A/N: I sincerely apologize to all my readers for the very very delayed posting. I wish I had a good excuse for you but I do not. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for all the positive feedback! Comments and reviews are always appreciated!
A month and a half passed and Azula did not return to Suki's cell. Kisume's death had been her final blow of misery on her favorite prisoner, a sickening parting gift deeper than any physical scar she could have branded with her flames. However, instead of the listless existence she had been honing before the escape attempt, Suki returned to herself a bit—more present in her daily life than she had been in a while. It was Kisume's wish for her to stay strong and so she tried to honor her memory by focusing on the good in the world around her just as the young water tribe girl would have done. Not a week after she passed a small wild flower sprouted from a crack in the prison yard and Suki took that as a sign from the spirits that she was in their grace. Suki also took comfort in knowing that Kisume's body had been returned to her homeland. Although she knew it was meant as message to her father, to fill him with sorrow and grief, she was glad the little girl was back where she was loved and out of the dark prison for good.
Suki lied in her bed, counting the little notches on her bed post. Seventeen weeks and four days she had been held captive according to the indents. She touched her face—in the shadow of her hairline near her left ear small little marks in the shape of a crescent moon followed the curve of her face where Azula's nails had dug into her flesh. She followed her neck down to a part of her back that was nearly finished healing; a patch of boils brought on by a fire whip was now a sand papery scab. Luckily due to her borrowed prison armor during the battle these were the only lasting physical wounds-only her face had been exposed after Azula had ripped her helmet off. Had she been more injured the thought sent shivers through her spine for without kisume's healing touch she would have had to endure the pain over these last few weeks alone.
Despite Suki's efforts to remain conscious and stable in her dank little world, loneliness crippled her soul. Without a friendly face or comfort left, staying optimistic was proving to be a very difficult task. Her only joy now was brought on by sitting in the sweltering sun of the prison yard from which she had just returned, and now was faced with long hours of dark solitude in her cell. She put her hands behind her head and sighed heavily, staring unblinkingly at the cold prison ceiling when the click and shriek of her cell door opening caused her head to turn. In walked a standard prison guard, his clunking steps approaching her bed. She immediately sat upright.
"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" She challenged, feet planting on the ground. The guard smirked, taking a lofty stance and crossing his arms.
"You mean you don't recognize me?" Suki turned away in annoyance. He was most likely another guard who had advanced on her on some point although she had hoped her knuckles would have been enough to inflict some distance between herself and those foolish cads.
"You people all look the same to me." She said with bite however this did not ward him away. Instead he smiled wider, a lopsided grin.
"Oh? Then maybe you'll recognize this—" To her horror the guard puckered his lips and dove for her mouth but Suki was ready for his attack. She firmly grabbed his face then pushed him with all her force into the cell wall—the nerve of this grimy, boorish louse making a house call to her cell! What kind of idiotic creep would do such a—and as his back hit the wall his helmet flung off and bright blue eyes met with Suki's soft brown gaze. Her heart leapt as if it were jumping free of her chest and her eyes widened in disbelief but despite herself she found the name fall from her lips—the very name that whispered through her mind over these long few months, the name she swore she would let go if only she could stop her memories from replaying that laugh, that smell of spiced cologne with a hint of beef, that eccentric voice, that lopsided grin—how had she not recognized it was him? "Sokka!"
She flung herself around him, crouching down to where he sat dumbfounded on the floor. She wrapped herself so tightly to prove he was real and he was here—that he came for her after all. "It's you!" Tears blurred her tightly shut eyes, a smile gracing her lips at the feel of his own strong arms pulling her into a comforting and reassuring embrace. They stayed this way for a long while though it could never be enough for him to know what it meant that he had found her. She pulled away first, knowing that there was so much to say but she lost her voice as she opened her eyes and found his staring back at her. He put a tender hand to her cheek and brushed a rapidly falling tear away and gave her smile that said "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner" She wanted to kiss his fingertips but before she could get a handle on herself Sokka put his arms back around her and lifted Suki to her feet. Her stomach swooped at the gesture and she kept her hands on his shoulders knowing she might buckle with emotion without his solid presence holding her up.
"The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?" His concern, stretching farther than her own wellbeing but to that of her comrades touched Suki but she had to look away, wishing she knew the whereabouts of her warriors.
"No…I don't know where they are. They locked me in here because I'm the leader." Sokka registered the pain that flashed over Suki's face and placed a comforting hand on her cheek once more.
"Well you won't be here for long-I'm busting you out." He said it so defiantly, wanting her to know that he hadn't failed her yet and that he would do all he could to take her away from this place. It felt like a dream, a sweet scenario created by her subconscious to fill the loneliness but this was far too real, to perfect and imperfect to be anything but Sokka and reality. Suki had always been a strong, independent warrior not a damsel in distress but she knew she could not escape this prison on her own despite her wits and grit. She always worked better in a team, her warriors proved that logic and with Sokka here the world seemed possible. She cupped his hand with her own, letting her cheek nuzzle into his rough palm so grateful they were together once more.
"I'm so glad to see you, Sokka…I knew you'd come." She squeezed his hand as a signal and he released her face only to pull her into an embracing kiss. His warmth spread into her, tingling from their lips and slowly enveloping her entire body, stirring right in her chest. This was a kiss far greater than one they had ever shared, so full of longing and fervor yet comforting all the same. Although the effect was lasting a metallic knock to the prison door cut their reunion short. From outside the cell muffled voices were arguing and Suki looked to Sokka with puzzlement. He put a single finger to his lips to motion silence then grabbed her hand and together they crept down in front of the door. Sokka perked his ears at the sound of the guards struggle outside and he leaned into Suki's hair, his breath tickling her neck as he whispered. "I'll come back for you soon, I promise." He left a small kiss on her hairline before sneaking out of her cell. Suki touched the place where his lips had been and slumped against the door, allowing the happy tears from before to spill down her face, knowing that Sokka was here now, and she would be alright.