Chapter 10: The Day of Black Sun

A sharp tap on Rinzen's door made her start before quickly folding up the blanket Zuko had given her and wriggling out the loose brick in her cell to shove the blanket inside. She and Sora had developed a system over the few weeks she had been imprisoned so far; if he knocked once, it meant that someone untrustworthy was coming and she had to hide the blanket entirely out of sight, and if he knocked twice, then Zuko was the one approaching her cell and she only had to fold it neatly and place it on the ground to pretend she hadn't touched it. However, Sora only had the evening and night shifts watching over her, which meant that she had to hide the blanket throughout the day while her morning and afternoon guard, whose name she didn't know, stood outside her cell.

Zuko had snuck down to visit her a few times since she had been imprisoned, trying repeatedly to convince her that he had done what was right, but she had turned her back on him pointedly every time until he had lost his temper at her unresponsiveness and left again, slamming the door shut behind him. She had made how she felt towards him clear enough that she didn't feel the need to speak to him anymore.

"Just delivering food to the prisoner," a rough voice said outside, startling her back to the present, and Sora opened the door for the guard to enter with a metal tray containing a wooden bowl of plain rice and a tin cup of water. He dropped the tray on the floor in front of the cell unceremoniously, sneering at Rinzen and earning a glare from her in return before turning on his heel and leaving again.

Sora wrinkled his nose when he noticed the spilled grains of rice on the ground as Rinzen pulled the tray into the cell carefully. "They really ought to be more considerate," he complained once the guard was out of earshot and Rinzen shrugged one shoulder as she picked up the bowl of rice and the pair of chopsticks to start eating quietly. She didn't talk much to Sora, as much as she appreciated how kind he was to her; she didn't know exactly what he reported back to Zuko and that left her still a little wary of him. When she noticed him lingering in the doorway, she looked up from her food and raised an eyebrow silently at him. He flushed slightly at having been caught and blurted out, "Sorry, it's just...I've been wondering about your arrow tattoos for a while now. What are they for?"

She was painfully reminded of all those months ago when Zuko had asked her the same thing on his ship. "They're marks of mastery," she answered Sora, dropping her gaze again and fiddling with her chopsticks to pick up a few stray grains of rice at the bottom of the bowl. "All airbenders got them when they mastered several forms and then invented their own move." Even talking about it now hurt more than it had then, when Aang had still been alive. Even if Rinzen had her freedom, she couldn't begin to carry on Air Nomad traditions when she had hardly known anything about them beyond the bare essentials. She had never been raised with that purpose, like all the other monks had been.

"What move did you invent?" The genuine curiosity in Sora's voice only made her heart ache just a little more for the loss of her people.

"It's nothing all that special." She set the empty bowl down on the tray, gulping down the cup of water. "It's actually a trick I used to do with my glider, where I could fly upside-down and hold on with my feet."

"That's so cool." Sora looked somewhat forlorn, though. "I wish I could've seen it."

"What're you so fascinated with airbender culture for, anyway?" she asked as she set the tray back outside the bars of her cell.

He shrugged mildly. "I mean, it's not like I ever met an airbender before you, not even the Avatar." Rinzen clenched her jaw instinctively at the mention of Aang, dropping her gaze deliberately away from Sora as she silently focused on wriggling the loose brick out of the wall and retrieving her blanket from the nook inside. "Sorry," Sora said after a moment. "I've got a little brother, too. I know what that's like."

"Do you?" Rinzen answered stiffly, pulling the blanket around her shoulders to ward off the night chill of the underground prison. "Your brother's still alive. Mine isn't."

Sora winced slightly even as he glanced out into the hallway warily before taking a few steps forward and then sitting down in front of Rinzen's cell. "What was he like?"

She looked up at him, fiddling with the ends of her blanket nervously. "Why do you want to know?" She was unsure what to make of the curious, sympathetic expression on his face.

"Well, he was the Avatar, you can't blame me for wondering. Did he have arrow tattoos, too?"

Rinzen bit her lip before nodding. "Yeah. He was the youngest airbending master in history. Got his tattoos at ten. He invented the air scooter, a ball of air you could balance on and ride around." She had only meant to give Sora a brief answer, but the moment she started talking, the details spilled out of her before she could stop herself. It was as if all her grief over Aang had been bottled up so long that it was starting to burst out like water through an overfilled dam. "He used to ride that stupid air scooter around all the time once he figured out how to do it and it drove me crazy. He taught all the other kids at our temple to do it, too, but I could never get the hang of it no matter how patiently he taught me. I'd always keep falling off. One time, I lost my temper over it and snapped at him and I made him cry. I felt guilty for a long time after that."

"You made the Avatar cry?" Sora raised an eyebrow, grinning slightly, but Rinzen didn't feel much like returning the smile or even rolling her eyes in response.

"I don't even think I ever really apologized to him for snapping." She dropped her gaze to her hands, twisted together helplessly in her lap. "He must've really thought I hated him for a while."

"I'm sure he didn't," Sora said quietly after several moments. "He must've known you loved him."

"I never told him I did, though." She blinked back the burning tears in her eyes, not wanting Sora to see her cry. "Not once."

"He'd've known, anyway. As long as you showed it in your actions, that's what matters." Sora reached through the bars, placing his hand over hers to squeeze it lightly, and she forced herself to exhale quietly and then look back up at him, plastering a tiny smile on her face. It hadn't made her feel that much better, but she didn't want him to feel bad. Thankfully, his touch didn't linger for long as he drew his hand back.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." He gave her a small smile in return and climbed to his feet, retreating back into the hallway. "I'll let you know if Zuko's on his way." He shut the door quietly behind himself and she took the opportunity to turn away from the door so that he couldn't see the hot tears starting to roll down her cheeks through the small window.

In the middle of the night a few days later, Rinzen was startled awake by swift footsteps approaching her cell. To her relief, Sora tapped on the door twice before opening it, giving her time to fold her blanket and place it as far from her as possible. Zuko slipped into the room, automatically glancing at the corner where her blanket was folded and pressing his lips together firmly, but said nothing about it as he pulled down the hood of the black cloak he wore.

"What do you want now?" Rinzen demanded wearily, scrubbing a hand over her face to make herself a little more alert before dropping her gaze to the hem of her shirt to fiddle with a loose thread, not wanting to look Zuko in the eye. "I told you a million times already, I've got nothing to say to you."

"Your brother's alive."

She froze, the loose thread from her shirt tangled in her fingers, before forcing a huff of laughter. It sounded humorless and dead even to her own ears. "That's very funny."

"He is," he insisted, sounding frustrated.

"You were there, you saw what happened to him. No one could've survived that," she pointed out.

"Your friend, Katara. She had a vial of water from the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole." Rinzen suddenly remembered the little vial that Katara had always kept around her neck, hidden under the neckline of her dress. "The water had special healing properties. She told me so herself." Zuko knelt in front of her cell until he was eye-level with her. "She had to have used it to save Aang."

Rinzen had never heard him use Aang's name before, and she finally dared to peek up at him to find him clutching the bars, staring at her desperately as if imploring her to believe him. "How do you know for sure?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly as, despite herself, hope settled inside her like a warm glow after what felt like an eternity on ice, even though it had only been a little more than a month since what had happened in Ba Sing Se.

He suddenly looked sheepish. "I kind of, maybe, sort of hired an assassin to track him down. Not to kill him!" he hurried to add, noticing her outraged expression as she opened her mouth to yell at him. She shut her mouth again, glaring at him pointedly until he offered up an explanation, "I only hired him to discreetly report back to me on Aang's location. They're here in the Fire Nation, traveling between the outlying villages."

"They're here," she echoed slowly, sitting back again as she took the information in. The chains rattled around her wrists with the movement, reminding her of her current situation. "So why're you telling me, anyway? Figured you wouldn't want me knowing any of this."

"Maybe my father and sister wouldn't if they knew, but, well." Zuko grimaced slightly. "I didn't want you thinking he was dead."

"Why does it matter to you?" Rinzen demanded, frowning now.

"It just does," he answered, sounding frustrated again as he ran a hand through his hair agitatedly and dropped his gaze away from her. "For a long time, I thought that if I made my father proud, I'd be happy, and I'd stop being so angry all the time. But I didn't. I was angrier than ever and I didn't know why."

Rinzen bit her lip hard. "Were you mad at me?" The question came out smaller than she had meant it to and she didn't know why the idea of Zuko being angry at her hurt so much.

"Of course not," he answered immediately as he looked up, his expression softening as his eyes met hers. "It was never you. I just...I didn't know what was right and what was wrong anymore."

"And you do now?" she asked skeptically and, for the first time in what felt like forever, he gave her a tiny smile. Her heart leapt into her throat.

"I'm starting to," he admitted quietly.

She dropped her eyes to the floor of her cell, not wanting him to see just how much his smile had affected her. "So what now? It's not like any of that matters anymore."

He hesitated, chewing his lip in thought. "Well, not exactly. Azula knows about the solar eclipse in a few weeks. And your friends' invasion plan. Which is good."

"In what world is that good?" she demanded, gaping at him in bewilderment.

"It means that she and my father will be focused on staying safe while their bending is gone," he explained. "Which means that could be our chance."

"Our chance?" she echoed, confused.

"To break you and my uncle out." Even as he said it, she could see the plan forming in his head as his expression set with determination. "I'm going to get you back to your brother on the Day of Black Sun. I promise."

Rinzen stared at him for a moment before huffing a bitter laugh. "No offense, but you've made promises before and they haven't exactly panned out."

He grimaced a little. "Okay, maybe I deserved that, but I mean it, Rin."

"Well, until it happens, I'm not gonna hold my breath." Seeing the look of hurt that flashed across his face, she managed a small, sad smile and a helpless shrug. "Sorry."

She half-expected him to change his mind about helping her on the spot, but to her surprise, he shook his head. "No, you're right. I already broke your trust once, but it won't happen this time." He reached through the bars and she reluctantly let him take her hand, unsure how to react to his warm fingers lacing with her cold ones. "The last thing I want is to hurt you again."

"What about Mai?" she blurted out before she could stop herself, drawing her hand back again so quickly that the chain on her wrist rattled loudly, and he frowned slightly. "Even if this does work, you'll be a fugitive from the Fire Nation for helping me and your uncle escape," she explained. "It's going to destroy your relationship with her."

"We already broke up." The revelation shocked Rinzen into silence as Zuko added with a small, wry smile, "Things were complicated, and neither of us felt the same way we used to for each other."

"Oh." She wasn't sure how else to respond, but felt guilty for the instinctive flash of relief that went through her at the idea of Mai and Zuko no longer together.

"I should get back," Zuko said, startling her out of her thoughts as he climbed to his feet. "I'll let you know the plan soon."

Rinzen didn't want to repeat that she didn't expect anything, not wanting to see the look of hurt on his face again, so she just nodded in response. "Okay."

She watched him pull the hood of his cloak back over his head before slipping out of the cell, closing the door behind himself, and waited until his footsteps retreated down the hallway before she retrieved her blanket from the corner of the cell to wrap it around herself again. She didn't think she'd find sleep again, her mind still reeling from everything that had just happened, but she found a little more comfort than she normally did in the blanket around her shoulders.

"There's been a complication," Sora admitted two weeks later as he placed a tray containing a bowl of rice and a cup of water in front of Rinzen's cell. He had taken to delivering her food to her after he had seen how rough and careless the other guards were, which Rinzen appreciated since he didn't glare at her like every other guard did.

"A complication?" she echoed, bewildered.

"With Zuko's plan," he clarified under his breath as he knelt down in front of her cell, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the other guard who had delivered Rinzen's food had disappeared down the hallway. "On the Day of Black Sun, I'm supposed to take you to another chamber here in the bunker."

"I don't see the complication in that," she pointed out wryly as she tugged the tray through the bars of the cell.

"The Fire Lord specifically ordered that you be brought to the same chamber as him until the eclipse is over," Sora said, grimacing slightly, and Rinzen nearly dropped the bowl of rice in her hands. She had thankfully avoided Fire Lord Ozai and Azula since the day she had first arrived in the Fire Nation, but whatever little hope she had of Zuko's plan working disappeared at the news. "He didn't want your friends finding you during the invasion."

Rinzen set her food down again, no longer hungry as she rubbed her hand over her face. "Great. So what now?"

"Don't worry, we're working on an alternative," Sora reassured her. "I'm gonna be the one escorting you to the Fire Lord that day and Zuko will come get you once the eclipse starts." Seeing the skepticism on Rinzen's face, he insisted, "He'll come for you."

"No offense, Sora, but he's already broken enough promises to me by now that I don't see any point in believing that," she answered, looking away from Sora's earnest expression.

"You know he's in love with you, right?" Her head jerked up as if of its own volition as she gaped at Sora. "I mean, it's kind of obvious," he added, shrugging one shoulder.

"Yeah, because getting my brother almost killed really means he loves me," she deadpanned, managing to stamp down the immediate shock just enough to respond.

"I'm just saying, I've known him practically our whole lives," he pointed out. "And I've never seen him the way he is around you. So that's gotta count for something."

"I guess," she muttered as she dropped her gaze again to the bowl of rice in front of her, not wanting to start another argument on the subject.

"Look, you don't have to forgive him for what happened. I know I definitely wouldn't right away if I were in your shoes." Sora climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "But for what it's worth, I really think he means it this time."

"I guess we'll see in a couple weeks," she said reluctantly, unsure how else to answer him. As he slipped out of the cell, she fiddled with the chopsticks on her tray of food, unsure how to wrap her head around the new information she had been given.

In love with her? She could hardly understand why he had even wanted to be friends with her before, much less how he could be in love with her. Even the idea of that kind of love seemed foreign to her. She did her best to put it out of her mind, deciding it was better to focus on escaping on the day of the solar eclipse first.

Zuko, and whatever confusing emotions he brought with him, would have to wait.

Rinzen awoke early on the day of the solar eclipse, her heart still pounding from her nightmare. It seemed she had hardly gone a single night without nightmares since Ba Sing Se, and she rubbed her eyes hard to try and rid herself of the vision of Aang falling from the sky, limp and lifeless. Even if what Zuko had said was true, and Aang was indeed still alive, she couldn't erase the image from her mind no matter how hard she tried. Even without a window in her cell, she could tell that it was so early that the the sun hadn't even risen yet, but she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes and attempt sleep again, nerves gnawing at her irritatingly and keeping her on high alert.

Sora opened her cell a few hours later, his faceplate missing so that she could see the grim expression he wore. The guard who normally took the morning and afternoon shifts stood just behind him, silent as usual.

"Time to go," Sora said and Rinzen was taken aback by how stiff and formal he sounded. He unlocked her cell with a key hanging from his belt before undoing her chains so that only the cuffs remained around her wrists, ushering her to her feet and leading her out of the cell into the darkened corridor of the underground bunker. Once they were out of earshot of the other guard, Sora relaxed and squeezed Rinzen's arm just above the manacle on her wrist reassuringly. "The eclipse lasts about eight minutes," he told her under his breath, "Zuko's gonna come for you the moment it starts, and you're gonna slip him this." He pressed a small, metal object into Rinzen's right hand and she grasped it blindly, making sure it was hidden by her fist.

"What is it?" she asked, stumbling a little over a stone in their path, and Sora steadied her easily.

"The key to your cuffs," he clarified. "He'll free you and then you're both gonna get out before the eclipse is over."

"What about the Fire Lord?" she pointed out, glancing briefly over her shoulder just in time to catch sight of the grimace on Sora's face.

"Well, he'll have guards, but knowing him, he'll dismiss them the moment Zuko says he wants to talk alone with him. The Fire Lord's nothing if not arrogant."

Rinzen frowned a little at the sudden bitterness in Sora's voice. "That's awfully bold of you to say."

He shrugged slightly. "He stopped being my Fire Lord a long time ago." He hesitated. "My dad was in the army, y'know. Got killed on the front lines four years ago."

Rinzen felt a pang of sympathy for him. "I'm sorry."

He gave her a small, sad smile back. "Thanks." He nudged her to turn right into another hallway that was a little more brightly-lit than the one her cell had been in. "His division was the one Zuko argued for protecting, when he spoke out in that war meeting," he admitted after a moment.

"The one that caused his father to challenge him to an Agni Kai?" Rinzen asked, surprised, and Sora nodded.

"Yeah. He didn't know at the time that my dad was in that division, but it still meant a lot to me that he tried to help." He fell silent as they reached a large door that was eerily reminiscent of the ornate throne room door. "This is it. Make sure he doesn't see the key."

"I will," she agreed, instinctively tightening her hold on the key, and he knocked briefly on the door before opening it and ushering her inside.

Fire Lord Ozai was already seated on an elaborate gold throne inside the large chamber, sipping a cup of steaming tea and looking annoyed - probably because he was being forced to hide underground in the first place. Several guards stood around the chamber, at attention and silent, and Rinzen couldn't help but feel a chill race down her spine at how eerie the scene in front of her was. Ozai looked up from his cup of tea, nodding briefly to Sora in acknowledgment, before gesturing to a raised dais on the far side of the room. Sora led Rinzen there before nudging her down onto her knees a little more gently than any other guard would have and then chaining her cuffs down to the dais so that she couldn't move off it. He subtly squeezed her arm one last time before executing a quick, stiff bow to Ozai and then slipping out of the chamber silently.

To Rinzen's relief, Ozai didn't seem interested in even acknowledging her presence, although the wary looks he kept shooting her gave her a bit of reassurance that it was probably so that there wasn't a repeat of the last time they had met and she had blown him back against his own throne. She kept a tight hold of the key in her hand, hoping that it was hidden well enough that no one could see it. Even if Zuko didn't come, she could attempt to unlock her own cuffs during the eclipse and make her escape while Ozai and his guards were powerless.

A chill seemed to descend around the room as the eclipse began, the guards shifting uncomfortably while Ozai tightened his hold on his cup of tea, his expression colder and more irritable now that he was almost entirely defenseless. Rinzen tensed as she fiddled subtly with the key, trying to turn it around to unlock the cuffs around her wrists. There was no way Zuko would come for her, she told herself. She had to get herself out of her restraints somehow.

The doors opened suddenly and she looked up, surprised at the relief that flooded through her when she saw Zuko entering the chamber. His broadswords were strapped to his back, his fists clenched and his expression set in determination. He glanced briefly in Rinzen's direction and she managed a tiny nod back at him, not wanting him to see just how glad she was to see him.

Ozai raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Prince Zuko. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to tell the truth," Zuko answered, setting his jaw.

"Telling the truth during a solar eclipse," Ozai mused dryly. "This should be interesting." To Rinzen's surprise, he gestured for the guards to leave. They silently filed out of the room and the doors closed behind them.

"First of all, it was Azula who took down the Avatar in Ba Sing Se, not me," Zuko said and Ozai raised an eyebrow again.

"Now why would she lie to me about that?"

"Because the Avatar's not dead, he survived," Zuko answered and Ozai's expression shifted into shock and anger.

"What?!"

"He's probably out there leading that invasion. He could be on his way here right now," Zuko added and Ozai tossed the cup in his hand aside, pointing furiously at the door.

"Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"That's another thing," Zuko said, scowling now. "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

"You will obey me or this defiant breath will be your last!" Ozai snarled, but Zuko pulled out his broadswords in a swift movement.

"Think again. I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen." Ozai's expression shifted between anger and resentment as he reluctantly took a seat on his throne again, his lips pursing further as Zuko sheathed his swords again and began to cross the chamber to the dais where Rinzen was chained. "For so long, I wanted you to love and accept me," he spoke as he walked, Ozai watching him grudgingly. "I thought it was my honor I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you justify a duel with a child?" He knelt beside Rinzen, who dropped the key she was clutching into his hand, and unlocked her cuffs.

"It was to teach you respect," Ozai snapped as Zuko helped Rinzen to her feet.

"It was cruel, and it was wrong!" Zuko retorted.

"Then you've learned nothing," Ozai said coldly.

"No, I've learned everything. And I've had to learn it on my own." Zuko slipped his hand into Rinzen's, clutching it tightly, and she let her fingers lace with his, watching how Ozai's eyes dropped to their intertwined hands and narrowed slightly. "Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world," Zuko added with a bitter smile. "What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us, and we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

Ozai laughed at that harshly. "Your uncle has gotten to you."

"Yes. He has. And so has she." Rinzen looked up to see Zuko gazing back at her, a small smile on his face. She managed a tiny smile back as she squeezed his hand and his smile widened slightly before he looked back up at Ozai. "After I leave here, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison and beg his forgiveness. He's the one who's been a real father to me."

Ozai laughed again at that, rolling his eyes. "Oh, that's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."

"But I've come to an even more important decision," Zuko added, hesitating for a moment before taking a deep breath and plunging ahead. "I'm going to join the Avatar and I'm going to help him defeat you."

That was news to Rinzen, who stared up at Zuko in shock, but Ozai only scoffed slightly. "Really? Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless. You've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?" he taunted.

"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." Zuko squeezed Rinzen's hand again gently before turning his back on Ozai. "Goodbye."

Rinzen turned to follow him out the door, still a little shaken by his decision to join them, but Ozai's furious voice behind them shattered through her surprise. "Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during the eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out." He paused for a moment before offering tauntingly, "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?"

Zuko stopped in his tracks, his hand tightening around Rinzen's, and she squeezed his hand back, cautioning quietly, "He's just trying to waste your time."

He bit his lip before wheeling around to face Ozai again reluctantly. "What happened that night?"

Ozai tilted his head consideringly, drawing out the words just as Rinzen suspected he would do. "My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son, and I was going to do it." The expression on Zuko's face, shocked and hurt like he had been punched in the stomach, made Rinzen press in closer to his side instinctively. "Your mother found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan, a plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared." Ozai smirked slightly at the memory. "Your mother did some treacherous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."

Rinzen doubted Ozai was telling the truth, but Zuko's voice cracked slightly as he asked quietly, "So she's alive?"

"Perhaps," Ozai drawled casually, closing his eyes. "Now I see, however, that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."

The air in the chamber seemed to shift slightly, the hairs on the back of Rinzen's neck standing on end, and Zuko suddenly tore his hand from hers, shoving her behind him as Ozai leapt to his feet and shot a bolt of lightning at them. Rinzen clutched at the back of Zuko's shirt, bracing herself for the impact, but he moved just as quickly to redirect the lightning fluidly in a way she had never seen lightning being bent before, sending the bolt back at the spot right in front of Ozai. It exploded as it connected with the ground and Ozai slammed into the back wall of the chamber from the force of the explosion, a cloud of smoke obscuring him from view. Zuko grabbed Rinzen's hand again and broke into a run as she stumbled slightly over her feet before falling into step with him. They didn't stop running until they ducked into a hidden passage in the wall that contained a staircase leading up and out of the bunker.

"Don't say you told me so, I know you did," Zuko blurted out breathlessly even as Rinzen opened her mouth. "I just had to know."

"I was just gonna ask where your uncle was," she pointed out dryly as she caught her breath. "But now that you mention it, I did tell you so."

"Oh." He flushed slightly as they began to climb the stairs quickly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed. "He's in the prison just outside the palace. Hopefully, the guards were dispersed by the rest of the invasion."

"What happened with the invasion?" she asked, realizing she had hardly heard anything about it so far.

Zuko grimaced. "They got past most of the army before the eclipse started, but I haven't heard anything about your brother or your friends. Now that the eclipse is over, though, they don't have much of a chance other than retreating."

"I figured as much." She winced as the bright sunlight hit her when Zuko led her out of the passage into the courtyard of the palace, squinting slightly until her vision adjusted to the sudden influx of light. "You got a plan for getting out of here?"

"I've got a war balloon ready," he reassured her. "It won't draw attention since everyone else is using them, too. Once we get my uncle, we can use it to get out and find your brother and the others." He tugged her hand to lead her out of the courtyard, breaking into a run again as the prison tower came into view. Rinzen followed him up the stairs quickly, taking in the unconscious guards slumped against the walls as they passed and wondering if the invasion had been through the prison tower. "Uncle!" Zuko called as they reached the top floor, stopping outside an open cell door, and Rinzen gaped at the mangled mess of metal in front of them.

"What happened here?" she said, bewildered, and Zuko released her hand to enter the room, grabbing the half-conscious guard to haul him upright.

"Where is my uncle?" he demanded angrily.

"He's gone. He busted himself out. I've never seen anything like it, he was like a one-man army," the guard answered, sounding half-dazed and stunned at what he had witnessed. Zuko dropped the man again, his expression worried as he glanced around for any sign of his uncle, and Rinzen slipped her hand back into his.

"Wherever he is, he's long gone now," she pointed out as he looked back down at her. "We need to move." Exhaling in frustration for a moment, he nodded reluctantly and let her pull him out of the cell and back into the hallway of the prison.

"The war balloons and airships are behind the palace," he said as they hurried down the staircase and out into the palace courtyard again. "If we can get there without being spotted, we can take off from there in the one I've prepared and see if we can spot Appa."

"He's pretty hard to miss," Rinzen agreed dryly. They ducked behind a wall as a group of guards rushed past, clearly on their way to the airships as well, and waited until they were out of sight before hurrying after them. They came upon a row of dark orange war balloons with the Fire Nation emblem painted on the sides, already inflated and ready for takeoff, and Zuko led her down the row until they came across one with a bag inside.

"This is the one." He untied the rope anchoring the balloon to the ground and climbed into the basket, helping her inside next, before opening the metal grate in the center compartment and pushing a blast of fire into it. The balloon swelled a little more, lifting off the ground, and Rinzen gripped the side of the basket to keep herself steady as it wobbled slightly.

"You sure you know how to fly this thing?" she asked skeptically.

"We'll be fine," he reassured her, pushing another flame into the metal grate so that the balloon gained more height and nudging a lever to start guiding it forward. Rinzen made her way to the front of the basket slowly, watching the ground drift further and further away, and focused on the destruction of the Fire Nation capital in front of her. Smoke rose from destroyed battlements and towers lining the path to the water's edge, where several ruined submarines were beached. She recognized the colors of the submarines as Water Tribe and hoped that the people who had been inside those submarines were safe.

Suddenly, a large white shape took off from a nook in the rocks near the beach and her heart leapt a little at the familiar sight. "There he is!" She pointed to Appa and Zuko looked up from fanning the flame in the compartment of the balloon, pushing the lever until the nose of the balloon was facing the sky bison.

"Any chance you know where they're headed?"

"The closest place they'll feel safe right now is the Western Air Temple," she admitted. "It seems the most likely, based on the direction they're going."

"Then that's where we're going, too." Zuko glanced over his shoulder at the airships that were hovering ominously in place behind them, but not moving forward. "What I don't understand is why we're not being followed."

"Probably because they know they've won." Rinzen glanced down as they passed over the beach, watching the groups of Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom soldiers being arrested below. "Most of the invasion force is being taken in. I'll bet the only ones left are on Appa right now." She hoped that Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were at least safe, but worried that she would arrive at the Western Air Temple to find one or more of them missing.

The sound of the metal grate shutting quietly behind her startled her out of her thoughts as Zuko approached her, his hand resting on her shoulder gently. "We'll find them," he reassured her.

She nodded, reaching up to place her hand over his and squeeze his fingers in return. "I know. And we'll find your uncle, too."

He managed a small smile at that and they turned to face forward again, watching Appa soar towards the horizon.

Yay, I actually managed to write a longer chapter!

It does feel a bit rushed for me, but honestly, I just wanted to get it out before writer's block descended on me again. (Also work has been keeping me really busy and I didn't want to risk losing the chance to finish up this chapter before I had to start traveling this week.)

I hope you enjoy it!