Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA

Chapter 2: The Western Air Temple

"Are we there yet?" Toph whined, frustrated.

Zuko stared at the sky, understanding what Toph meant. They had been flying for hours and could see nothing but sky.

"It shouldn't be too much longer now," Aang told Toph comfortingly, as he sat up straighter, peering into the distance.

Zuko followed his gaze but all he could see was a cliff. But the Western Air Temple wasn't located near any sort of mountains or cliffs…was it?

"There it is!" Aang shouted, pointing to the cliff happily.

"Um, Aang, it's a cliff," Katara told him hesitantly.

"No, you see? It's there! Upside down!" Aang cried in excitement,

Toph let out a frustrated grunt, "What are we looking at? What's wrong?"

No one responded, as they were astounded at the magnificent temple. Aang steered Appa down towards it.

They landed softly, Appa grunting noisily. Aang smiled, and dismounted happily. Zuko couldn't help but smile, for Aang's reaction was fairly similar to his. So this is home…

Zuko sat on the edge of the cliff; his legs dangling over the side precariously. He stared at the rubble slowly falling from the cliff's eroded face, and sighed. Like his own life, the cliff was slowly crumbling around them.

He heard soft footsteps, but didn't bother to see who it was.

A slender figure, sat next to him, gazing at him curiously.

"Hey, Zuko," she said a little awkwardly. It was Katara.

"Hey," he replied, making no move to continue the conversation.

"What are you thinking about?" Katara asked curiously.

He snapped back into reality and replied with a small voice, "Uncle."

"Oh," was all Katara could say. He knew she could remember that day in the Crystal Catacombs as well as he could.

"I wish he was here now. He was like a…a father to me." Katara smiled wanly.

"Well we could go find him," she said, furrowing her brow.

"Who do you mean by 'we'?" Zuko asked curiously looking directly into her eyes.

"Well all of us, me, you, Sokka, Aang and Toph," Katara said, her eyes lighting up.

"No. I won't put you in danger. I took your threat seriously," Zuko said firmly. Katara flinched a little. "Besides, he's being held in a top security prison. We'd never escape it alive."

"Well I'm up for it. Where is it?"

"No Katara, I won't put your lives in danger!"

"Zuko, we have been through much worse. We can do this, as a team," she said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Zuko's heart fluttered unnaturally in his chest, and his tongue felt like it was tied in a knot.

"Ok, it's settled, we'll make a plan tonight to break your Uncle out of jail," Katara said with a nod. Zuko sighed, defeated. He knew there was no getting out of this.

"So where is this place?" Katara asked urgently.

"It's called the Boiling Rock, and it's in Fire Nation territory-,"

"Wait, did you say the Boiling Rock?" Katara interrupted.

"Yeah," Zuko said slowly, "Why?"

"That's where my Dad's being held!" She said excitedly, standing up. "And you definitely know where it is?"

"Yes."

"Well come on then, we have some planning to do," Katara said, running off to find Sokka and the others. She found them near the campfire. Zuko followed her, smiling slightly.

"Sokka! Sokka!" Katara called, unshed tears in her eyes.

"What? What is it? Did Zuko hurt you?" Sokka asked panicking, and holding her shoulders firmly.

"No, he's done something wonderful," she whispered, embracing him tightly. Then she pulled away and told him seriously, "We're going to save dad."

"Wait, what? Dad? Save, How?" Sokka stuttered.

"Zuko knows where Dad's being held, and we're going to save Dad and his uncle."

"Katara, we can't just turn up at the Boiling Rock, waltz in and rescue Dad. It's going to be hard…impossible," Sokka said gravely.

"I know Sokka," she said impatiently, "That's why we're going to have a plan."

"Ok," he urged her on, "What's the plan?"

"Well, we'll need some help from Zuko." She paused, and Zuko nodded. "Ok, well I was thinking, we could fire bend our way in there."

"You mean like how we saved Haru?" Aang asked, intrigued.

"No not exactly. If Sokka and Zuko pretend to be guards and arrest you for fire bending, we'd have a one way ticket in. They won't suspect us as any other kind of bender, and Toph and Aang can earth bend through the walls to talk to each other."

"Ok," Sokka said, smiling confidently, "So here's the plan…"

Oo the tension is building now. Hope you liked it! If you have any questions just ask me in a review or pm me.