete jerk-" Yue stopped suddenly, having realized her gaffe mid-sentence.
"Hopefully she has learned from her past mistakes," Azula spoke up, interrupting the awkward silence and metaphorical crickets.
"Hopefully, although some women just seem to be drawn towards jerks, so maybe the man she was seeing was a complete asshole," Katara said. "Still, at the very least, I think you would really enjoy the trip, Kiyi. The nature will be unlike anything you're familiar with, and if you go during the winter, you're bound to see the beautiful northern lights."
"Hmm, you raise more good points, Katara," Kiyi grinned. "I know it's a gamble on whether this guy is a jerk or not, but I'm sure I can always think of ways to make sure that he and mom break up later."
"This girl here has the right practical attitude," Toph nodded approvingly. "Anyway, are you still obsessing over those kittens? How about you knock it off and get me that promised surprise gift that you've been talking about all evening?"
"Oh, we couldn't possibly do it before everybody gets here," Yue replied. "It will be an occasion that nobody should miss."
"Ugh, I hope you're not overhyping it, blondie," Toph snorted. "Anyway, where are the others? What's taking Aang so long… oh no, wait, I actually know what's taking Aang so long. Anyway, we're also waiting for your girlfriend, right, Sokka? What's her excuse for being late?"
"Her excuse is that her boss, otherwise known as Azula's evil brother Zuko, saddled her with extra cleaning before she locks up the restaurant," Sokka explained. "Fortunately, her friend Jin agreed to help her with the cleaning. They should be on their way by now."
"Wait, Ty Lee is bringing a friend?" Katara asked. "That would have been nice to know in advance, thanks. I'll go and fetch some extra glasses and plates," she fumed before leaving.
"Is, uh… is Katara always so highly strung during birthday parties?" Azula asked.
"You've no idea," Sokka rolled his eyes. "She's actually pretty chill in comparison to some other events that were less well planned. But yeah, for some reason she has a complete freakout if she feels that an event isn't going according to the plan."
"I can sort of sympathize with being a control freak," Azula said. She then frowned upon realizing that everyone was giving her sarcastic stares expressing the sentiment of 'no shit, really?'.
"Anyway," Suki interrupted the silence as it threatened to drag. "I have some weed cookies on me. I'll slip Katara a few later to make sure she mellows."
"And I'll keep constantly refilling her wine glass," Yue nodded. "We'll make sure she relaxes and doesn't keep working throughout the party."
The chatter continued for a while after Katara returned with some extra glasses and utensils, until they heard someone climbing up the stairs and new arrivals finally showed up. "We're here!" Azula heard Aang announcing cheerfully behind her. "Sorry about being late."
At first, Azula didn't understand the confused and bewildered stares, including much giggling and pointing from Kiyi and Kya as Aang and Mingxia arrived upstairs. It was only when Azula actually turned around to look for herself, did she realize the reason for this reaction. Azula was faced with the already familiar but still slightly disturbing giant yellow parrot standing there, as for some reason Aang was wearing his fursuit. Also, behind the parrot, there stood an anthropomorphic red fox, the costume presumably hiding Mingxia.
"What the… why are you wearing your fursuits?" Azula demanded. "There are children in attendance. They could be traumatized upon seeing this, you know."
"My baby handled terrorists and a hostage situation like a complete boss, I don't think two furries in their suits will traumatize her," Yue chuckled, smiling at the giggling Kya.
"And I've seen way worse than this, Azula," Kiyi shrugged. "Ursa doesn't really know anything about making internet browsing safe for children, so I've been exploring the shadiest corners of dark web without any restrictions since I was seven."
"As for why we're wearing our suits, that's easy to explain," Aang said as together with the fox-Mingxia they approached the group. "Toph destroyed us in Uno a few evenings ago, and this is what she requested as a prize."
"A cruel and unusual punishment to be sure," Azula frowned.
"So, are you two weirdos finally dating for real or something?" Suki asked in her usual direct fashion.
"Well… not quite," Aang replied, the parrot quickly glancing at the red fox. "At least I don't think so."
"No, I'm not really into dating right now. I wouldn't want to mess up our friendship with that sort of thing. Being friends is very important to us both, isn't that right, Aang?" the red fox asked. The parrot nodded, although Azula couldn't tell how happy Aang really looked under the costume. "But we're still having a lot of fun with our fursonas going on dates."
"Wait… the fox is dating the parrot?" Suki asked, looking very confused. "But you two aren't dating? Right… that makes so much sense."
"Eh, just let them do their own thing," Yue shrugged, grinning. "Whatever it is, they'll figure it out. Maybe."
"Yeah, stop making it seem like Mingxia and I are complete weirdos," Aang replied defensively. "Anyway, why hasn't Toph been given her big secret gift yet?" the parrot continued, probably trying to shift the attention away from himself and his red fox companion.
"Because we were waiting for you and Mingxia, and now we're still waiting for Ty Lee," Sokka replied. "Ty Lee just texted me. She's in a traffic jam only a few streets away."
"Stupid Caldera traffic," Toph cursed under her breath. "I want my secret gift now! The way you have been hyping it up, it better live up to its reputation."
"I guess we could go and retrieve it," Suki suggested. "While we do that, Ty Lee will probably get here, so the timing should work out perfectly. Are you two coming?" she asked, looking at Yue and Kya.
"Sure!" Kya announced, together with her mom reluctantly abandoning the cat basket. "Kiyi, you're in charge of the kittens. Protect them with your life!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Kiyi fired off a crisp salute, looking determined.
"Alright, I have no idea what's going on," Toph said, still looking a little confused. "I'm going to assume it's just our usual chaos, though," she shrugged before going back to play with her new Torture Me Elmo doll by using a toy flamethrower on the doll to have it beg and plead for mercy.
Azula was very pleased to see that Toph was enjoying her gift so much, even if she expected that once delivered, Suki and Yue's present would overshadow the torture doll. At first, Azula had been very skeptical about the idea of a rescue pig, but she had quickly changed her mind after actually meeting Sir Cunningham. Azula had always known that pigs were highly intelligent animals, but Sir Cunningham appeared to be a particularly cunning ham. The sheer amount of intelligence in his curious eyes was impossible to deny, and Azula quickly became very fond of the hog, often sneaking down to the basement to bring him treats. If Toph agreed to keep the pig, Azula was already making plans on how to train it to become a proper truffle hunter. When Azula remembered that she wouldn't be around in Caldera long enough to see that plan to fruition, her already bad mood sank even further.
"Tada! Here we are, in spite of the evil traffic jams!" Azula was stirred out of her thoughts by Ty Lee's excited voice as she announced her arrival. "And also, I brought a friend! Everybody, this is Jin, in case you already didn't know that," she added, for some reason giving Sokka a very blatant wink.
Azula was briefly distracted by Ty Lee and Jin still wearing their waitress uniforms from The Blue Spirit. Now, Azula considered the uniforms at The Northern Lights to be quite sexy already, especially when rocked by Yue and Katara. They were classical 60's inspired retro uniforms, with the difference that the skirts were considerably shorter and showed off plenty of leg, but the blue blouses were always properly buttoned and didn't give away too much. The same couldn't be said about The Blue Spirit uniforms and the way Ty Lee and Jin wore them, with so much cleavage on display that their titties looked to be in extreme danger of popping out if they made a single careless move. Azula had no idea why Ty Lee and her friend hadn't changed out of their uniforms before coming to the party, though. Perhaps because they were in a rush, already running late? In any case, judging from the way Sokka was staring at them absentmindedly, with drool threatening to spill over his lip, the birthday boy was definitely enjoying the view.
"So, we meet again, raccoon commander," Azula remarked once Ty Lee and Jin had joined the group and Jin had been properly introduced to everyone.
Jin appeared momentarily confused before snapping her fingers and grinning. "Oh, right! You're Azula, Zuko's evil sister, who actually doesn't seem to be that evil! Yes, I remember now," she nodded excitedly. "As for the raccoons, I haven't been keeping track, but I'm sure they're doing fine."
"Do I need to know what you two are talking about?" Ty Lee laughed. "Never mind, I guess it doesn't matter because I can see that Toph's big gift is here," she said, pointing at Yue, Suki and Kya arriving upstairs with Sir Cunningham following them on a leash, managing to climb the stairs with practiced ease because he was both a highly intelligent and impeccably trained hog.
Upon his arrival, Sir Cunningham immediately began to inspect his new surroundings, oinking softly as he took in the sights. "Wait, I recognize that noise," Toph said, nodding knowingly. "Those are the sounds made by your new power drill, Sokka. Is that your gift for me, guys, a power drill? Not that I don't appreciate it, I love power tools as much as the next girl, but I wouldn't really know what to do with it."
Once everyone but Toph had stopped dying from laughter, Suki led Sir Cunningham up to Toph. "Your gift is not a power drill, Toph," Suki chuckled. "Instead, we got you an amazing pet."
Toph reached out and ran her hand along Sir Cunningham's back, touching the coarse and bristly hair. "Guys, I appreciate the gesture, but I never wanted a service dog. I've always taken pride in being totally self-sufficient, okay?" Toph said. "That said, the fur of this service dog feels weird…"
"That's because it's not a doggy," Kya corrected Toph. "Doggies don't oink, silly. We got you a service piggy."
"A service… pig?" Toph repeated incredulously. "I had no idea that was even an option!"
"Neither did we until we saw it in the animal shelter and then we immediately thought of you," Yue explained. "Sir Cunningham is a certified service animal. He's so well trained that he can even go with you on a passenger plane. It's true, Suki and I checked."
"Wow, that's…" Toph looked speechless as she continued to idly scratch Sir Cunningham's ears. In appreciation, the hog gave Toph's leg a light headbutt. "That's actually really cool!" she then exclaimed, looking excited. "Others can have their lame, totally unremarkable service pooches. I'll be there, proudly towering above them all with my cool service pig! How many other people have a service pig? I doubt there are many. This has to be pretty unique, right?"
"Well, I certainly hadn't heard about service pigs until I met Sir Cunningham," Katara smiled.
"I wonder if he's demonic," Toph chuckled, continuing to pet her new service pig.
"Are you saying that because of my story?" Ty Lee laughed. "You know I made it all up, right?"
"What? Surely not," Toph snorted. Azula was sure that if Toph could roll her eyes, she would have certainly done that. "Anyway, I'm going to tell everyone that he's demonic."
"I don't know about demonic, but he's definitely a very well-trained animal," Suki said. "He used to belong to some hard-ass Fire Army major who became blind after an encounter with a phosphorus bomb."
"Wait, wait… you gave me a… combat pig?" Toph exclaimed with the widest smile ever possible to grace a human being's face. "That's amazing! I love him already!" she gave Sir Cunningham an affectionate hug. The hog responded to it with excited squealing that woke up the snoozing kittens and they immediately joined the cacophony with their meowing. "I really do have the best friends possible," Toph spoke gratefully. "I wonder if we could commission a saddle for my combat pig. Or Sokka, maybe you could craft a saddle for me. I can just imagine myself riding into battle on top of my new combat pig while carrying a bazooka."
"Fortunately, there are currently no battles for you to ride into," Azula helpfully reminded the younger girl.
"And let's keep it that way," Yue said. "Still, we're happy to see you being so excited about Sir Cunningham."
"He's the best," Toph said affectionately. Azula had rarely seen Toph so hyped about anything, but she was definitely excited about the pig. "And he even has the best name, so he doesn't need renaming. Sir Cunningham," Toph chuckled to herself. "Oh, has he been introduced to the cats already?"
"We didn't risk it because the kittens are so small and can't really protect themselves," Suki replied, exchanging slightly nervous stares with Yue. "But with all of us here, it should be safe. And our pets have to be able to get along, right?" Yue and Kya both nodded as Toph took the leash and led her pig over to the cat basket. Kya then picked up the pitch-black kitten, Rose, and held it up for Sir Cunningham to inspect.
Sir Cunningham briefly sniffed the kitten, but did not appear too fascinated by it, turning away. Rose apparently took offense at not being considered interesting enough. The tiny black kitten hissed and then used its tiny paw to molly-whop Sir Cunnigham across the snout. "Seems like we're starting off with rivalry instead of friendship," Katara remarked after a similar story played out with the other two kittens. The pig just didn't seem to find the kittens very interesting, which in Azula's opinion, was probably for the best.
After the introduction of Toph's new pig, the party slowly settled down and became a more relaxed affair, mostly because Katara had been convinced to accept a joint and so she stopped frantically running around to make sure nobody lacked for anything. Kya and Kiyi remained glued to the kitten basket, playing with the little furballs and not leaving them alone for a moment.
Toph was similarly obsessing over Sir Cunningham, already trying to figure out what sort of tricks she could teach to her new pet. She had also taken well to Azula's idea of teaching Sir Cunningham how to hunt for truffles, which they could then use for some exceptional gourmet dishes at the restaurant. Aang and Mingxia were hanging out with Toph and her pig. Aang in particular was interested in bonding with Sir Cunningham because they were destined to share the same living space, and so they needed to be able to get along. The pig seemed a little annoyed by Aang and Mingxia's fursuits, however, appearing slightly mistrustful of their motives, or perhaps Sir Cunningham was already becoming protective of his new mistress.
Azula still couldn't figure out why Ty Lee had brought Jin over to Sokka's birthday party, but then again, this wasn't the first random decision Ty Lee had made, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Jin appeared to be mostly hanging out with Ty Lee and Sokka, and for some reason there was a lot of giggling and blushing going on between those three.
Azula was mostly hanging out with Yue, Suki and Katara, but she found herself left out of most conversations. It was not because the other girls were intentionally leaving her out, though. It was more because Azula herself didn't feel right about cutting in and acting as if everything was just as it had been months ago. The knowledge that she was leaving Caldera City in less than a month made Azula feel more and more like an impostor among this group of friends, like someone who didn't truly belong anymore, and perhaps had never belonged. So, while Katara had briefly stepped away to fetch more wine and Yue and Suki were distracted by Kya, Azula decided to slip away and make her way up to the rooftop to nurse her drink alone without poisoning the party with her foul mood.
Deep in thought, wondering if she could figure out a way to leave the party early without offending anyone, Azula almost missed the soft footsteps approaching her from behind. It was only at the last moment that Azula turned around to regard Yue slipping in next to her at the railing, leaning in with her elbows. "So, this is where you have retreated to sulk, is it?" Yue asked with a teasing smile.
"I do not sulk," Azula sulked. "I just… needed a moment to think."
"I see," Yue smirked. "Well, I won't take much of your time, I promise."
"Oh… you're no bother, you know that," Azula sighed. "Stay for as long as you like."
"Thank you," Yue's smile widened. "You know… it hurts to see you so clearly unhappy. And don't even try to deny that you're miserable. I know you well enough to see through the act."
"Has anyone ever mentioned that you are annoyingly perceptive?" Azula groaned.
"It has been mentioned once or twice," Yue chuckled. "Don't worry, at least I don't have to interrogate you about why you're unhappy, to me that's perfectly clear. And knowing that you're doing this to yourself probably makes it worse, doesn't it?" she asked, giving Azula a soft, curious stare.
"Ever since Katara moved out, it's been… it's been a living nightmare," Azula confessed. "Being near her, working with her, when we can't be together… I don't want to be dramatic about it, but it feels like I've been stabbed right through my chest and I constantly keep turning around to check if I'm not leaving a trail of blood in my wake."
"Well, I'm glad you're at least not being dramatic about it," Yue rolled her eyes. "But if it's this bad now, how do you expect to last another month before leaving? Katara actually somehow hides it better than you do, but we can see that you're both miserable, and that sort of misery will spread and affect everyone at the restaurant. I guess we can hope that it will become unbearable and make you reconsider leaving…"
"You know I can't stay," Azula sighed. "I've made that perfectly clear from the start. I haven't lied or deceived anyone about that."
"It's not about that, Azula," Yue shook her head. "Although, this makes me very curious. Back in the summer, when… when we almost got together for real." Azula blushed deeply from the memory, mostly from the guilt associated with it. "Would you have still gone back to your father if we had become a real couple? If Kya had started to look at you as her second mom? I'll be honest… the thought that you would have left us for your father's empire is upsetting. It actually makes me quite angry," Yue said sharply, her blue eyes briefly turning ice cold.
"If… if I had left, I would have found a way to make sure that you and Kya never lacked for anything," Azula said defensively.
Yue sighed, shaking her head sadly. "It's depressing to see how deep your father's influence has become ingrained in you," she said. "Do you truly believe that these things can be solved by throwing money at them? I mean, you have to realize that's not always the solution, right? Azula, if I thought like that, I would have made sure that my relationship with my father was repaired and I would be living the life of luxury. By now, I would have probably married some celebrity or a millionaire. The only price to pay would have been parting with Kya and putting my baby up for adoption… do you think I should have done that?"
Azula felt blood draining from her face when she thought about Kya not being in Yue's life, or just about her never having met the inquisitive little tyke. "Agni, no… no, that would have been a horrible thing to do," Azula gasped. "You made the right choice."
"Alright, so you're telling me that I made the right decision by choosing happiness over fame and fortune, but you're not going to make the same choice yourself? You're going to walk away from your happiness because you want to remain loyal to your father?" Yue asked, sounding incredulous.
"I admit that it… does not seem right," Azula groaned, burying her face in her hands.
"You bet it does," Yue nodded. "Also, don't forget that while Katara obviously cares about you very much, she's not going to wait forever for you to make up your mind. Nor should she."
"On that we agree," Azula replied earnestly. "She could do way better than me if she wanted to. It would probably be best for everyone if she just moved on."
"It's either silly excuses or a pity party with you, isn't it?" Yue sighed. "You are one frustrating bitch, you know that, right?"
"Sorry," Azula cringed. "You should probably leave me to my thoughts, though. I'm surprised Suki hasn't already showed up to look for you."
"We left Suki in charge of the kittens while Kiyi and Kya went to fetch some ice cream," Yue smiled. "But I will honor your wishes and leave you to your moping."
"I am not moping," Azula protested weakly, but Yue merely laughed her off before disappearing downstairs, leaving Azula free to continue her moping. She really didn't need Yue raising so many objective arguments in favor of abandoning this restaurant contest and simply staying in Caldera City. The choice was already becoming way harder than Azula had expected without Yue adding to it.
Deep down, Azula suspected that the imminent visit of her father would put an end to her existential crisis. Azula was fully committed to the promise she had made to Katara and she was going to tell Ozai that she wanted to date girls. It was just that Azula already knew the outcome of this conversation. Her father always found ways to dispel her notions of freedom and independence, and managed to bend her will to his with embarrassing ease. Azula hoped that this time the outcome would be different, but deep inside, she feared that it was a foolish hope.
At some point, Azula's musings were interrupted by a frustrated growl coming from behind her. Azula once again turned around to take a look, her eyes meeting Katara's. Katara immediately froze in surprise, as if she hadn't expected to find Azula here. For a moment, Azula expected that Katara would turn around and return downstairs, but after a brief hesitation, Katara walked up to her and settled in the very same spot recently occupied by Yue.
"You seem upset," Azula dared to speak. "I hope you're not angry with me."
"Why would I… no, of course not," Katara sighed, shaking her head. "You haven't done anything to upset me, not since we cleared the air."
"Ah… that's good," Azula gulped, feeling relieved. "So, did something happen at the party?"
"No, everyone's having a great time," Katara snorted. "I wasn't sold on that pig for Toph, but Sir Cunningham is quickly winning both hearts and minds, almost as much as the kittens. So, I have to admit that he was a great choice for a gift. Also, Sokka already loves that pig almost as much as Toph does." Azula gave Katara an inquiring stare. "Sokka ran some quick calculations and realized that the pig will reduce our organic waste by almost forty percent, so we're going to make some big savings."
"Of course," Azula chuckled. "The noble pig, nature's garbage disposal."
"Just so," Katara also laughed. "Still, I'm pissed at Sokka. But not as much as I'm upset with Ty Lee. Spirits, what is that girl thinking?"
"What are you talking about? What did Ty Lee do?" Azula asked in a slightly defensive tone of voice.
"That girl Jin she dragged along with her?" Katara fumed. "I just learned that she's supposed to be Sokka's birthday present." Azula blinked, trying to process this new information. "Yes, exactly," Katara continued. "Apparently, Ty Lee has set up some freaky threesome as her gift to Sokka."
"Hmm… that's not entirely out of character for Ty Lee," Azula conceded. "And you have a reason to believe that Sokka absolutely hates this gift?"
"Oh no, he's over the moon," Katara sighed. "That's the worst part about it."
"What?" Azula asked, feeling very confused. "Why?"
"They're just being so immature!" Katara exclaimed. "This is no way to treat a relationship! It will only lead to them breaking up."
"That's ridiculous," Azula sighed. "Also, forgive me for saying this, but also a little rich coming from the girl who recently partook in a threesome herself. And was part of a wild lesbian four-way free for all."
"That was completely different!" Katara snapped. "I wasn't seriously involved with anyone at the time. But Sokka and Ty Lee seem to be treating their relationship like a game!"
"I don't know about that," Azula frowned. "It seems like you just don't trust your brother to have the maturity to handle something like that. You don't think that Ty Lee asked him for approval beforehand?"
Katara hesitated, blushing lightly. "Well… it seems that she did ask, yes," she admitted.
"That seems like the mature thing to do," Azula smiled. "Come on, they're both consenting adults."
"You're saying I'm overreacting?" Katara frowned. She then relaxed slightly, letting out a huge sigh. "I'm just… worried about Sokka, really. He deserves to be happy and have a stable relationship. I thought maybe Ty Lee could be the one, but this just makes me very nervous."
"Well, as one of Ty Lee's oldest and closest friends, I can assure you that she really wants to have a long-term relationship with your brother," Azula said. "So, maybe try to be… I don't know, a bit more chill about it. They'll figure it out."
"I suppose you're right," Katara sighed again. "I should have more trust in Sokka." For a while, they stood side by side in silence. "So, why have you been hiding up here all evening?" Katara eventually asked, sounding a little concerned. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I just… needed space to think," Azula replied evasively.
"About what?" Katara pressed. Azula didn't reply instantly, hoping that Katara would just switch topics. Katara wasn't going to let it drop, however, staring intensely at Azula.
"My father arrives next week," Azula finally admitted. "I'm sure you can understand that weighing heavily on my mind."
"It's really messing you up already, isn't it?" Katara asked, looking sympathetic.
"Not at all," Azula lied. "There's just so much to take care of before he arrives and I was mentally preparing a to-do list."
"You're a terrible liar, you know," Katara glared.
"I used to be a really good liar, actually," Azula said. "One of the best, even. I could cheat, manipulate and lie to convince anyone. It always made my father so proud."
"So, what changed?" Katara asked. "Because your lies feel quite transparent to me."
"I have no idea what happened," Azula shrugged. "I suppose I just came to befriend people that I don't really want to lie to."
"For that, at least, I'm glad," Katara smiled broadly. "I think it has made you into a much better person. I hope you see that as a positive change, too."
"I guess," Azula sighed. "This whole trying to be a better person hasn't made my life any easier, mind you. Actually, it's an annoyingly difficult path to travel."
"Well, for what it's worth, I am proud of you," Katara said, surprising Azula by lightly leaning in with her head against Azula's shoulder.
"Then that alone makes the change worth it," Azula spoke quietly as they continued to stand there, sharing a treasured moment of closeness.
The disappointing evening at the household of Jet and Zuko was slowly winding down as midnight approached. With Jin's sudden yet inevitable betrayal, the boys had polished off the romantic dinner feast by themselves, after which Jet had tried to entice Zuko to play the new Path of Exile game with him, but it was mostly about getting Zuko to play the part of a cheering audience for Jet. Zuko had soon lost interest in being a spectator and he had slipped away, while Jet was still busy playing and raging at the screen when his character got skewered again and again.
Deep down, Zuko understood that being upset about Jin's silly sexual performance ratings was a bit silly. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking about it even now, hours later. Zuko had been trying desperately to figure out what it was that bothered him so much, and by now, he was sure that he had figured it out. His father had always belittled him as the useless and good for nothing child while putting Azula on a pedestal. Uncle Iroh had told him the exact opposite, placing Zuko on a pedestal and feeding him with inspirational and confidence boosting stories about how there was nothing that Zuko couldn't do if he only believed in himself. Zuko always felt trapped between these two extreme opinions, never quite sure whether it was Ozai who was lying, or whether his uncle was not being genuine and simply told him what he wanted to hear. And now Jin had ranked him as the worst at something. That seemed to line up with how his father saw him. No wonder Jin's opinion was getting stuck in Zuko's craw.
There was someone else he could turn to in this matter, but Zuko felt uncomfortable from the very thought of doing so. Still, for the sake of his peace of mind, Zuko knew that he had to do it. He grabbed his phone and slipped into the bathroom to make sure that Jet wouldn't be able to overhear the conversation as he quickly found Mai's name among his recent contacts and made the call.
"Zuko?" Mai sounded surprised as she answered the call. "Why are you calling me at this hour?"
"Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you," Zuko quickly apologized, even if he knew that Mai never went to sleep before midnight. She was a perennial night owl who loved to sleep in.
"You didn't wake me, Zuko," Mai sighed. "But I could have been busy. I could have been having sex."
"Were you?" Zuko asked worriedly.
"Obviously not," Mai groaned. "If I had answered a phone call while having sex, it would have probably been the worst sex imaginable."
"That's… kind of what I wanted to talk about," Zuko admitted clumsily.
"You wanted to talk about… bad sex?" Mai asked, sounding highly incredulous. "Uh, it's no longer my business, but are you sure you're okay, Zuko? Are you drunk? Did you get into a fight with Jet?"
"No… no to all of the above," Zuko replied hastily. "I just wanted to ask you something personal, because… I was curious. I wanted to know about back when we were together… and I wanted to ask if I was… you know?"
"If you were… what?" Mai asked. Zuko could imagine Mai rolling her eyes right about now. "And no, I really don't know what you're asking."
"Ugh," Zuko groaned. "I wanted to ask if I was… you know, a good partner. Sexually."
Stunned silence descended upon the conversation before Mai burst into laughter. "Wow, Zuko… this is about Jin's stupid little rating list, isn't it?" she sounded thoroughly amused.
"What? Of course not!" Zuko protested. Mai was still sniggering, however, so he decided to just come clean. "Alright, so it is about the list. Can you just answer the question, please?"
Mai stopped snickering and forced herself to calm down. "Very well," she replied. "Breaking up with you made me realize how foolish I had been for sometimes coddling your feelings and keeping too many things to myself, so from now on, you're only ever getting the unvarnished truth from me. And the truth is that you could be a good partner as long as you put your mind to it and remembered to give me enough attention. But you could also be rather selfish, Zuko. I'm not going to lie and call you the world's greatest lover, not when every now and then I had to finish things off by myself after you were already passed out and snoring loudly."
Zuko cringed at Mai's frank description. "Thank you for your honest opinion, Mai," he forced himself to say. "And I'm sorry that I wasn't a more attentive boyfriend to you. You deserved better."
Mai took her time before answering. "You are so incredibly frustrating, Zuko," she exclaimed, sounding a little emotional. "Why did you have to develop a sliver of empathy after we broke up, when you couldn't do it while we were dating?" Mai snapped, disconnecting the call before Zuko could figure out what to answer.
Zuko was still wondering what Mai's final words might have meant, when he suddenly overheard Jet's yelling back in the living room. Zuko then remembered that he had been in the bathroom for a suspiciously long time and rushed back to the living room, even if Jet was probably too immersed in the game to notice anything suspicious. "Did you die again?" Zuko asked, only then noticing that Jet had set the joystick aside and was instead peering at his phone.
"You could say that," Jet groaned. "Jin has updated her ratings… you need to check it out."
"Well, we're probably still last since we didn't get the chance to convince her that we deserve a better score," Zuko replied, quickly checking his phone. "Yep, we're still last," he nodded. "Oh, but there are new leaders…" Zuko suddenly realized. "Ty Lee and… Sokka? That was Ty Lee's boyfriend, right?"
"Yes, and also a complete tool and an asshole," Jet groaned. "And now I feel like I've been cucked by Sokka of all people! Life just isn't fair!"
"It certainly isn't," Zuko nodded, Jet's dramatics making him smile. "Why don't we get so drunk that we forget all about Jin's stupid list?" Zuko asked.
"Now you're speaking my language, Zuko," Jet said happily. "That's probably the best idea either of us has had all week…"