Chapter 44 – the truffle hunters

"Here, boy!" Kiyi called out, looking behind with worry. "Come on, now! You don't want to get left behind!"

Azula smiled at her younger sister's fussing over her new pet as they walked down a gently sloping forest path, not far from where she used to rent the cottage for herself, Katara, Yue and Suki. Azula was not at all surprised that Kiyi's plan to blackmail their mother had succeeded. Despite not sharing the same father, Azula still considered Kiyi a true Nakamura, which meant that deviousness was in her blood. Still, the visit to the animal shelter to pick up a cute kitten had ended in a completely unexpected outcome… an outcome that was aimlessly ambling behind them on the forest path, looking rather confused.

Instead of kitten, Kiyi had ended up choosing a puppy. While the shelter had not lacked for many adorable felines, in the end, Kiyi's heart had settled on an abandoned basset puppy. Even though Azula was strictly a cat person, she could understand Kiyi's choice. Basset hounds were probably the most miserable looking species of dog in the whole world, with the endlessly suffering expressions on their sad faces speaking of untold misery. It definitely would have been hard to pass by the cage of such a sad looking creature, and so Droopy had become a part of the family.

The basset pup was between seven and eight months old, so he was definitely way more self-sufficient than Kya's kitten sisters. Azula thought that Kiyi's chosen name of Droopy was also quite fitting, although she still preferred her own suggestion of Jowls. She still kept occasionally referring to the pup as Jowls, earning fierce protestations from her younger sibling.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Toph called out from further ahead on the path. Ably aided by her service pig Sir Cunningham, Toph had somehow ended up overtaking the others and forging ahead. It didn't help that Azula and Kiyi had to constantly herd Droopy and make sure the dog didn't get lost along the way. "The blind girl is putting you both to shame!" Toph shouted.

"Calm down, we're not in any rush!" Azula shouted back at Toph. "Don't forget that we're babysitting the world's slowest dog!" It was Monday afternoon, and the only day of the week when the restaurant was closed. With Ozai arriving on Tuesday, this gave Azula the perfect opportunity to take Toph and her pig truffle hunting. If they were lucky and found the delectable fungi, it would allow Azula to introduce several impressive specials with truffles for tomorrow's menu. With school done for the day, Kiyi had volunteered to come along because Droopy apparently needed the exercise.

"Hey, it's not Droopy's fault for having adorable stubby legs," Kiyi laughed.

"Well, I don't want to be stuck at this the whole day!" Toph continued shouting. "I'll send Sir Cunningham back to help," she added, kneeling next to her pig and whispering something to the clever hog. Sir Cunningham immediately rushed back to Azula and Kiyi, starting to grunt and squeal at Droopy. Amazingly, following that exchange, Droopy immediately picked up the pace.

"That was actually helpful," Azula said once they had caught up with Toph. This little episode made Azula feel even more impressed with Sir Cunningham.

"Well, Droopy is really looking up to Sir Cunningham, like at his older brother or something," Kiyi nodded. "It's so cool that they've bonded so quickly, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," Toph said. "I think my pig recognizes the value of a canine friend. That would explain why he's completely uninterested in those kittens. It's because they're so useless."

"Hey, you shouldn't talk ill of the kittens," Kiyi protested. "Maybe they don't have any practical uses, but they make up for it by being incredibly cute."

"That's pretty much the only purpose of a cat," Azula shrugged. "They can only do one thing, but by Agni they are good at it."

"Droopy thinks they're cute, too," Kiyi grinned. "They're already best friends."

"I think Droopy is best friends with everybody. He'd probably become best friends with a burglar if one broke in to steal your stuff," Azula rolled her eyes. As most basset hounds, Droopy had a very sweet and gentle nature, so there were absolutely no concerns about him getting along with the kitten trio. During their introductory meeting, the basset had just laid there with his usual suffering expression as the kittens freely climbed all over him and used Droopy's back as a fun slide.

Even for a cat person like Azula, Droopy met all the criteria for a dog that she could tolerate. Droopy only had one small downside. While the puppy was mostly silent and didn't make much noise, he occasionally reminded everyone of his presence with unusually loud barking that on a couple of occasions had sent Azula shrieking and leaping several feet up in the air.

"Why did we have to come out all this way, anyway?" Toph asked as they continued walking down the path. "It feels like you've taken us all the way across the entire Capital Island. Are you sure there were no truffles closer to Caldera?"

"First of all, we're only an hour's drive from the capital, so you're completely exaggerating," Azula sighed. "Secondly, while there might be truffles elsewhere, I picked an area that was most likely to have an abundance of them. During our cottage retreats, I noticed that the surrounding mixed forests seemed perfect for truffles. We have oak, hazelnut, birch, pine, all growing intermingled. Truffles love all these trees."

"Only a complete geek would know something like that," Toph snorted.

"Right," Azula said. "I guess I shouldn't tell you that I also hacked the website of the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service in order to access their maps that show the soil pH across the Capital Island."

"You didn't!" Kiyi gasped.

"Oh, she totally did," Toph laughed. "You really are something, Azula."

"Thank you," Azula mock-bowed. "Anyway, truffles love high pH soil, and this region has the exact pH levels we want." Azula then stopped, having spotted a promising clearing a little to their left. "I think we've reached our destination. This looks like a great spot from which to start our search," she said, leading their expedition towards the clearing to set up a base of operations.

"So, how is this going to work?" Kiyi wondered as she watched Azula rummaging through her backpack.

"Well, since we have no way of knowing whether Sir Cunningham has ever been used as a truffle pig, we'll just have to make sure that he understands what he should be looking for," Azula explained, continuing to search her bag. "Ah-hah!" she exclaimed, retrieving a small wooden box and flicking it open. Inside it, there rested a beautiful looking black truffle. "With the money I paid for this, I could have bought a really nice kidney on the black market. Fortunately, I think at this point in time, we have more uses for a truffle than we have for a kidney."

"Hilarious," Toph deadpanned. "Here, boy!" she called out to her pig. "Azula has something delicious for you!" Sir Cunningham trotted up to Azula and accepted the hideously expensive truffle from her, sniffing it and then devouring it quickly. The pig then gave Azula a hopeful stare, clearly asking for more.

"That was the only one we had," Azula said. "But there are more in this forest around us. All you have to do is to sniff them out for us."

Sir Cunningham stood still for a moment, as if considering Azula's words. Then the pig bent its head and started sniffing the ground around them, eventually turning towards the nearby trees. Droopy chased after his friend, with the three girls following right behind.

"Do you think he already picked up the scent?" Toph asked.

"That would be incredibly lucky," Azula shrugged. "Then again, he is a pretty remarkable specimen, so I wouldn't be too shocked."

"Look, he's found them already!" Kiyi exclaimed in excitement, pointing at Sir Cunningham. The hog was standing underneath a mighty oak tree, sniffing the ground while chewing on something. "And you said that it was unlikely we'll find anything! This was easy!"

"Uh, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but he hasn't exactly found truffles yet," Azula sighed at her younger sibling. "He's just snacking on some acorns."

"Damn!" Kiyi cursed. "He's never going to find any truffles if he's getting distracted by acorns! Hmm… do you think maybe you could feed acorns to your dad instead?"

"I'll do that whenever I'm tired of living," Azula rolled her eyes.

"Hey, my pig will get around to finding your truffles, don't you worry," Toph said confidently, walking up to Sir Cunningham and petting the pig as it continued to feast on the acorns. "Just because he's hunting truffles, there's no reason to pass on perfectly good acorns, is there, my boy?" Sir Cunningham responded with a satisfied squeal, eventually abandoning the acorns and continuing onwards, deeper into the forest with Droopy and the three girls hot on his heels.

For the next half an hour, the hog continued to lead them around the nearby forest, making all sorts of discoveries. Among the discoveries was a particularly huge anthill that Sir Cunningham carelessly disrupted, forcing the group to leg it to safety from enraged ants. They also found the remains of a dead animal, most likely deer, picked clean by scavengers. Droopy ended up collecting a rather impressive bone from the pile of remains.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," Kiyi sighed, quite obviously getting bored.

"I warned you that it might not be exciting," Azula said. "But on the upside, as soon as Sir Cunningham finds the first few, he should get the hang of it."

"That's good," Kiyi perked up. "And I wasn't complaining, anyway. Droopy needs the exercise."

"And you shouldn't question Sir Cunningham's abilities," Toph said, walking just behind them. "I have full confidence that my amazing pig will find your truffles. Actually…" Toph then stopped, sniffing the air and scrunching her nose. "I have a good feeling about this place. It smells of truffles."

Azula also sniffed the air out of sheer curiosity. Unsurprisingly, it smelled of quite ordinary forest. "I don't think a human can smell truffles like that," Azula shook her head. "I've never heard of human truffle hunters."

"Well, I have a strong spiritual bond with my awesome pet," Toph replied proudly. "I can sense that he's about to find something."

"Spiritual bond, that's ridic-" Azula began, only to cut herself short when Kiyi tugged on her arm.

"Azula, look!" Kiyi exclaimed, pointing at the service pig. Sir Cunningham looked unusually animated while digging for something underneath a large hazelnut tree. "He's found something!"

"Agni, it couldn't be," Azula gasped as she rushed to where the pig was digging. With Toph holding her excited pet back, Azula retrieved her hand shovel from the backpack and carefully began to uncover layers upon layers of soil, careful not to damage the precious fungi. After five minutes of painstaking work, Azula was delighted to uncover a pair of beautiful black truffles attached to the root of the hazelnut tree. "Whoa… that's an amazing stroke of luck. You're quickly becoming the restaurant's MVP, my friend," she smiled, patting the pig's snout.

"Told you Sir Cunningham would come through," Toph replied proudly as the truffle hunt continued.

Over the course of the next two hours, Sir Cunningham continued to discover more and more of the precious fungi. At the end of the hunt, Azula had two plastic containers with about two dozen black truffles in them, more than enough to last the restaurant until the end of the week.

"Well, this expedition has been an amazing success," Azula summarized, feeling unusually excited as her mind was already spinning with possibilities provided by this amazing ingredient. "I have so many ideas about the specials we can put on the menu with these truffles," she spoke excitedly.

"I don't think any of us really know how to cook with truffles," Toph admitted. "Maybe Suki from when she was in her cooking school, or during her apprenticeships? But that was years ago, so she's probably forgotten."

"There's nothing to it, really," Azula shrugged. "I'll teach you. But for this occasion, since it's for my father, I will probably want to be in the kitchen, cooking myself."

"Right, it's too important to leave it to us, peasants," Toph chuckled, not actually sounding at all offended. "Anyway, what specials were you thinking about?"

"One definitely has to be a pasta special. Something very simple, just pasta with butter, freshly ground pepper, some parmesan and grated truffles. The simplicity will allow the truffles to stand out and speak for themselves," Azula replied confidently. "For the second, I'm thinking Beef Wellington with truffles."

"Wait… are you serious?" Toph sounded shocked. "Your father literally put Beef Wellington on the culinary map of the world. They call him Mr. Beef Wellington, you know. You're really going to serve his signature dish?"

"Absolutely," Azula grinned. "That's the best statement of intent I could possibly make."

"Well, you're one bold and ambitious bitch, and I totally respect that," Toph chuckled. "Anyway, how do you use truffles with Wellington, anyway? Do you just sprinkle grated truffles over it?"

"No, I was thinking about putting the truffles in the duxelles with the other mushrooms," Azula explained. "I think it's going to make a subtle but important difference that my father will appreciate."

"Well, it's your call," Toph shrugged. "Anyway, are we good to head back? I'm starting to get hungry and I'm guessing you don't want us to eat your truffles."

"Hands off my truffles!" Azula threatened jokingly. "But yes, we can leave. That is, as soon as Kiyi fetches her slowpoke of a dog," she sighed, noticing that Kiyi was still waiting for Droopy to catch up with them.

"He was right behind me just now!" Kiyi exclaimed, turning around to look for her clueless puppy. "Hey, uh… Azula?" Kiyi suddenly turned towards Azula, wide-eyed and blinking. "Droopy is digging for something under that big pine tree!"

"Ugh, of course he is," Azula groaned. "He probably wants to hide his precious deer bone. That dog is so silly."

"But what if he's found a truffle?" Kiyi asked hopefully. Azula couldn't help feeling skeptical about this possibility. "Please?" Kiyi gave her a pleading stare. "Let's go check?"

"Fine… fine, let's waste some more time, why not?" Azula sighed, retrieving the shovel she had already packed away and hurrying after Kiyi to the place where Droopy was digging. "Alright, what do you have there?" Azula asked, kneeling to take a closer look as Kiyi held Droopy back from digging any further. Azula began to carefully dig around, expecting to find the buried bone, but instead, she was absolutely astonished to uncover a particularly large and succulent truffle specimen.

"See! I told you he found a truffle!" Kiyi cheered, hugging her precious pet. Droopy looked absolutely miserable, although in all fairness, as a basset hound, he only had one possible facial expression and it was that of extreme suffering and misery. "Best dog ever!" Kiyi cooed, continuing to hug her puppy.

"Well, I'll be damned," Azula said, reaching out to also pet Droopy. "I owe you both an apology. He really is a truffle dog."

"He must have been watching Sir Cunningham, learning from the best," Toph said, having rejoined them. "Now we have two truffle hunters on the team. That's great news, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," Azula said as they began their trek back towards the remote forest road where she had parked their car. "And this place is amazing for truffles. You'll want to remember it for the future, so that you can come back aft-…" Azula suddenly silenced herself, having noticed that Kiyi was giving her a rather anxious stare, probably because she expected Azula to say 'after I have left Caldera'. "So that you can come back here later," Azula said instead.

Whether it was the reminder that Azula's departure was drawing ever closer, but the walk back to the car felt very long and subdued. Kiyi in particular was looking deeply unhappy, and at one point when Toph and her pet pig had left them a little behind, Kiyi completely surprised Azula by suddenly wrapping her arms around her sister's waist. "Please don't go back to your dad!" Kiyi begged, bursting into tears. "I don't want you to leave!" she pleaded.

Azula felt completely shocked by this unexpected outburst of emotions. It wasn't the sort of thing she knew how to handle even when she expected it. Just like Azula and Zuko, Kiyi wasn't usually very open with her emotions, so for her to act like this… it almost felt like desperation. And Azula absolutely loathed the idea of her younger sibling feeling like that because of her.

"Kiyi, p-please…" she stuttered uncomfortably. "We… we are Nakamuras, we don't behave like this. We have to maintain our dignity, so… please, get a grip."

Kiyi let go of Azula's waist and took a step backwards, wiping her cheeks, but the tears just kept on coming. "I'm sorry…" she sniffed. "It's just that-"

"I know," Azula interrupted her younger sibling, speaking kindlier now. "I know, and I understand. It's hard."

"I just remember how it was when I wouldn't see you or Zuko in years," Kiyi managed, still struggling not to cry. "I don't want to go back to that."

"I get that," Azula sighed. "I'm going to promise you something, okay? I have no idea what the future will bring, but I will promise you this one thing. Whatever happens, I won't fall out of touch with you. We're not going back to that."

"Promise? Seriously?" Kiyi asked hopefully, holding up her pinky. She still didn't look very happy, but at least the waterworks had stopped.

"Yes," Azula nodded, accepting the invitation with her own pinky. "With all the solemn seriousness of a pinky promise."

"Well, this looks pretty spotless to me," Zuko admitted once he had finished his full inspection of The Blue Spirit restaurant. "I think it should be acceptable," he nodded towards an exhausted looking Jet. Everyone had contributed in thoroughly cleaning up the restaurant on the eve of Ozai's visit, but the girls and Ruon-Jian had refused to do more than an hour of overtime. At least, Zuko had successfully press-ganged Jet into doing some actual work around the place, and between the two of them, they had finished the cleaning almost a quarter to midnight.

"I'm glad to hear it, because otherwise you would have a rebellion on your hands," Jet groaned. "I even cleaned all the way around the lavatory bowl this time! Some of the dead bugs back there looked like they could be of interest to paleontologists, they were so ancient."

"Gross," Zuko shuddered. "But hopefully we have done well enough to impress my father. Probably not, though. Sometimes, I'm not even sure what it would take for me to impress him."

"Damn, you sound pretty nervous about this visit," Jet gave Zuko a sympathetic stare. "I would like to say that you have nothing to worry about, but-"

"Oh, trust me, there's plenty to worry about," Zuko chuckled darkly.

"Right," Jet said. "So, if I got it right, he's visiting Azula's restaurant for lunch and then coming here for dinner." Zuko nodded at that. "Do you think it will make a difference that he's catching up with Azula first?" Jet asked.

"What do you mean?" Zuko frowned, uncertain of where Jet was going with this.

"I mean… what if she gets her venomous claws in your father before we've even had a chance to impress him?" Jet explained. "Just seems like she has a big strategic advantage by getting to show her place off first."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that," Zuko shrugged helplessly, feeling slightly more anxious now that Jet had pointed out this possibility. "Anyway, I doubt that Azula can really turn our father against me any more than he already is," Zuko said, mostly to calm himself down. "She's always been the favored one, after all. Whatever happens in this competition, I can't really do any worse than I've done before. Nobody expects me to succeed, but that's not true for Azula. Facing the possibility to truly fail for the first time in the most important competition of our lives? Yeah, the pressure should be on her."

"I suppose," Jet frowned, for some reason looking unconvinced. "I still would have preferred to sabotage Azula's restaurant in some way, but you insisted that we spend all this time cleaning, so…"

"It's too risky to try one of our hare-brained schemes now that my father is here," Zuko shook his head. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," he turned towards Jet. "An actual real question."

Jet gave him a slightly shifty stare in return, before quickly bouncing back with a confident grin. "Sure," Jet chuckled. "Shoot."

"Well, I just want to know why you're so into this competition," Zuko said. "I know you said you wanted to get back at Azula, but-"

"But what?" Jet narrowed his eyes at Zuko.

"I mean, now that I know you a little better? I'm not really buying it," Zuko frowned. "I know you said Azula got between you and your girl, that Katara chick. And she also tore your scrotum, so I get that you were angry. But still, it's not like you to put in a six months long effort of hard labor just for revenge."

"Well, it definitely was my motivation in the beginning," Jet shrugged. "But a lot has changed since then, right? I mean… you moved in with me. I know we haven't really talked about it because, ugh, who needs that talk, right? But like… you want to win this competition, which means that I want to help you win."

"Sure, I get that," Zuko nodded, feeling his cheeks grow warm. This was getting dangerously close to discussing feelings, and that was always a weird and uncomfortable experience for Zuko. "It's just that… sometimes I feel like you want to win against Azula even more than I do," he eventually said.

"I doubt that's true," Jet shook his head. "I don't know why you would think that, especially with your insane rivalry since childhood."

"Maybe you're right," Zuko finally conceded. "All I know is that these plans of sabotage wouldn't have even occurred to me if you hadn't suggested them."

"Well, I'm a big plans and ideas guy, while you're all about action, Zuko," Jet laughed. "Maybe that's why we gel so well."

"Maybe," Zuko allowed himself a small smile.

"Anyway, since we're done cleaning up, how about we finally head home?" Jet suggested.

"Wait," Zuko stopped him, suddenly feeling emboldened. "Since we're… actually talking for once, there was one more thing I wanted to ask."

"Damn, you're suddenly full of questions, what gives?" Jet chuckled, although to Zuko it felt like he was trying to mask some nervousness.

"I think… just me wanting to have some clarity on the eve of my father's visit," Zuko admitted honestly. "Anyway, I just wanted to know… how come you haven't asked me what happens if I win the competition?"

"Well… I didn't want to stress you," Jet explained, not entirely convincingly. "Anyway, I hope that you won't forget this loyal bro who made your success possible. Which is like… my way of saying that I hope to stick around… and hope that you'll have me."

"I will be moving back to Ba Sing Se… probably whether I win or lose," Zuko said, feeling the anxiety building as he waited for Jet's reaction.

"And I would love a reason to go back home to the Earth Kingdom," Jet smiled. "Honestly, I've missed the place. There are better opportunities to make a fortune here in the Fire Nation, but given the chance, I would be way happier living in Ba Sing Se."

"But you have to understand that…" Zuko began, having to pause as he felt his face burning with anxiety and embarrassment. "My father has certain views that would make… things difficult for… for…"

"For us?" Jet asked. Zuko nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm aware that he's a raging homophobe. You've already alluded to it countless times in a very roundabout way. And I heard you talking with Ozai on the phone and awkwardly explaining that you're currently staying with one of your employees while you're searching for a rent apartment."

"Alright," Zuko let out a breath of relief. He then thought for a moment, scratching his chin and feeling puzzled. "Wait, I'm still confused," he admitted. "So, if you're aware of all that… how do you see things working out in Ba Sing Se? I mean, Ozai will become very suspicious if he sees a guy I was hanging out with in Caldera, suddenly showing up in Ba Sing Se as well."

"I get that, but we would think of something," Jet shrugged. "We always do. Or well, I would think of something. Remember, plans and ideas guy, right?" he confidently pointed at himself. "I don't mind staying a little out of the picture when it comes to your father. Keeping things on the down low, as it were."

"Really?" Zuko wondered, feeling surprised that Jet would be fine with a secret relationship. Zuko wasn't entirely sure what that meant, nor whether he himself would be fine with having a secret boyfriend. He was also certain that Mai would never accept a similar arrangement.

"I mean, there would still be plenty of perks," Jet grinned. "We'd get to spend a rich and corrupt homophobe's money and run up quite the tab. That should be fun."

"That rich and corrupt homophobe is still my father," Zuko frowned, his instincts urging him to stand up for the person whose approval he had been seeking his entire life. "And don't worry, I get why you're saying that," Zuko eventually continued. "But I think you mentioned getting along well with my father when he was shooting the show at The Northern Lights?"

"Sure, but that doesn't mean I have any particular fondness for the man. Sorry," Jet shrugged. "Honestly, him moving his headquarters to Ba Sing Se and expanding his empire into the Earth Kingdom has made my homeland so much worse over the years. He introduced a new level of corruption into our political system. His fierce lobbying led to us completely overhauling our labor laws and making conditions for workers everywhere so much worse. Do you remember the big protests eight or nine years ago when our parliament voted to make it a six-day work week? I was still in high school back then, but I joined the protesters on the streets every day, shouting and waving slogans with the rest of them. Not that it made a difference."

"You know, I actually don't remember it at all," Zuko admitted. "I have a feeling that father might have sent me and Azula out of the country during that time. Probably for some other reason, not because he feared for our safety."

"Well, at least now you know why I and most working people in the Earth Kingdom think that your dad is a Grade A shithead, Zuko," Jet shrugged. "And sure, I like the idea of wasting a tiny bit of your rich oligarch daddy's fortune, Zuko. I hope you're not going to hold that against a guy who spent his childhood in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, mired in poverty."

"No… no, I would never hold that against you, Jet," Zuko spoke quickly. "Anyway, you've satisfied my curiosity. We can leave now."

"About time," Jet sighed. "I was really hoping to make some more progress in the Path of Exile before going to bed."

"I'm sure you can still do that," Zuko smiled as they made their way out of the restaurant, with Zuko locking up behind them. Jet had given him a lot to think about, and now it was Zuko's turn to figure out what to make of it all.

Finally, the day of Ozai Nakamura's visit was upon them. Azula had woken up early, more than an hour before her alarm was set to go off, and ever since then she had been on a slow spiral towards the inevitable panic attack. At some point, Azula realized that she had to do something, so she had popped a couple of emergency benzos. The meds allowed Azula to receive her father and give him a brief tour of the restaurant while still maintaining a semblance of control over her senses.

The initial signs were certainly worrying. For some reason, Ozai seemed to be annoyed with her from the get go, before Azula had even opened her mouth to greet her father. Then, Ozai had noticed that the Seal of Approval had made its glorious return to the large sign outside of the restaurant, as well as on all the menus and waitress uniforms. Considering that Ozai had used actual explosives to blow up the old Seal of Approval, he seemed to take their restoration of the restaurant's mascot as a personal slight.

Fortunately, Ozai had found little to complain about during the rest of his inspection. Azula felt rather proud about this achievement, because she could see how hard her father was trying to find something to roast her about. The only thing that had angered Ozai was the unexpected encounter with Sir Cunningham down in the basement. Toph's pet had displayed clear mistrust and unusual agitation upon seeing Ozai, glaring angrily at Azula's father. Ozai had reluctantly accepted the explanation that Toph needed some space to keep her service animal, because Azula didn't think that it would be a good idea to tell her father about the important role that Sir Cunningham played in the recycling strategy at The Northern Lights.

The others had already kicked off the lunch service by the time Ozai was done inspecting the premises. Fortunately, Katara and Yue had respected Azula's choice of premium seating for Ozai, so Azula had gotten her father settled and then taken his order herself. It wasn't that Azula didn't trust Katara and Yue to serve her father, but she was well aware that both girls harbored ill feelings towards Ozai. Also, Ozai had already made Yue cry on his first visit, and Azula was eager to avoid a repeat of that experience.

Azula was delighted that Ozai ended up accepting her recommendation of a Truffle Beef Wellington special, sensing an opportunity to really impress her father. Azula had come to trust the brigade of Suki, Aang and Toph as much as she had ever trusted any cooks, but still, this was an extremely important occasion and Azula would have never allowed anyone but herself to cook for her father. She had cooked her ass off to make sure that the Wellington went out as perfect as possible, and as she spied on her father's facial expression out in the dining room, Ozai's reactions made Azula feel like she had done a good job.

As soon as Ozai was done eating, Azula instantly materialized next to his table. "I trust everything was to your liking, father?" she asked hopefully, twitching with anxiety despite having pumped herself full of meds.

Ozai merely nodded at her to take a seat opposite him. "Very bold of you to recommend me a Wellington," Ozai spoke severely. "Luckily for you, it was the right choice. Your temperatures are spot on as always," he nodded approvingly. "Also, you didn't go overboard with truffles in the duxelles. Many chefs these days will either replace chestnut mushrooms with truffles completely, or add too much truffles because they think the more the better, but we both know that's not the way of the truffle."

"Definitely not," Azula agreed. "I used a ratio of 1:5 of truffles and cremini mushrooms."

"Very good choice. I will appropriate this idea," Ozai said. "Well, the Wellington is definitely the good news about this dish. And this is where we come to your one major downfall. You were right to focus on the star of the dish, but you often do that too much at the expense of the other components. Taste this mash for me," Ozai pushed the plate towards her.

With a slightly trembling hand, Azula picked up the fork and sampled a little bit of the mash. She cringed upon realizing that the mash was under seasoned – not by much, but still under seasoned. "It's so disappointing when you blow me away with an amazing Wellington, but you serve it to me with a mash that's as bland as Chad Kroeger's face."

"Sorry, father," Azula apologized, fighting hard against breaking down in tears. Over the past six months of having only minimal contact with Ozai, Azula had completely forgotten how to deal with her father's scathing criticisms, and it seemed that the kindness and generosity from the crew of The Northern Lights had eroded Azula's resistance to brutal takedowns.

"Oh, enough of that quivering lip," Ozai snorted, shaking his head in disapproval. "It makes your face look like a slapped arse. Besides, the dish overall is a success."

Azula felt a boulder rolling off from her shoulders. "Thank you, father," she managed, feeling an intense sensation of relief.

"Well, don't thank me just yet," Ozai snorted. "My full impressions of the restaurant will not be universally positive, let's make that clear. Also, we should sit down somewhere private. There are more things to discuss."

"Of course, the manager's office will suit us perfectly," Azula said, rising on slightly shaky legs. "Please follow me, father," she said, leading Ozai towards the office. There was no chance of running into Sokka, because Azula had wisely given him a day off. Azula definitely did not want her father to remember that time when Sokka had severely burned his hand, sending Ozai on a trip to the nearby hospital.

"This will be adequate," Ozai said, looking around the office and then motioning for Azula to sit down. Ozai himself remained standing, slowly pacing back and forth. "Of course, you understand that no decisions will be made today, yes?"

"Of course," Azula nodded obediently. She completely expected her father to draw this torture out a while longer.

"I will be having dinner at Zuko's place later," Ozai continued. "And tomorrow, I will want to speak with you both in a less formal setting. We are nowhere near done evaluating your readiness to take over a larger part of the family business. I will be here for the rest of the week, and I intend to make the most of my time to be certain of my choice of the eventual successor."

"Yes, father," Azula once again nodded. The news was concerning because Azula hadn't expected her father to stay in Caldera for so long. She could only hope that Zuko would fuck up in some way, draw most of Ozai's ire and make her look better in comparison. It was a scenario that had repeated itself countless times in the past. "Do you have any more comments about the restaurant at this time, father?" she asked politely.

"Well, I already ranted about the stupid mascot and the unsanitary animal downstairs," Ozai frowned. "It's up to you whether to accept my remarks or not. I'm sure I'll have more comments later. Honestly, your TripAdvisor ranking is better than I would have expected for a menu that is rather basic. I wouldn't have expected you to play this safe, Azula."

"I'm just trying to do what you have always taught me, father, and that is to understand the market," Azula replied. "I'm sure you'll agree that this isn't a high dining location, unlike Zuko's busy downtown street, filled with gullible tourists. As you could see out in the dining room, there was barely an empty table on what is a relatively quiet day for us. I think we have successfully found our niche and now it's all about fine tuning things to slowly increase our profit margins over time. At least, that was going to be my strategy."

Ozai didn't say anything for some time, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You may be right about that, Azula, but will it be a winning strategy?" he said eventually. "I suppose only time will tell."

"Well, at least I'm the only one who has a strategy," Azula shrugged. "As far as I know, Zuko's way of running his restaurant is throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks, and I may not be speaking metaphorically."

Ozai snorted at that, appearing amused. "Well, I guess that's for me to find out, isn't it?" he said, heading for the doors. "Which is exactly what I'm going to do now. I'll be in touch later."

"Goodbye, father," Azula quickly offered, but Ozai was already gone, allowing Azula to let out a relieved breath. She had survived the start of her father's visit and his first impressions of the restaurant seemed mostly positive. Whether she had garnered enough goodwill to survive telling her father that she wanted to date girls, Azula truly did not know… but she was going to find out soon.

"So?" Jet asked, popping his head into the kitchen of The Blue Spirit restaurant. "How's it going so far?"

"So far so good, it would appear," Zuko replied, unable to completely rid himself from the tension in his voice, despite Ozai's inspection of the restaurant having gone reasonably well. Ozai had made some complaints about the lack of organization in the storage rooms and he had also expressed disbelief about Zuko even being able to run a restaurant in such a limited space, but to Zuko that had felt more like a compliment. Now, his father was seated in the dining hall, hopefully enjoying his meal.

"I stole a peek in the dining room," Jet said. "Your father seems to be in a good mood while eating."

"Well, I did put a lot of effort in that risotto," Zuko replied proudly. "Who cares if the other customers will now have to wait an extra hour? They won't matter as long as I manage to impress my father."

"I cooked the lobster for that risotto," On Ji announced proudly. "If Ozai Nakamura enjoys my lobster, that's going to be a huge feather in my cap." While Zuko was too struck by anxiety to focus on cooking, On Ji was still hard at work, making sure that food was still leaving the kitchen, albeit slowly.

"Of course, you're doing good work around here, On Ji," Zuko smiled at his sous-chef.

"It seems like your father is equally impressed by our service," Jet continued. "I think he likes all the attention Jin is showing him."

"She is?" Zuko asked, feeling his stomach drop. "I hope she is not being too obnoxious. My father is a highly refined man of great culture. He would not appreciate Jin's straight forward flirting."

"Oh really?" Jet rolled his eyes. "That refined man of great culture clearly loves Jin shoving her cleavage in his face. I just watched him stick a rolled-up banknote of what looked like hundred bucks between her titties."

"Uh… okay…" Zuko frowned, not sure what to think about that. "I've no idea what Jin is up to, but she better not anger my father."

"I doubt that's going to happen," On Ji chuckled. "As for what she's up to, that should be obvious to everyone. Jin is just trying to do her best to help you and make this evening a success. We are all here to help you."

"That's true," Zuko smiled appreciatively. "I really have the best crew. Even Mai and Ty Lee are pulling their weight and they can't stand my father." He then looked over at Jet. "By the way, I was about to text you, but since you're here… something important came up." Jet gave Zuko a deeply curious stare. "Let's step outside for a moment," Zuko said, leading Jet out of the kitchen. On Ji sighed, rolled her eyes and continued stirring the pots.

"What's going on?" Jet asked after Zuko had led him into one of the storage rooms.

"My father told me something very important after we had finished the restaurant inspection," Zuko said. "He wants us to talk more after dinner." Jet shrugged at that. "He wants to come over to the apartment," Zuko added.

"What? Why?" now Jet looked worried.

"Because that is what my father does, constantly meddle into my private affairs. And I assume he does the same to Azula," Zuko shrugged. "When we were still living together in Ba Sing Se, we both were under full 24/7 surveillance. Then, after we both moved out to live on our own, Ozai showed up for random inspections every week. I've only known true independence whenever my father sent me on some longer assignments away from Ba Sing Se. Again, I imagine it's the same for my sister."

"I didn't realize it was this intrusive," Jet said. "But what are you saying? That he's going to inspect my apartment? What does that mean?"

"It means that I need you to hurry back to the apartment right away and start cleaning up as best as you can," Zuko said. "You need to get rid of all the booze and the drugs. And get rid of all evidence of anything gay."

"I'm not throwing away my PlayStation," Jet replied defensively.

"That's not what I meant by gay," Zuko sighed. "I meant more like… evidence that we're sharing the same bed. Move some of my stuff to the living room so that it appears I'm sleeping on the sofa, things like that."

"Right," Jet nodded. "Anything else?"

"I don't know," Zuko shrugged, feeling increasingly tense. "Just try to use your best judgment, I guess."

"Isn't that a recipe for disaster?" Jet asked earnestly.

"Uh, good point," Zuko nodded. "Hmm, what else, what else…" Zuko thought frantically. "Oh, right! Make sure to change the bedsheets! That's incredibly important!"

"Why?" Jet blinked in surprise.

"Haven't you watched 'Hotel Hell', my father's other incredibly successful TV show?" Zuko sighed. "He never leaves home without a blacklight and an ATP monitoring device. He was probing every corner of the restaurant with them, trying to find filth, and he's totally going to do that back at the apartment as well."

"Wait, you're serious?" Jet asked in disbelief.

"Obviously," Zuko said. "My father does not believe that his children are entitled to privacy, at least not from him. He's definitely using blacklight to check the bedsheets for any incriminating stains."

"That's so fucked up," Jet groaned.

"Anyway, that's why you really need to get going," Zuko urged, lightly shoving Jet. "I don't think I can keep my father here for more than an hour."

"Alright, I'm going, I'm going," Jet sighed. "But seriously, you better treat me to something nice after we win this competition."

"Just do what I tell you or there will be no winning of any competitions," Zuko growled, encouraging Jet to move with a well-timed slap on the rear. "If my father finds out what we did last night, our fates will be way worse than ending up as kebab meat at Bumi's shop…"