Rummikub

It was a slow day in the palace. A lazy breeze drifted in and out of the windows that were thrown wide open on this hot summer's day.

Princess Azula sat languidly in her chair, something quite uncharacteristic for the normally energetic and vivacious young girl. Yet even she, who always seemed to be planning or doing something, found herself feeling an emotion she wasn't too familiar with. She was bored.

"Hey Azula, wanna play a game?"

The speaker was none other than her brother, and she blinked at him for a moment before answering. "Sure, why not? There's nothing better to do anyway."

Zuko grinned as they walked over to the table in the center of the room. "I found this while digging through one of the storage closets," he explained excitedly, blowing dust off the top of the box. He stared hard at the faded characters for a moment, but after a failed attempt at reading them, gave up. "I never saw this before, but it looks like it could be fun."

"Just open it already," Azula said, annoyed with his chatter. "I'm so bored I could go tea-leaf picking with Uncle."

Zuko snickered. "Don't let him hear you say that," he joked, as he spilled out the contents of the box.

Tons of ceramic tiles fell onto the table with a loud clack, along with four trays, each that had three grooves in them.

Both siblings leaned forward and examined the items.

"All of these have numbers on them," Azula mused, picking up a tile and looking at it from all angles. "And they're all different colors."

"These two aren't though," Zuko said, holding them out in his palm. "They just have smiley faces. Hang on, I think there's instructions here somewhere," he rummaged through the box for a few moments before pulling out a piece of parchment.

Smoothing it out, he placed it on the table for both of them to read.

"It looks like someone tried setting it on fire," Azula noted with interest, as the top had been burnt off.

"Yeah, but I think the instructions are still okay, it doesn't look like anything's missing," Zuko observed.

After reading through the rules (though they still didn't know what they were playing), they began the game.

"I'm first," Zuko called, as he counted out fourteen pieces.

"It says here we pick for first, and whoever has the higher number, starts," Azula pointed out.

Zuko made a face, but otherwise agreed, and when both had set up their trays, he picked a tile.

"What'd you get?" He asked.

His sister smirked. "Number six."

Zuko also smirked. "Number seven. I'm first!"

An irritated expression crossed Azula's face. "Beginner's luck." She muttered.

They began. Zuko was first to move out by laying three tiles whose amounts equaled to thirty. It took Azula two turns to get the right amount, and she certainly wasn't happy about it.

Being the fair person that he was, the prince did his best to be a sport, but even he couldn't hide his glee when he managed to get rid of half his tiles in one turn. He certainly placed the pieces down with a wholly unnecessary amount of noise.

"So, how are you doing?" He asked with a maddening grin. Azula glared at him as she went back to assessing her pieces.

"Just because you had a few lucky picks doesn't mean you've won," she told him waspishly. In truth, she just wasn't used to falling behind to him, and she wasn't taking it very well.

"Don't take it so bad," her brother comforted, though it was evident from his tone and smile that he meant anything but. "Even if you lose, I'm sure you'll win the next game."

Azula didn't respond as she picked up a tile and grimaced at the number on it. For the next couple of turns, the two continued picking, until finally Azula picked a number that caused her to break out in a huge grin.

"Well, Zuzu, it looks like the tables have turned," she said smugly, as she laid out two sets of three's and a set of five's. Borrowing a tile or two from one of Zuko's sets, she laid out the numbers 7-13 in one row, and 6-8 in another.

"You cheater!" Zuko's mouth was hanging open in shock. "You were hoarding your pieces!"

"All's fair in love and war," Azula responded off-handedly. "Besides, you should be used to losing by now."

Zuko glared at her. His sister was down to four pieces, while he still had seven to go. "It's not over till one of us clears their tray."

"Well, we both know who that'll be," his sister replied smugly, referring to herself. "It's your move."

The prince growled as he picked a tile and placed it along with all the other numbers lining his tray. There were still many unpicked pieces, and any one of them could be the number he needs to win, or hold him back.

The next few turns passed in stalemate. Both siblings kept picking, occasionally putting out another set, or adding to an existing one, until they were tied with three tiles each, the overturned pile now considerably smaller.

Azula examined her pieces. If she could just pick an orange three, or a blue four, the game would be in the bag. She glanced at the pile of overturned pieces, trying to guess which held the key to her victory.

Zuko grimaced at the piece he had just picked. His tray consisted of a good potential set, but each one needed a different color or number to complete it.

As the two siblings sat, bent over their boards, the door opened and in walked their father and their uncle.

"…Should have seen it, Ozai, such a sight it was! Hundreds of different-"

"Zuko! Azula!" Ozai cut off his brother as he spotted his children. "What are you doing?"

"Hi dad!" Zuko greeted excitedly. "Hi Uncle Iroh!"

"Hello, my nephew," Iroh walked over to the boy, patting him on the head. "And, of course, the lovely Princess Azula. Are you two having fun with each other?"

"We're playing a game, Uncle, and I'm winning," Azula responded smugly.

"No you're not!" Zuko exclaimed. "We're both tied!"

"Please, it's only a matter of time," the girl waved him off.

"What game are you playing?" Ozai asked, looking down at his son.

"We…don't know what it's called," Zuko admitted sheepishly. "I couldn't read what it said on the box, and the instructions paper looked like they got burnt or something."

Ozai scanned the multi-colored tiles that were spread haphazardly across the table, and the corner of his mouth curved slightly upwards. "I think I know what it's called, don't you, Iroh?"

The Dragon of the West looked down at the table, and his face seemed to darken slightly. "Oh, well, it does seem a bit…familiar, but I'm not sure…"

"Hmmm…" Ozai took a seat and motioned for his brother to do the same.

"Ozai, you want to sit and watch your children playing?" Iroh chided. "We have much more important things to be doing at the moment, than standing idly by as spectators!"

"Come now, Iroh, they're almost finished, I'm sure a few minutes won't hurt you…unless you're afraid."

Zuko and Azula exchanged equally mystified expressions at the banter between their father and uncle.

"Uncle Iroh…you're afraid?" Zuko asked, gaping up at him.

"Of course not!" The Dragon of the West exclaimed. "I just…" he sighed. "Very well, but only for a minute!" He said, tucking his hands into his sleeves and sitting down with a disgruntled expression.

Azula glanced at her father, than arched a brow at her brother, who merely shrugged in response to her unspoken question.

Silently, the two continued their game, now with an audience to watch.

As the princess placed another tile on her tray, her uncle nudged her, and, with his eyes, discreetly pointed out where she could have put the number.

If Azula was at all surprised by the fact that her uncle, of all people, was helping her, she didn't say anything.

Zuko, too, was on the receiving end of such treatment, as his father easily showed him opportunities he had missed.

Within a few turns, the pile of overturned pieces was used up, and each team was tied three to three.

"Well, Azula," Zuko said smugly, after a quick glance at their father. "It looks like this is it."

Just as he was about to make his move, the table suddenly turned over. Ceramic tiles flew everywhere, as Azula stood up.

"Whoops!" She said, as her brother stared up in shock.

"You did that on purpose! I was just about to win!" He cried angrily.

"That's what you say. Guess we'll never know," the princess responded with a smirk. "Too bad."

"You're just a sore loser, Azula!" Zuko shouted, as his sister ran off. He stood up to chase her, but Ozai laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

The boy glanced at his father, but he wasn't looking at him. The man's face was on his brother.

"Well, Iroh, what do you have to say?"

The Dragon of the West looked extremely discomfited. "I believe I am going to find Princess Azula, and tell her quite an interesting tale about the game she just played," he responded, and with as much dignity as he could muster, in light of his brother's mirthful expression, turned and walked out of the room.

There was a moment of silence, as Zuko looked up at his father, disconcerted. "Dad…what's going on?"

Ozai glanced at his eldest with the ghost of a smile on his face. "Your uncle and I used to play this game when we were children."

Zuko's eyes went wide. "Really?"

His father nodded. "And Iroh always lost."

The prince's eyes became like saucers. "No way!"

Ozai bent down and retrieved the instructions, turning it over where Zuko saw there was a column with a tally mark score. "Iroh burned his score after he lost the 300th game to me. Though, there wasn't really anything to destroy."

Zuko's jaw dropped as he stared at all the wins his father had against his uncle. "No way!" He whispered in awe.

Ozai gave a soft laugh. "Didn't you ever wonder why your uncle plays only pai sho?"

END.

A/N:

This is just a silly little thing I thought up while I was playing against my friend XD R&R please!

Oh, and just for the fun of it, let's see if you can guess how old Zuko & Azula are in this fic. There's a hint to it somewhere in the story XD

Téa