His laboured breathing sounded deafening in the empty cavern. The pain that he had initially felt had faded to a dull throb in time with his heart.
That was a bad sign, he knew, but some miniscule part of him still had hope. Longshot, or Smellerbee they would find him...
He coughed wetly and ignore the bolts of pain that radiated from cracked and broken ribs. The Avatar thought he was dead. Honestly, he'd thought he was dead too. He might as well be. There was no way he was making it out of this one. Trapped, injured-paralyzed, a traitorous voice in his mind whispered. The most powerful being in the world left you here, there's no hope, no chance.
He fought back tears. He'd always thought he would die in a blaze of glory, against Fire Nation soldiers. He never even imagined his own side would turn on him. The Dai Li, the Earth King... how could they do this to him!
He was trying to help, trying to protect them from the Fire Nation scum that had invaded their city and this was how they repaid him?
The tears began to fall now. He couldn't stop them. He couldn't do anything. All he ever wanted to was avenge his parents. To do his part in stopping the Fire Nation, ending the war.
He'd done his part. He had done everything he could to tell people, protect people, help people. Sometimes he'd gone a little far. It had been his undoing.
Faintly, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore of Lake Laogai reached his failing ears. He closed his eyes and pretended it was leaves of his forest.
He'd done his part.