The Warriors' Love
By: StandUnderMyUmbrella

Chapter One
The Strength of Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of its characters. (tear)

They were so far apart, and yet, they were so close. He felt her breaths every time he took one of his own. Her voice echoed in his ears whenever he was chattering away about anything and everything. Whenever he was engulfed by slumber, her eyes were etched in his mind like a burning ember. It had been so long since Sokka had seen Suki's face, but nothing made him forget her.

Night scenery controlled the sky. A sliver of the moon glowed in up above as far away stars accented it in the clearness. As his friends dreamed on, Sokka remained on his back, staring at the wide open night, sleepless.

No matter how hard he tried, Sokka couldn't sleep that night. Suki had been apart from him ever since they reached Ba Sing Se. He had no clue on where she was or whom she was with. Had she changed at all? Did she think of him the same amount he thought of her? Those questions, upon countless others, were bundling in his mind.

He rolled onto his stomach, and rested his chin on the knuckles of his hands. Letting out a sigh, Sokka glanced over at Katara. A slight smile was printed upon her lips as she dreamed. Every silent breath she took made Sokka feel proud to call her his sister. She kept the group together, not matter how tight things could have gotten. Katara was a natural born leader, just like their father. But what title was left for him to obtain?

Hoping not to wake anyone, Sokka quietly reached for the maps he had owned of the Fire Nation. Flipping through, the warrior finally settled on a specific one. X marks were painted on it staggered, as well as circles. Exhaling heavily, Sokka tossed the map his eyes were glued for so long aside.

"What are you doing up so late?" Katara asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's Suki." Sokka replied sorrowfully, "we've checked everywhere."

"Suki?" Toph bolted her head upward, holding a finger in the air, "that's the girl who," she cut off her own voice and let her voice go limp, "never mind."

"Why are you so concerned now, Sokka?" Aang blinked.

"Azula said that she was holding her as a prisoner." Sokka paused, "we were so close to her, too. Suki thought I'd come back for her, but I never had a chance."

"Sokka, it's all right," Katara placed her hand on his shoulder, "we'll come for her. We just,"

"No, it's not all right." Sokka interrupted, "it's my fault and I was too blind to see that Suki needed my help."

"That's not what she meant," Aang tried to heal the air.

"It is what she meant." Sokka stood up, "Suki gave up on me, and now I have to go and search for her. No matter what I do, nothing's going to stand in my way." In the night, Sokka bolted away from the camp.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm going back to sleep." Toph yawned, breaking a long silence.

Looking at each other, Aang and Katara got to their feet to follow Sokka. Hoping to break his stubbornness, they were bound to convince him that time was at fault, not him.

Luckily, the warrior hadn't gone too far. The Avatar and the Waterbender found Sokka standing, staring at the moon at the bottom of the hill.

"I'm coming for you, Suki. Don't give up." Sokka whispered into the frigid air.

"Sokka," Katara spoke softly.

Her brother turned to her, tears streaming down his eyes.

"We'll search for Suki." Aang filled in.

"We all will. There's not doubt we'll catch up with her." Katara smiled.

"You really mean this?" Sokka questioned.

Aang and Katara both nodded.

Everything had been stripped away from her. Her loved ones, her pride, and her title as a Kyoshi Warrior. All of her possessions were snatched from her hands, and nothing not even memories were given back. Though the Fire Nation's intent was for her to die in the dark, humid cell, Suki knew that somehow, some way she'd be reunited with the other Kyoshi Warriors and her other friends.

Her dark eyes stared at the petite moon through her barred window up above. Cold bricks surrounded in the tight space and breathed frigid air. She felt her stomach demanding food, but nothing she could do could give it what it needed.

A nightly breeze came and chilled Suki under her skin. When her dignity of a Kyoshi Warrior had been swiped away from under her feet, her appearance of one was pulled away as well. Instead of her natural Avatar Kyoshi color schemed clothing that wrapped around her sleek figure comfortably, in the prison she owned itchy, aging rags that felt as if straw patched the numerous holes.

In the hall of the prison, a light of some kind flickered and seemed to come closer her way. Footsteps became nearer and nearer until, they paused. Metal clanged with each other and locks sounded. A tall, lean figure pushed the heavy door open. Their feet took long, slow strides and what seemed like forever passed once they reached the barred cell.

"You understand why you're here, don't you?" the deep voice asked.

Suki, sitting against the bars, glared at the guard. "Yes."

"I bet you'd want to seek revenge upon the person who locked you away in here, wouldn't you?"

Taking time to choose her words, Suki's glare softened. "Perhaps."

Without saying another word, the man unlocked the bars and wrapped his wide fingers around the chains on Suki's wrists. Walking out of the cell, he forcefully pulled the girl along with him, not even allowing enough time for her to easily to come to her feet.

Suki hadn't remembered the treacherous sight of the prison outside her cell. Countless barred, heavy metal doors lined one by one on a cylinder-like wall. Torches clung onto the metal sides and lit the humid air with burning flames. Silhouettes of figures were at the end of a hall Suki and the large guard were headed for. All the way, the girl winced at the sharp iron slicing into the raw flesh of her wrists.

Coming to a halt, the man pushed Suki down, having her end up on her knees. She felt as if she was an animal, being controlled on what to do with guards glaring at her every move.

"This prisoner seeks revenge on the one who sent her to her death." The other guards chuckled at his words as he heavily placed a palm on her back.

Ending the commotion, a small, more slender figure raised a hand in the air and walked towards Suki. The person's sleek palm went under Suki's chin and raised it up. "Look at me," the person sounded to be a young woman.

Suki disobeyed and looked down at the metal floor,

"Look at me, you disgrace," the voice demanded in a much more forceful tone.

Against her will, the Kyoshi Warrior looked at the person. Instantly, her eyes were pierced the other's perfect golden. Flashbacks played in the back of Suki's mind. Finally, she remembered who had locked her away from her loved ones. "Azula," she gravely whispered.

"Yes, I'm the one who is at fault for you ending up in this terrible place to die in." The princess's voice was of a mockery of sorrow.

"Not to die." Suki replied, bitterly, "a hero is out to save me. He's on his way this very second."

"Oh, who is he? An invisible spirit of some sort?"

"The love of my life."

Azula grew silent.

"You know he's coming. You know I'll be free of your clutches soon enough." Suki shifted her chin out of Azula's palm, still eyeing her.

Only a few humid second passed and Azula's anger steamed and built higher. Her leather hand forcefully swiped against the warrior's face. The strike allowed Suki's dried, cracked lips to bleed and left a red mark upon her cheek. Fighting against her own tears, Suki bit her lip. Unintentionally, she sank her teeth into the raw flesh.

Silently, Azula ordered a guard to walk near Suki and continue the torture. The same man that brought the girl out of her cell unlocked her chains connected to her infected wrists. Thinking he'd take them off, Suki's tensions fell. Soon enough, the guard vigorously clamped the chains back together, a notch tighter. Suki clenched her teeth together and attempted to fight her tears once again.

"Still believe your hero is going to come and rescue you?" Azula hissed.

Taking staggered breaths, Suki tried to speak. "Yes," she managed to say.

Growing aggravated, Azula took her leather hand once more and swung it against the same spot her had struck only a few moments ago. Blood from Suki's cracked lips went into the air and splattered onto the metal floor. The princess paused and raised a brow to gaze at her own massacre. A couple fresh, deep wounds were on the warrior's left cheek, where her nails had struck. Blood dripped heavily from her lip as well as her face. But what made Azula proud of her work were the tears that stained Suki's face as they fell. "Take her out of my sight before I drown in my own success. We broke her, that's all I cared about," the princess smiled devilishly, flicking her fingers away.

Shakily, Suki arose to her feet as she was forcefully escorted back to her cell. Without saying a word, the guard shoved her in the barred death room and shut the heavy door grimly behind him as he walked out.

Not caring who heard or who noticed, Suki allowed her tears to stream down her eyes and let the pain engulf her. She was a fallen Kyoshi Warrior, and landed in the clutches of a monster. She knew that no warrior of Kyoshi could be broken, but Azula made her feel as if she could only give up.

Suki's sorrowful and pained eyes looked up into the moon. "Sokka, hurry," she managed to say beneath her breaths, "time's running out."

Author's Note: This is taken time right after The Day of the Black Sun. And yes, I know where Aang and all of his friends are headed once the episode is over. But, since I don't want to spoil the ending of TDotBS, and because it tied along with my plot more efficiantly, I decided to change it. Please rate and review. Any words will allow me to grow as a better writer! Thanks!

StandUnderMyUmbrella