Azula's Kitchen Nightmares

by Theodur

This is Avatar: The Last Airbender and Kitchen Nightmares crossover story with Ozai in the role of Gordon Ramsay. That's the story. I don't know what else you want me to say. (Obviously, the story is a bit more than that. It's mostly about Katara and Sokka trying to run a family restaurant and not being very good at it. So, it's basically crack treated kind of seriously.)

3. the dinner service

Chapter 3 – the dinner service

Even though Katara had heard Jet mentioning that the dinner service would be busy because both Ozai and Azula had been posting on social media about visiting The Northern Lights, she was still completely taken aback upon logging on to the restaurant's website to take a look at the online reservations. It was very rare for the restaurant to not have a free table, so Katara had never developed the habit of regularly checking the website. Logging on to discover that they had been absolutely slammed with reservations was the cause of a minor panic attack for Katara.

With less than half an hour left before they opened the doors for dinner service, Katara did what she could to get on top of the reservations. It was only now starting to sink in that a ridiculous amount of people were set to show up, hoping to see the great Ozai Nakamura and perhaps become a part of the spectacle. Suddenly, the decision to drink the afternoon away and talk shit with Suki and Yue felt like a terrible decision, but on the other hand, they all had needed it to take off the edge. It was clear that Katara would have to get her hands dirty tonight, though. There was no way she could leave Yue to deal with the masses that would slam the restaurant. She would have to help out at the front of the house, managing the seating and making sure that the kitchen didn't become overwhelmed. It was going to be a long and difficult evening, but Katara was still hopeful of doing a solid job and impressing Ozai and Azula.

Steeling herself, Katara left the manager's office and stepped into the dining room. A small crowd was already forming in front of the restaurant, people peering in through the windows and looking curious and excited. Yue and Aang had just finished setting up for the service. They were now standing a little off to the side, near the cash register, talking in quiet voices. Aang looked all hyped up for the service, while Yue's hands seemed to be shaking a little and she appeared just a tad terrified. All that wine they had consumed earlier didn't appear to have steadied Yue's nerves.

"It's going to be a busy evening," Katara said as she walked up to Yue and Aang. "I've decided to help out at the front of the house. I'd be throwing you guys under the bus if I didn't jump in tonight."

"Thank you so much, Kat," Yue looked relieved as she pulled Katara into a quick hug. "I hoped you would, but I also didn't want to push for it. I know we're all under a lot of stress because of the show," she said, instantly appealing much calmer.

"I'm not all that stressed," Aang shrugged, radiating his usual naïve positivity. "All of this is good for us, right?" he asked, pointing at the growing crowd outside.

"Hopefully," Katara said. She really wished she had familiarized herself a bit more with Ozai's show before she had agreed to Jet's crazy idea of going on the Kitchen Nightmares. There was a lot of debate online whether asking Ozai Nakamura for help actually was a net positive for an ailing restaurant. Katara was still hoping that The Northern Lights would become a Kitchen Nightmares success story, though.

"Anyway, I'll go and check in with the others to make sure they're ready and then we can open the doors," Katara said. "And hopefully by that time the Nakamuras would have returned." Katara had no idea where Ozai and Azula had stormed off to after the lunch service, but it was probably to have a proper meal at a restaurant that didn't suck.

"The kitchen should have everything they need," Aang told Katara as she turned to leave. "I prepped like a madman earlier. Even Toph got in on the act."

Katara didn't reply as she entered the kitchen only to catch Sokka and Suki in the act of passionately making out. Katara wasn't sure if Suki's ass really belonged on the stovetop as she had her legs wrapped around Sokka's waist and they were busy sucking on each other's faces. "Let me guess," Katara spoke up in a reproachful tone. "You're also taking the edge off before the evening's service."

Sokka and Suki slowly separated, neither of them looking particularly embarrassed or guilty. "You should probably find Jet and do the same," Suki winked at her.

"I'd much rather know that Jet has done his job and we won't run out of anything during the service," Katara muttered. She had defended Jet in front of the others when they had started to make comments about this whole Kitchen Nightmares participation being a bad idea, but privately, Katara knew that she was going to be annoyed with her boyfriend if this whole enterprise ended up hurting the restaurant.

"I'm not going near the walk-ins because I'm not itching for a fight with Jet, but from what we have already prepped, I think we're in a good shape," Suki replied. "Anyway, I feel like it's pointless to get stressed. Ozai and Azula made it perfectly clear that they hate the menu. I doubt we're going to get a lot of praise tonight."

"No, I've already resigned myself to getting shouted at," Sokka nodded. "We're still at the stage of the show where nobody at the restaurant can do anything right, after all. It is what it is."

"I suppose," Katara sighed. "What about Toph, is everything settled with her?" Sokka nodded at her. "I still can't believe that you want us to attempt this childish deception."

"It's going to be hilarious when it all comes to light, though," Suki grinned. "It might make the episode go viral. Not many would think of doing something as crazy as setting up a whole microwaving operation in the basement."

"Hey, I'm pretty proud about the way we have it all set up," Sokka replied defensively. "It might be stupid, but it's also ingenious."

"Whatever you say, love," Suki laughed.

"Alright, I guess the kitchen is as ready as it's ever going to be, so I'm going to-" Katara said, turning around only to get the wind knocked out of her as Jet stormed into the kitchen and nearly knocked her to the ground.

"Shit," Jet exclaimed, looking apologetic as he quickly helped Katara steady herself. "Sorry, babe, I totally missed you there, my bad," he said, leaning in and pressing his lips against Katara's while she was still a little stunned.

"Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?" Katara asked once she had pulled away from the kiss. "Don't tell me that we're out of something after all."

"Never," Jet shook his head confidently. "I just saw Ozai's Lexus pulling into the parking lot. They're here."

"Alright," Katara nodded, trying to project all of her slightly shaky confidence. "Let's get this show on the road, I suppose."

---

It was slightly more than an hour into the dinner service and Azula was already deeply confused about the way The Northern Lights restaurant was being run. Azula wasn't stupid and she understood perfectly well that this was not a normal evening for The Northern Lights, and it wouldn't have been a normal evening for any restaurant, with people out on the street literally fighting just to get in. Azula was actually somewhat impressed with the front of the house staff and how they coped with this increased traffic. Katara had realized that she needed to jump in and help out, and as a result, she had managed to take the pressure off from both the servers and the kitchen by making sure that they didn't become overwhelmed. That part of the restaurant seemed to be functioning much better than most of the Kitchen Nightmares disasters.

The confusion for Azula mostly had to do with the kitchen. Dishes seemed to be flying out at a reasonable pace. Whenever Azula walked into the kitchen, Sokka and his cute sous chef, Suki, seemed to be busy working on the next ticket and Azula was struggling to find much to criticize. Obviously, Yue and Aang were still returning some dishes to the kitchen, but that was only to be expected because Azula had already established that the current menu of the restaurant was not manageable without compromising quality. Menu was a problem that was easy to fix, though, as long as the owners were not overly sentimental idiots who were too attached to their horrible dishes that only they themselves liked. Azula was more interested in trying to identify bad practices at the restaurant, and so far, she frustratingly hadn't found too much to criticize.

It was only a while later that Azula noticed something curious. Aang and Yue were delivering customer tickets to the kitchen normally, but then they had other stubs of paper that they didn't leave with Suki and Sokka. Instead, they were bringing these little pieces of paper with them as they disappeared somewhere in the backrooms. Intrigued, Azula decided to keep a closer eye on what the servers were doing. It didn't take her long to spot Yue emerging from the backrooms with some dishes that she then carried into the dining room.

Azula was delighted by her discovery because it appeared to validate her suspicions about the food being microwaved. It was sneaky of the staff not to do it in the kitchen, though. The servers were probably microwaving it themselves somewhere in the backrooms, where the film crew had not set up any cameras. Azula immediately decided that this was the perfect opportunity to catch the servers in the act and perhaps earn some praise from her father. Azula pulled out her phone and set it to record as she slipped into the backrooms while Yue and Aang were both in the dining room, tending to the customers and could not stop her.

Her brief investigation at first failed to turn up anything at all. Azula found plenty of space at the back of the restaurant, including employee changing and shower rooms which was definitely a luxury that not all restaurants had. Azula was still failing to find any microwaves, however. It was then that Azula came upon darkened stairs leading into the basement. Azula looked around for a light switch, but nothing in this oddly constructed building appeared where it should be. In the end, Azula was forced to descend into the pitch-black basement. The thought to switch on her phone's flashlight came to Azula a second too late as she twisted her ankle on the uneven stairs and dropped her phone, hearing its screen shattering on the concrete steps.

"Fuck me," Azula growled, cursing her bad luck. Her great idea of catching and filming the waitstaff red-handed while microwaving food was dead in the water, but she was still determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Azula bent down and picked up the phone, slipping it into her purse. It was only a minor annoyance and one of her personal assistants would make sure she had a new phone within the hour or they would be fired. Right now, Azula was much more focused on finding the illusive microwave than fixing her phone, anyway.

Azula eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and tried to reorient herself. It was still pitch dark in every direction, but Azula could hear a soft hum and very faint lights from electronic displays somewhere to her right. She had to stumble her way there through a very narrow access corridor and eventually, it led her into a larger space. Convinced that this had to be her destination, Azula began to feel her way around the dimly lit room. Electronic displays were glowing at the back of the room and she slowly began to move towards them, only to be suddenly interrupted.

Azula yelled in absolute shock and terror as a pale face with strangely milky white eyes suddenly appeared mere inches from the tip of her nose. Azula lost her footing and landed with her ass on the rough basement floor, yelping in pain.

"It's not my fault!" a frantic woman's voice exclaimed nearby. "They made me do it! I'm a victim of human trafficking, here against my will!"

"Uh," Azula managed, staying put right where she was on the basement floor. "What is not your fault and what did they make you do? Come to think of it… who are you?"

"I'm Toph. Toph Beifong," the woman replied in a nervous voice. "Hey, you're that rich bitch Azula Nakamura from the show, right? I recognize your voice."

"Yes, I'm Azula Nakamura," Azula said, slowly propelling herself up from the floor. She decided not to take offense at being called a rich bitch because a) it was true, and b) that didn't seem to be a priority in her current circumstances. "Do you mind telling me what you're doing down here, Toph Beifong? You're not really a victim of human trafficking, are you?"

"Not really. I'm just down here, chilling," Toph replied defiantly, having recomposed herself. "What's it to you?"

"I'm investigating, and you're clearly not just chilling," Azula frowned. It was hard to take a good look at Toph in this dim light cast only by some electronic displays, but Azula had seen enough to realize something. "I think you're up to something down here. And you have no use for the light because you're blind."

"You must think yourself really smart," Toph snorted. There was a quiet whooshing sound and Azula yelped when something, most likely Toph's walking cane, whacked her across the shins. "Also, it's really rude to point it out like that, you know. Even if you're right."

"I'm always right," Azula said proudly, trying to ignore the pain. Apparently, Toph was not someone to mess around with because the whack from her heavy cane really stung. "Anyway, I have a pretty good idea as to what you're doing down here. Even in this pitch darkness I can see that we're literally surrounded by microwaves."

"Those aren't all microwaves," Toph replied defensively. "There are only like… ten of them?"

"Ten microwaves," Azula repeated incredulously. Her eyes were slowly getting used to the dim light and she could finally make out more details about the basement room she was in. The microwaves were stacked in neat racks on top of each other, keeping them within Toph's reach and making it easy for the blind girl to carry out the reheating operation. "This is… an impressive setup," Azula was forced to admit. "It's actually rather ingenious."

"I know, right?" Toph replied proudly. "Sokka and Aang came up with it, just for me."

"So, how do you normally operate?" Azula wondered. Her curiosity was quickly taking over and she felt the need to learn more about this bizarre operation.

"Well, Sokka and Suki would normally just shout their orders from above," Toph explained. "I would then grab whatever stuff needs reheating from one of the fridges at the back and toss it into the microwave. Once it's done, I would use a remodeled old dumbwaiter to deliver it up to the kitchen. Of course, we're not doing it this way while you and your dad are breathing down our necks. We didn't want to be too obvious about what we were doing."

"So, instead of the dumbwaiter, you had the waitstaff sneaking downstairs with orders and to pick up the food," Azula realized. "That is such a stupid and insane plan that I can't help being impressed," Azula admitted as she walked over to the large fridges at the back of the room, filling the room with a pleasantly calming hum. Azula opened them one by one, realizing that they were stuffed to the brim with frozen food. "Fucking Agni," Azula gasped once she was done inspecting the fridges. "Just how much are they microwaving at this restaurant?"

"Oh, from what I can gather, about 60-70% of all the food," Toph said. Azula's only response was a pained groan. "It's that bad, huh?" Toph asked. "Damn, your hard-ass of a dad will probably make us throw away all the microwaves now. That would be a shame. I kind of need this job."

"Well, despite what you might believe from watching… or listening to the show, microwaves actually have a place in a restaurant kitchen, even of that of a fine dining restaurant," Azula replied, sidestepping the issue of the microwaves being destined for fiery destruction. Ozai would definitely be interested in making a big spectacle about getting rid of the equipment. "It depends on how you use them, though. Reheating 60-70% of all the food is not normal," Azula said.

"I guess," Toph sighed. "I think they would probably struggle to get the food out fast enough if they didn't have me and my microwave wizardry."

"Well, at least this just made it clear that there are definitely some bad practices at this restaurant," Azula said. "Now that we know it, we can work on improving."

"That probably means my microwaving domain is going to be dismantled," Toph said reluctantly.

"This restaurant won't survive unless it implements the right practices," Azula replied. Toph's fear of losing her job nagged unpleasantly at whatever conscience Azula still possessed, but Azula also felt completely certain that making sure the restaurant survived was more important than preserving a job that shouldn't have existed in the first place. And it wasn't up to her to suggest that perhaps Toph could be assigned different duties at the restaurant. There wasn't much that a person with Toph's disability could do around a restaurant.

"Anyway… I should probably leave you to it," Azula began after an uncomfortable moment of silence. There wasn't much else to say, and Ozai definitely needed to be told about this. Azula knew that her father would be delighted about whatever ammo he could get his hands on, as long as he could use it to tear into the hapless owners. "So, I'm just going to-" Azula was in the process of turning around when at that moment someone switched on the lights in the room, blinding her. Azula blinked rapidly, trying to get accustomed to the light. At first, Azula figured that either Yue or Aang had arrived with a new ticket, but as she squinted at the shape standing next to the basement door, Azula saw a young man she hadn't seen before. He was leaning against the wall and eyeing her with a piercing gaze from underneath an unruly mop of dark brown hair. An unlit cigarette loomed in the corner of his mouth.

"Well, well, well," the newcomer drawled sarcastically. "It seems that Miss Nakamura has discovered our microwaving operation. What a surprise."

"And you are?" Azula asked sternly. She had no idea what to make of the guy. He seemed a little too slick to be a hard-working restaurant employee.

"Jet Patel, the food manager," the young man gave her a light nod. "Also, the reason why you're here."

"Is that so?" Azula remarked.

"It was Jet's idea to submit our entry to the Kitchen Nightmares," Toph said. "So, if I end up jobless, I'm totally blaming him."

"That sounds very fair," Jet rolled his eyes. "Anyway, if you need some lowdown on the place, I'm your guy," he winked at Azula. "Always happy to lend a helping hand to our esteemed guests."

"Could you suck up any harder?" Toph groaned.

"I'm just being nice to the people who have come all this way to help us out," Jet said defensively.

"Thanks, Jet, I'll keep the offer in mind, but I like to discover things for myself," Azula replied. She couldn't help being immediately wary of Jet. He had the charisma of a used car salesman and it was not giving Azula the best of vibes.

"Well, I still think there are some things you should know. For example, the way all of us here are really tight, almost like a family," Jet went on, offering her a crooked smile as he removed the cigarette from his mouth and stuck it behind his ear instead. "If you haven't noticed, Sokka and Suki are dating, and Katara is my girlfriend."

Azula had to fight very hard to shrug off the instant wave of powerful disappointment and annoyance. Azula had a pretty good poker face, however, and she was certain that she'd kept her emotions well buried. Still, now she knew where her instant antipathy towards Jet was coming from. "That sounds like completely useless and unnecessary information to give me," Azula replied with an irreverent shrug. "Your relationships are of no interest to me. I will be in and out of here within the week."

"Oh, don't mind Jet," Toph laughed. "It's just that Suki, Yue and Katara have been acting like total idiots and joking about how hot you are. Jet and Sokka are both probably really insecure by now."

"Very funny, Toph," Jet scowled at the blind girl, while Azula was simply standing there with her brain melting from this latest piece of information.

"I'm sure I would be very flattered if I was interested in women," Azula finally remembered that she was supposed to offer some kind of commitment to her fake heterosexuality. "And I guess the waitress, Yue, she's dating the other waiter?" Azula's curiosity got the better of her, forcing her to pose the question.

Toph and Jet both burst into laughter. "Hey, I shouldn't diss my best friend, but come on, Yue is way out of Aang's league," Toph laughed. "I don't even think he'd be pissed off hearing me say that."

"Also, Yue is a single mom with a perpetually crying three-year-old on her hands," Jet added. "There aren't many guys who will risk tapping that."

"Seriously?" Azula frowned. The information that Yue had a child was blowing her mind, but Jet's words still managed to annoy her. "You're a bit of a disrespectful asshole, aren't you?"

"You don't know the half of it, lady," Toph snorted.

"Nonsense," Jet flashed a blinding grin. "Everybody loves me."

"I'm sure," Azula rolled her eyes before pushing past Jet on her way upstairs, finding herself in an increasingly irritated mood. Obviously, she hadn't seriously expected that gorgeous girls like Katara, Yue or Suki would be both gay and available, but still, the revelation of Katara having such an annoying boyfriend was destroying some of Azula's most treasured head-canons.

As Azula had expected, Ozai was only too happy to hear Azula's report about the secret microwaving operation in the basement. Apparently, her father had not had much luck catching any egregious mistakes in either the kitchen or the dining room. As a result, Ozai was becoming very frustrated with the lack of juicy drama. Azula had definitely scored some points with her discovery, because Ozai actually rewarded her with some praise before rounding up the camera crew and heading over to investigate the basement for himself.

Azula was once again left to observe the dinner service on her own. For a while, she simply watched Katara and Yue charming the customers and doing a rather good job of it. There were still some complaints about the food, but with Katara stepping in when Yue was about to become overwhelmed by an argumentative customer, smoothed over most potential conflicts. The worst incident featured a complaint about a lobster roll and resulted in a customer walking out after he had dismissed the assurances of both Katara and Yue that his lobster had indeed been fresh. The whole incident had made Azula a little confused, because earlier in the day, Sokka had confessed that he didn't know how to work with lobster. And yet, at the same time, Azula had seen Aang retrieving a lobster of the customer's choice from the tank and delivering it to the kitchen. Once again, there was something fishy – or rather lobstery – going on, prompting Azula to investigate.

Azula found Sokka and Suki busy at work in the kitchen. Sokka had just fried off a couple of steaks, while Suki was getting ready to start on the sides. Azula watched them work for a few minutes, her trained eyes searching for more bad practices. Nothing seemed egregiously out of order, although Azula was left wondering why Sokka was only utilizing a small part of the large stovetop. Azula quickly checked some of the tickets piling up in the window, realizing that quite a few of them also had an order for steak.

"Are you working on only one ticket at a time?" Azula asked. "There are two more steaks on this ticket. You could be frying those off at the same time."

"Maybe, but I can't work on all the other stuff on that ticket, and all the mains are supposed to go out at once, right?" Sokka asked.

"It can still do that. Steak needs to rest before you send it, anyway," Azula shrugged. "Also, you should think strategically and combine similar tickets. It shouldn't be that hard." Azula noticed that Suki was nodding emphatically at that, while Sokka still looked skeptical. "It actually should be easy, considering that you are microwaving 70% of all the food."

"Ugh, found out about that, didn't you?" Sokka groaned. "I guess it was a bit silly to hope that you wouldn't."

"Very silly, but that wasn't what I wanted to press you about. I'll leave the yelling about microwaves to my father," Azula said. Sokka and Suki both sighed and shook their heads.

"What did you want to ask about, Azula?" Suki asked quickly.

"The lobster roll that came back," Azula said. "Can I see it?"

"I think we tossed it," Sokka shrugged nonchalantly.

"Seriously?" Azula sighed. She walked up to the waste bin and looked inside. The discarded lobster roll was balancing precariously on top of a pile of clearly overcooked pasta. Azula winced as she reached in and pulled the lobster roll out of the waste bin. It was a disgusting thing to do, but she had done far worse as a part of the show.

"If you want a lobster roll that bad, I can make you a new one," Sokka laughed. "You don't have to eat out of the trash can."

"Very funny," Azula scowled. She opened the roll and fished out a piece of the lobster, first smelling it and then putting it in her mouth. The chewy, stringy texture left no room for interpretation. The lobster in the roll was not fresh. "Alright, what's going on here? This is canned lobster," Azula demanded. "What happened to the one Aang delivered to the kitchen?"

"Well, I guess we've been caught once again," Suki snorted. "Come over here," she beckoned Azula to follow her as she stepped around one of the fridges in the kitchen. Azula looked to see a large bucket filled with water. The lobster was happily chilling in the bucket. It seemed to be winking at Azula with its beady black eyes.

"Cute fellow, isn't he?" Sokka chuckled, standing just behind the two girls. "We named him Clawdius. You know, a pun on the-"

"Yes, the ancient emperor, I know," Azula said distractedly. "So, you're making all that show about serving fresh lobster and then you're feeding people lobster from a can instead? And Katara and Yue are lying to the customers about it?"

"They might not be aware of this little scheme," Suki sighed, not looking particularly happy.

"Yeah, Yue and my sister have this unreasonable obsession with honesty," Sokka snorted. "I don't think it's such a big deal. Canned lobster is just as good as a fresh one."

"What? No, it's not," Azula barely held back from raising her voice. "Have you ever had a fresh lobster, you nincompoop?"

"Well, no, but that's beside the point," Sokka shot back. "Canned lobster is tasty."

"That's… that's NOT beside the point! That IS the point!" Azula shouted. "You are so frustrating with your terrible practices! If there was no difference between canned and fresh lobster, that customer wouldn't have walked out!"

"Well, sometimes we get some people who can taste the difference, but that's super rare. It's kind of like some people being able to taste artificial sweeteners in soft drinks and others not giving a shit, right? It doesn't mean one is better than the other," Sokka argued. Azula merely glared at him. "Alright, fine… maybe we shouldn't advertise that the lobster is fresh. It's just that a lobster roll used to be a really popular staple of the restaurant years ago, okay? My dad was really famous for it. And I actually gave working with fresh lobster a try, but… ugh, my attempt to kill that poor bugger didn't go so well. I really don't want to try again," Sokka shuddered.

"It was really distressing, watching him try to impale a lobster," Suki said, also looking uncomfortable. "I could probably do it, but it is kind of nasty. I get not wanting to do that. And because this is his dad's menu, Sokka doesn't want to take anything off from it. Even when he really should," she added with a sigh.

"I can't do it, Suki," Sokka sighed. "My dad would be so disappointed if we stopped serving our famous lobster roll."

"The problem is that the lobster roll that you're serving now will sooner or later become infamous," Azula snorted. "Look, I'm trying to be reasonable, but I'll give you a fair warning – my father will not care about your sentimental reasons."

"I had a feeling that might be the case," Sokka cringed.

"I mean, you are trying to run a successful business here, right?" Azula continued. "And you keep failing. You shouldn't have asked us here if you're not prepared to change things."

"I'm prepared to change some things," Sokka tried.

"I think this place is bleeding money too heavily for a band aid to work, Sokka," Suki spoke earnestly. Azula was starting to develop a healthy amount of respect for the auburn-haired girl. She definitely was far less in denial than Sokka.

"Your girlfriend is definitely onto something there," Azula said. Suki and Sokka both gave her curious stares at that. Azula blushed, realizing that they were probably wondering just how she knew about their relationship. "Anyway, I should get back to the dining room," she said, quickly excusing herself.

Things seemed to be calming down in the dining room as the evening's service slowly wound down. Ozai and the camera crew were most likely still filming down in the basement. Katara and Aang were finishing up the service between the two of them, with Yue nowhere to be seen. It made Azula wonder if a rude customer had caused yet another breakdown for the beautiful but overly sensitive blonde. Azula continued to observe the service for the next quarter of an hour, but once again nothing outrageous stood out to her. With more and more customers departing, Katara could allow herself to look around a little more, and often their eyes would meet, leading to shared shy smiles and plenty of blushing.

Katara's stare sometimes felt so intensely probing that it made Azula's legs go very weak at the knees. Azula was aware that she was also staring way too much, and with great reluctance, she eventually forced herself to leave the dining room, using the staff exit to make her way outside and clear her head in the crisp air of a September evening. It took Azula a moment to realize that she wasn't alone behind the restaurant. Yue was standing with her back turned towards Azula, speaking on her phone and sounding upset, almost angry.

"You can't leave me hanging like that for the third time this month, Meng!" Yue argued with someone on the phone. "If the CPS found out that Kya is being left alone for as much as two hours, I would be in serious trouble, do you understand that?" Yue ranted. "What do you mean, I'm not paying you enough? This is the first time you're telling me that! And I know perfectly well that I pay you the average rate for babysitting in this neighborhood. I'm not made of money, you know! I'll-… Meng! Meng? Argh!" Yue yelled, looking ready to throw her phone.

"Hey, uh… I probably shouldn't have heard that, but-" Azula began, but she was cut short when Yue yelped as she swirled around, almost dropping her phone. "Sorry about that," Azula apologized awkwardly.

"What? No, don't apologize," Yue recovered quickly, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have been out here, shouting angrily. I just got frustrated because of-" Yue then froze, blushing scarlet. "Uh, I shouldn't burden you with my personal issues. I'm sure you have more important things to worry about, like helping to save the restaurant."

Or impressing my father, Azula mentally told herself. Still, that wasn't the only thing she was interested in. Seeing that Yue was about to return to the restaurant, Azula also found herself interested in keeping Yue out here for a while longer. "Babysitter troubles?" Azula asked.

"Yes… yes, exactly," Yue said, looking a little surprised by Azula's interest. "Kya will be turning three in a couple of months, and even if she's a very calm child most of the time, she's much too young to be left alone for too long. Sure, she's usually sleeping tight when I get back home, but I doubt the CPS would be understanding of such negligence."

"Probably not," Azula agreed, even if she had little idea of the way the CPS operated. "I don't suppose Kya's father could help out with looking after her?"

"Uhm," for some reason Yue turned very red in the face. "There's no way you could have known that, but Sokka is Kya's father." Azula gaped at Yue like a fish ashore at this stunning piece of information. "Yeah, I know… we were together for a good stretch before we split up and then he and Suki got together. It's confusing, you don't have to tell me that. Still, Sokka supports us with as much money as he can spare, but he can't really help looking after Kya. He's even busier than I am."

"I guess I can understand that," Azula nodded. "It must be hard to handle everything all by yourself, though," she added, hoping that Yue would not detect her curiosity regarding whether the pretty blonde was currently dating someone.

"It's definitely not easy," Yue sighed. "Maybe once Kya is a little older, she can come to the restaurant after school and do her homework here. But right now, my day is basically dropping Kya off at the kindergarten and then coming here to prepare for the lunch service. After that, I'll pick Kya up and bring her home. Then one of my regular babysitters will come over and free me up to come here for the evening service. The problem is that my babysitters are not very reliable. I'm really upset with Meng right now. She lives literally next door and yet she keeps leaving early all the time. I can't take such risks with her."

"That seems very irresponsible," Azula agreed. She remembered her own childhood experience with constantly rotating babysitters because none of them were good enough for her father. Of course, her mother could have easily looked after her, but Azula accepted that she hadn't always been given that opportunity. Ozai had always insisted that Ursa accompany him everywhere, almost like he didn't want her to be involved in Azula's upbringing. He was more interested in Ursa remaining his eye candy in public, at least until he had finally gotten bored of her and eventually cast his wife aside in an acrimonious divorce.

"Anyway, those are my issues to take care of and I really shouldn't have burdened you with them," Yue said, once again looking about to leave.

"Maybe I can help you," Azula blurted out without much thought.

"Huh?" Yue blinked. "Are you offering to babysit my daughter?"

"Of course not, don't be silly," Azula snapped at the ridiculous assumption. She instantly regretted her outburst when she saw how hurt Yue looked at her words. "Ugh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be harsh," Azula apologized quickly. "But I did have an idea. Not many people actually know this, but I have a sister… half-sister to be precise. Kiyi is my mother's child from her second marriage. She and Ursa – my mother – live in Caldera City. I know that Kiyi is always trying to earn some extra cash by babysitting. She's more mature than most fifteen-year-olds, I can tell you that much."

"Are you saying that the half-sister of Azula Nakamura could do some babysitting for my child?" Yue asked, looking a little starry-eyed. "That would be… insane and amazing?"

"Well, all I'm saying is that I could ask her," Azula said. "If you gave me your phone number, I would make sure that she gets in touch with you and then perhaps you can work out something."

"I will be very happy to give you my phone number," Yue smiled broadly in a way that made Azula feel extra warm once again. They quickly exchanged phone numbers before Yue spoke up again. "When are you going to see your sister?" Yue asked.

"I… don't know," Azula replied somberly, her mood darkening instantly. "I was going to text her about this. I'm not actually allowed to see her and Ursa. Of course, I still do now and then, but I have to be very careful about it."

"Why? I don't understand," Yue asked, looking sad.

"My father doesn't approve of me interacting with that side of my family," Azula replied. "He still thinks that Ursa betrayed him by trying to have their marriage contract annulled. I know what you're going to say, I'm a grown woman and I can make my own decisions about who I want to see, right?" Yue nodded uncertainly. "Well, it's not that simple. You have to understand that one word from my father, and my career would be in ruins."

"That's awful. I'm so sorry to hear that," Yue exclaimed. "It seems like life of glamor and riches comes with its own difficulties."

"I suppose," Azula shrugged. "I didn't tell you this because I wanted pity, though." In truth, Azula wasn't really sure why she had told all of this to Yue. Maybe because it had been a very long time since she had opened up to anyone and she found Yue very easy to talk to. And also, because she found Yue highly fascinating and wanted to keep talking to her.

"Well, I'm honored that you told me, anyway," Yue smiled at her before reaching out and taking Azula's hand. "And thank you for helping me with the babysitting. I really appreciate it."

"Don't, uh… don't mention it…" Azula managed, momentarily forgetting to breathe until Yue released her hand and returned to the restaurant.

---

"Damn, can that man yell without needing a break," Sokka groaned, resting on one of the sofas in the upstairs apartment. He was lying with his head in Suki's lap, his girlfriend now and then affectionately messing up his hair. Suki was clearly taking advantage of Sokka being too exhausted to bat her hand away. Yue had rushed home to Kya immediately after they had finished the service, uttering a few unkind words aimed at her babysitter. She had promised to come in extra early tomorrow morning to clean up the front of the house. Jet and Katara were sitting on the sofa opposite to Sokka. Jet had pulled Katara tightly against him, but Katara's expression wasn't very happy and Sokka had a good idea regarding the reason. Aang and Toph were sharing the loveseat, with Aang worriedly watching Toph chug down one beer after another and getting slightly smashed in the process.

"I know, my head is still ringing," Suki nodded in agreement.

"I lost count of how many times he called me a donkey," Sokka sighed. "Now I'm worried that tomorrow morning I'll take a look in the mirror and see an actual donkey staring back."

"Maybe we need a donkey counter," Suki laughed. "I think it might have gone up as high as twenty donkeys."

"I kind of expected him to go off on us about the microwaves, I guess," Sokka admitted. "We really didn't need to give him that extra ammo about the lobster roll. Should have known that Azula would tell her father all about it."

"Just because she doesn't yell at you like her father, it doesn't mean that she's on your side," Jet said. "You can bet that she tells everything she overhears to daddy dearest."

"I don't understand the expectation that she wouldn't tell things to Ozai. They're here to fix the restaurant as a team," Katara said while fiddling around with her phone. She then set the phone aside and gave Sokka a very stern and disapproving look. "I have some things to say about the lobster as well. What's the big idea of throwing me and Yue under the bus like that? Nobody told us that the lobster was canned! I literally had no idea that Clawdius was going back into the tank at the end of every service!"

"It seemed like an insignificant detail that you would totally overreact about," Sokka shrugged. "How many complaints do we really get about the lobster roll?"

"Certainly not as many as about your pink burgers," Katara snorted.

"Or the gloopy risotto. Or the mushy ravioli. Or the-" Aang was only too happy to take the baton from Katara, but Sokka quickly cut him off.

"Alright, that's enough! We'll figure out something about the lobster roll, I promise," Sokka groaned. "I don't know what, not yet. Maybe we'll take it off the menu. At least for the week Ozai and Azula are here."

"That's… not really a solution, Sokka," Suki sighed. "Back me up on this, Kat," she added when nobody else said anything. Katara also failed to reply, too busy typing on her phone again, giggling as she did so. "Katara? Hello, are you there?" Suki repeated, sounding frustrated.

"She's texting with Yue," Jet commented, leaning in to spy on Katara's texts. Katara immediately shifted away from her boyfriend to make sure that he couldn't see the screen.

"She's being a little smartass," Katara chuckled, looking very amused.

"What about?" Jet asked. "I thought she was busy with her kid."

"She's trying to extort me for a raise," Katara snorted. "In exchange for giving me Azula's number. Apparently, they exchanged phone numbers earlier during the service."

"Damn, that girl moves fast," Suki wolf-whistled, starting to text frantically as well.

"What are you doing, Suki?" Sokka asked, frowning.

"Trying to see if I can cut my own deal with Yue," Suki laughed. "Katara isn't the only one who's after Azula's number."

Sokka reared his head to notice that Jet looked rather annoyed by the exchange. "Does this technically count as cheating?" Sokka asked, looking at Jet, feeling a strange camaraderie with the guy he normally wasn't too fond of.

"What?" Katara laughed, rolling her eyes. "Get over yourself. This is just perfectly normal celebrity worship. Azula will be gone by the end of the week. You two being all ridiculous about us having our celebrity crushes is not very cute. It's kind of insecure and pathetic."

"Ouch," Sokka winced. Maybe he was being ridiculous, especially given the common knowledge that Azula had a boyfriend and was straight. Then again, interacting with Azula was making Sokka question that particular bit of common knowledge for reasons that Sokka couldn't quite pin down. "Anyway, I sort of get why Kat is all tingly about this glamorous chick visiting the restaurant, but you, Suki? You're not also into girls, right?"

"Babe. Darling. My innocent sweet little love-donkey," Suki laughed, staring down at Sokka. "I've had more girlfriends than boyfriends during my dating life. I was sure that either Kat or Yue would have told you that."

"They probably mentioned it, but my selective memory chose to ignore it," Sokka laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, I guess what you're saying is that you three will continue to be annoying while Azula is here. Fair enough. I suppose we'll just have to endure it, right, Jet?"

"I don't know about that. I feel like some compensation might be in order," Jet gave Katara an eager stare, but his girlfriend appeared to be more fascinated by her phone at this moment, not reacting to Jet's comment.

"Ugh, maybe you should can your horny relationship bullshit. Some things are more important than that," Toph blurted out drunkenly. "Once Ozai throws out all of our microwaves, I'll be out of a job and on my way back to Gaoling."

"We'll think of something, Toph, please don't stress about it," Katara said, trying to sound reassuring. "We're not about to leave a friend behind in a deep ditch."

"Yeah, we'll think of something," Sokka echoed his sister. "Once Ozai and Azula are gone, we can sneak a couple of microwaves back in, it won't be a problem."

"I was thinking more of something else for Toph to do," Katara said uncertainly. "Bringing the microwaves back seems like returning to the bad practices that are making us fail, right?"

"Agree to disagree," Sokka shrugged. "I don't think it has anything to do with the microwaves. Anyway, what were the main reasons why we signed up for the show? Getting that sweet remodeling from rich guy Ozai Nakamura, as well as all the free advertising, right?"

"I'll be honest, I was also hoping for some meaningful change," Suki sighed. "I'm not proud of serving all this microwaved food. You shouldn't be proud either. Your father wouldn't be proud."

Sokka pulled away from Suki's lap, sitting up, truly feeling the sting of that comment. "That was a low blow," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Suki said, looking earnest. "But take a good look deep inside before telling me that I'm wrong."

The uncomfortable silence surrounding the room following Suki's comment felt suffocating to Sokka, especially when he realized that he really didn't have a good comeback to his girlfriend's pointed comment.