DISCLAIMER: I do not own Legend of Korra.

Ming hua sat in her cell. Earlier, right before she was moved from the air ship, she was unknowingly sedated. Before the air ship had landed, she was given a drink of water and she was so thirsty that she didn't even think that something could have been added to it. On her way to her cell, she was escorted by several guards; one had her hand on the back of her neck. She thought the precautions were completely unnecessary. She hadn't yet healed herself, she had no water, and she felt like she could have fallen asleep while standing. She was surprised that she even made it to her cell and she fell asleep almost as soon as she had arrived.

The prison cell wasn't too bad. The air was dry and a bit cold, but it was much better than the volcano prison. Anything was better than the volcano prison. She was given a cup full of water with a straw to drink. There were two doors to her cell, the outer one was the bars you would traditionally see on a jail cell and the inner was a solid sliding door if she wanted privacy. The bed was more comfortable than she would have thought.

The walls were boring. They were just pure platinum. She wondered how long it would take before she got sick of looking at them.

Ming hua got up off her bed walked to a small shelf in her room that contained three books titled "The Founding of Omashu." (Who cared), a picture book with various photos of earth kingdom scenery (boring) and "The Life Story of Avatar Aang." She frowned at the last one. She hated avatars, why would she have any interest in that? She instead made up her own story about how Avatar Aang had several secret affairs around the world as a way to keep the air nomad culture alive, and that was where the air benders from harmonic convergence came from. Putting more thought into this story, she realized that that made Avatar Aang Zaheer's father and in a strange way, the current Avatar his father. She quickly brushed the thought out of her head because it was too weird. Besides, there was one huge flaw, the new air benders would have gotten their air bending at birth, not at harmonic convergence.

There was also a Pai Sho board on the bottom shelf. Why was that there? This was a single person cell, who would anyone play the game with? Pai Sho was boring anyway. She remembered when Zaheer and P'li would play the game and it would take hours. Most of their game time was spent just staring at the board. She had no patience for it.

She suddenly remembered P'li and that she was now gone. She couldn't believe that her friend had been defeated nor could she think of what had happened. P'li wasn't one to get careless. Another thought came to her. Maybe Zaheer was wrong? Maybe he had only thought she had died and she was actually still at Laghima's peak wondering where the hell they were.

The doors to her cell opened and two guards walked in. Two more guards waited outside her cell.

"These should fit you better," One of the guards sat a new set of clothes on her bed. "This is the smallest size we have."

Ming hua just glared at them. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with anyone.

"Do you need help getting those on?" The guard asked not looking happy.

"If I needed your help I would ask." Ming hua said coldly.

"Ok whatever." The guard replied rolling her eyes. The two guards left and closed both doors.

Ming hua looked at the new set of clothes. It had been a very long time since she had changed her clothes without her water arms. But she was not going to have someone help her with every damn thing in her life. It was difficult, especially with still being sore, but she managed it.

1 week later

Su was exasperated. She had just left Republic City and was on her way back to Zaofu. Earlier she had spoken to both Tonraq and Tenzin and they were not happy.

She remembered bits of the conversation.

"How can you just keep those two in your custody? That's a resort! Not a prison!" Tonraq yelled. "Those two nearly killed my daughter!"

"I understand how angry you are with what they did to Korra. But the solution to this is not to lock them for the rest of their lives in inhumane conditions " Su responded. "That waterbender was emaciated. We have better ways in Zaofu and they will not be a danger to anyone."

"I don't care! What they did was inhumane! Those two deserve it!" Tonraq spat. His face was red with anger. "That combustion bender should be lucky that she's dead!"

Su frowned. She completely understood how he felt. Korra was still in very bad shape and it looked like her recovery was going to take a very long time.

"Su, they put the entire air nation in danger, my children included. My wife had a baby with her!" Tenzin reminded.

"Tenzin, doesn't air nomad culture abhor violence?" Su raised her eyebrow at him.

"That's not violence!" Tenzin shot back but sounded very unsure. "As soon as Korra recovers, we'll get them out of their White Lotus prisons and remove their bending. They can be moved to another prison."

"Listen, I've been in many prisons in my lifetime. " Su began. "The earthbender would probably do fine, but the waterbender, she won't stand a chance without her waterbending."

"If she didn't want to go to prison, she shouldn't have joined a violent anarchist group." Tonraq concluded.

"You don't know either of their reasons for joining." Su replied.

"Can we at least interrogate them again?" Tenzin asked. "Give them the option to speak and stay in Zaofu, or go back to their White Lotus prisons."

"If they choose to remain silent, then I would have to turn them over to the White Lotus." Su responded. "And they didn't break after thirteen years, what makes you think they will now?"

"They are given a more comfortable prison, and then are told they will have to go back to their old prisons. Surely that would give them the incentive?" Tenzin pointed out.

"No I'm not doing that." Su replied. "I don't believe in torture." She paused and her eyes narrowed. " And if any member of the White Lotus sets foot in Zaofu's prison without my permission I will consider it an act of aggression."

Su sat back hoping that she wasn't making a big mistake. She had lost sleep over the fear that those two would find a way to escape, or worse, seriously injure someone else at the prison. She also knew that they weren't fond of world leaders and that if they did get out, her family could be in danger. Anytime someone expressed concerns about Zaofu's ability to keep them locked up put more doubt in her head. But with the way they had both reacted at the thought of going back to their old prisons, she just couldn't give up. Zaofu's prisons are very secure. She kept telling herself.

She had spoken to a few of the guards that stood outside their cells and learned that the waterbender was very quiet and sulked most of the day. Any attempt to talk to her was met with sarcastic remarks. The earthbender on the other hand was very friendly, which both relieved and worried her. She hoped that he wouldn't be able to talk anyone into letting him out. That was one of the many reasons she could never keep Zaheer in Zaofu.

2 weeks later

Ghazan, despite hating the fact that he was now back at prison, had to admit that this one wasn't the worst place to be locked up. The food was good, the guards weren't half bad, and he was allowed to interact with other inmates. The place was built to house earth benders, especially metal benders. There was no way he was escaping. It made him a bit angry that the White Lotus couldn't provide the similar accommodations and instead, chose the most agonizing methods possible. Sitting in the hot sun day after day was torturous, though he had to admit, Ming hua and P'li had it much worse.

He was allowed out in the prison yard with three guards escorting him. The first time he was out, he looked to see if there would be a way to escape. But the walls were too high and everything was made of platinum. He wouldn't leave without Ming hua anyway, and they were probably not going to let her outside of her cell block until she was no longer a waterbender.

He did worry about Ming hua. They were both cut off from their bending and could soon permanently lose it. As much as it hurt him to lose his, he worried more about her. He had hoped that she wasn't sitting helplessly in her cell, unable to do anything. He was assured that she would have help with whatever she needed, but he still worried. He knew she would hate having others care for her.

Bolin came to visit him. He first showed up apologizing for being the reason Ghazan was back in prison and asked if he could help with his lava bending. Bolin explained that he had destroyed an entire building while practicing, which Ghazan found very amusing. So he had been giving Bolin lava bending tips. The kid was the only other lava bender that he knew of so he didn't mind helping him out and it did give him something to do. He was still spending most of the day in his cell and it was very boring. In return, Bolin would bring items that Ghazan wanted.

"It's a shame that we can't go outside and practice." Bolin said on one of his visits.

Ghazan sighed. "They're not going to let me get anywhere near earth until after your friend gets better. But then, what would be the point."

Bolin was silent.

"Hey could you do me a favor?" Ghazan asked.

"Uh sure." Bolin responded.

"Can you check on Ming hua for me and maybe talk to her for a little bit?" Ghazan requested. "I don't think that there are any other water benders in this prison and she isn't going to get any visitors."

Bolin gulped. "I can do that, but… she kind of scares me."

"Yeah she's a little intimidating at first, but she's easy to figure out." Ghazan laughed.

"If you say so." Bolin replied still not sure.

AN: Sorry if that was a little slow. Also, please don't hate Tenzin or Tonraq, they have every right to be pissed at any members of the Red Lotus. It had only been a week since fighting Zaheer and Korra had almost died. It would be ridiculous if either of these characters were just okay or indifferent with any members of the Red Lotus not going back to their former prisons. As much as I like the RL, what they did in the last few episodes was not okay. (I'll be writing a few backstories to explain why they joined, but that does not excuse the actions, which is why they are going to spend some time in prison.)

And Ming hua and Ghazan will talk to each other probably in two chapters.