Avatar: Macai's Journey

Chapter 5: Sunset Tension

Hidden Frustrations

Four years have passed since Yosari met Ursa. Macai is now ten and continues to excel in his classes, except in Math. However, Macai has managed to consistently do average in math and still worked ahead on his other subjects. This has still allowed Macai to be elite and skip a couple of grades though with an advanced academic average, putting him in the top 98th percentile of his school. 

This is contrary to his girlfriend Azula who maintains an honorary academic average and is ahead on every subject compared to her peers but still lags behind Macai in the liberal arts and social courses. Azula all-in-all is considered the active valedictorian of her school, placing her at the top of her institution. 

Macai is imbalanced in his skills, though his gifts are so great that it still allows him to be ahead. Eyre also noticed that Macai often starts off worse than peers when trying new challenges, then quickly adapts and gets better than everyone around him. Even the best. Macai's combat skills consistently improve and he has gotten attention throughout the Fire Nation. Although he initially started off slower than Azula (yet still faster than Zuko and Rosh).

Rosh has grown closer to Ty Lee, though they have had some recent disagreements about how to deal with problems. Despite recent predictions, Azula and Zuko have grown more distant in recent years. Constantly competing with each other as their father presented more tests and challenges for them to overcome. Zuko has consistently turned up on the losing side during his contests with Azula.

His father (Ozai) has had several outbursts, belittling his son and praising his daughter as his obvious favorite. Ursa has also grown further apart from her daughter. In the midst of these family issues, Ursa reaches out to Yosari for advice. Yosari is waiting in a private chat room within a lounging facility. Lounging facilities are known for having several social, consultation, religious, meditation, beauty, and massage services.

Lounging facilities also come with saunas. These facilities are mainly used by women, but some men will occasionally be seen in them as well. Ursa is waiting in a private room with bague walls and white trimming; it also has a window that shows the people in the nearby hallway. Ursa takes a deep breath and slyly pulls a comb out of her purse. Ursa starts straightening her hair, then stops as she notices Yosari knock on the door.

Ursa opens the door and Yosari promptly hugs her. Ursa gleefully says, "I missed you Yosari, I have not written a letter to you in a while."

Yosari comforts her friend, "That's ok, I know we all are very busy most of these days. I love these private rooms, they are a great place for us to sit and chat without intrusion."

Ursa nods her head, "Especially for these sort of family matters. But I'm not sure if I would want to talk about everything here either."

Yosari: "Well, let's get to it. Are Zuko and Azula still fighting?"

Ursa: "Yes and I don't know how to stop it. They have gotten out of control and their father only feeds to the fire. The last time I told Azula to leave Zuko alone, Ozai told them I am being overly protective. Zuko told me that Ozai said he is just being fair and I am being biased. That Zuko is only getting treated worse because he is acting weak and that I am an enabler."

Yosari: "That is bad. I know we do not rule our homes, but a wife deserves a level of respect. Did you challenge him or say something?"

Ursa: "We got in a couple of arguments, but he agreed to keep me out of things as long as I did the same for him. Even so, Zuko has told me bad stories about things his father said when I was not around. Sometimes, he can't seem to control himself. I am also worried about the impact it has on Azula. Every time I punish her, she runs and tells her father. Once I said she could not see her friends, then she left home anyway and her father said it was ok."