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.)

49. Blue Lights? Or Northern Spirit?

Chapter 49 – Blue Lights? Or Northern Spirit?

"I wanted to start by thanking you all for inviting me. I know that it has always been very important for your three to catch up like this, so I'll try my best not to act like an intruder," Katara said, raising her glass of wine to salute Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. It was a lazy Monday afternoon of late October, but with the Fire Nation weather, it still felt like the height of Water Tribes summer, something that never ceased to amaze Katara. Even though Azula had been determined to hold the gathering at one of the countless outdoor cafes in downtown Caldera, Ty Lee and Katara had overpowered her by insisting on a picnic in the local park next to The Northern Lights restaurant. So, here they were, settled in comfortably on woolen blankets, drinking wine from plastic cups and sharing several paper bags full of snacks made by their new pastry chef Mingxia.

"It's not that big of a deal, seriously," Mai replied, as always trying to downplay everything. "It's not like we spend hours reminiscing about our shared childhood or anything like that. We don't exactly have a lot of in-jokes that will make you feel left out."

"I disagree," Ty Lee opposed Mai. "About it not being a big deal, anyway. I think being invited to join us should be considered a huge honor." She then grinned broadly at Katara. "But then again, you're like an honorary dangerous lady already, so you'll fit right in."

"Thanks," Katara smiled back at Ty Lee. "I agree, I'm treating this like a big deal that it clearly is."

"There's just one thing you might want to be careful with, Katara," Azula grinned. "Ty Lee has always had a tendency to overshare the details of her love life. This might be a problem for you considering that she's dating your brother."

"Aww, you mean I shouldn't brag about all the new and exciting things Sokka and I have been trying out lately?" Ty Lee pouted.

"Please, don't," Katara groaned. "I might be forced to drink bleach in order to erase those mental images."

"Oh well," Ty Lee shrugged. "I know this information is not very useful to you and Azula, so I'll just tell Mai everything in great detail later."

"That's a wonderful idea, Ty Lee," Mai groaned. "You're so helpful."

"Azula, was this an issue when Mai and Zuko were dating?" Katara asked, giving her girlfriend a curious stare. "Were you also getting hammered with too much information?"

"Not really," Azula shrugged. "I mean, we're talking Mai here. Can you imagine Mai oversharing?"

"Fair point," Katara admitted. "Anyway, speaking of Zuko," she continued, turning to Mai with scrutinizing stare. "He's been back for a while now. Has there been any progress?"

Mai let out a pained sigh. "Of course, between you and Ty Lee now it will be much more difficult to escape prodding into my private life," she groaned. "Sometimes I wish you were all like Azula and just wouldn't care."

"Well… I'm actually quite curious as well," Azula admitted, blushing lightly.

"Et tu, Brute!" Mai gasped dramatically, clutching at her chest. "But if you really must know, Zuko has been badgering me a lot, but it has been mostly to persuade me to reopen the restaurant. We aren't back together and dating. Zuko hasn't even tried to ask me out. I think he was discouraged after I sent him to a hotel when he showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night, straight from the airport and with all of his luggage. Seriously, who does something like that?"

Azula immediately burst into unnaturally loud and fake sounding laughter. "Yes, indeed, who does that? Zuko is such a loser," she said while casting a very nervous look at Katara. Katara reached out to gently pat Azula's hand, smiling at her sometimes rather silly girlfriend.

"Zuko's not so bad," Ty Lee shrugged, looking at Mai. "And this is an opportunity to get him back, if that's what you want? I follow Jet on Twitter and he's still stuck in the Earth Kingdom. His Cybertruck broke down yet again outside Gaoling. Maybe you should move quickly before Jet gets back and once again starts stirring up trouble."

"Listen, I like Zuko, but I'm also a bit tired of chasing after him, or trying to get him to chase me," Mai sighed. "I think I'm actually good not going steady with him. Maybe it's for the best if we keep things professional. Although, with your father out of the picture, it might be worth giving it another try…"

"Well, sounds like you really know what you want, Mai," Azula rolled her eyes. "Anyway, as I suspected, your relationship struggles with my dumdum of a brother are utterly boring. I'm way more interested to know your thoughts on reopening The Blue Spirit with Zuko."

Mai briefly glared at Azula before replying. "In all honesty, I do miss running a restaurant with Zuko," she said eventually. "And I feel like for once he might actually be serious about doing it, instead of using the whole venture to prove something to your father. But it doesn't really matter what I think, though, because my parents won't go for it."

"Why not?" Ty Lee asked, looking disappointed.

"Is it because Zuko was disinherited by his father?" Katara wondered. "Or because Ozai is mad at both Zuko and Azula, and your parents wouldn't want to incur Ozai's wrath by helping Zuko?"

"No, you're digging too deep there, Katara," Mai snorted. "Ozai runs a global empire and my father is on the fringes of the local elite here in Caldera. The Syun family are very much below Ozai's notice. I think my parents have simply lost faith in the whole restaurant venture because Zuko always ended up running back to Ozai and the business was left abandoned. They said they would rather rent the space than let us waste everyone's precious time."

"They're not being very supportive parents," Katara frowned. Mai rolled her eyes, not saying anything.

"Hmm," Azula mused, looking like she was in the process of coming up with a scheme. "Maybe you need to approach your parents from a different angle, Mai. Perhaps you simply need a different business plan."

"I'm not interested in opening a massage parlor together with Zuko," Mai snorted. "Zuko is likely to break someone's spine while trying to give them a massage, anyway. Especially if they annoy him."

"No, I meant a different business plan for a restaurant," Azula sighed. "Maybe your parents would get back on board if your business venture had a strategic partner? A strategic partner for starting a franchise, even?"

Mai looked very thoughtful at Azula's suggestion, while Katara and Ty Lee exchanged confused stares. "That sounds like some kind of investor aimed drivel that they would go for," Mai admitted. "Anyway, it's all moot because I don't have a strategic partner."

"Well, maybe you do," Azula said, confusing Katara by giving her a predatory grin. "What do you say, Katara?"

"What do I say about… what?" Katara blinked. "I'm very confused."

"What would you say about expanding your business?" Azula said. "We already have a crew for a second restaurant hanging around The Northern Lights. We could have a downtown location as a part of our business, run by Mai and Zuko."

"Uh… I don't really know what to say to that. I'm not very business savvy, you know that," Katara managed, feeling rather taken aback. "But I love the idea of our friends having jobs again, I would support it just for that." Katara then thought of something, snapping her fingers as she grinned at Azula. "Also, this solution would nip any chance of competition from Zuko in the bud, wouldn't it?"

Azula blushed lightly. "Damn, you saw right through me there," she confessed. "It's true, Zuko might say that we have no reasons to compete against each other now, but… I would actually feel a lot better if I didn't have to worry about it still happening. This would prevent it, indeed."

"I think it's actually more likely that you would start some ridiculous competition with Zuko," Mai rolled her eyes at Azula. "And I like the solution for that reason alone." Mai fell silent, thinking some more about Azula's proposition. "I think my parents might go for it, if we present the pitch well. The Northern Lights is an emerging name on the Caldera culinary scene and people are talking about it more and more. My parents would probably consider this partnership a very smart investment on their part."

"Perfect," Azula grinned. "I'll start working on my draft for a comprehensive business plan. It'll take me… probably a week if Katara agrees that it's okay for me to only get three hours of sleep every night."

"Katara will not agree with this plan," Katara shook her head sternly. "I will continue to make sure that you get at least six hours of healthy sleep."

"Well, in that case, it will take me two weeks to come up with my business plan," Azula said. "Of course, if Mai and Sokka agree to help, we might be done sooner."

"Oh, I'll help and so will Sokka," Mai said with confidence that slightly worried Katara. Then again, it was probably fair to expect Sokka's help after Mai had been pitching in so much at The Northern Lights.

"Sounds like we'll have our jobs back soon," Ty Lee cheered. "Then again, with the school and the OnlyFans channel, I already have so much on my plate. But I'd still go back to being a waitress, I loved our crazy little team at The Blue Spirit."

"How is the school?" Katara asked. Ty Lee had recently started animal science courses at the Caldera City community college, and she was having a blast being back at college.

"Is your OnlyFans thriving?" Azula asked at the same time.

"Interesting priorities," Mai laughed, making Azula blush again. "Obviously, I'm not judging. We're all curious about Ty Lee and Jin's OnlyFans channel."

"You're not a subscriber?" Katara asked. Mai blushed and shook her head, clearly lying. "Oh, I haven't subscribed either," Katara lied. "Azula has, though."

"Only so that I could support my friends with donations, I haven't actually watched any videos," Azula lied hastily.

"I'm clearly dealing with three lying bitches, here," Ty Lee giggled, easily seeing through their pathetic lies. "Anyway, I haven't been talking about the OnlyFans stuff because I know you guys have watched every video. The only thing you might not realize is that we're raking in cash even if we haven't done any below the waist stuff."

"That's good, I suppose," Katara said, trying to sound supportive despite privately having some mild concerns. "I'm just surprised that Sokka is so on board with it all."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Ty Lee giggled. "He gets to script and shoot all of our videos. We're turning him into a softcore porn director and he's loving it. Especially when Jin and I team up to give him a blowjob or more after every shoot." Ty Lee then caught herself, blushing lightly. "Wait, was that too much information for you, Katara?"

"No, I just love to randomly spray wine through my nose, Ty Lee," Katara glared once she had finished coughing. "How about we talk less about your OnlyFans ventures and more about your animal sciences classes? I'm curious about the college, and also, it sounds like a safer topic of conversation."

"No topics are safe with Ty Lee," Azula chuckled.

"Oh, shush," Ty Lee stuck her tongue out at Azula. "Anyway, school has been going great!" she exclaimed happily. "The professors and the other students all love me."

"Was that before or after you told them about your OnlyFans channel?" Mai wondered.

"Uh, there was no before, I literally introduced myself to the class as a waitress and OnlyFans model," Ty Lee replied.

"Of course, you did," Mai grinned.

"Anyway," Ty Lee plowed on, ignoring Mai. "It's been a lot of fun. I'm really good with all the practical courses because I get along so well with animals." The community college had ongoing partnerships not only with the local zoo and national park, but also with several local farms that were committed to the standards of ethical animal husbandry.

"They probably sense a similar level of intelligence, that's why you have such an easy time bonding with animals," Azula remarked innocently.

"Exactly!" Ty Lee happily agreed, failing to take the comment as an insult. Katara was less forgiving, painfully pinching Azula's arm and making her girlfriend wince in pain. "I'm not so good with the theory stuff, though," she admitted. "But I'm not awful at it, either. All those audiobooks Sokka got for me are doing the trick. Last week we had an important quiz and I nailed all the questions except for one. But the mistake I made was such a funny one that the professor still gave me an A because I made him laugh."

"What was the mistake?" Azula asked eagerly.

"Well, we were supposed to write down an example of a symbiotic relationship," Ty Lee explained. "And the example I gave was the relationship between a pirate and his parrot."

Katara, Mai and Azula all exploded into laughter. "That's brilliant, Ty Lee," Katara gasped. "I would have accepted that answer."

"Honestly, I would as well," Mai nodded once she had recovered from the bout of amusement. "It's a very inspired answer."

"Well, I just thought it made sense. A pirate without his parrot is about as useful as a beached whale," Ty Lee shrugged as she leaned back on her blanket with arms behind her head, squinting as she stared at the bright blue sky above. "Ah, future just looks so busy and exciting right now. But I would still find the time to pull my weight at the restaurant, if you guys managed to reopen it. I really hope that The Blue Spirit can make a comeback."

"I think there's a very good chance that my parents will go for Azula's plan," Mai said confidently, looking hopeful.

"I'll make the plan extremely convincing so that they'll have no reasons to say no," Azula nodded. "But we might have to compromise on the name. Your parents probably associate The Blue Spirit with another failed business, so let's come up with something else instead."

"Well, in the end, the name doesn't really matter," Katara spoke contently as she settled in comfortably with her head in Azula's lap. "I think the most important part of your plan, Azula, is that it would put us all on the same team, and honestly, at this point, I can't think of a better outcome than that…"

---

"Well, isn't this the saddest sight you have ever seen, Longshot?" Jet cringed at the accusatory tone in Bee's voice, trying to bury his head even deeper under the pillow he was hiding under.

"It is a very pitiful sight," Longshot replied using Speechify. He was using one of the many fan-made mods that added popular character voices to the text to speech software, and of course, he had chosen the voice of Darth Vader to berate Jet. "The sight of a pathetic and broken man."

"Rub it in, why don't you?" Jet groaned, with his head still under the pillow. He had only made it back to Caldera City late the previous evening, because the Cybertruck had proved to be a completely unreliable piece of trash. Still, the car's appearance alone seemed to trigger a lot of people, and that made Jet laugh, so just like Leon Skum, Jet was determined to remain oblivious about the car's countless technical shortcomings.

"So, were you planning to reach out at any point?" Bee asked, her voice carrying both resentment and annoyance. "We actually had to reach out to your former colleagues at The Blue Spirit to find out what you've been up to."

"He was probably too ashamed to reach out, because then the whole embarrassing story would come out," Longshot added a while later. Even with his furious typing skills, he was still always a step behind in every conversation.

"Ugh," Jet scowled, reluctant to admit the truth in Longshot's accusing words. "Well, I guess you're half-right about that, Longshot," Jet confessed eventually.

"What do you mean, half-right?" Bee frowned.

"Well, the whole plan with Zuko and Ozai Nakamura's money kind of blew up in my face, didn't it?" Jet sighed. "Of course, I didn't want to talk about it. But it was more than just about my failed plan. I know I've been really sidelining you guys ever since I became obsessed with my get rich scheme. I didn't even tell you that I was going away to Ba Sing Se. I just flat out forgot and that's not cool."

"Very much not cool," Bee nodded in frank agreement.

"You should feel ashamed about the way you have been treating us," Darth Vader, also known as Longshot, lectured sternly. "Abandoning your friends is the first step towards the dark side."

"How long has he been going on like that?" Jet rolled his eyes, looking at Bee.

"Too long," Bee sighed. "He's not wrong, though. You've been a shitty friend, Jet. We used to rely on you, you know? But can we still rely on you after you ditched us like that?"

"I want to say yes, but my word probably doesn't count for much right now," Jet sighed. "I don't suppose a sincere apology would help?"

"It wouldn't fix everything, but it also wouldn't hurt," Bee shrugged. "Ever since you got together with Zuko, you haven't really had any time for us. We just want to know if you still want to hang out and be friends."

"Of course… I can't believe I've been ignoring you for so long, guys. I've been taking you for granted, and I'm such a tool for that," Jet groaned. "We definitely should hang out more, starting now. Let's do something together."

"Sounds good," Bee smiled for the first time. She then looked at Longshot who was typing furiously. "Just please, don't say 'let's go to the Jedi temple and slaughter some younglings together'." Longshot stopped typing and glared at Bee before deleting everything he had already written.

"While slaughtering younglings would be fun, I was going to suggest that we go for a ride in my new Cybertruck," Jet suggested. "I bet you're curious about that impressive piece of hi-tech."

"Well, I can't deny being curious," Bee admitted. "Even if I want to preface it by once more denouncing Leon Skum and everything he stands for."

"Of course, I'm not a fan either," Jet nodded. "But I think I'm morally in the clear because I used one billionaire's dirty money to pay another corrupt billionaire, so it's a wash." Bee shrugged at that, but did not appear overly disapproving. "What about you, Longshot, are you in?" Jet asked.

"I will go on this Cybertruck ride, but only if we can throw spoiled food at poor people," Darth Vader's voice replied.

"Hey, that's too mean," Bee protested. "We were dirt poor not so long ago. Are you sure Vader isn't taking over your entire personality? You really need to stop using that voice."

"It's a little concerning, but Longshot has given me a brilliant idea," Jet chuckled. "During my road trip across the Earth Kingdom, I noticed a lot of people having strong reactions to me driving by in my Cybertruck."

"They were probably politically left leaning," Bee snorted.

"Exactly," Jet nodded. "That's why I figured we should go for a drive around the Caldera University campus. It would probably trigger a lot of student activists. Maybe we could even get a bunch of young communists to chase us."

"Well, don't forget that I've been recently canvassing for the communist party," Bee said. "Still, it's always fun to poke at those student activists. Especially the leftists are so thin-skinned! They'll be sure to form a mob and chase us around the campus."

"And then maybe some Skum-simping right wingers will show up to protect us," Jet laughed. "With any luck, we might get a campus brawl going. Ah, there's potential for so much chaos!"

"And chaos leads to the dark side," Longshot nodded.

"That's it with the Star Wars references," Bee growled. "Jet, tell Longshot he can't join us in the Cybertruck if he keeps using the Vader voice."

"She has a point, buddy," Jet winked at Longshot.

Longshot fiddled with the Speechify settings for a while before typing something. "Is this b-b-better?" he asked, using the stuttering and incredibly annoying voice of Leon Skum.

Jet and Bee exchanged frustrated stares. "Well," Jet eventually sighed. "I guess it is a fitting voice to use when you're going for a drive in an overpriced piece of shit Cybertruck."

---

Azula paced back and forth the garden path, unable to hide her burgeoning frustration. After she had put together her ingenious business plan to unite the restaurants and start a culinary franchise, Azula had expected that she would be the one presenting it to Ukano and Michi. Instead, after arriving at the Syun residence, only Katara and Sokka had been asked to join the meeting with Mai's parents, while Azula had been shown towards the estate gardens and told to wait. The whole experience was made way more frustrating by the fact that Zuko had somehow inserted himself into the equation, and she was now stuck waiting for the outcome of the talks together with her brother.

"Can you maybe stop with the pacing?" Zuko reminded Azula about his presence, speaking up at his sister. He was sitting by the duck pond, feeding the most notorious sex offenders of the avian world. "You're scaring the ducks."

"I don't give a rat's ass about the ducks!" Azula growled. Some of the ducks dove under water to cover in horror following Azula's outburst.

"Whoa, calm down there," Zuko said, getting up to his feet. "Are you really in such a tizzy over not being invited into the meeting?"

"What? No, it's not about that at all," Azula lied unconvincingly. "It makes sense that Ukano and Michi wanted to speak directly with Sokka and Katara, it's a meeting of owners."

"Well, if it makes so much sense, what exactly are you nervous about?" Zuko demanded.

"I'm not nervous!" Azula insisted. All the ducks quacked in unison, as if calling out Azula's lie. "Okay, I'm a little concerned because… well, Katara and Sokka are very different people from Michi and Ukano. I'm worried they might not get on. Especially if Ukano starts mouthing off and spouts rhetoric similar to our father. And Katara doesn't always know when to stay silent. I can see her throwing something heavy at Ukano and ruining the deal."

"It seems like you don't have a lot of trust in your girlfriend," Zuko snorted.

"I have a lot of trust in my girlfriend's inflexible moral compass and the strength of her convictions," Azula snapped back at her brother. "Unfortunately, those are not the qualities that are always beneficial in the world of business."

"I still think you're worried over nothing," Zuko shrugged. "From what Mai has told me, her parents are very eager to sign the proposal."

"Yes, that might be our saving grace," Azula nodded. "That, and my extremely convincing presentation of our business plan."

"Of course," Zuko rolled his eyes. "I couldn't help but notice that your plan also involved setting yourself up as the overall CEO of the franchise. But I'm sure it was a completely logical decision, not affected by any bias."

"It was the only rational decision, doofus," Azula sighed. "Do you know anyone more suited for the role of CEO? And please, don't put forward your own name. That's how I will know you're not serious."

Zuko's response was a shrug. "Well, I don't know everyone on The Northern Lights staff all that well, at least not yet," he said. "Anyway, I was just mostly poking at you. I know you have good head for all that executive shit."

"Why thank you, that almost sounded like a compliment," Azula grinned. "Of course, you realize that it will make me your boss, right? So, you better play nice, or I just might turn into a bloodsucking micromanager bent on ruining your life."

"Ugh, that sounds like a complete nightmare," Zuko frowned. "I don't think I want to deal with that. I quit!"

"What do you mean, you quit?" Azula laughed. "There's nothing to quit! You haven't even been hired yet, because as of yet there's not even an opening to hire you for!"

"Well, you just alerted me to the very real possibility that you're going to be an abusive asshole of a boss, so I don't think I'll bother applying," Zuko pouted.

"Agni, dramatic much?" Azula groaned. "Ask around The Northern Lights about my style of leadership and you won't hear any complaints. We've both been involved in the Kitchen Nightmares for many years, we both know how not to run a restaurant, you know this."

"Alright, that actually makes sense," Zuko agreed, having thought for a while. "And no old grudges and vendettas over what happened in the past?" he gave Azula a scrutinizing stare.

"Now that we have both left our father in the past, I think it makes sense to bury everything else together with Ozai, wouldn't you agree?" Azula asked.

"Absolutely," Zuko said, offering his hand to Azula. "Promise to treat me like an equal?"

"Promise, even if you're not my equal," Azula quipped, shaking her brother's hand. Zuko rolled his eyes, but instead of arguing, merely laughed off her comment.

"I should have known that just because we are no longer competing for our father's approval, it's not going to make you any less annoying to deal with," Zuko snorted.

"Likewise, Zuzu," Azula retorted, resuming her pacing.

"It still doesn't make sense for you to be so anxious," Zuko shrugged. "After all, Mai is there to smooth over any differences that might arise between her parents and your friends."

"You're placing a lot of confidence in Mai all of a sudden," Azula narrowed her eyes at Zuko.

"Why shouldn't I?" Zuko shrugged. "Mai knows what she's doing. She'll make sure the deal gets done."

"Uh-huh," Azula frowned. "I don't remember you ever being so complimentary towards Mai. You've always just taken her for granted. I guess you really want another chance, hmm?"

"Has she said anything about that?" Zuko asked, suddenly the one to look more anxious.

"Obviously, if she had spoken about that with me, it would have been done in full confidence that none of it reaches your ears," Azula rolled her eyes. "Anyway, are you really sure about this… fifth or sixth attempt? I've lost the count a long time ago. What's going to be different this time around?"

"Well, for one, Ozai's shadow won't be hanging over everything I do," Zuko replied. "I think we deserve another chance to see if it can work without my father's poisonous influence ruining everything it spreads to."

"I guess that's a fair argument," Azula admitted with a shrug. "Have you put it like that to Mai?"

"I haven't," Zuko sighed. "I plan to, though. But that's for later, because here they come," Zuko said, pointing at Mai, Katara and Sokka walking towards them. "It looks like they have good news," Zuko added unnecessarily, because Azula could see the smiling faces of Sokka and Katara well enough for herself. Mai's expression didn't give away as much, but even with her, Azula could sense satisfaction radiating from her childhood friend.

"We have a deal!" Katara announced with a delighted look on her face.

"I knew you could do it," Azula smiled before leaning in to kiss her girlfriend's cheek. "Was it difficult to convince Michi and Ukano?"

"Not at all," Sokka said. "We could tell that they really wanted to make a deal. If they are slightly racist and think less of the Water Tribes, they certainly didn't let it show. They were actually buttering us up."

"I know it's dangerous to say anything that could further inflate Azula's enormous ego, but that business plan was close to being perfect and didn't really leave anything for my parents to protest about," Mai added.

"They only had one stipulation," Katara said. "They actually didn't want to abandon the established name of The Blue Spirit. The restaurant has earned a lot of recognition and plenty of good reviews, so I guess it's an understandable request. At the same time, we hadn't planned to rename our restaurant, so we had to come up with a compromise."

"What sort of compromise?" Azula asked nervously. "I hope you understand that we can't have a franchise if every restaurant is named differently."

"Of course, that's why I proposed that we combine the names of the restaurants," Mai said. "This way both establishments can maintain a sense of continuity."

"Hmm, I suppose that could work," Azula admitted.

"Yes, I like that idea," Zuko nodded, smiling at Mai. "Good thinking, Mai." Mai raised a curious eyebrow at Zuko, almost looking surprised.

"Anyway, if Zuko is done with his simping, we should probably return to The Northern Lights and start planning," Azula said, ignoring the way Zuko was glaring at her. "There's still so much to do before we can actually open the other restaurant."

"At least we won't have to make many changes at The Northern Lights," Sokka sighed in relief. "Just the sign outside, and everything else that bears the restaurant's name, like the menus and stuff. And everything on the website… ugh, actually, come to think of it, there is a lot to do. But at least it will be mostly on Azula!"

"Yes, thank you for that," Azula groaned, punching Sokka's shoulder. Even if she hadn't held back, Sokka didn't even wince and instead responded with a good-natured chuckle.

"I think dad will be fine with this slight change to the restaurant's name, especially when I explain the reasons for it," Katara mused. "Oh, and we are definitely keeping the seal of approval this time. We are not getting rid of our happy seal."

"Certainly not," Azula nodded. "We should definitely make the seal our franchise mascot, because everyone loves it."

"Oh, can we hire a guy in a seal suit to stand outside the restaurant and hand out flyers?" Sokka wondered. "That sounds amazing."

"If Jet ever crawls back looking for a job, that's the one he can have," Mai snorted. "He can make up for his asshole behavior by being our seal mascot."

Azula and Katara exchanged amused stares. "That would definitely be very fitting," Katara nodded in agreement. "But let's do as Azula says and head back to the restaurant. Ty Lee and the rest of our new friends will want to hear the good news that they will soon have their jobs back."

---

The news of the restaurant reunion and the birth of a franchise tossed the recently expanded group of friends into a flurry of chaotic activity. As the designated CEO, Azula truly enjoyed this opportunity to strategize and come up with all sorts of plans for their new business. The only thing that frustrated Azula slightly was that everyone else also had their own ideas regarding the direction of the new franchise, so the past few days had been a big struggle to keep this extremely chaotic group of individuals on the same wavelength. Still, despite these difficulties, three days after receiving approval from Mai's parents, Azula felt like she had finally managed to nail down most of the important details.

Azula had expected Zuko to put up a big stink about the menu, but fortunately, her brother understood that being a part of a franchise meant that the core of the menu had to be the same for both restaurants. On her part, Azula had allowed Zuko the freedom to come up with his own specials as he pleased, and Zuko appeared satisfied with this compromise. As expected, On Ji had immediately accepted the position of Zuko's sous-chef, and the two of them had spent the past few days with Suki and the other cooks at The Northern Lights, learning the menu and making sure that all the dishes would be executed similarly at both restaurants.

Ty Lee and Jin had also come onboard almost instantly, despite their rapidly growing OnlyFans fame. Azula had given Ty Lee the position of dining room manager, similar to Katara, meaning that she had some increased responsibilities and could theoretically boss Jin around, not that Ty Lee was going to do that considering how well the pair seemed to be getting on, especially in their OnlyFans videos. In public, Azula maintained her denial of having ever watched one of those cursed videos. In private, Azula and Katara had only just discovered how watching Ty Lee and Jin's OnlyFans videos together led to particularly steamy bedroom encounters.

After her hiring, Ty Lee had hinted that perhaps she should be assigned to The Northern Lights to work together with Sokka, and someone else should be sent to work at the downtown restaurant, but Katara and Yue had both shut down this idea quickly. In the end, Ty Lee didn't raise any further fuss about it, since she got to work with Mai and Jin, which was a perfectly fair compensation.

With Mai's parents owning a critical stake in the business, it certainly made sense to appoint Mai as general manager of the downtown restaurant, a similar role to the one she had occupied before. The only thing that slightly bothered Azula about Mai's appointment was that at The Northern Lights, Sokka filled this role while also doubling as a handyman who fixed everything around the place and also carried out all the maintenance work. But just because Sokka was a consummate workaholic, it didn't mean that Mai shared the same approach, so Azula's suggestions that Mai pitch in with other tasks around the restaurant kept hitting a dead end, and soon enough, Azula realized that she had no choice but to back off.

Obviously, Azula was never going to give Ruon-Jian back his nebulous old job at The Blue Spirit. Ruon's old job mostly seemed to involve lusting after Mai and occasionally being rewarded with pity sex to make Zuko jealous. Still, Sokka had discovered that Ruon-Jian actually possessed some aptitude at maintenance work, with Sokka claiming that Ruon was slightly more competent and less lazy than Jet. It was a good enough endorsement for Azula to reward Ruon-Jian with the role of a handyman at the downtown restaurant. This pretty much ensured that The Blue Spirit crew remained together, with their roles slightly reshaped. With only a few minor details remaining unaddressed, they appeared to be on track towards launching the new franchise next week.

"Azula?" Sokka's voice interrupted Azula's train of thoughts. She put her tablet down to frown at Sokka. "Ty Lee is almost ready with her presentation. Just giving you the heads up because you seemed miles away," Sokka told her.

"Oh right, the presentation," Azula nodded. With so much still to plan and account for, Azula had almost forgotten the reason why the big group of friends had gathered in the upstairs apartment above The Northern Lights. Katara had wanted for the franchise to keep using the waitress uniforms already in use at The Northern Lights, but Ty Lee had protested against this suggestion, claiming that these unforms were too old fashioned, stuffy and stuck in the 60's. Ty Lee had been determined to come up with a better uniform design for the new franchise, and she had managed to talk Azula into letting her create an alternative option. Deep inside, Azula suspected that regardless of what Ty Lee came up with, it was likely something that Katara and Yue would refuse to wear. Azula knew that she would probably have to disappoint Ty Lee, but at least she could give her friend the chance to make her presentation.

"What were you thinking about so intensely?" Yue asked. She had brought Kya and the kittens along with her and Suki. While all the cats received plenty of love, it appeared that the trio had all developed their own personal favorites. Chrissy was currently kneading Suki's sweater, making herself a cozy nest on Suki's stomach to settle in. Rose was already fast asleep on Yue's chest, rendering Yue immobile. Kya was losing it nearby as she watched Lily chase her own tail again and again, making herself dizzy in the process.

"I was just looking up some cheap drones," Azula replied. "There's no room for pastry station at the downtown place, but obviously, we have to be able to offer our customers the same desserts at both locations. Hence, drones flying Mingxia's desserts from this restaurant to downtown."

"I'm going to have drones?!" Mingxia gasped with her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Maybe… if I can find ones that can actually handle the job," Azula shrugged. "I'll think of something else if the drones are a no-go. Maybe once we have hired our seal mascot, we can stick the seal on a silly little moped and have him deliver desserts."

"Honestly, that sounds more realistic than drones," Katara shrugged. "Anyway, I think Ty Lee is ready to dazzle us," she added with a skeptical note to her voice as Sokka quickly dimmed the lights and launched an upbeat high-tempo song.

Azula had to do a double take when Ty Lee finally emerged from her and Sokka's bedroom, wearing an outfit that would make even a Hooters waitress feel too exposed. What little clothing Ty Lee wore was of hideous neon blue color, generously infused with bright and shiny glitter. Above her head, Ty Lee was holding a banner that said 'The Blue Lights'.

"Wait… wait a moment," Azula shouted, getting up to her feet. "I feel like there's been a miscommunication. When I said that we were combining the names of the restaurants, I meant that the franchise would be called The Northern Spirit, not The Blue Lights!"

The upbeat song came to a screeching halt as Ty Lee gave Azula a confused, owlish stare. The music then began to play backwards and Ty Lee lowered the banner as she comically backpedaled to disappear into the bedroom.

"Well, how… how about that, huh?" Sokka managed, scratching the back of his head. "Come to think of it, The Northern Spirit actually makes way more sense than The Blue Lights."

"The Blue Lights sounds more like a brothel than a restaurant," Zuko laughed. He was sitting between Mai and On Ji on one of the sofas. "I guess that would explain the design of Ty Lee's outfit."

"Why did you assume that we were going to name it The Blue Lights, Sokka?" Katara sighed. "Did you really think that I could get that name past dad? He'd never approve of something that sounds like a brothel. He was already a bit miffed about The Northern Spirit."

"I… have no idea how that happened," Sokka shrugged helplessly. "Ty Lee was bouncing her outfit ideas off me earlier, and she must have dropped the name at some point. I guess I simply assumed she knew that it was The Blue Lights."

"Let's not blame Ty Lee for this misunderstanding, though," Azula spoke up. "I probably should have been clearer about the new name. It just became lost among all the other stuff I had to take care of."

"I actually prefer The Blue Lights as a name," Jin piped up unsurprisingly as Ty Lee emerged from the bedroom dressed in her regular clothes, looking a little embarrassed.

"Sorry about that, everyone," she said with a slightly guilty look on her face. "I dropped the ball there. Still, I wish we could do something with the uniforms, Katara," Ty Lee sighed. "Are you sure I can't persuade you to make the skirts a couple of inches shorter and switch to a spaghetti strap top with a juicy cleavage?"

"I'm sorry, but that would not represent the values of our new franchise," Katara repeated stubbornly.

"Maybe you two can come to some sort of compromise?" Azula suggested hopefully.

"Wait, you want me to be shamelessly ogled by our customers?" Katara frowned at her girlfriend.

"I don't really think of it that way," Azula shrugged. "But I do enjoy the idea of them looking at my girlfriend and dying of jealous envy at something they can't have."

"Of course, Azula would see it that way," Mai snorted with amusement.

"Hmm… I hadn't considered that," Katara said, suddenly looking a lot more amenable to the idea. "Yes, perhaps we can compromise, Ty Lee. I'll give you an inch on the skirt length. No spaghetti strap top, though, that sounds rather impractical."

"I don't mind our outfits being a little spicier," Yue shrugged. "How about a top with a tasteful V neck? I feel like I could really rock that."

"Hmm… okay, that sounds acceptable," Katara nodded. "I think we can roll with these changes." Ty Lee and Jin hi-fived and cheered loudly.

"I approve of these changes," Suki also nodded. "Especially if Yue can bring the uniform home for the occasional role-play." Azula added a mental note to insist that Katara did the same now and then.

"Careful with what you're saying, Suki," Yue spoke meaningfully, nodding towards Kya. Fortunately, Kya was too preoccupied with Lily's antics to pay any attention to the grownups.

"Anyway, I think the matter of the uniforms was the final item on our agenda, wasn't it, Azula?" Katara asked. "I'm so happy about how everything has come together and we've been able to find jobs for all of our friends, old and new-"

"Ahem, sorry to interrupt, Katara, but there was just one more thing," Aang piped up suddenly.

"Just one more thing? Are you channeling Columbo now?" Toph laughed, smacking Aang on the back of his head. They were sharing the loveseat with Sir Cunningham snoring at their feet, and Lily was now using the hog's back as a slide.

"Not intentionally," Aang chuckled. "I just wanted to remind you about the mascot stuff. My fur suit maker sent an update that the seal of approval suit will be ready on Tuesday."

"I really hope they're a master of their craft, because we're paying a fortune for this suit," Azula sighed. "I had no idea fur suits were this expensive."

"They really are," Aang nodded. "I was only able to afford my parrot suit by selling a kidney on the black market." Aang was suddenly faced with a lot of shocked stares. "Uh… I'm only kidding… probably," Aang tried to rally, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Anyway, moving on," Azula said hastily. "We still need a warm body to put in that seal suit, but as I understand, Zuko is working on that…"

Zuko burst into laughter. "I mean, have any of you seen how edgy and dramatic Jet's social media posts have become lately? He's at the end of his rope, missing us terribly," Zuko nodded knowingly. "Give it a couple more days… and The Northern Spirit will have its own seal of approval flyer distributing, desert delivering mascot."