Chapter 6 – masterclass with Azula Nakamura
As soon as Azula returned to her hotel room at the end of another long and exhausting day, her first course of action was to use Katara's flash drive on her laptop and start to obsessively examine the rather chaotically maintained excel spreadsheets. The lack of organization in Katara's bookkeeping was triggering Azula something fierce, but she tried her best to ignore it and instead focused on her primary task of discovering if there were any other previously unnoticed reasons why the restaurant was losing money.
It didn't take Azula long at all to find something that wasn't just a little suspicious but seemed completely scandalous and abnormal. Even with their old and bloated menu, The Northern Lights were clearly spending way too much on their food supplies. Azula only needed to check a dozen or so items to realize that for some reason Jet, the food manager, was overpaying almost twice for all of them. Also, all of these transactions were made in cash, which meant that Jet was not using any of the national wholesalers like a food manager at any normal restaurant would. There could be only one reason why someone would do something so brazen and outrageous, and that was to pocket a share of the money.
For the tiniest moment, Azula stopped to consider the possibility that Katara was actually in on it, helping her boyfriend embezzle. But looking back at their conversation earlier in the day, Azula simply could not imagine this to be true. If Katara was in on a scheme like this, surely, she wouldn't be so terrible at covering the tracks? Also, that just didn't fit with everything Azula had come to know about Katara. Katara was such a good girl that it was almost embarrassing. No, Katara wasn't in on this. Jet was taking advantaged of her. Azula knew it had to be true, and not just because she liked that explanation a great deal more.
Azula had found Jet rather annoying from their first encounter at the restaurant, and her feelings had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Jet had revealed himself as Katara's boyfriend. There had just been something about him that rubbed Azula the wrong way. Jet seemed like one of those altogether too slick guys who thought themselves more charming than they actually were. Certainly, that charm had worked on his coworkers at The Northern Lights, as he had clearly been taking advantage of Katara and the others for many months, but it wasn't going to work on Azula.
Feeling delighted with her findings, Azula rushed out of her hotel room and hurried to the elevator taking her to the penthouse where her father was staying. Father was surely going to be proud of her for discovering something as important as this. It would allow them to fix the restaurant properly, and it would also give Ozai the kind of drama that he was surely looking for. And when Jet's heinous scheme was revealed on the TV screens, it would make for one of the most memorable episodes ever, especially if it led to another round of fisticuffs between Sokka and Jet.
Ozai did not appear too pleased at the interruption when he opened the doors to let her in. He was wearing an elegant dark bath robe with a golden sash around his waist, a tumbler of scotch in his left hand. "What is it now, Azula?" he asked. "We have another long day ahead of us. You should be resting."
"I will be resting soon, father, but I have discovered something very important that I needed to tell you about," Azula replied quickly. Ozai's eyebrows rose to suggest some curiosity. "Jet, the food manager. He's stealing money from the restaurant. I don't know where he's buying from, but it's not from any of the wholesalers. He's spending twice on food than what they should be."
"So, he's buying somewhere cheap and pocketing the difference, hmm?" Ozai remarked, humming. "Well, isn't he one clever bastard. I assume you have proof of this?"
"Of course," Azula said. Even in her haste, she had remembered to bring the laptop with her, and she now showed it to Ozai. "Katara gave me her accounting files. It's all in here, every sordid little detail," she said, pointing out the relevant entries to her father.
"I see," Ozai nodded, having taken a look to quickly verify Azula's tale. "Agni, and Katara has not caught on with what's been going on for months?" Ozai burst into laughter. "I swear, gullible wenches like her are just asking to be taken advantage of."
"But now we can expose what's really been going on, right?" Azula asked, trying to ignore the way her father was talking about Katara. "This will be really good for both the show and for the restaurant, won't it?"
Ozai went silent for a moment before starting to pace back and forth, deep in thought. Eventually he stopped and faced Azula with a stare that she didn't expect, one full of annoyance and frustration. "You know, this would have been an excellent discovery yesterday," Ozai grumbled. "But now, this comes way too late, Azula. I appreciate you trying so hard, but as always, you're at least a step behind, my dear."
"But… why?" Azula gasped. The crushing disappointment from failing to please her father was threatening to suffocate her. Azula had to bite down hard on the inside of her lower lip to stop it from trembling. "Why is it too late, father?"
"Because I've already committed to a narrative, silly girl," Ozai sighed. "We've already done so much of the shooting for the narrative of a restaurant in dire straits because of a dysfunctional sibling relationship. I can't introduce something like this into the narrative now! How would that even work? It would distract from the sibling conflict way too much! Also, if we expose Jeb for stealing, Katara will probably kick him out."
"I should hope-… I would think so," Azula said, unable to hide a wistful smile.
"See, that's why it won't work, Azula," Ozai lectured. "These dysfunctional family episodes need to be carefully balanced. Everyone needs to be comparable levels of incompetent yet sympathetic. Being taken advantage of by her boyfriend will make Katara into too much of a victim and generate too much sympathy for her. We're not here to turn bloody Katara Enurat into a star."
"Enuaraq," Azula corrected quickly, wincing when Ozai glared at her.
"Whatever," Ozai growled. "Anyway, I hope you now realize why we can't use this information, Azula. It was a gallant effort on your part, but you would have been better served taking this time off to rest."
"At least I can tell Katara in private about what's going on," Azula said. "If I don't, then the restaurant is just going to keep failing even with all of our changes, and we don't want that, do we?"
"No, but if an owner can't spot such a blatant case of theft, then maybe they don't deserve to succeed," Ozai said. "So, I don't want you telling Katara or anyone else at the restaurant about what you have discovered."
"What? But… but why?" Azula gasped, feeling shocked.
"Because I said so!" Ozai snapped at her, making Azula shrink and take a step backwards. "Jeb and I have an understanding. He's a good egg and full of creative ideas. And you have to admire his gumption, pulling of a scheme like this! No, you are not to tell anyone about this, do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, father," Azula managed, struggling not to cry. Ozai was once again shooting down her dreams and stomping them into the mud. Azula was sure that the discovery of theft at the restaurant would have been a much more interesting narrative to pursue than the tired and overused dysfunctional family plots that the viewers didn't seem to care about by now. Even worse, the restaurant was sure to fail if the stealing was allowed to continue. That would be a stain on her reputation and it would possibly sway her sibling competition with Zuko in her brother's favor.
"And Azula," Ozai said sternly as he nodded towards the door, ordering her to leave. "Do not dare to disobey me on this. You know that I will be revisiting the restaurant a few months later. If you tell anyone the truth, I will find out."
"Of course, father," Azula forced herself to nod stiffly as she made her retreat.
A good cry later back at her hotel room, Azula still struggled to understand why her father had been so insistent that she kept silent about the truth. Of course, sometimes Ozai liked to simply demand something at random merely for Azula to reaffirm her loyalty, so the explanation could have been as simple as that. Or perhaps Jet was doing some kind of favor for her father and this was Ozai's way of paying him back? Or perhaps Ozai felt that Azula was caring a little too much about The Northern Lights and its staff, and this was his way of showing his disapproval? Whatever the answer was, searching for it made sure that Azula didn't find sleep for many hours that night.
Suki was feeling excited as never before in the morning of the third day of the Nakamura's visit at The Northern Lights. With Ozai overseeing the renovations of the dining hall and the exterior, Suki and Sokka would be learning the new menu by cooking together with Azula Nakamura herself. Suki was thrilled with the opportunity to learn from someone who had been classically trained in just about every major cuisine there was.
Even more so, Suki was delighted for Sokka's sake. There were some very large gaps in Sokka's culinary education, but despite admitting to it, her boyfriend was often frustratingly stubborn about accepting advice from her. Suki couldn't help but feel that just because she had not finished the culinary school, Sokka felt like he could dismiss her advice whenever he felt like it. Suki hoped that Sokka would at least listen and learn from Azula, because her education certainly couldn't be brought into question.
And so, a quarter past eleven in the morning, the entire restaurant staff gathered together in the cramped kitchen together with Azula, ready to experience the magic of their new menu.
Suki wasn't sure why, but Azula had arrived at the restaurant in an oddly subdued mood, not at all her normally talkative self. Fortunately, as they began to cook, Azula's frown quickly disappeared and she appeared happy again, immersed in something she clearly enjoyed doing. Also, for the first time, Azula had exchanged her elegant designer costumes for a strapping white chef's jacket and a matching hat. She looked almost like an entirely different person in her work outfit, but one that was certainly just as stunningly beautiful.
Katara, Yue and Aang were all present because they were all involved with the front of the house, selling the new menu, and so it made sense that they would familiarize themselves with it in great detail. Suki had also given Aang an additional task to film this entire experience so that in case any details later escaped their memory, they would always have a reference material to go back to and check exactly how Azula had taught them. Jet's presence also made perfect sense, because he was taking down a list of ingredients required for this new menu, something he needed to know in order to maintain adequate levels of stock. Toph had also showed up, mostly because she had nothing else to do, but also because she had heard that after dishes were cooked, the staff would get to sample each and every one of them.
"Alright, today we're going to focus exclusively on the entrees," Azula began, addressing her audience. "Tomorrow we will do the appetizers and whatever desserts we're not going to buy in."
"Sounds good," Sokka nodded. "What are we starting with today, Chef Azula?"
"The backbone of any respectable menu, obviously," Azula replied smugly, clearly appreciating Sokka's respectful tone. "We are not trying to position ourselves as a steakhouse, so we don't need multiple options for steak. That's why we only have the reindeer steak on the menu, and if you want to add an extra steak, I recommend that you do that as a special. Anyway, today, we are focusing on making the best reindeer steak you've ever had."
"I don't care that I just had breakfast, I want to dig my chops into that steak," Toph drooled.
"You won't have to wait too long," Azula smirked. She then pointed at a large, at least an inch thick reindeer steak resting on the cutting board in front of her. "This is the beauty we're working with today. Now, just to test you on some general knowledge… and everyone can answer this, not just your two cooks," Azula said, grinning at her enraptured audience. Suki could tell that Azula was absolutely thriving on the attention. "When do we salt our steak?" Azula asked.
"Just before we cook it so that it doesn't draw out all the moisture," Suki replied quickly. That was what she had been told at the culinary school and the restaurants she'd worked at before, so she was confident that she got her answer right.
"You always say that, Suki, but honestly, I have never been able to tell the difference when I forget to salt it beforehand," Sokka said. "I think it just doesn't matter."
"Well, that's concerning," Azula rolled her eyes. "Those answers are both wrong," she added to Suki's astonishment. "Anyone else care to guess?" The audience remained silent, eagerly waiting for Azula to educate them. "The right answer is that you salt your steaks as soon as you cut them. So, for you, it should be during prep. Suki, you're not entirely wrong about salt drawing out the moisture, that definitely happens." Suki felt a little better hearing Azula say that. "However, that's actually a good thing. You want the salt to draw out moisture, but then you just leave the steak alone for at least an hour, and all those salty juices will flow back into the steak and make it succulent. Which is what I've done with this beauty, here," Azula smiled, pointing at the steak in front of her.
"Okay, wow… that blows my mind," Suki admitted. "It actually makes so much sense. Why don't they teach that in the culinary school?"
"Because it sounds like you're trying to overcomplicate something really simple," Sokka chuckled. "But I guess we'll get to judge the results. Maybe Azula's steak really will be the best I've ever had."
"Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt, Sokka," Azula rolled her eyes. "Anyway, let's get to the actual cooking part, shall we?" Azula said. "I'm not a big fan of all these stainless steel and nonstick pans you have here. Ideally, what you want for a steak like this is a solid cast iron pan. Luckily for you, in a few days, some of those might appear in your kitchen."
"Oh, that would be lovely," Katara exclaimed happily. "Thank you so much, Azula."
"You're very welcome," Azula replied, but instead of facing Katara, she actually looked away very quickly. Suki thought that for some weird reason Azula appeared a little… guilty? "In the meantime, I guess we'll make do with this stainless steel pan." Azula grabbed the pan and placed it over the gas burner. "Now, we want the steak to develop a lovely crust on the outside, and for that we'll need to use something with a high smoke point."
"What's a smoke point?" Yue asked.
At first, it almost looked like Azula was going to snap, but as soon as she looked at Yue, Azula's expression immediately softened. "The answer is kind of in the name, Yue," Azula said in a kinder voice than normally, at least Suki thought so. "The smoke point of oils is the temperature at which an oil stops shimmering and starts smoking, or burning." Yue smiled back at Azula, grateful for the explanation.
"I like to cook steak with clarified butter," Suki spoke up. "Will that do?"
"It would work, sure," Azula nodded. "But it's not the ideal choice. You just don't get as good a crust with clarified butter as with some of the oils. Personally, I like to use avocado oil to get the best crust, so that's what I'm going to use."
"Suki and her clarified butter," Sokka chuckled. "Azula, can't you tell her to use plain old butter like normal people?"
"You can't use regular butter, because it would burn!" Suki growled at her boyfriend. "You are such a dingus! I've explained this to you before. I've even showed you what happens!"
"Yes, you're being very ignorant now, Sokka," Azula nodded, agreeing with Suki, much to her delight. Suki felt that this was one of those occasions where Sokka really needed a little bit of humbling, because he clearly didn't know nearly as much as he thought he did. "Avocado oil has a smoke point of 400F, which is the temperature we want to get a nice crust on this steak. That would be impossible with butter because the milk protein burns at 350F and the steak would be completely destroyed. Do you understand that?"
"I suppose you know what's best," Sokka sighed. "I'd still eat that steak, though."
"Concerning," Azula stated. "Anyway, let's move on with the cooking. The pan looks hot enough, so let's just sprinkle both sides of the steak liberally with some coarsely ground black pepper and get this beauty on the pan."
"How long do you cook each side for, Azula?" Suki asked.
"Well, it depends," Azula shrugged. "This is a rather thick piece and I'm aiming for medium rare, so I think 2 minutes on each side and then I'll finish it in the oven, because I don't want to burn the outside while the inside is still raw. Thinner steaks can obviously be pan fried all the way."
"I don't like cooking steak in the oven, it doesn't feel right," Sokka said. "I think I'll just stick with pan frying them. Anyway, I think you should probably flip it, Azula," Sokka added, reaching for the pan.
"Don't!" Azula exclaimed, slapping Sokka's hand away. "No touching the meat while it cooks!"
"Sokka does love to flip his steaks every ten seconds for some reason," Suki sighed.
"Are you saying that Sokka has a habit of touching his meat too often?" Jet laughed, successfully getting Sokka to glower at him.
"Anyway, there's an actual valid reason for not touching the meat and letting it cook," Azula said. "It disrupts the Maillard reaction, which is obviously what we want taking place."
"The Maillard reaction?" Suki blinked. "What is that?"
"It sounds sexual," Sokka laughed. "Suki, I feel like there's a Maillard reaction between us," he added, waggling his eyebrows and making Suki chuckle at his exaggerated ridiculousness.
"It's like teaching kindergarteners," Azula sighed. "Maillard reaction is the process of the caramelization of meat protein. It's what gives us the nice crust that we want. When you flip your steak all the time, you disrupt that reaction."
"Right," Sokka said. "I get that. I don't understand why you didn't just say it like a normal person? Nobody is using words like Maillard reaction, it's so weird."
Azula blushed hotly at that comment. "Well, I'm sorry, but that's what the process is called and I can't change that in order to make it less weird for you, Sokka," she snapped. "You'll have to take that complaint somewhere else. Anyway," Azula said. "I think that's enough caramelization on both sides. Into the oven it goes." And with that, Azula shoved the stainless steel pan into one of the barely functioning ovens in The Northern Lights kitchen.
"Can I ask something?" Katara spoke up as they were all waiting for the oven to do its job. "That was a really big piece of steak. Is that the kind of portion size that we should aim at?"
"Well, that depends," Azula replied. "Steak represents a lot of value, so it's mostly a pricing issue. You have to decide what is the most that your customers are willing to pay for a fine steak, and then you have to give them a product that feels worth that kind of money. But aside from all those considerations… yeah, this is just how I enjoy my steak."
"So, what you're saying is that you prefer your meat really thick," Jet laughed.
"That's not funny, Jet," Katara berated her boyfriend as nobody apart from Toph and Sokka chuckled at the crude attempt at a joke.
"I didn't get that, but whatever," Azula shrugged, opening the oven doors and removing the stainless steel pan. "It's time for this baby to come right out. We're going to finish it in the pan," Azula said, commenting as she continued to work, putting the pan back on the gas burner. "What we'll need now is a generous amount of butter-"
"Wait a moment," Sokka exclaimed, watching as Azula dumped several large sticks of butter on the hot pan. "You said not to use butter because it will burn!"
"I'm glad you remembered, but as you can see, I've turned the heat quite low so the butter won't burn," Azula pointed out. "It's good that you're paying attention, though. Anyway, aside from a whole lot of butter, I also like to add a few sprigs of thyme, couple of crushed cloves of garlic and half a chopped shallot. Just drop everything into the pan and don't bother peeling the garlic, we're not going to serve it anyway. And now just baste, baste and baste some more."
"Damn, that smells absolutely amazing," Suki had to admit after Azula had been working on the steak for a while longer.
"I am so hungry," Toph whined, just like everyone else being driven crazy by the delicious aroma. "Only a reindeer steak can save me now."
"Stop crying, we're almost done here," Azula laughed, deftly removing the steak from the pan and transferring it to the wooden cutting board where it continued to sit and lightly sizzle, spreading more maddeningly teasing aroma. "Now we just need to wait for it to rest," Azula added to the groans of her audience.
"I was hoping you would tell us that all this letting the meat rest is just another myth that can be ignored," Sokka sighed.
"It's absolutely not a myth, although most people don't understand why it's being done," Azula replied. "People believe that the way to keep the meat juicy and succulent after cooking is to give it a good sear that would close the meat off and stop the juices from escaping. But that's bullshit, because you will lose juices anyway and the way of getting them back is by letting the meat rest. Right now," Azula continued, gesticulating proudly at the piece of steak. "All the juices are trapped at the very center of the steak. As the outside cools down, the juices will begin to distribute evenly again. Ten minutes should be enough."
"The delicate science of doing a steak right," Aang grinned as he was still busy filming everything. "I think that will be the name of this tutorial."
"That sounds about right," Suki chuckled as the group continued to suffer the painful wait until Azula finally declared the steak to have rested enough. Suki understood Azula's uncompromising attitude, however. She had made quite the statement that this would be the best steak they had ever tasted. Obviously, Azula wanted to do everything to make sure that those hadn't been mere empty words.
"Alright, let's cut into this beauty," Azula said, looking fondly at her creation before quickly cutting off several thin strips. She then turned the cut steak to face her audience. "And there you have it, perfect medium rare," she said proudly.
"That does look perfectly cooked," Suki gladly admitted. "Can we try it now?" Azula merely smiled and stepped aside as a gaggle of excited people quickly swarmed the cooking station and began to affectionately fight for pieces of the steak. "Wow, okay, you were not lying, this is amazing," Suki gasped, having fought her way to a piece. "It really melts in your mouth."
"Yeah, I was going to say that there's no way this girl who doesn't even look like a proper meat eater could cook the best steak I've ever had in my life, but…" Sokka said. "Sorry, dad, but while your steaks are really good, they're not quite on this level."
"I agree," Katara admitted, looking enraptured. "This steak tastes divine."
"I would probably agree as well if I could have gotten a bite. But it's all gone now," Yue sighed. She had somehow managed to miss out entirely. Suki found herself feeling deeply upset when she saw the disappointment on Yue's face.
Looking around the kitchen, however, Suki quickly identified the culprit. Toph was standing a little aside from the others, holding at least a third of the steak, busy devouring it as her cheeks and chin were smeared with the juices and the dripping butter. "Toph!" Suki exclaimed. "Don't be so greedy! Let Yue have a piece as well!"
"Do I have to?" Toph whined.
"Yes!" Suki exclaimed, with Katara and Azula also adding their voices in support.
"Oh, fine," Toph sighed, returning the stolen piece of steak. Soon, Yue also had a piece for tasting and she was chewing on the meat with a blissful look on her face.
"Oh my, I'm not even a big meat lover, but that was wonderful," Yue sighed. She then shot Suki a quick look conveying soft gratitude for interfering on her behalf.
"You're not going to give it a try, Aang?" Azula asked. "Oh wait… Air Nation, I'm going to guess vegetarian."
"Yup," Aang replied proudly. "Trying to go full vegan, actually. Maybe one day soon…" he added wistfully.
"A respectable choice," Azula nodded. "Anyway, I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy that. And I think you can see why this should be the king of your menu, right?"
"Absolutely," Katara said. "I think it wouldn't be wrong to charge something like $26 or even $28 for a meal like this. Or am I being too greedy?"
"No, that's a pretty reasonable price for a fine steak," Azula said. "Add some thickly cut fries, traditional red Rudolph sauce and some seasonal veggies as a side, and you have a dish that's not actually that hard to execute, but offers great value. However, speaking about it not being hard to execute…" Azula smirked before producing two slices of raw steak and looking at Suki and Sokka. "I think it's time to see how good your cooks are at listening and taking instructions."
"Uh-oh," Sokka gulped nervously.
"We're ready to give it a try," Suki grinned, elbowing her boyfriend in the ribs. "Aren't we, Sokka?"
"Yes, we're ready to nail it," Sokka nodded, more confidently now.
"Good, that's what I want to see," Azula smiled as she handed them each a piece of meat. Suki immediately noticed that they were of different thicknesses so that they couldn't copy each other. "Also, I'll have yours medium, Suki. Sokka, I want yours medium rare. Now… get cooking, you two!"
As the afternoon slowly drew to a close, Sokka found himself torn between feeling both accomplished and a little frustrated. Certainly, being tutored by Azula Nakamura herself was hugely beneficial. Sokka had no doubts that they had gotten lucky with Ozai Nakamura allowing his daughter to design the menu and do the training. Ozai was clearly far too intimidating to be a good teacher and Sokka knew that he would have spent his time in the kitchen walking on eggshells and feeling too terrified to learn or remember anything. Not that Azula was not intimidating in her own way, and she definitely had plenty of just reasons to snap at Sokka during the long day of teaching the new menu, but still, something was going on that was making Azula act softer and Sokka couldn't quite figure out what it was.
At least it wasn't as if Sokka hadn't managed to do anything right throughout the day. He'd managed to repeat a couple of Azula's dishes to a level where he received a passing grade, and considering that Azula's bar was very high, Sokka felt pretty good about that. But privately, he was smarting a little bit about all the praise that Suki was getting from Azula, and from how his girlfriend constantly outdid him on recreating the new entrees. He wanted to be proud of his girlfriend, and he really was, and yet… couldn't he just outdo Suki at least once? Surely that wasn't too much to ask for. The task of saving the restaurant felt so much more daunting when he could only be the second best in his own kitchen.
So, at the end of the day, Sokka's increasing frustrations and famed Enuaraq stubbornness had landed him in an argument with Azula about the final entrée they were practicing, crispy salmon with asparagus in a Hira'andaise sauce. Azula still insisted that the best way to cook the salmon was to pan sear it skin side up for a couple of minutes and then let the oven do the rest of the work. Sokka was determined to prove to Azula that he could do a better job by just pan-frying the bloody fish all the way. He was now on his third attempt after Azula had determined his first try to be way overcooked and the second to be dangerously raw.
"Sokka, if you would just let go, we could all head upstairs, relax and maybe have a glass of wine," Katara sighed. She was not the only one in the kitchen who looked rather peeved with him. "It's been a long day, already. Just do the dish the way Azula showed you, please?"
"No, no, it's alright, Katara," Azula said, smiling way too politely. "By all means, let him try. I'm absolutely enjoying this."
"I know it's possible to execute a perfectly fine pan-friend salmon," Suki said. "I think Azula's point is that finishing it in the oven is a lot simpler because it's a reliable and automated process. You don't have to constantly watch it and you can start working on the next ticket."
"Yes, exactly," Azula agreed with Suki, because of course she did. Over the years, Katara, Suki and Yue had formed this feminine hive mind, always ganging up on Sokka and giving him a hard time. He wasn't really all that surprised to see Azula now being naturally pulled into this hive mind as well. Certainly, what Suki and Azula were saying made a whole lot of sense, but Sokka was not willing to give up without a fight.
"Fine, this will be my last attempt, whether I fail or not," Sokka grudgingly agreed much to the relief of the others.
It was then that the kitchen doors opened and the larger-than-life figure of Ozai Nakamura entered, looking his usual impatient self. "Hello, father," Azula spoke up quickly. "I am pleased to report that we have made good progress with the new menu. How are the renovations going?"
"Yes, can we go and take a look, pretty please?" Katara asked politely.
"Absolutely not," Ozai shook his head adamantly. "I need your reactions upon seeing the renovations to feel genuine, so spoiling the surprise early is unacceptable. If I believed that you could act your way out of a paper bag, maybe I'd allow it, but-… by Agni, what is that dolt doing to that poor salmon!" Ozai exclaimed, pointing at Sokka's frying pan.
"I'm pan-frying it?" Sokka tried to explain, feeling very confused.
"You can't pan-fry a piece of salmon that thick, numbskull!" Ozai ranted. "Azula, what is the meaning of this? I thought you were tutoring these muppets! Agni, I have to do everything myself these days, don't I? Get out of my way, boy," Ozai barked, pushing Sokka aside as he took his place at the stove. "All of you, gather around and see how it's done, because I'm only going to show you this once. I'm going to need a new pan-"
"Father, I have already showed him the proper way to do it-" Azula tried to argue, but Sokka's attention was already elsewhere as with great horror he suddenly realized that an impending disaster was about to unfold. Sokka had set aside one of the frying pans he had used earlier, but he had somehow forgotten to switch off the gas burner underneath it, so by now the pan was blisteringly hot… and Ozai Nakamura was reaching right for its handle.
What followed was a scream of pain that reminded Sokka of the old Tom & Jerry cartoons he had watched as a child. Ozai's yelling was the exact copy of Tom's screams of pain after jabbing himself in the buttocks with a massive needle attached to a pool cue. The kitchen was momentarily taken over by utter shock as they all watched Ozai Nakamura jumping around like a madman and wildly waving around with his still sizzling arm. Despite his shock, Sokka still noticed that the expression on Azula's face wasn't that of concern for her father, but rather one of sheer terror.
"You absolute moron!" Ozai finally stopped screaming in pain only to yell at Sokka. "I'd tear you limb from limb if I didn't have to rush to the hospital to take care of this, you utter twat! And don't even think I wouldn't do it! Azula, tell these fools what happened to the last donkey who pulled this stunt with me!" Ozai yelled before quickly running out of the kitchen, rudely almost knocking Toph off her feet.
"Oh, shit…" Suki groaned. "What did we just do?"
"I think we just managed to majorly piss off Ozai Nakamura," Jet snorted, shaking his head. "Great going, Sokka."
"It was a complete accident," Sokka replied defensively, even if he knew that he had messed up. "As long as his hand isn't permanently scarred, maybe he won't hold it against us… and won't try to kill me. I hope. What do you think, Azula?" Sokka asked, only then realizing that Azula still looked pale as a sheet, trembling slightly. He quickly poured a glass of water and pressed it into Azula's hands, urging her to take a drink. Azula did so, gratefully.
"My father is a consummate professional," Azula replied a while later, once she had recomposed herself. "He's not going to do anything that would sabotage the show. The renovations are all paid for and arranged already, so everything will go ahead as planned, you don't have to worry about that. He will simply be extra unpleasant towards you, that's all."
"Well, I guess I kind of deserve that," Sokka sighed.
"By the way, Azula," Katara spoke up then. "What did your father mean when he said that you should tell us about the last guy who burned him?"
"Oh," Azula managed, looking very unsettled again. "That was actually my brother, Zuko," she sighed. "So, if any of you were wondering where he got his scars from…"
Silence descended upon the kitchen following Azula's words, but it felt like the only proper reaction to Sokka. None of them had any idea how to react to a revelation that was equal parts stunning and horrific.
"Did that really just happen?" Yue asked nobody in particular as the shellshocked group of restaurant employees had gathered upstairs in their hangout space. "Did we just send Ozai Nakamura to the hospital?"
"All I have to say is that I just heard the most comically epic scream of pain ever," Toph chuckled, seemingly unbothered by the seriousness of the situation.
"And I have it all on film, too," Aang said.
"You kept filming throughout it all?" Jet asked, sounding very interested all of a sudden. "That might be worth a lot to the right people."
"That's not really our focus right now, Jet," Katara said, her voice carrying some light reprimand. "We need to understand how or if this will change things going forward. Azula says that it won't change anything, but… oh, and speaking of Azula, she must be feeling absolutely terrible right now. I'll send her a message of support right away," Katara sighed. Obviously, instead of hanging out with them, Azula had rushed after her father to the hospital right away.
"That sounds like a great idea, Kat," Suki nodded. "I'll do the same." Yue immediately pulled out her phone to send Azula her sympathies as well.
"I think Ozai will get over it," Jet shrugged. "Maybe he'll give Sokka extra hard time until the end of his visit, but what Azula said made sense to me. I trust her when she says that Ozai wouldn't suddenly do something to sabotage us. His reputation is tied to the success of the restaurants he's helping, right?"
"That does make a certain amount of sense," Katara said. "Thank you for remaining rational about this, babe. I think the rest of us were just freaking out because of what happened," she added, leaning in to give Jet a kiss on the cheek. Jet turned to face her in search for a kiss on the lips, but Katara was already distracted by an incoming text. "Oh, Azula texted me back already," she gasped.
"Me too," Suki smiled broadly.
"Same," Yue nodded happily, having checked her phone. "How many hearts did you get?" she asked her friends.
"Five," Suki replied.
"I got five as well," Katara chuckled.
"Me too," Yue grinned. "She's so diplomatic!"
"Spirits, you really are the local chapter of the Azula Nakamura Fanclub, aren't you?" Sokka groaned. Jet looked a little annoyed about having to vehemently agree with Katara's brother on this.
"Hey, what's the harm in it, Sokka," Suki winked. "It's not like we're planning to abduct Azula before she can leave."
"Or are we?" Katara laughed, ignoring Jet's peeved expression. "We could keep her locked up in the restaurant's basement and share her between the three of us."
"Okay, now you're taking it a little too far," Jet snorted.
"I'm being purposefully annoying because you and Sokka have been acting so unreasonably jealous, as if we were seriously trying to seduce the confirmed straight girl," Katara sighed. "Is it that hard to accept that we're just having a bit of harmless fun? She's leaving in three or four days, for crying out loud."
"So, if Jet or I wanted to flirt with Azula, you wouldn't mind?" Sokka asked.
"You already tried, remember?" Suki sighed. "She shot down your sausage joke."
"Well, it was horrible," Jet smirked. "Anyway, I have no interest in flirting with Azula Nakamura, she's just not my type. I already have everything I need," he leaned in to give Katara a quick kiss.
"Speaking about the Nakamuras, that was quite the bomb Azula dropped," Aang said. "Did I understand her implication right, by the way? Her brother accidentally burned Ozai's hand and in return, he burned his son's face? That's horrific if true."
"She made it sound like it was true, and I have no reason to doubt her," Sokka shrugged. "Which just makes what I did so much scarier for me. If Ozai did that to his son, just think of what he might do to me!"
"He'll do nothing of the sort to you, Sokka," Suki spoke firmly. "He'd open himself up to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuit if he did anything of the sort."
"But why was there no investigation and prosecution when he did it to his own son?" Yue asked, feeling confused.
"Probably because Ozai Nakamura can literally get away with murder," Toph shrugged.
"Now I'm scared again," Sokka sighed.
"I don't think that's it," Katara argued. "Ozai Nakamura seems to have an extraordinary amount of power and control over his children. Obviously, we haven't met Zuko, but from what I have seen with Azula and her fear of Ozai… I think if she were to burn her father like that, she'd accept whatever punishment from him, including permanent scarring, and she'd think that she deserved it. Maybe it was something similar with Zuko."
"Well, that's incredibly depressing," Suki said, looking very downcast. "What a fucked up and miserable family, huh?"
"Yeah, you really wouldn't think that about them from reading the tabloids, would you?" Yue nodded, feeling similarly depressed. "Anyway, who's up for getting vibe checked?" she asked, determined to shake off the gloominess. The relieved nods and cheers of her friends confirmed that everyone was willing and ready to move on to something lighter. "We've now tasted all of the new entrees on the menu," Yue said. "Let's do a quick poll on which one is our favorite dish."
"Oh, fun! Good idea, Yue!" Toph nodded eagerly. "I mean, I loved all of them with the exception of the wussy vegetarian stuff," she grinned, giving Aang a shoulder bump. "But you just can't beat a good steak, I'm sorry, and the one Azula cooked for us was insanely juicy and tender. That has my vote."
"Another vote for the steak," Jet said. "Everything on this very limited menu was great, but steak was head and shoulders above all the other stuff."
"I would normally also go for a steak, but-"
"But since Jet already voted for the steak, that means you can't support it," Katara cut off her brother to the amusement of everyone, even Sokka himself.
"No, I was going to say that if there's a burger on the menu, I know what I'm ordering 99% of the time," Sokka chuckled. "Especially a burger like ours! Dragon Burger is the perfect name for it and it'll be a hit with the Fire Nation natives. It'll sell like hotcakes."
Yue wasn't a big fan of the Dragon Burger. She wasn't a big meat eater to begin with, and aside from that, it had simply been too spicy for her liking. The dragon meat was actually a spicy lamb mince and the patty was drenched in hot chili sauce, while the burger itself was stuffed full of jalapeno slices. Despite not loving the item herself, Yue was still sure that it would be a hit with many of their customers.
"I'll have to go with the glazed duck breast in orange sauce," Suki said. "At first, I was really worried that we don't have a chicken entrée, but when we made that duck breast, I no longer had any concerns. I mean, it's so good!"
"I'll support you with that vote, Suki," Katara smiled. "It was really excellent. And you and Sokka both came really close to the way Azula cooked hers, so I'm feeling very good about it being there on the menu."
"I wish we had a few more vegetarian options on the menu," Aang said. "Now I only had a choice between two dishes, but fortunately they were both amazing. The mushroom risotto was amazing and so creamy, but I'll have to go with the vegetarian curry. Sweet potatoes, chickpeas and red peppers with mango chutney is a killer combination, yum-yum," Aang gushed, licking his lips.
"We'll see about adding more vegetarian options if there's a demand for them, Aang," Katara promised with a smile before turning towards Yue. "What about you? You started this conversation, but you haven't voted yet."
"Alright, then," Yue smiled. "After tasting all these new dishes, I really feel like I'm going to try and commit to becoming a pescatarian. Just like Aang, I loved both the vegetarian mains, but I loved both the fish entrees even more. The beer-battered cod is obviously a classic, but my vote goes to the salmon. As long as Sokka promises to stick with Azula's way of preparation," she added with a chuckle.
"Believe me, I have learned my lesson," Sokka replied earnestly. "Whenever I even consider doing something contrary to the way Azula showed us, I keep hearing the sounds of Ozai Nakamura screaming like Tom after Jerry has dropped a bowling ball on his foot…"