Chapter 6

AN: I hit 20 reviews! You guys are the best readers ever, even if you didn't review. I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but I wrote it in halves and deleted the second one. I'm really sorry and I'll try to update again tomorrow. I posted my second story ever two days ago, The Blue Uprising, but I wanted to let you all know that this fic will come first, and I promise to only work on TBU when I'm ready to post the next chapter of this. So originally I planned on having like four chapters up by now at the most, but I love writing it and I have basically stayed up late every night writing. So it's going to continue, and I want to finish it before my birthday, which is in November. Since school starts next week my posting rate may slow down, but this story will be at least 35 chapters. I have an easy schedule (since it's my senior year) so I can stay up late writing. I just wanted to let you guys know so you don't all hate me if I can't keep posting every other day. Anyway, enjoy chapter six!

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The entire day had gone by uneventfully, and Zuko and Katara had made small talk over pointless things like climate differences between the Fire Nation and the South Pole. As Zuko had predicted, the pair of benders had reached their destination just before sunset, and had already set up camp. Katara was cooking dinner as Zuko donned his Blue Spirit disguise, minus the mask. He kind of missed it; the clothes weren't as cool and mysterious without the blue demon-faced mask. It didn't really matter, he just needed to blend in and not be seen in the shadows. Zuko planned to head into Sozin tonight so that he could try to learn the location of his uncle. Tomorrow night he and Katara would bust in and break out the retired general.

There were only two locations that were usable to keep such powerful prisoners, and both were heavily guarded. The palace had a dungeon that could easily hold Iroh, and so did the maximum security prison on the outskirts of town. Ironically, the maximum security prison had less security, so Zuko hoped his uncle was being held there. He planned to scope out whichever location Iroh was being held at to figure out approximately how many guards he and Katara would have to face.

They needed to be able to break Iroh out of prison, escape without being detected and get as far away as physically possible by sunrise; otherwise they would definitely be followed. Zuko and Katara getting captured was one thing, leading an army straight to the avatar was another. The safety of Aang came first, and they could not allow the Fire Nation to discover where Aang was. Zuko and Katara needed to be sure that they didn't lead the Fire Nation to the meeting site for the invasion, otherwise their plan would fail. Basically, if they were followed, they were screwed.

This meant that Zuko needed to make his plan absolutely perfect. There were not going to be any second chances here, so perfection was the only option. The question was: how do they get away? The Fire Nation had Komodo rhinos, tanks, and a plethora of other animals to ride. Zuko and Katara had their feet. The Fire Nation had thousands of men to search for them. Zuko and Katara had a four day travel, two of which would be spent almost completely out in the open. To say that they were at a disadvantage wouldn't even begin to describe the situation.

Zuko was snapped out of his trance as Katara reached a plate of opossum-chicken toward him. "I said dinner's ready."

Zuko grabbed the plate and looked up at the waterbender. "Sorry, I was thinking. Thank you, it looks amazing. And it's not even burnt this time." Katara blushed and gave a small nervous laugh. Then she noticed the prince's attire.

"Are you going somewhere?" He looked like a ninja and those were not his normal pajamas. Katara's blush deepened as she thought of Zuko's normal pajamas: a pair of shorts. She looked away to hide her dark red cheeks as Zuko responded.

"I'm going to try to figure out where they are keeping my uncle. Then I'll see how many guards we'll have to deal with so that we can devise an escape plan." Zuko continued to eat his dinner, which he noticed was cooked to perfection. Maybe Katara had burnt his food on purpose the other day.

"So what do you expect me to do?" Zuko began to reply but she continued. "I said I was helping you on this mission, which includes this. I'm going in with you."

Zuko noticed that this was a familiar conversation, and he decided that it would more than likely end up like the other one. He figured that Katara wouldn't cause problems if she could be stealthy. She already had the clothes for sneaking around; she needed them for the actual escape anyway. "Fine, you can go. Just stay quiet and follow my lead. We can't be seen tonight or else someone will figure out that something's up. I'm not going to fail this time, so you need to stay near me and do what I say. Got it?"

Katara was slightly angered by the way he was talking to her; it made her feel like a three-year-old. She decided that Zuko was just trying to be safe; he didn't want to risk losing his uncle. "Okay, I'll go get changed. Are we leaving right after sunset?"

"Yes."

Katara went into the tent (they actually put it up this time) and changed into her all black outfit. She returned to find Zuko doing his favorite thing once again. Staring into the campfire and contemplating his purpose in life. She thought that by now the firebender could probably have every second of the rest of his life planned out. She wanted to know what he thought about so much. She wanted to help him move on from whatever it was that haunted him so badly. She decided to take a guess as to what Zuko was currently wondering about. "You must really love your uncle a lot."

Zuko responded, but kept his gaze locked on the fire. "He has always been there for me. Ever since he lost his son to the war, he's treated me like a son. And until recently I was horrible to him. I always tried to please my dad, but my uncle was the one who deserved the effort. I can't stand the thought of losing him."

"You're not going to lose him, we'll get your uncle out of here safely Zuko, I promise." Now Zuko turned to face her. His eyes showed more emotion than she had ever seen from anyone. He looked so confused, and hurt, and... broken. "Are you okay, Zuko?"

"No, I'm not okay. I've made so many mistakes in my life, so many bad decisions. But for some reason there are still people that stand by me, and I always end up putting them in danger. Everyone I care about is constantly thrown into dangerous situations. First it was my mother, then it was my uncle, and now it's you." The words escaped his mouth before he even registered them. It was true though, he had come to care for Katara like a best friend, probably because she was his only friend, and soon she would be in danger because she was helping him. Zuko turned away quickly, embarrassed to no end at what he had just said. Katara thought she had seen a single tear escape his good eye, but she was a bit more focused on his words.

Zuko cared about her? What did that mean? Did he consider them friends or did he mean it as something more? Katara assumed it was the former and responded to try to make Zuko feel less awkward. "That may be true, but the reason those people are willing to stand by you is because they care about you too." Katara blushed as she spoke, but she cared about Zuko as well. She just didn't know how much she cared.

"But why? Why would anyone care about me? I'm a failure. I've ended up ruining everything I've ever started." Katara couldn't believe how someone who seemed so confident all the time could have such low self-esteem. His father had really gotten to him. Where Hakoda had taught his children to be compassionate, understanding, and to always fight for what you believe in, Ozai had taught his to be cold, emotionless, and powerful. Zuko couldn't be those things, so he considered himself a failure.

"You aren't a failure. You're fighting against your own nation because you know that they are wrong. You helped us escape Ba Sing Se successfully, and you are going to get your uncle back. Showing emotions, caring about people, and making mistakes don't make you a failure; they make you human. The fact that you never give up and you learn from the mistakes you make is what makes you successful. You're a good person Zuko, I know it. You just need to stay true to who you are."

Zuko smiled to himself. Never forget who you are. Zuko had failed, but he wasn't going to again. He knew who he was now, and he would never let himself forget it. He found it a bit amazing that it took the words of a "water peasant" to make him realize that he still had hope for himself.

"I think you're right Katara. Thank you."

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Sokka, Toph and Aang had been airborne for two hours now. After they had all put on their disguises, they had gone into town to go shopping. Sokka was looking at a fine collection of well-crafted swords when a huge chorus of angry screams filled the air outside. A large of group of people was pointing at the now hatless avatar screaming things like "get him!", or "kill the avatar!" Aang later explained that he had simply greeted a teenaged kid by saying the traditional 'flameo' and bowing deeply. The other kid had said something about a dork before grabbing and throwing Aang's oversized hat, revealing the monk's airbending tattoos.

Aang was sitting up front thinking about the whole Katara situation, and Sokka had been stuck on the same I Spy game for six minutes now. He couldn't see anything else that started with the letter 'N'. Maybe he was just bli... Wow. "Really Toph, again? Why did you suggest the game if you can't play it? It's nothing. You see nothing."

"Took you long enough Snoozles, you fall for that every time. It's really pathetic." Sokka huffed angrily and tuned out the annoying laughs of the young earthbender. Why did she always feel the need to make him feel stupid? She was so normal that it was hard for him to remember that she was blind sometimes. Sokka figured that being mean was Toph's way of showing affection, albeit an annoying one.

Sokka decided to stop thinking about Toph, even thinking about her made him feel dumb. Instead his thoughts turned to his sister. He really hoped that she was alright, that she knew what she was doing. Travelling with the prince of the Fire Nation into the capitol of said Fire Nation just didn't seem like a good idea to Sokka. He knew that he was being a bit paranoid, but Katara was his baby sister, and it was his job to protect her. Instead he had to sit back and hope that she wouldn't get hurt or captured, trusting Zuko to keep her safe. It wasn't his fault that he was so worried; he was just being a good older brother. He had lost enough people he cared about already, his mother, for two years his father, Yue and Suki.

Suki.

Sokka still had no idea where she was, if she was even alive. He knew that she was captured by Azula along with the other Kyoshi warriors. What he didn't know was what Azula would do to them. Sokka knew that Azula was completely heartless and evil, but he hoped she wouldn't kill or torture his girlfriend. Actually, Sokka didn't know if Suki was his girlfriend, but they were very close, and she had kissed him… twice. Sokka wanted to try to find her, but he knew that helping Aang was more important, regardless of how badly he wanted to save the girl. It hurt for him to accept that he couldn't do anything about it, but everyone was forced to make sacrifices to help win this war. Sokka simply couldn't afford to be selfish. He needed to focus on the invasion and worry about Suki later. He didn't want to have two girls he cared about so much being held captive by the Fire Nation, and if Katara did get captured, Sokka would kill every Fire Nation soldier he had to in order to get his sister back. He had some small amount of hope that Zuko and Katara would at least learn of Suki's fate, but he knew that it was incredibly unlikely.

As Appa descended so the group could set up camp for the night, Sokka thought about what he would do after the war was over. As much as he missed his home, he couldn't imagine going back there, at least by himself. He had learned so much about the world and himself on his journey that he didn't know if he could go back to the monotonous life the South Pole had in store for him. Whatever he did, he knew that he would have the support of his family, and he knew that all of them would see the end of the war. Sokka wasn't going to let it tear anyone else away from him. In fact, Sokka wished that he could fight the war himself, so that no one he cared about would be put in danger. He knew that this was completely impossible, so the warrior resigned himself to protecting those he cared about whenever he could, and helping and supporting them whenever he couldn't.

Sokka just wished that he could do less supporting and more protecting.

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Azula was furious. No, she was worse than that, she was losing her mind with anger. If there was one more delay in getting to the My Lai forest, she would probably end up shooting lightning through the face of every crew member on the ship. The princess had expected to arrive within two days travel, leaving her enough time to prepare for the avatar and her traitorous brother.

At the rate they were currently travelling it would take at least another day late, making Azula two days later than she wanted to be. She had just burst into the control room and made her way over to the captain, who was now cowering away from her. Ty Lee watched from the door, not wanting to risk Azula's wrath being turned on her.

"How much longer will it take us to reach the forest if we travel at full speed?" Azula was so angry that steam was coming off of her. Literally.

"W-we c-could probably b-be there by t-tomorrow, sixteen hours at l-least, p-princess." Azula became even more enraged and now smoke was pouring from her mouth with every breath she exhaled. The captain's eyes widened when he noticed this.

"WE WILL BE THERE WITHIN TEN HOURS OR YOU WON'T ARRIVE AT ALL! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" The captain nodded and Azula stormed away angrily. She went back to her quarters, throwing aside two unlucky crew members that had accidently crossed her path.

"Sorry about that, she's just a bit stressed out right now. It was nothing personal." Ty Lee tried to make the captain feel better, but it had very little effect. She turned to follow her friend so she could try to calm the fire princess down. She was fairly certain it was a task that nothing short of a miracle could accomplish.

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Two figures crept silently through the shadows of the empty streets of Sozin. The only things that could be seen were the occasional hand gestures from one to the other. The streets were completely vacant, the guards that normally patrolled them were nowhere to be found. Candles and lamps still lit the houses, so the guards were the only ones that were not in their usual places.

Zuko was once again surprised by the waterbender. She was actually pretty good at being stealthy. She could definitely improve, but she was far better than Zuko had expected. He had been worried that she would try to talk or walk into a lit area, both of which would immediately blow their cover. She had actually made very little noise, her steps were a bit louder than they needed to be, but that wasn't too big a deal.

Zuko had noticed the severe lack of guards, which was not normal for this time of night. Crime rates were pretty high, so guards or soldiers would act as a police force during the night. The first thing Zuko had thought upon seeing the streets so empty was that his uncle's execution had been moved up, and that everyone had gone to the palace to watch. When he saw the lights in some of the houses, he knew that was not the case. They had been travelling for about ten minutes before Zuko finally spotted two guards. They were heading to the maximum security prison, so Zuko assumed that they were changing shifts. He signaled Katara before climbing onto a nearby roof and following them.

Katara saw the signal and knew exactly what he meant. She was to follow from the next street over to avoid any risk of detection. She went as quietly as she could and followed the faint outline of Zuko. She couldn't hear anything, so she let her mind wander to the conversation she had had with Zuko earlier.

Katara was both amazed and concerned at how fast she had come to trust the banished prince. He was actually a good person once you got to know him. Considering how his family was, he turned out a lot better than expected. Now that he was starting to open up, Katara could see what Zuko could be like. He could be caring and compassionate, despite being raised to be the exact opposite.

The waterbender smiled to herself. She had been able to get through to Zuko. He had always walled himself up and locked away his emotions, but Katara had been able to get past that. She had always been good at helping people, but Zuko seemed like an impressive accomplishment. She wondered how many people the prince had ever opened up to before. She assumed the number was around three, including her, so it was a pretty impressive feat. In less than three weeks she had come to trust her ex-enemy more than she had ever expected to. She just couldn't help but wonder why Zuko was opening up to her at all.

When Zuko's silhouette came to an abrupt halt, Katara stopped as well. Zuko signaled her to stay put, so she tried to listen to any noises she could hear. She was curious as to how Zuko could even see her, but he was a lot better at the whole stealth thing than she was. The guy definitely knew what he was doing. She tried to focus on her mission, but couldn't get the firebender off of her mind.

Zuko had been having trouble concentrating as well, but forced himself to focus in on the conversation taking place below him. The two men were definitely talking about his uncle. "I'm telling you, the old man is losing it. He just sits there all day doing nothing."

"That's probably why the Firelord was willing to call almost all of the guards to the palace. What do you think they're talking about?" So Iroh was being held at the prison... good.

"I heard it had to do with the eclipse, we are building a bunker and evacuating the city before it happens. That way we can fight while we have our bending."

"But the enemies' two biggest threats are the child avatar and our pathetic ex-prince. How big of a threat could they possibly pose?" Ouch, that stung.

"I don't know. Don't forget that princess Azula is off hunting the avatar as we speak. After she defeats him, we will win without any trouble at all." Wait, Azula was after Aang? That's not good.

Zuko hopped off the roof, landing silently right next to Katara, and scaring the waterbender in the process. Zuko had thought she might scream, so he covered her mouth with his gloved hand. "Calm down, it's just me."

Katara relaxed as Zuko dropped his hand. She whispered back to him, "Did you learn anything? Where is your uncle?"

"He is being held at the prison, and most of the guards are attending a meeting about the eclipse. So we basically have two options." Zuko decided to leave out the other things for now; he would tell Katara about his sister later. "Option one is the original plan, come back tomorrow night and break him out. Option two is to go in now, while there are fewer guards, and get out of here tonight."

Katara knew which option Zuko preferred without even asking. "Let's do this."

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Mai had just received a letter from Azula. Apparently the avatar was alive and Azula needed Mai's help yet again. Mai had actually been getting use to the monotonous life in New Ozai, but she knew better than to refuse a request from Azula. The only thing was that she was sick of Azula. Sick of the way her so-called friend treated her. It was like Azula couldn't be nice at all. She didn't ask her friends to do things, she ordered them to.

Mai didn't want to go back to Azula. She didn't want to leave her little brother. Okay sure, she hated New Ozai, but she hated being with Azula even more. The only thing that really kept her around was Ty Lee... and fear.

You know what, no. I'm not going to help Azula. She could kill the avatar herself, but Mai wasn't going to take part in it any longer. She wasn't going to take Azula's orders anymore. Mai could make her own decisions, and she wasn't going to be pushed around anymore. Screw Azula.

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Zuko and Katara patiently waited for the shift change to be completed. This was perfect. No one would come by until morning, giving the benders more than enough time to escape with Iroh. The two guards they had seen earlier had walked into the prison about five minutes ago, during which time Zuko thought things over. First he planned out exactly how they would rescue his uncle. He had already told Katara his plan, which was really quite simple. Walk in, take out the guards, steal the keys, open the cell, and walk out. The hard part would have been going unnoticed, but the teens had the luckiest timing ever. Zuko noticed that his luck had done a complete 180 when he had joined the avatar, and wondered how big a factor karma actually was. It had to have been a pretty big one.

So now that the planning was done, Zuko's mind drifted toward his waterbending companion, despite his efforts to focus. Zuko had absolutely no idea why he found it so easy to talk to the girl. Normally he didn't even open up like that to his uncle, and he had really only known this girl for two and a half weeks. The firebender couldn't help but wonder how much he trusted and cared about the girl, and why. Did he like her? Of course he did, but how much did he like her? She was very kind and trusting and she knew how to take care of herself (as well as a ragtag group of kids). These were all things that Zuko admired about her, but she also had a short fuse and was very stubborn. This would have been worse if it wasn't for the fact that Zuko was the same way. Perhaps the most important thing was that she accepted him, in spite of everything he had done to her and her friends. Not to mention, she was definitely attractive.

Okay, so Zuko liked her as more than a friend. He decided that this was not a good thing considering that Katara was the avatar's girl. He promised himself that he would never act on his feelings, and he wouldn't do anything to give himself away.

Katara suddenly elbowed Zuko in the ribs. He looked up and saw two different guards exiting the prison. After waiting for them to get completely out of sight, Zuko and Katara took off toward the prison. With a quick melting of the lock, they were in. Zuko took the lead and Katara followed him down a winding set of halls. She ran right into his back when Zuko stopped suddenly. He looked around the corner to see the two guards standing outside a group of cells. That must be where they were holding Iroh. The idiots were facing the other way, so Zuko quickly knocked both of them unconscious with two hard hits to the back of the head using the hilt of his broadswords. He found the keys and grabbed them before telling Katara the coast was clear. Zuko scanned the cells before landing on the one his uncle was in. He sprinted to the cell and immediately started trying keys. "Uncle! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"

Zuko finally found the right key and opened the door to the cell. He embraced his uncle as soon as he had set foot in the small cage-like room. "I'm fine nephew, I'm glad to see that you are as well."

They continued to talk but Katara stopped listening in order to give them a little privacy. Her eyes roamed the dank row of cells before she saw one that had a prisoner. Katara walked over to the bars and saw that the prisoner was a girl. She had brown hair and appeared to be around Katara's age. Katara could have sworn she recognized the girl from somewhere when the prisoner turned over and faced the waterbender.

"Suki?"

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A/N: Once again guys I am so sorry! I swear I won't do that again! Anyway, I know that the Mai scene seems pointless, but it will be somewhat important later on. There was originally another scene with Aang in this chapter, but it was really stupid and pointless. There will be more Taang next chapter, as well as some actual Zutara action. They are just now realizing their more-than-friends feelings, so there hasn't been much romance yet. Zuko was really angsty at the beginning, but that's Zuko. Anyway, I hope you all liked my late chapter, but I'll post again tomorrow, this time for sure.