Know When to Walk Away

Know When to Walk Away

Azula had nothing better to do, so she decided to find Zuko and ruin his day.

They had only been back from Ember Island for a week, and already the dynamic in the Royal Family was shifting. When Zuko, Azula, and her friends had left on their short vacation, Zuko had been in a summer-long bad mood. He was withdrawn when left alone, and tended towards angry outbursts in those few occasions when anyone sought to engage him. He had usually been able to summon a reasonable attitude when his girlfriend was around, but Mai was quick to learn that spending too much time with the prince was risking his irrational wrath. The situation was so delicious, Azula hadn't felt the need to meddle. On the contrary, she had even tried to keep him from making even more trouble for himself; seeing all her previous work on him go to waste would have been a great disappointment.

Since Ember Island, though, Zuko was almost acting normal. Not quite worthy of his royal lineage, yet, but at least he was fitting into life in the capital.

Hence why Azula was looking to cause some trouble. Couldn't let Zuzu get complacent, hm?

She found him with Mai, of course, in the palace's Game Room (of all places). Situated high in the Palace's tower, this room was a well-used oasis of frivolity in the residential section. Generations of royals had wasted time at the various tables for Pai Sho, cards, Go, mahjong, and dice. It was one of the few rooms in the palace to eschew dark red colors in favor of rich shades of gold. Iroh used to make frequent use of the chamber, but these days it saw more dust than activity. Still, it was nicely appointed, as befitted the Royal Family's residence. It was a far cry from places like the Ember Island Arcade.

It was right up Zuko and Mai's alley, really.

Instead of their usual cuddling and tongue-based Agni Kais, the couple was seated on opposite sides of a small table with a deck of cards between them. They were each holding a hand of cards. "Oh, please don't tell me the relationship has cooled off this much," Azula said as she walked in. "I was really rooting for you two."

Mai didn't react, of course. Zuko turned to look at her with annoyance plain on his ruined features. "You'd just love for Mai and I to break up, wouldn't you, Azula? I guess you're going to have to be disappointed today. We were planning on making out right after this lesson!"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Too much information, Zuzu. And coming from me, that's saying something." As if she really wanted them broken up. Mai was securely on Azula's leash, and after all the trouble she went through to get them together? Zuko might be more stable, these days, but he was still blundering around in the dark.

"I was going to teach Zuko how to deal," Mai said calmly, "and then he admitted that he didn't know how to play cards."

Zuko actually blushed at that. It contrasted cutely with his scar. "We couldn't keep cards on my ship. It was too moist. We only had games that could be played with durable tiles. And Uncle- the crew tended to lose pieces all the time."

Azula smirked at the slip. This was turning into a rewarding session. "Actually, I never learned how to play any card games, either. Such amusements are rather base, and my education has mainly focused on polite society."

Mai laid her cards down, and looked up at Azula. Her expression, to one who was familiar with her, was close to a smirk. "I got good when my family was traveling to the Earth Kingdom. Dice are too easy, and you can't keep a Pai Sho set in your sleeve. Also, Mother got so upset when I played 'Target Practice' with little Tom-Tom. Fortunately, my uncle is skilled with cards, and taught me when I was little. This game is called 'Destiny,' but it's nowhere near as pretentious as it sounds."

Yes, Azula could certainly see Mai slumped in the seat of a carriage, forbidden from playing with her knives, whiling away the hours by doing tricks with cards. Dragons forbid the girl used her free time for something other than pleasure or knives. "I'd like to watch you play."

Mai nodded, and immediately collected the cards and began shuffling the deck. Zuko looked at his girlfriend, over to Azula, and then to the tabletop in front of him. "Fine. But keep your comments to yourself."

As if he really had a choice.

Mai finished the shuffling, then dealt herself and Zuko a series of three cards. Two of each trio were face down, and the last one was visible to everyone. The cards themselves were the finest quality, with the pictures (all famous historical figures from the Fire Nation) were painted in rich colors. Azula examined the numbers in the corners. "What do the values represent?"

"The card's 'weight,' as it were," Mai said, "but in this deck it also represents the person on each card's overall popularity. The Fire Lord is worth eight, and Avatar Roku is negative eight."

"You have to try to get your score close to positive or negative sixteen without going over either one," Zuko added. "The player with the total closest to one of those wins, but when there's a tie, the positive sum wins. Oh, and if you wind up getting dealt face-up cards weighing four or nine, then you automatically lose."

Azula watched as he and Mai played out their hands, fascinated. Zuko and Mai both took their cards in their hands, and when each requested additional cards, they were laid out in an alternating pattern- first face up, then face down, then face up again, and so on.

Azula also noticed that Uncle Iroh was represented on one of the cards, and smiled to see that he was weighted as positive four, one of the death cards. She had to stifle a laugh, lest Zuko took it the way it was meant and ruin her chance to observe a properly played game.

Zuko lost the first round, of course. Mai wound up with positive fifteen, and Zuko had gone over sixteen when he was dealt a card with Sozin's image, valued with positive eight, for an automatic loss. Zuko collected of all the dealt cards into a pile off to the side, and Mai moved to deal a fresh round.

Azula decided that she liked this game. "May I see the deck?"

Mai blinked, and actually hesitated. "I would, but it would mean restarting the game. We're supposed to play from the same deck, even across multiple rounds, until the cards are exhausted. It's representative of fate within a single era, or something; we don't get people like Roku or the Fire Lord every generation."

Interesting.

The pair played for several more rounds, and while Zuko won a single hand, Mai wound up taking the rest. Of course. "And that's it? You play through the deck, and then it's done?"

Zuko frowned. "It can be."

Mai glanced at him, and the not-quite-a-smirk returned to her face. "When playing with more people, the deck is finished quicker, sometimes in a single round. The preferred measurement of a final victory is based on the participants' money."

Azula smiled, and let her derision leak into her voice. "Ah, yes, people do enjoy their gambling, don't they? To their eventual ruin, as all who know their Mathematics can speak to."

Zuko just glared at her. "What do you mean? A skilled player would win, wouldn't he?"

"She might think so," Azula said, "but in the end, anyone who tries to master chance will fail. There will eventually be someone more skilled, or chance will betray you at the worst time. To keep your money, you have to keep winning for as long as you play, but you can lose everything with a single bad hand." She crossed her arms and leaned forward. "Perhaps you'd like a demonstration, Zuzu?"

"What do you mean?"

"We'll have a Game Night. We'll each bring equal funds, and play winner-take-all." Azula stood up. "You've had Mai instructing you, so no one can say I have an advantage over you, but I'm confident that I can prove to you the futility of trying to master chance."

Zuko stood up as well, his glare intensifying. "And how will you do that?"

Azula relaxed her posture, stood with one hand on her hip in a teasing manner, and said, "I explained to you, Zuzu, that anyone who knows their Mathematics would understand my argument. I'll simply minimize my losses long enough to drain you dry."

He thought about that, and it was almost cute watching him try to work out the logic. "But before you said that you couldn't control chance-"

"And if you win," she said as she turned around to leave, "I'll bow to your twisted sense of reason. Let's plan on tomorrow night, hm?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked out of the room.

---

It figured. Mai had spent an entire afternoon creating something that she and Zuko could happily share, and then Azula had to come along and ruin it. Mai had always liked Azula more than she disliked the princess, but lately, those scales were shifting.

Zuko blew out a breath that felt like the hottest summer day. "She knows something. What did she see in this game that we're missing?"

Really, Mai shouldn't interfere. Crossing Azula was wrong, for various reasons. If the princess wanted Zuko humbled, it was because it was part of some master plan to manipulate him into a certain frame of mind she could exploit in some particularly advantageous way. If Mai upset things, Azula might get cross.

But Zuko looked miserable, and she liked it when he smiled. Enough to almost consider trying to do something.

Almost.

"It doesn't matter," Mai found herself saying. "She's not going to win. Remember what I taught you about cards. And... and we'll keep practicing. Azula won't know what hit her."

Zuko's face warmed with a slow smile, and Mai almost sort of smiled in return.

Almost.

---

"Plus one," Azula mumbled.

Ty Lee looked up from the card she had just dealt herself. They were sitting in the garden, playing 'Destiny' with a deck of cards that the acrobat had been ordered to procure.  "What?"

Azula resisted the urge to roll her eyes and say something of a critical yet witty nature. She didn't want to risk losing count. "Never mind," she said. "Let's finish this round."

Ty Lee did as commanded, and when the cards were laid down, Azula had won. Ha! Another successful experiment, but she still had more to perform. Azula slid the small pile of coins between herself and Ty Lee over to her own side. "Deal again," she ordered. Ty Lee did so, and Azula marked every visible card with a mental Plus One or Minus One. At the final card, Azula found herself mumbling the, "Plus one," out loud again, but this time Ty Lee either missed it or decided to ignore the oddity.

The acrobat looked at her cards, and plopped some of her supply of gifted coins in patch of grass between them. Azula tapped her lips with one well-manicured finger, and laid her hand down. "Fold."

"Aw," Ty Lee whined. "I had the start of a good hand this time."

Azula felt a grin spreading across her face. Perfect. "Exactly, Ty. I knew that the odds favored you having a series of cards that would total better than mine."

Ty Lee blinked.

Azula idly flicked her hand down on the table. "You see, the key is that in this game, the deck is reused continuously over several rounds without being refreshed with the discarded elements. Thus, anyone smart enough can keep track of what cards have already been played, and estimate the probability of certain beneficial cards being in play."

Ty Lee blinked.

Azula sighed. Of course she would have to explain this. "Let me use an example," she said. "Let's say you have a total of positive twelve, okay? Based on previous hands, I know that most of the cards still in the deck are positive values, and also the greater weights. So I know that there's a good chance that if you request another card, you'll bomb out and go over sixteen. Thus, I know whether to bet or fold based on how I think you'll play."

"Oooooh," Ty Lee cooed. "That's really smart!"

Azula smiled. Ty Lee might not have been the brightest torch in the Fire Nation, but she understood the important things in life.

"But," the acrobat continued, "it sounds kind of unfair. Zuko won't be able to do that."

Azula licked her lips. "Exactly."

---

When Mai and Zuko arrived in the Game Room, they were surprised to find it full of people. Mai recognized some of the ministers who were always hanging around the palace on some bit of business or another, and even some of the armored war council members were hanging out and sipping tea. The only one of the whole group who Mai could name was War Minister Qin, that rather strange man who actually built a giant drill to get him into Ba Sing Se. (Mai privately considered the man an idiot, but didn't feel so strongly about it that she needed to say so out loud.)

Princess Azula sat in the center of the golden room at the card table, with Ty Lee seated behind her. The Princess was smiling at Zuko in her typical smug, challenging way.

Of course. Mai well knew that the only thing Azula loved more than humiliating her inferiors was humiliating them in front of an appreciative audience. Apparently, Mai and Ty Lee weren't enough for her, this time. At least Ty Lee had the manners to look mildly uncomfortable. Mai decided not to hold a grudge over it. "Oh, Zuzu, so glad you arrived early," Azula cooed. "Father's daily status meeting was just letting out as I was on my way up here. They heard me discussing our little match of Destiny with Ty Lee, and expressed an interest in our duel. It seems that it's a popular game. I told them that we'd be more than happy to host an audience."

Mai resisted the impolite urge to snort with disdain. Even for Azula, that was a pretty audacious lie. Of course, it was the result that mattered. Zuko could call her on it and throw a tantrum, but that would make him look like a petulant child in front of the most important people in the Fire Nation. Or he could simply accept it, and risk being humiliated in front of all his father's advisers. As usual with Azula, every choice was wrong.

Mai was grateful to see that Zuko took the path of least resistance. With an eloquent grunt, he took his place opposite Azula. "Let's just get this over with." He took a leather sack out of his sleeve, and dumped its collection of gold coins on the table in front of him.

Mai pulled a chair over so that she sat precisely between the royal siblings. She eyed everyone in the room and pulled a blade out of her hidden belt to keep her hands occupied.

Azula leaned towards her brother. "Would you like the honor of dealing? I know how much you value honor."

Zuko's eyes couldn't be any more searing if fire was shooting out of them. Mai produced a new deck of cards from her sleeve, and handed them to her boyfriend. As the prince took the deck and began shuffling, War Minister Qin cleared his throat and said, "What rules will you be playing by?"

Azula blinked, not comprehending.

"Ember Island Rules," Zuko said. "That's what Mai taught me, and I guess it's generally the most popular?"

One of the military men nodded. "In the Fire Nation, at least." Then he smiled wickedly. "And about 40% of the former Earth Kingdom, projected to be 60% by the end of the month, right?" All the military advisers laughed at that.

Zuko placed the deck back on the table beside him. "Ready, Azula?"

She smiled, nodded, and took a deep breath.

Zuko reached for the first card, but as he pulled it and laid it on the table, his eyes flicked over to Mai. Her eyes met his, and she flashed him a smile of her own that she quickly hid away again. Zuko's lip quirked in response, and she knew he had seen it.

Then he turned back to Azula and dealt the rest of the cards.

Both siblings had fifty of the impure gold pieces that were the most common form of currency in the civilized world. They started with small bets of one to three coins, and played conservatively. Neither one wanted to 'flare out' this early with a total over sixteen. Azula won the first two rounds with sums of 10 and negative 11, but then Zuko won three in a row with 12, 13, and 12 again, all negative.

"Another card," Azula said as soon as the initial hands had been dealt in the sixth round. Zuko gave her a card face down, and then dealt himself a card facing up. Azula paused for a moment after, and then laid down her hand. "Fold."

Zuko frowned. "I had a positive sixteen, that time. Too bad." The cards he laid down included his Uncle Iroh's homage. That was a narrow escape. Had that same card been dealt face-up, it would have meant an instant loss for Zuko.

Azula gave him a polite shrug that lasted barely longer than Mai's smile had, before. Zuko proceeded dealt the next hand.

Mai's uncle had been the one to teach her this game, and all its rules variations. No matter the flavor, though, the key to winning was always the same: you had to control the rhythm of the game. Azula was doing just that. While Zuko focused on the strategy of building a good hand, Azula seemed to have a prescient insight into Zuko's chances of success. She folded with an almost supernatural sense for when Zuko was likely to beat her, and seemed to have a good instinct for when to take another card. As the game went on, the princess played more aggressively, pushing for totals close to sixteen.

She rarely ever flared out. But then, that's Azula.

Her pile of gold coins slowly but steadily increased as they played round after round.

Mai looked at Zuko. He didn't look back.

"You're very good at this game," Zuko growled to his sister. "For a beginner."

"I told you, Zuzu, it's all about mathematics." She idly toyed with one of the gold coins she just won from her brother. "But, of course, it's no fun at all to lose. I can understand if it's sapping your will to fight."

Zuko slapped the next set of cards down on the table with more force than necessary. Three for him, three for Azula. "I will never lose the will to fight. If you want to win, you'll have to earn it."

The princess looked at her cards, and arranged her face to be as blank as possible. Mai had to admit she was impressed. "Very well, Zuzu. Let's do just that, then. Another card."

Zuko dealt his sister the requested card, and then one for himself. He pushed five of his coins to the center of the table. He had ten left.

Azula showed a predatory grin, and then pushed in a full fifteen coins. "No more cards for me. Are you ready, Zuzu?"

The prince eschewed all expression. All he said was, "One more card for me." He dealt himself, and then dropped his new hand face-up on the table. "Sixteen," was all he said.

Sure enough, Ozai was there for positive eight, long-dead Warlord Duskq for positive six, Red-Handed Zoru for negative two, and Haiyuan Ember for positive four.

Mai resisted the urge to grin like Ty Lee.

Azula blinked, then relaxed her posture and waved at the coins she just lost. "Well-played, Zuzu. You've bought yourself one more round."

As Zuko put the cards from that round in the discards-pile and began dealing the next round, he glanced at his sister and spoke. "Seems I have more than enough coins now to keep this game going for a while. As usual, you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, Azula."

The princess took her cards and gave them a brief look. "As usual? Please, Zuzu, don't strain yourself trying to analyze my flaws. I don't have any."

"Don't be so sure of that." Zuko kept his eyes on his hand of cards. "You're very good at planning, but sometimes random chance can get in the way. Wasn't that what you were telling me, when you challenged me to this game? Now you're ignoring the same chance you said I was wrong to try to control."

"Not ignore," Azula said, her voice like silk. "Anticipate, compensate, judge, and then execute the plan most likely to succeed. And right now, dear brother, your chances are about as slim as your temper." She reached down and pushed all her coins to the center of the table.

What did she know? Mai knew that Azula had to know something. Her little speech to Zuko was exactly right, she never took a chance this big unless there really wasn't a chance of losing at all.

Zuko's face tightened, especially around his scar. He pushed all his own coins into the center of the table.

"Another card, please," Azula breathed.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. He drew a card from the deck, and placed it face up on Azula's side.

Iroh's painted image stared up at them both.

Positive four.

Instant death.

"WHAT?!" Azula screeched. "That can't be!"

Zuko remained mild. "Why do you say that?"

"This- this card was already played! It can't be back in the deck, unless you messed up your dealing somehow!"

Zuko looked around the room at their audience. "I wasn't keeping track of what cards we already played. Are you sure you already saw that card? Did anyone see me make a mistake with the deck? I tried to be very careful about keeping the discards sorted properly."

War Minister Qin nodded thoughtfully. "Everything looked fine to me. I was even admiring how deftly you handled the cards, Prince Zuko." Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the small assembly.

Zuko nodded in thanks and turned back to his sister. "I'm sorry, Azula. I know how much you hate to lose."

Mai had to fight to keep her face still, something that took more effort than usual. Her knife spun around her fingers so fast as to be dangerous.

Azula, for her part, was keeping her whole body still, but the intensity of her glare was probably burning quite a bit of energy on its own. Her face colored, and she began working her jaw. Mai was starting to wonder if the princess was going to have some kind of fit when she began taking deep, long breaths.

Finally, Azula spoke. "Congratulations, Zuzu. Well played." She stood up and stomped straight out of the Game Room.

The various ministers and military advisers stood as well. Most of them offered their own congratulations before leaving in a much more relaxed manner. Some even smiled at Zuko.

Eventually, the prince was left alone with Mai and Ty Lee.

Finally.

Mai stabbed her knife down into the table and left it there while she leaned over to hug her boyfriend. "You did it."

Zuko placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Thanks to you and your lessons."

Ty Lee shattered their moment. "No, really," she said, "How did you do it?"

Mai and Zuko turned to look at her.

Ty Lee looked back at them. "Azula was keeping track of all the cards! She showed me, before, how she was... counting them, so that she'd always know how to bet! If she says she saw your uncle's card before, she was right! And she had to know she was going to win if she bet all her coins!"

Zuko nodded. "She was right. Uncle's card had already been played." He held up an empty hand, and then in a flicker of motion, another Iroh card was nestled in his palm.

Mai allowed herself a smile. She taught him that trick.

Ty Lee's jaw was falling like a tipsy acrobat off a highwire. "You cheated!"

Zuko nodded. "Yes. I hated having to win that way, but she was cheating first."

"But you didn't know that," Ty Lee wailed.

Mai arched an eyebrow at her friend. "It's Azula. Besides, anyone who knows the game could see that she was influencing things somehow."

Ty Lee just stared.

Zuko blushed. "I didn't even want to play her in the first place. Mai was teaching me to hide cards up my sleeve, but Azula had to barge in and ruin things. And then she brought in all of Father's advisers! I couldn't let her ruin me."

Mai nodded vigorously. It was easy to be rebellious when Azula wasn't here.

"Now we're free," Zuko added. Then, smirking a little, he boldly reached into Mai's vest and produced a card as if by magic.

Avatar Roku's painting stared at them.

Zuko kept an innocent look on his face. "How did that get there?"

Mai wasn't sure whether to be delighted or scandalized.

Ty Lee, of course, giggled. "Okay, I guess I forgive you two. Now, find a card on me!" She helpfully stood up and leaned towards Zuko.

The prince blushed deeply. "Um… maybe another time? I'm not sure… I'm good enough to trick someone… who's expecting it."

Now that was worth a laugh. A brief, almost taunting laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. Mai enjoyed it. "Keep this up, Zuko, and we may make a smooth guy out of you, yet."

That finally got a laugh out of the prince.

It sounded nice.

END