Author's Note:
I'm pretty proud of this chapter, I think it covers a lot but its nothing too lengthy. I tried to keep it very in character, especially in the end. I hope you like it!
Please review, and by the way, thanks again to the couple of people out there who've been reveiwing regularly, it's good for me to know that I'm keeping you interested. =) It's only going to get better, I promise.
Oh, and soon I'll be posting a link to the playlist for the fic. It's on and my username is PhanTaySea13, it's my Beating Hearts Grow But Never Die Playlist. Check it out if you want to!
This is a non-profit story, I hold no claims to anything that is Avatar: The Last Airbender.


Ursa PoV

I stood waiting outside of the entrance to the prison clad in the stolen uniform. I had returned from spending all that was left of my money on a covered wagon that was presently behind me as I waited for the warden. I suspected that the warden would not merely send a random guard out to escort the former Firelord out of his cell, and he would want to make sure that he wasn't being scammed. I was trying with difficulty to push back my nerves, but in all honesty I was trembling in the uncertainty of the situation. I went over what was left of the plan in my head and repeated reassuring mantras to myself. After waiting for a while, still failing to overcome my nerves, I began to meditate as I stood in waiting. It would look suspicious for me to sit and truly meditate if the Warden saw me. If I were who I pretended to be, I would have no reason for worrying. I cleared my head, breathing in full, deep breaths of the open air. In just a matter of time Ozai and I will be free to leave this dreadful place. I tried to focus on the feelings I had of just being able to see the sun again. It truly was refreshing to be out of the undergrounds of the dungeon, but not even the comforting warmth of the sun was providing a constant peace of mind for me. The anxiety fought to overcome my wits, but I fought it back; the need to be alert and in control of the situation gave me the determination I needed to keep a level head. So I waited in that manner of struggling against anxiety until my heart leapt into my throat. Finally the huge double doors begun to creep open. Three figures dissolved into view from the shadows of inside the prison. The Warden approached, and I bowed to him briefly in the Fire Nation way of respect. Ozai was to the Warden's left, shackled in tight iron cuffs and restrained gruffly by a burly male guard. As I took in the broken and defeated persona that Ozai portrayed, I gained confidence in the situation. I held back a cough of laughter at how convincingly he pulled off the act of being a completely pathetic prisoner, which I guess he was.

The short muscular warden stepped closer to me, stubborn cynicism plastered onto his…revolting visage.

"You're the guard that will take this filthy prisoner off of my hands?"

I nodded curtly, "Yes sir," I responded in the uneducated prison guard accent.

"Well then tell me where it is you'll be escorting this dog to," his oily voice drained into the air.

"I just know I'm taking him in this wagon here to a boat bound for the North Sea."

"Very well, and when will you be parting from the prisoner?"

"Just as soon as the ship ends its course and I hand him over to new caretakers, no sooner."

"And then one more thing to secure your legitimacy. Answer this question. On what day did a group of six people escape incredulously from the legendary Boiling Rock?

Someone had escaped the Boiling Rock? I pretended to think and then screamed "Eat this bitch!" I punched him in the nose as hard as I could. Blood splattered as I shoved my fist into the soon to be scrambled brains of the Warden.

Or at least that was the scene I imagined as I searched my brain for a logical answer. I had no idea, I frantically looked around for a clue of some sort. My eyes landed on Ozai's figure and he inconspicuously flashed me some numbers with his fingers. First six, then a fist, then ten, and nine, and a fist. What could that mean? Maybe the sixth month, June, on the 19th day. It was the only shot I had and I took the chance.

"June 19th, this past year."

The Warden seemed reluctant, but he uttered, "Correct," and I let out the breath that I had been holding in, relieved.

The large guard threw Ozai down, skidding in the tough dirt towards me.

"Take 'em." The Warden spat. I took Ozai's chains and guided him onto the wagon just a few paces behind me. I watched as the Warden and his crony vanished back into the stronghold. Inside the wagon I exchanged a smile with my prisoner. Free at last, free at last.

Ozai PoV

Finally, I could see the sun, I could feel the wind, smell the fresh air, but none of the splendors of the world could compare to the beauty of what I was able to do next. I reached out and embraced my Ursa. I lifted her helmet off of her perpetually beautiful head and I held her close to me in a way that was urgent and hesitant all at once. I felt her return my embrace through the metal materials of her semi-revealing prison guard's outfit. Reluctantly I let her end the embrace and I let go of her. Then I caught something in her eye an instant before I felt the world slip away. I felt her soft lips connect and contrast with my own. The sweet caress of her lips took me back to years ago. Before the power, before the complications, before what we had was tainted by the ordeals of the world. I melted into the fire still within her. I went from cherishing the moment to greedily pulling her closer, but just a moment after she ended the passionate kiss. I closed my eyes and sighed. Yes we were moving far away from the reach of the Warden, but we couldn't be moving without the driver that carried us along the roads. I brought my senses reluctantly back to the scene at hand, though I wished to forget the world for just a few moments and know nothing but her.

"We aren't going to a ship setting its course for the North Pole."

I cleared my throat, "Then how are we getting to-"

She pressed a finger to my lips, "Give me one second," She requested before disappearing into the driver's bench behind the somewhat heavy tarp that separated the compartments. Almost immediately I heard a soft thud, like a body hitting the packed ground. As we rode on I glanced out the back of the cab, my suspicions confirmed by the sight of the former driver's unconscious body lying off to the side of the road.