Chapter 8 – the road not taken
Azula's first and immediate reaction to her father's strong insistence of her participation in the sexy bikini car wash to advertise the restaurant was a mix of horror and outrage. It was, however, consistent with her father's actions in the past. Ozai never seemed to pass on an opportunity to sexualize her in order to promote the show. Of course, Azula wanted the episode to have excellent viewership ratings just so that she could shove them down Zuko's throat, but at the same time, she felt both peeved and depressed that her father did not actually seem to respect her talent as a chef, but instead saw her merely as an eye candy that could pull in the viewers through her physical appearance.
This was why shooting these shows with her father was so difficult, both mentally and physically. Azula had to endure a lot in order to prove herself, and half of the time, she felt like she was going to snap and crumble under the pressure. Azula's mental and physical health both took hits during these weeks of shooting the show. Her sleep cycle was ruined and she had to dig out her emergency sedatives in order to get the necessary hours of rest. Her gastritis was also acting up, and she had made it worse by eating too much grilled meat the previous day, something she should have avoided, but Azula had found it impossible to turn down Katara's offer to share.
Speaking of Katara and the other girls, they had also been understandably upset by Ozai forcing this idea of a bikini car wash upon them. Katara and Yue were particularly reluctant, but they also felt a debt of gratitude towards Azula's father which compelled them to go along with the idea. Suki was more into the idea and didn't seem to have any problems with showing off her goods for the benefit of the restaurant. In the end, Azula, Katara and Yue were all won over by Suki's argument that instead of bitterly complaining about their fate, they instead have fun with the whole thing and own this bikini car wash like the queens that they were.
It took Azula a while to get out of her offended mindset, but once she had managed to do so, she had actually found merit in Suki's suggestion. Of course, after the four of them had switched into their sexy bikinis, Azula had for the most part stopped thinking completely. It was a while since Azula's last hookup with a girl, and since she found Katara, Yue and Suki all stunningly attractive, the experience of a sexy bikini car wash was both amazing and painful at once for Azula. She was definitely enjoying the views a great deal, but not being able to do anything about it and feeling her unabated arousal growing rapidly was a woefully frustrating part of the experience.
Suki definitely took things the furthest with some of her particularly wild posing and the way she liked to stick her chest out, making Azula's cheeks burn. Suki was also the one who tried to involve the rest of them into games of playful splashing and give the viewers the best show possible. Yue and Katara were trying to behave with a little more restraint, although Suki often succeeded in pulling them along with her sexy shenanigans. Still, for Azula, looking at the scantily clad Yue and Katara was in many ways even harder, even when they were not doing anything particularly titillating. The knowledge that Yue and Katara had been a couple in the past was by now embedded in Azula's brain. Watching Yue and Katara giggling, splashing and stretching was filling Azula's mind with an inescapable stream of mental images of Yue and Katara together in far more intimate situations, and Azula's own treacherous imagination was quickly sending her towards spontaneous self-combustion.
In the end, Azula had no idea how she made it through this particular trial. Suki's eagerness to splash them all with copious amounts of cold water had definitely helped a lot in keeping Azula from catching fire. Still, getting splashed with all that water was hardly the main reason why Azula was soaking wet by the time the cameras stopped rolling and they were brought back to the restaurant to change out of their bikinis and back into their normal clothes. Azula had immediately seized the opportunity to lock herself in a bathroom stall and quickly rub one out, but it had hardly sated her desperate thirst.
With a lengthy dinner service ahead of her, Azula knew that she was in for a tough and frustrating day, and there was only one solution to her woes, a solution that was particularly risky whenever her father was around. Azula had hoped that it wouldn't come to this and that she would survive the week and then attend to her needs once she was clear of Ozai, but it was not to be. Katara, Yue and Suki had proved too tempting and Azula was now in a dire need of a hookup. It was not something that could wait, either.
As Azula finally left the toilet stall to rejoin Katara, Yue and Suki, she did so with burning determination to do something about her raging horniness, and she was determined to do it tonight, even if she had to scale the drain water pipe of the hotel in order to escape the notice of her overbearing father.
Katara was well aware that the Kitchen Nightmares show always presented the restaurant relaunch and the respective dinner service as a major success that reflected positively on all the changes that Ozai Nakamura had made to the restaurant. A couple of hours into their relaunch service, and Katara had no idea just how Ozai and his crew intended to edit all the footage to make this experience feel like success and not the absolutely chaotic mess that it clearly was.
Once again, the news that this was Ozai and Azula's final evening at the restaurant had blown up on the social media, swarming them with bookings. The issue was further compounded by a large crowd of people showing up and expecting a table even if they hadn't made a booking. Katara had been forced to once again jump in and help out Yue and Aang at the front of the house, but even she was struggling to keep on top of the situation.
Their woes were further compounded when the mayor of Ba Sing Se, Kuei Faon, currently visiting Caldera City for talks with the Fire Nation elites, dropped in unannounced with a retinue of at least dozen people. Apparently, the unexpected visit had been arranged by Ozai, a fact that he hadn't shared with anyone, including his own daughter. Ozai had then yelled at Yue to quickly find a table for Mayor Kuei and his party, causing Yue to have another tearful breakdown when she hadn't been able to comply fast enough. Katara was forced to take care of the situation and she ended up asking some of the guests to leave early, and not everyone was understanding of her request. Katara felt horrible that she had been forced to upset some of their potential regular customers in order to please this Ba Sing Se elite just because Kuei moved in the same circles with Ozai Nakamura. Katara just didn't see how pleasing the mayor of Ba Sing Se was going to actually help the restaurant in any way.
On top of all of these troubles at the front of the house, the kitchen was struggling to keep up. Sokka and Suki were tight-lipped and unwilling to engage in lengthy explanations, trying to focus and keep up with the tickets flying into the kitchen, but they kept falling behind more and more. According to a very stressed and tense looking Azula, there were several issues at play in the kitchen. The chefs were still learning to execute the new menu, and their lack of experience with it was slowing them down. The fact that they were only now starting to get used to the new equipment was also working against them.
On top of everything, Azula claimed that Sokka was still simply not moving fast enough and not thinking like a proper head chef when it came to organizing the kitchen and combining multiple tickets. Katara was deeply concerned about Azula's comment how that wasn't something she could fix on the fly, and it was really down to either having the right instincts or not. It didn't bode well for the situation going forward after Azula and Ozai had left. Katara was aware that as the restaurant's manager, it was up to her to sort out the situation in the kitchen, but it was easier said than done with Sokka, her brother and co-owner being right in the middle of all those issues.
At some point, the kitchen had fallen behind so badly that Ozai had ended up yelling at Azula to jump in and help. Azula had then put on a chef's jacket and joined Sokka and Suki on the line. With her help, the kitchen had soon recovered and the food started to fly out at an acceptable rate. Of course, this was not something that Ozai was going to include in the actual show. It definitely wasn't a good sign that they needed Azula's assistance in order to keep up with the tickets, and it definitely would not have made the restaurant look like a success story.
Katara really hoped that they would be able to figure out a way for the kitchen to work faster and smoother, because if they kept struggling like this, Katara feared that the temptation to bring back Toph's microwaving station would grow quickly. Toph had been given a night off, something she wasn't too happy about, but nobody had been able to figure out on a fly just how Toph could help at the restaurant unless she was microwaving frozen food.
Katara was frustrated with Jet's absence throughout most of the dinner service. They didn't seem to be in danger of running out of supplies, so Jet had presumably done that part of his job right. Still, there were other ways in which Katara was sure her boyfriend could have helped with. The pile of dirty dishes was rapidly building up in the kitchen and none of the cooks had a moment of spare time to load up the industrial dishwasher. As much as Katara hated to admit it, this was unfortunately one of Jet's worst habits. Whenever the going got tough and they needed someone to step up and pitch in with some extra effort, Jet always seemed to fall off the radar completely, showing up much later and always having a prepared excuse for not being around. Not being able to fully rely on Jet was something that regularly made Katara question the long-term future of their relationship, but it was one of those conversations that she just kept postponing again and again.
It was at some point towards the end of the dinner service that Katara noticed something rather unusual as she was seating more customers at their pre-booked table. Ozai Nakamura, together with the entire camera crew, suddenly walked out of the dining room and left the restaurant altogether. Ozai and the cameramen then rounded the corner of the restaurant and disappeared from Katara's view, leaving her wondering about what was going on.
After she had seated the new group of customers, Katara's curiosity quickly got the better of her and she decided to sneak out through the back entrance and spy on what exactly Ozai Nakamura and his camera crew were up to. As she left the dining room to head outside, she ran straight into Azula, coming out of the kitchen, no longer wearing the chef's jacket.
"Oops, sorry," Katara apologized, blushing after she had almost bowled Azula over in the narrow hallway. "Sokka and Suki have the grip on the situation?" she asked quickly.
"The tickets have slowed down to a more manageable rate, yes," Azula nodded. "Sokka and Suki should be able to cope with this. Still, I would advise you not to disturb them needlessly."
"Oh, of course, I wasn't actually heading for the kitchen. I was going to sneak out around the back," Katara said. Azula raised an eyebrow at that, forcing Katara to explain. "It's just that I saw your father and the entire camera crew walk out and then round the corner of the restaurant. I want to know what they're up to… unless you know?"
"Sorry, I have no idea what's that about," Azula shrugged. "There's not much that father tells me, actually," she added, sounding worryingly bitter.
"I'm sorry about that," Katara said softly, reaching out to briefly touch Azula's hand. "Want to come with me and take a look at what's going on?" she asked.
"Yes, I'd like that," Azula nodded with a shy smile, setting to follow Katara through the winding corridors leading outside.
Katara and Azula emerged in the dark alleyway to be confronted with a chaotic scene in front of them. A violent brawl appeared to be taking place there, with Ozai watching over it excitedly and occasionally encouraging the brawlers to put in more effort. The camera crew were standing right behind Ozai, filming everything.
It took a while for Katara to gather her bearings and realize that Jet was one of the three people involved in this chaotic fight. Seeing that her boyfriend was up against two other guys who both seemed to be bigger and tougher than Jet, Katara made a surge forward to try and break up the fight, only for Azula to suddenly hold her back.
"Wait a moment," Azula hissed at her before turning towards her father. "Father, what's going on here?" she asked.
"An amazing bit of action is what's going on here!" Ozai replied, not taking his eyes off the brawlers. "Jeb is really earning his keep tonight! He's fighting off the debt collectors, this is amazing!"
"Debt collectors?" Katara gasped in shock. This was the first time she was hearing about their business being threatened by predatory debt collectors. Were things even worse than she suspected and this was something that Jet had been keeping from her?
"Just keep out of this, Katara, please," Azula whispered harshly at her, still holding the squirming Katara back. "My father will intervene before anyone gets seriously hurt, I promise."
Azula's words didn't feel particularly reassuring to Katara, not after some of the things she had experienced at the hands of Ozai Nakamura. Still, as she kept standing there, wracked with indecision, Katara's eyes slowly became more and more used to the darkness of the back alley and she suddenly realized something once she had taken a closer look at the men Jet was wrestling with. "Wait a moment!" Katara gasped. "Those aren't debt collectors! Those two are 'Pipsqueak' Pete and Harry 'Longshot', Jet's best mates!"
"Are you sure?" Azula blinked, relaxing her hold on Katara.
"Yes, of course, I'm sure!" Katara exclaimed. "They're just pretending to be tax collectors!"
"It doesn't matter, keep filming!" Ozai ordered the camera crew. "They're really selling the performance, this is great! By the way, we should have more than enough footage by now, so you three can wrap it up!" he called out to the brawlers.
The fight ended when Pipsqueak and Longshot pushed Jet towards a pair of trash cans. As Jet went down, Pipsqueak and Longshot took down the back alley running like wind, making sure to appear absolutely terrified of Jet. "And don't let me catch you here again!" Jet yelled after them once he had picked himself up from the ground.
"And so, the evening's dinner service has been saved due to the heroic efforts of Jeb Patel," Ozai narrated as the camera crew got in the last few shots before returning to the restaurant. "Excellent work, Jeb," Ozai nodded, turning to follow the crew. "Now we have everything to make this episode a viral one."
"I suppose you think that this was your way of contributing tonight?" Katara did not mince any words after she was left alone with Jet and a rather uncomfortable looking Azula. "Putting on some kind of stage show in the back alley, while the rest of us are struggling to keep the ship barely above water? Even Azula had to jump in on the line and help out in the kitchen, for spirit's sake!"
"Whoa, babe, you know I'm useless in the kitchen and you always chase me out of the dining room as well," Jet replied, looking a little surprised by her anger.
"Yes, because you keep flirting with the female customers," Katara sighed. "Anyway, there was plenty for you to help with back inside, but as always, you were nowhere to be found. It's… sometimes it feels really tiresome, Jet."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I thought I was helping by doing this," Jet managed to look properly apologetic. "Did you hear what Ozai said? The episode is bound to blow up now and bring in more and more customers to the restaurant. I was only trying to help the best I can. And honestly, Katara? First and foremost, I'm doing this for you."
"I suppose…" Katara softened slightly. "I wish you'd ask me what I need help with before deciding to pull of one of your crazy schemes. Anyway, can we head back inside now? Let's just make sure that we finish this dinner service on a high, okay?" Jet nodded and took her hand as they went back inside. Azula had already walked ahead of them and Katara had assumed that it was because she felt uncomfortable watching Katara near-fighting with her boyfriend. However, Katara had caught Azula's expression when the other girl entered the restaurant, and Azula's face had been contorted by… anger?
Katara thought that was a strange reaction and she wished that she could press Azula on what she was angry about. However, as she had told Jet just now, the focus had to be placed on this final hour of the dinner service. Finishing on a high note would hopefully set them up for a solid continuation once Azula and Ozai left the restaurant tomorrow.
After the conclusion of the dinner service, Azula once again ended up hanging out with the restaurant staff in Sokka and Suki's lair above the establishment. Azula's plan initially had been to return to the hotel, log on her dating app and try to arrange a hookup. Then she would get herself ready for her midnight date before sneaking out undetected for a night of mindless drinking and casual sex. Still, since Ozai hadn't insisted that she returned to the hotel with him, Azula had found it impossible to refuse Suki and Katara inviting her to hang out with the group once again.
On this occasion, it was just the five of them, Azula, Suki, Sokka, Katara and Jet. Unfortunately, Yue had to rush home right after the service to relieve her babysitter, robbing Azula the pleasure of her company. Aang had also left early, stating that he didn't want to leave Toph alone for too long. Apparently, being told not to come in tonight had given Toph a major case of the blues and Aang wanted to cheer up his best friend.
So, Azula now found herself in the middle of slightly tipsy conversations, while at the same time trying to browse her dating app and set up an encounter with one of her regular contacts in Caldera City she had hooked up with in the past.
"It's too bad that you have to leave as early as tomorrow," Katara sighed, looking sad as she faced Azula. "I wish you could stay a little longer. Although, I suppose Sokka will be relieved to see the back of your father."
"I'm sure Chef Ozai has gotten over his burned hand by now. He's above petty revenge for an unfortunate accident," Sokka spoke confidently, perhaps a little too confidently for Azula's liking.
"Maybe Jet should have put in a word for you, Sokka," Katara spoke up, sounding a little venomous. She was on her second large glass of wine, but it didn't seem to be having a soothing effect on her. "After all, he seems to have found a new best friend in Ozai Nakamura."
"Hey, I was just doing what I could to boost the popularity of the restaurant. That had nothing to do with my feelings towards Ozai Nakamura. I still hate him for his Fire Nation supremacist ways," Jet replied defensively, shooting a quick glance at Azula. "Sorry, Azula."
"I know people often take issue with my father's views, but it just feels a little hypocritical when they're also happy to accept Ozai Nakamura's generosity and advice at the same time," Azula shrugged. "Anyway, I'm not going to throw a hissy fit if you want to trash talk my father. I just might think that you're a hypocrite."
"Well, I think Ozai Nakamura is not exactly what I would call a nice man, but I believe I speak for everyone here when saying that we're incredibly thankful for everything you two did for us and for the restaurant," Suki said. It seemed like she was destined to fill the role of the peacemaker for the evening because Katara was too busy being annoyed with Jet.
"I have visited plenty of restaurants where I felt that the owners and the staff did not deserve my father's help, but I definitely didn't feel that way about The Northern Lights," Azula smiled briefly. "I guess that's my way of saying… you're welcome."
"I think everything worked out overall," Sokka said. "I can't believe that I am forced to admit that Jet had an actual good idea to send an application for the show," he sighed, raising his glass at Jet with reluctant respect. "Also, I think we could do with another bottle."
"Well, we have plenty to choose from," Suki chuckled, getting up to handle the refills. As always, at the end of the day, there were plenty of opened wine bottles at the restaurant that could use polishing off and Azula had by now realized that this was a very enjoyable part of these evening hangouts.
As Suki refilled everyone's glasses, Azula sneakily returned her attention to the dating app, sending quick messages to her Caldera City sweethearts. One of them was a girl her age by the name of Zirin Sakai. Zirin was an exotic dancer with voracious sexual appetite, and Azula had enjoyed the few occasions when the two of them had hooked up. There was only one thing that bothered Azula slightly when it came to Zirin, and that was Zirin's constant pushiness about how Azula should just come out of the closet and be open about her sexuality. Their sex was usually very hot and intense, and promised exactly the kind of fiery encounter that Azula was after tonight, and she felt prepared to tolerate another lecture from Zirin as long as her needs were being taken care of.
Azula's other Caldera City hookup was slightly older than her, a woman in her early thirties by the name of June Miura. June was absolutely gorgeous, a confident and successful bar owner who seemed to have her life largely figured out in a way that made Azula a little envious. June was an attentive lover who was very skilled between the sheets, even if she maybe didn't have Zirin's intense energy. Azula had learned a lot from June during their occasional encounters over the past couple of years. And while tonight Azula felt more in the mood for Zirin's insatiable lust, she was aware that touring often took Zirin away from Caldera City, so she still sent the shamefully crass and rushed text message of 'u DTF tonite?' to both women.
"So, Azula," Sokka began anew once everyone had their glasses refilled. "Be honest with us. Do you think we have a shot at salvaging this?" he asked.
Azula hesitated, having been caught flatfooted by the question. She desperately wanted to say that yes, The Northern Lights was now on a path to success, but she was well aware that Jet's schemes could prove lethal for the restaurant. Azula briefly wished that she had the courage to go against her father's wishes and just tell Katara and the others about what was going on with Jet, but she found herself unable to go through with it. This just wasn't the right moment for it, anyway. She didn't want to spoil her final evening with the group by creating some crazy drama of everyone turning on Jet.
"Yes, I think you're well on your way towards success now," Azula decided to go for fake encouragement instead. Truly, she must have momentarily gone mad to even think about challenging her father's wishes. The truth would surely put an end to Katara's relationship with Jet, and while on some basic and petty level Azula took delight in the mental image of Katara slapping her boyfriend and announcing that they were breaking up, Azula acknowledged that she had no right to mess with the relationship of a girl that she was unlikely to meet again after tomorrow. There was so much about Katara's relationship with Jet that she just didn't know, and Azula also had to admit that perhaps she didn't have all the facts about the situation. Maybe Katara was actually happy with Jet. Maybe it wasn't Azula's place to ruin what they had. Still… the need to at least give Katara a hint that she needed to pay closer attention to how Jet ordered the supplies was ever growing, and Azula still hoped that she could think of a way to say something without incurring the wrath of her father or outright accusing Jet of stealing.
"It's not going to be easy," Suki sighed. "We'll have to hit the ground running. We're still learning the new menu and figuring out how the new equipment works. Right now, it's really slowing us down, while at the same time your father increased the number of tables, so we need to be even faster than before to keep up."
"It might take a couple of weeks, but you'll get used to it," Azula replied, sensing doubts in Suki's words. Azula was not a big believer in Sokka's leadership abilities, not when it came to the kitchen, anyway. She knew that Suki needed to stand strong and be a real rock in the kitchen, pushing Sokka to improve. Azula wasn't convinced that Suki would be able to do it, given Sokka's stubbornness. "The one thing you can't afford to do is to take shortcuts. Shortcuts are the slippery slope leading to relapse and failure. You can't let that happen," Azula added before quickly checking her app again, but there were no replies from either Zirin or June, much to Azula's annoyance.
"I'm very serious about not letting that happen," Katara said firmly. She then gave Azula the most adorable puppy-eyed stare. "I really wish you could stay for a few more weeks. We would all benefit so much from your insights," Katara said wistfully. Azula noticed that Jet looked rather annoyed by Katara's words. It made Azula wonder if Katara was pettily needling her boyfriend for his secret schemes earlier. Azula quickly decided that Katara's petty side was incredibly sexy.
"I'm sure Azula's schedule is way too busy to hang around with us," Jet said. "You probably have the next ailing restaurant lined up, right?"
"Yes, some hopeless looking gastropub in Gaoling," Azula shrugged. "But I'll have almost a week off before father and I travel to the Earth Kingdom." Azula knew she badly needed this week to recover from the intensity of working together with her father. Her nerves were frayed, she was way jumpier than usually and the burning pain caused by the flareup of her gastritis needed to settle.
"Well, I hope they will appreciate you as much as we do," Suki said, smiling at Azula. She then lightly elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs. "Don't we, Sokka?"
"Oh, sure," Sokka nodded happily. "You did an awesome job, Azula. I'm glad it wasn't just your father doing all the work. You're pretty intense in a slightly scary way, but at least you're not as frightening as Ozai Nakamura," Sokka chuckled. Azula rolled her eyes at that comment. She knew that Sokka should be counting his lucky stars for having such a cute sister, an amazing sous-chef girlfriend and a sexy waitress ex who had kept Azula's nastier side from rearing its ugly head. Without Katara, Suki and Yue at the restaurant, Azula was sure that she would have bitten off Sokka's head by the end of the second day of her stay. Sokka was certainly a funny guy, but he was also incredibly frustrating to work with.
"Well, I have big hopes for this episode. If it does well, then that will be all the reward I need," Azula said. "And obviously, it would be very helpful if the restaurant succeeded as well. I won't hide that I have a vested interest in seeing you succeed, so you better not squander the opportunity you've been given. Maybe father will decide to take me with him when he revisits the place, and if I see that you have gone back to your old ways, I will be pissed off," Azula threatened, even knowing that it was unlikely that Ozai would bring her along for a revisit. Her father usually did those episodes while flying solo.
"Well, you threatened us with that before," Sokka laughed, but he quickly fell silent when Azula turned to glare at him. "It was very effective," he muttered quietly.
They were on their third glass of wine when Katara and Suki both began to yawn quite a lot. In order to keep the two girls from falling asleep, Sokka decided to make them watch some weak zombie slasher that in Azula's opinion totally lacked any edge. Katara and Suki were still yawning a lot, barely remaining awake, and Jet and Sokka soon began to yawn as well. The general sleepiness made it a lot easier for Azula to sneakily browse her dating app. She let out a quiet groan of frustration after reading a text from Zirin. Apparently, Zirin was all the way on Ember Island, doing a series of shows with her exotic dance troupe, and she regretfully informed Azula that even if she was DTF, the distance between them made it an impossibility. As for June, there was still no word from her.
Azula briefly considered forgetting about her existing contacts and diving straight into the wider dating pool of random hookups provided by the dating app, but she quickly dismissed that idea. At the end of this week of getting pushed around by her father, Azula's confidence was hitting the rock bottom. Meeting a random new person for the purpose of casual sex felt too scary and overwhelming, and Azula definitely was not feeling brave enough to go for that. Instead, Azula scrolled through her general list of contacts, considering her options when her fingertip stopped at the entry for Yue Taqqiq.
Azula had definitely developed a bit of a crush on the beautiful blonde. There was something intoxicating about Yue's soft kindness, masking the palpable inner strength underneath. Azula knew that it was a bit weird for her to sit with Yue's friends, pretending to watch a movie with them, while at the same time feeling greatly tempted to text Yue and see if maybe she was up for… well, there was no disguising what it would be, was there? It would be a one-night stand because it couldn't be anything more than that.
While acknowledging that she could be very oblivious about other people and their feelings, Azula felt that she wasn't wrong to assume that Yue liked her. Yue had invited her to a picnic with her daughter and her friends, and she had been acting very friendly and welcoming from the first moment their eyes had met. Most importantly, Yue was a confirmed bisexual. Even with her confidence at a serious low point, Azula wanted to believe that Yue might be interested in hooking up. At least, Yue was very kind and would never make fun of Azula or humiliate her, so Azula found herself feeling safe as she began to type a quick text to Yue.
Azula was nearly done with her awkward proposal to meet up, when doubts began to creep in with increasing vigor. Her horniness was surely eroding all rational thoughts if she thought that randomly hooking up with Yue was a good idea. Yue was currently at home, probably putting her daughter to bed. She had more important things to do than to satisfy Azula's raging need for physical stimulation. Besides, as a single mom who was struggling financially, Azula doubted that hooking up was really on Yue's mind. She was probably looking for an actual working relationship, something that could provide stability for herself and her daughter. Yue surely had no time for the neurotic mess that was Azula. Azula's fingertip quickly found the delete button, erasing the message she'd been ready to send.
Perhaps this is for the best, Azula thought to herself, even as she found herself gripped with bitter doubt and uncertainty. Perhaps it was unwise to reveal the secret of her homosexuality to even more people. Even if she trusted Yue not to hurt her, Azula couldn't imagine Yue keeping this from Katara and Suki, and then soon enough the entire restaurant would know the truth. It would then also give someone like Jet heavy ammunition to use against her, meaning that she would never be able to reveal the truth of his scheming without facing serious repercussions. No, it was best not to try and have some ill-advised last-minute affair with a sweet girl like Yue who deserved far better than someone as issue-riddled as Azula.
Sighing deeply, Azula returned to watching the crappy zombie slash fest. Someone next to her was already snoring, and it seemed as if Jet was the only one still awake way over at the other end of the sofa. Perhaps it was time for Azula to make her way back to the hotel and then once again try to quench the flame stoked within her, even if she had to do it all by herself. Azula was already resigned to this plan of action, when suddenly the notification on her phone dinged, alerting her of an incoming message. Azula quickly checked her phone, smiling when she saw a response from June.
Rising to quietly bid the others goodnight, Azula quickly snuck back downstairs, calling an Uber as she waited outside the restaurant. Luck hadn't completely abandoned her after all, and at least she was going to get her fix tonight.
Yue arrived early at the restaurant on what was a dreary September Tuesday for Caldera City. The past week had felt like a wild adventure out of this world, with Azula and Ozai visiting and trying to improve their little restaurant. Judging by the long faces of some of her friends, Yue was hardly the only one who felt sad about this adventure coming to an end. She doubted that anyone was going to miss Ozai Nakamura and his arrogant, rude and sometimes downright nasty ways, but the same certainly couldn't be said about his daughter. Azula had proved a much different person in real life than Yue had anticipated, and she was having real trouble accepting that after getting a glimpse past Azula's carefully curated mask, she would not be given the opportunity to take another look.
Yue was quick to admit that she had become quite fascinated by the walking and talking contradiction that was Azula Nakamura. Certainly, Yue had plenty of challenges in her own life that demanded constant attention, but for some reason, she had still ended up obsessing about all the issues that Azula was clearly dealing with, and the idea that they had only scratched the surface with everything that was going on with Azula utterly fascinated Yue. Yue had the tendency of gravitate towards caretaker and silent protector roles in her relationships, which was probably why she had become so taken with the neurotic mess that was Azula.
The feeling that she had sensed something like a tiny spark between herself and Azula only contributed to the feeling of sadness. As the whole group of friends sat down and waited for the arrival of Azula and Ozai to shoot the final farewell scenes, Yue spent this time wistfully wondering if perhaps she had missed an opportunity to become even closer with Azula. Having Azula's contact information was promising, but in case Azula would not answer, Yue was ready to exploit her connection to Azula through Kiyi, perhaps keeping touch with Azula that way.
Yue also had to wonder if they had completely missed something about Azula, or perhaps Azula was oblivious when it came to understanding herself, but at times Azula's behavior suggested that she was at least bi-curious. Perhaps Yue was completely off the mark with this speculation – and it wouldn't have been the first time when assumptions had led her astray – but she still felt like some of Azula's stares had implied attraction. It was these memories in particular that made Yue feel bitterness about possibly having wasted an opportunity. She recalled being unable to sleep late last night after putting Kya to bed. She had been rolling around in her bed until two in the morning, typing countless texts to Azula only to erase them all before sending. Come the morning, and the imminent farewells were making Yue curse her indecision and cowardice.
"They're here," Suki commented as she stood by the upstairs window, watching the car park. "Time to go and say our goodbyes."
"I guess we have to," Yue sighed, reluctantly getting up from the sofa.
"Cheer up, love," Katara smiled, trying to put on a brave face, even if Yue could see that Katara was miserable because of Azula's imminent departure, and Suki also wasn't her usual fount of cheerful determination. "We're going to stay in touch with her. We'll bombard her with texts so hard that she'll end up blocking us all."
"That sounds counterproductive to staying in touch," Sokka snorted, rolling his eyes.
"But very on brand for us as obsessed Azula Nakamura fangirls," Katara argued.
"You'll be over this whole fangirling in a couple of weeks," Jet laughed. "I know that for certain. That's why I'm not at all annoyed by your obsessing." Yue refrained from saying anything to that because she was quite certain that she wasn't going to forget Azula in a hurry, and also, she suspected that Jet was way more annoyed than he let on.
Ozai had initially intended to shoot the parting scenes outside of the renovated restaurant, but with the weather being unusually lousy, wind and rain pelting the windows, everyone ended up moving into the new and beautifully decorated dining room. Despite her downcast mood, Yue had to giggle every time she saw the 'for display purposes only' label that Ozai had placed on the lobster tank while giving them a long and tedious lecture about deceptive practices. At least Clawdius would now be able to enjoy his tank without constantly getting removed from it just to make the customers believe that he was about to get tossed into a pot of boiling water for their enjoyment.
Ozai then gave a short motivational speech while mostly facing the cameras, something that was supposed to inspire them to reach for greatness with all the valuable tools he had given them. Yue didn't really listen to the pep talk. She had seen enough episodes of the Kitchen Nightmares to have heard it all before. Instead, she kept shooting wistful glances at Azula again and again. Azula looked beautiful as always, wearing a black trench coat. She appeared to have gone unusually light on the makeup, which made her look a little different, but certainly no less beautiful. Given how sad Azula looked, Yue wondered whether that was a strategic decision in case she ended up crying.
Following his speech, Ozai proceeded to say farewells to the staff, shaking the hands of all the guys and smooching the cheeks of all the girls that he generously considered not to be 'uggos', or at least that was the prevailing explanation for his sexist ways. Given his rude dismissal of Toph for the sexy bikini car wash, Yue was ready to throw hands if Ozai ended up insulting her friend again, but apparently when it came to kissing, Toph ended up passing the muster of Ozai's standards. Just like Yue, Katara and Suki, Toph didn't look particularly happy about getting cheek kisses from Ozai Nakamura, though. Ozai then left the restaurant together with the camera crew, leaving Azula to say her farewells in private.
Azula began by shaking hands with Jet. There were no words exchanged between the two of them, but Yue could still see that Azula's entire posture radiated tension, and perhaps even some slight hostility. Yue wasn't sure what to make of that reaction. Certainly, Jet's behavior as of late had been rather frustrating, what with all the schemes he had pitched to Ozai Nakamura. Still, Yue felt like Katara had already adequately punished her boyfriend by needling him with her fangirling over Azula. There didn't seem to be any reason for Azula to feel so antagonistic towards a guy she was unlikely to meet again.
Azula then exchanged perfectly polite farewells with Toph and Aang. "I hope that Katara and Sokka will find ways for you to contribute without asking you to microwave most of their food," Azula told Toph before turning to Aang. "Keep it up with the vegetarian lifestyle, Air Nation, and best of luck if you decide to go full vegan."
"Thanks," Aang grinned broadly. "I'm going to give it my best shot!" Azula smiled briefly before moving on to Sokka.
"I really hope you'll stick with the new menu," Azula said, shaking Sokka's hand. "Don't get discouraged if you fail to master it right away. And if it's still not working out after a couple of weeks, don't turn to blaming the new menu for that. Maybe consider some other changes around the kitchen."
"I'll think about that," Sokka replied. He wasn't looking very happy at that comment, though. At first, Yue wasn't too sure what Azula had alluded to with her words, but then she realized that perhaps it had been a veiled suggestion that Suki deserved to be given a go as the head chef. It didn't surprise Yue that Sokka wasn't taking that suggestion well. "Anyway, thank you for everything you've done for us, Azula," Sokka then said, managing a genuine smile.
"Just make good use of my advice and I'll be happy," Azula said, moving on to Suki. The pair shook hands, even if Suki looked very tempted to just give Azula a massive hug. "You really impressed me this past week, you know. One day, I'll have a fine dining restaurant myself, or even a chain like my father. If these louts don't appreciate your talents, just drop me a line and I'll find you a job at one of my kitchens."
"That sounds great," Suki laughed, smiling gratefully. "Did you hear that, Sokka? You better appreciate me right, or else Azula is going to poach me."
"Yeah, yeah," Sokka grumbled, bumping his shoulder against Suki's. "Point taken, although I'm surprised you don't feel appreciated after last night-"
"Shut up!" Suki exclaimed, red-faced. "That's not for the others to know!" she added to the laughter of their friends.
"Yes, please, spare us the details," Azula sighed, moving on to Katara and taking her hand. Katara also appeared to be struggling against the instinct to give Azula a mighty hug, but Yue figured that Katara probably didn't want to make Jet even more jealous than he already was. "I really enjoyed working with you. It's not often I get to work with an owner who doesn't fight me at every turn," Azula said. "Your strength is working the front of the house, and I hope you'll put it to good use. Also," Azula leaned in closer to speak quietly, but Yue was near enough to be able to overhear. "Please, talk to Jet about ordering food from national wholesalers. Every restaurant does so for a reason."
"Thank you, Azula. I'll remember everything you said," Katara promised solemnly. It looked like Katara had plenty more that she wanted to say to Azula, but a lump in her throat made it hard for her to speak. "I'll never forget y-… what you did for us," she eventually managed before resolutely turning away. Yue didn't need to see her friend's face to imagine tears running down Katara's cheeks.
"You're a really good waitress, Yue," Azula said, after she had very reluctantly walked away from Katara. "You're so good with people. All you need is a bit more confidence to handle the occasional jerk and you're going to rule the front of the house. I know you can do it."
"Thanks," Yue smiled, starting to tear up. "I'm going to miss you so much," she exclaimed, feeling no hesitation as she threw her arms around a slightly surprised Azula and pulling her in for a hug. "Let's stay in touch, please?" Yue whispered into Azula's ear.
"Yes, we… we can do that," Azula managed. She had been hesitant to hug Yue back, but now Yue felt Azula's hands gingerly settling on her back as the Fire Nation girl buried her face in Yue's shoulder. "I should have-" Azula began to say quietly, only to be interrupted by a very impatient sounding car horn. Yue could feel a panicked jolt coursing through Azula as she immediately broke off the embrace, looking a little terrified as she muttered a quiet apology before dashing outside.
Yue and her friend all rushed after Azula, waving her final farewells as she got into her father's car, but not before facing them one last time and waving briefly. Then she climbed into the car and Ozai immediately started the engine to take them both away, pulling out of the car park.
"Well, I guess that's that," Sokka spoke up, looking relieved and relaxed for the first time in days. "See, I was right in thinking that Ozai Nakamura would prove to be the bigger man who holds no grudges. All this time I was panicking for no reason, worried that he might want to exact revenge on me for the burning accident."
As Sokka was talking, however, instead of driving off, Ozai suddenly and unexpectedly put the car in reverse before driving straight over Sokka's unfortunate left foot. Sokka howled in pain as Ozai opened the car window to lean out and give him the middle finger. "And that's for burning my hand, you asshole!" Ozai shouted before driving off, this time for real.
"Well, I have no idea what just happened," Toph spoke in a deadpan voice. "But judging by Sokka's screaming, I'm going to guess that Ozai Nakamura holds grudges after all."