Story: Smokescreen

Pairing: ZukoxOC

Rating: T, could be M in the future.

Genre: Action/Survival/Romance

I can't believe I actually did this! Hah, well, this idea has been in my head for the longest time (like, years actually) and with Legend of Korra's season finale coming up (I am Ikki!mad about the last episode), I figured I would need something to satisfy my bryke cravings, haha. Um, well, this is kind of a "prologue but not" to my upcoming story, Smokescreen. It takes place after the Boiling Rock, so, please completely disregard the rest of Book 3. :)Also, this was intentionally a Zutara story, but I actually couldn't find a way to fit Katara into the BoilingRock!Episode. Hopefully, my OC isn't too much of a Sue.

...

Even though he was the type of person who never actually thought things through, and grudgingly believed that good things would come to those who waited, Sokka considered this plan to be a success. Every single prisoner in the Boiling Rock was out in the yard, to the Warden's irritation and confusion, despite being in the middle of a lockdown. Whether he liked it or not, Sokka's philosophy was about to be proven true.

Even if Sokka did wind up posing as a guard in a maximum security prison, pacing in the yard awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend and father, all the while praying for this escape to be over… Where in the entire Fire Nation was Zuko? It had been more than an hour since he'd told everyone to meet in the yard. Ignoring his irritation at the firebender's tardiness, Sokka stopped pacing, and ran to his father.

"This is it, we have to start a riot!" he said.

"Okay," Suki stated, "but how do we do that?"

The two teenagers looked up at Sokka's father. Hakoda silently observed the crowd of prisoners, "I'll show you," he said, smirking. He walked towards a throng of inmates, and immediately shoved the largest one—a scarred, muscular bald man.

However, contrary as to what one would expect, it didn't play out as planned. The bald man turned around with a hurt look on his face,

"What'd you do that for?" he asked, looking as if he might cry, "That hurt my feelings!"

"Aren't you mad at me?" Hakoda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Er," the Neanderthal uttered, "Normally I would be, but I've been learning to control my anger."

Sokka's jaw dropped as his father returned back to him, "Well, this isn't working." Sokka was about to attempt to start a riot himself, but suddenly, a strong hand clamped down painfully on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw Chit Sang, the tall, muscular inmate that had been involved in the last escape attempt, and groaned inwardly.

"Hey, you!" Chit Sang growled, "You're lucky I didn't rat you out. But, my generosity comes with a price," the tall man removed his hand from Sokka's shoulder and clenched his fists, "I know you're planning another escape attempt, and I want in."

"Actually," Sokka turned towards Chit Sang, "We're trying to escape right now! But we need a riot. You wouldn't happen to know how to start one, would you?" Sokka raised an eyebrow at the older man.

"A prison riot?" Chit Sang asked, "Please." He smirked, and brushed past Sokka, grabbing a smaller, gray haired inmate by the shirt collar as he did so. He hefted the man horizontally above his head and began to toss him up and down; "Hey!" he addressed the large crowd of prisoners, who were all watching him with rapt attention, "Riot!"

The reaction was astounding. Like magic, the entire prison yard was suddenly transformed into a minefield of shouting men and women, firebending gone buck wild, and flailing limbs.

Sokka could only watch in awe.

…

From the opposite end of the prison yard where Zuko stood near what looked like an Agni Kai between two inmates, the exiled prince attempted to make his way to the spot where he thought he had spotted a familiar looking guard, and a pair of also familiar looking inmates. He sprinted several yards, dodging fire and blows alike. Dropping to his knees and sliding under a pair of brawling prisoners, he inhaled a cloud of dust and smoke. Coughing, eyes watering, he scanned the entire prison yard, hoping to catch sight of Sokka again. He was in luck. He had reached the quieter part of the prison yard now, Sokka, Hakoda, and Suki were close, only a few yards away. Zuko thought he was home free, when suddenly, someone kicked his legs from underneath him, sending him sprawling face up in the dirt. A small foot pinned him to the ground. Zuko looked up at the inmates face. She looked familiar, but it was difficult to make out any of her features.

"Take that, you ugly motherf—"she seemed to be in the middle of saying when she, stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. "Zuko?" she asked, removing her foot from his chest and offering her hand in exchange, "What are you doing here?"

He took it, pulling himself to his feet quickly; there was no doubt about it, now that he clearly saw her face. Sure, the hair might've been longer, and her voice a bit deeper, but there was no question about her identity anymore.

"Sian?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she nodded, gripping his hand, "Yeah, it's me…." She trailed off, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Wow, um, this was unexpected. Why are you even here?"

"I'll explain later," Zuko said, as he started off towards Sokka's direction again, with Sian following in his wake, "We're trying to escape." He managed to catch up with Sokka and company, but before he actually made his presence known, he turned back to the girl following him, his expression hardening and becoming stone cold. "Oh, and Sian? Nothing's changed." And with that, he turned on his heel and made his way to Sokka.

…

AN: Reviews are alwaysalwaysalways appreciated! The next chapter should be posted by the end of tonight, considering this one was a sorry excuse for one :P Also, I'd actually love to hear about what y'all thought of Sian... -chews off manicure-

Alright:)

Coming up next:

On the Gondola

Azula, an explosion and a new location.