"Would you believe it?"

Ozai looked up.

The Water Tribe man walked up to him, dragging a carcass behind him. "Would you believe how easy it is for some people to lie to another?"

He couldn't see very well, his eye was swelling and the only way he knew who was talking was by the annoying attitude of the man who had captured him.

"That's the problem with Fire Nation," He hung the dead animal up to the ceiling, so close to Ozai he could hear the flies buzzing, "You can never trust what they say. They're born liars. Evil to the core. All that."

The prince grumbled, it was hard to talk, his lips were cut.

"Y'know… I'd ask you who you actually are if I thought you'd tell the truth." The Water Tribe man laughed, "But I think we all know how'd that go."

"Hey…" Ozai whispered, his voice nearly as hoarse as the old man's.

"What do you want?"

"Hey…" The prince swallowed, completely unrecognizable as he spoke, "What's your name?"

The Water Tribe man stepped closer till Ozai could feel his breath. "You want to know my name?"

He nodded.

"It's Hakoda. Why do you ask?"

"I… I just wanted…" Ozai gritted his teeth, trying to speak louder than a whisper and failing, "Just wanted to tell you something important, Hakoda…"

He leaned in closer, "What?"

"I'm going to kill you."

Hakoda stepped back and even through his blurry eyes, Ozai could see the Water Tribe man staring at him. He was crossing his arms, biting his lip and staring so intently at Ozai, not worrying about the threat or even angry at it. Finally he spoke, his face plain of emotion, "Go ahead and try."

Then he left, not even looking back and the only thing Ozai could hear anymore was the sound of ice melting and freezing and a thousand million flies buzzing around the dead animal in front of him.


Hanging by his arms in the coldest place on the planet with a rotten dead animal swaying in front of him, it was hard for Ozai to ever find time to sleep.

So when he woke up in the middle of night, he was ready to kick or bite anyone stupid enough to want to bother him now of all times. He could only hope that the beating afterwards kept him unconscious for the rest of the night.

But tonight he was kicking, rocking his head and flailing for a full minute before he realized that there wasn't anyone there. Normally it'd be too dark for him to ever know that for sure, tonight in that dark prison was an eerie white glow and as he looked further down, Ozai realized it was coming from him. In fact, he could feel it against his thigh, a warm heat, completely unheard of in this arctic hell. And its light intensified, growing brighter and brighter even through the fabric of his tattered uniform and the dense darkness.

In that cramped room of his, that blocked the moon and stars, light began to swallow up the darkness, smudging every detail until it was one long streak of white. Then, that was all he could see.

Nothing.