Hello there everybody! RunsWithScissors is here with her 10th chapter! Sorry I haven't updated sooner! School and family have been getting in the way of my writing so it has been difficult to get in some writing time!

I will try to update the best I can from now on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I only worship it as a Zutara and Taang fan

This chapter is dedicated to Mr. Average! You are so nice and sweet so I had to dedicate this chapter to you! I hope you enjoy it! (Even though there isn't much Taang in it!)

xXx Chapter Ten xXx

Escaping

Last Time in Chapter Nine:

"Zhao you fool!" She cried, laughing her head off. The two soldiers silently declared that she was obviously crazy.

'Doesn't he realize what he did by moving me down here!? I'm closer to water!' She thought, erupting into another fit of laughter.

Katara could waterbend

"Okay, where would they hold Katara and Iroh?" Aang whispered leaning towards Zuko slightly. They just got below deck when three hallways going in all different directions greeted them. Sokka, Aang and Zuko were stopped there, weighing their options of going down each hallway.

"They are most likely in the prison cells near the center of the ship. But I might be wrong because they have to prevent Katara from waterbending," Zuko said, peering down the hallway to his left. "I believe that way will lead us to them."

Sokka quickly shot down the hallway in a very fast run. Zuko rolled his eyes and groaned as he chased after the Water Tribe boy. He quickly caught up to him and grasped Sokka's shoulder tightly.

"Do you want to be caught?!" Zuko whispered harshly, his eyes seething with anger. "Because if you do keep running but you will be alone," he said, squeezing Sokka's shoulder to get his point across.

"I want to find my sister!" Sokka said, returning Zuko's anger but with slight pain from Zuko's grip on his shoulder. "Don't you want to find Iroh?"

"Of course I want to find Uncle but running around like a fool won't get us anywhere," Zuko said releasing Sokka's now bruised shoulder. The warrior rubbed it and glared at Zuko. Aang walked quickly over to Sokka and Zuko, very surprised that no one was dead.

"Fine then," Sokka sighed, seeing Zuko's point even though he didn't want to. "Lead the way," he said, stepping to the side. Anger and pain were still in his eyes but understanding was also in them.

Zuko nodded and started to walk down the hallway, inspecting doors as he past them. Sokka quickly followed looking at every door Zuko looked at to make sure the fire bender wasn't passing over his sister's cell.

Aang followed the two anxious teenagers not even looking at the doors. He kept peering over his shoulder, making sure no one was following them.

'I hope this goes smoothly,' Aang thought, running quickly to catch up with the two boys. 'Why do they have to walk so fast?' He thought, pushing himself to keep up with the two older boys.

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'Okay just a little bit more,' Katara thought, biting her lip in concentration. She had been building up a large ball of water for about 15 minutes and it was now almost as big as her. Katara had been planning an escape plan since she first got separated from Iroh.

'Just a little more,' She thought slowly inching towards the door. Katara tried to make as little noise as possible but the wooden floors kept squeaking under her boots.

She saw a guard slowly turn his head towards the small window in the door to see what she was doing. 'Now or never!' Katara thought, shooting the water at the door. The door flew up, knocking the guard on the right against the wall with such a force he was unconscious in seconds.

Katara ran through the open door and waterbended the other guard down the hallway. The man flew down the hallway and smacked his helmet and head on the floor. He groaned in pain than his head slumped to the side unconscious.

"Yes!" Katara said, running over the guard and running up the stairs. A large water ball was still in her hands in case she was attacked. As she turned the corner towards Iroh's cell she saw Zhao step out of his room.

'Shit.'

"You! How did you get out?!" Zhao roared, running towards Katara.

'Eep!' she thought, shooting half of the water she held at Zhao. He was knocked back into the wall, his shoulder hitting with a sickening crack. He cried in pain and glared at Katara. But before he could react, Katara quickly breathed towards the water.

The water that covered Zhao quickly turned to ice, freezing him the wall, his hands behind his back. Katara smiled at her handy work and quickly ran past Zhao.

"You little bitch!"Zhao called after her, slowly heating his hands. He felt the heat creep into his back and he yelped in pain. "I'm going to kill you!" He screamed, starting to struggle against the ice.

'Now where was Iroh's cell?' Katara thought, looking at all of the doors, Zhao's words echoing in her ears, which made her look faster.

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Zuko was about to kill Sokka and no Avatar was going to stop him

Every door he passed, Sokka looked in and sighed. When Zuko asked what he was doing, Sokka told him he didn't trust Zuko that he would probably skip over Katara's cell and leave her for the Fire Nation.

'Like we would want a Water Tribe peasant,' Zuko thought, looking quickly in another door. He then heard Sokka shuffle behind him and look in the same door. Zuko's eyebrow twitched as his anger started to grow.

As Zuko passed another door and when he heard Sokka look in, his anger got too much to control. As Zuko started to turn to pick a fight with Sokka, he heard someone yelling and cursing. 'I know that voice,' Zuko thought, running towards the voice.

"Zu-"

"Sshhh!"

As the three of them turned the corner, they were face to face with a frozen and angry Zhao. They all sat there bewildered at the frozen admiral.

'Guess Katara got out,' the three of them thought. Zhao looked at them and then glared.

"Don't just stand there! Unfreeze me!" He roared, his face red with anger. "When I get a hold of that girl…"

Zuko had to stomp on Sokka's foot to keep him from blowing their cover again. Zuko quickly walked over to Zhao and began to unfreeze him. Aang and Sokka just stood there watching Zuko with bewildered eyes.

'What is he doing?!' They thought, Zuko finishing off enough ice so Zhao could break it. He did it quickly and began to run down the hallway Katara went down.

"You three! Follow me!" Zhao yelled at Zuko, Aang and Sokka. Zuko nodded and began to follow the admiral.

"Before you ask, don't. He is leading us to Iroh and Katara," Zuko whispered, motioning for Aang and Sokka to follow him.

"Oh," the two clueless guys said before running after Zuko and Zhao. 'Good thing we grabbed the helmets with the face masks on them,' Aang thought, quickly running after Zuko and Zhao with Sokka at his side.

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"Iroh!" Katara whispered loudly, looking through the top of a door. She sighed when she saw he wasn't in there but another storage room. "Iroh! Where are you?" She whispered knowing Zhao was probably free from the ice by now.

'Come on Iroh! Give me a clue to where you are,' Katara thought, walking quickly down the hall, turning her head to look behind her ever once and awhile to make sure she wasn't being followed.

"Iroh?" Katara called, looking into yet another room but was met with a weapon room, filled with swords, pikes, spears and gunpowder. Katara wrinkled her brow in frustration and disgust and moved on down the hall.

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Iroh was bored to tears

After they took Katara away, Iroh was sitting on the bed, head in his hands, thinking. He was finally allowed to have a small pot of tea since Katara wasn't in the room to bend the water but Iroh didn't even reach for it. 'Probably poisoned anyway,' Iroh thought, glancing at the now cold pot of tea.

"Maybe some sleep will calm my nerves," Iroh mumbled to himself, slowly lying down on the rough, flat bed. He groaned in discomfort when the bed gave him no support and thought that even the floor was more comfortable then the bed.

Iroh's eyes slowly began to shut when he heard a sudden commotion from outside his door. He was about to ignore it when he heard the soldiers outside his door begin to shout.

"How did you get out?!"

"Get her!"

'Katara?' Iroh thought, quickly sitting up. He got off the bed and shuffled over tot eh door. His guess was answered when he saw the soldiers held against the wall with a thick layer of ice.

"Iroh?" Katara said, looking in the door only to be met with Iroh's laughing eyes. She squeaked in surprise and stumbled back from the door, her heart racing suddenly. "You scared me Iroh!" Katara said, reaching for the keys on the frozen guard.

Iroh chuckled lightly. "I could tell. I am sorry my dear but you surprised me. How did you get out?" He asked, wondering how she could have gotten out without being caught.

"I'll tell you later but right now we need to get off the ship. Zhao should be coming any minute to kill me," Katara said, shoving the key in the door and turning it. It made a clicking noise and the door swung open allowing Iroh to step into the hallway.

"Which way?" Katara asked knowing Iroh would know a Fire Nation ship better than her.

"This way. Quic-" Iroh said before stopping when he heard the sound of running feet and the clanging of metal. Katara and him looked behind them to see Zhao running towards them with two soldiers and a captain with him.

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'Does this oaf know where he is going?' Zuko thought, following Zhao through the hallways in the direction Katara went obviously. They had been running for about 10 minutes, following Zhao as he ran and cursed through the halls, looking in every door they passed.

Suddenly Zhao, Zuko, Aang and Sokka rounded a corner just in time to see Iroh emerge from his cell and Katara standing with him. They both turned to look at Zhao and them, their eyes widened with surprise.

'Uncle,' Zuko thought, his mind no longer racing as fast out of fear for his uncle safety. He heard a sigh behind him, knowing Sokka was also at a bit more ease. 'But I'll feel much better once we are all this damn ship,' Zuko thought.

"There you are, you little witch," Zhao growled, his body giving off a sudden scorching heat. "Thought you could escape did you? Well now the Avatar won't be able to save you once I am done," Zhao shouted, stepping towards the two. His hands turned into fists and began to glow with heat.

Before anyone of the guys could react, Katara threw the rest of her water at Zhao and the three soldiers, knocking them back and cooling down Zhao's fists. She whipped her head around and looked at Iroh frantically.

"Run?" Katara asked hopefully

"Quickly!" Iroh said, the two of them running down the hall like Fire Lord himself was after them.

Okay I'm going to leave it off here! Once I again I apologize for not updating in so long! My brother is joining the military, so my family has been high strung.

Once again this chapter is dedicated to Mr. Average! Thank you for reading!

Until next time

Love & Peace

RunsWithScissors

P.S.: Okay I'm going to put a small rant at the end of my story. If you are one of those people who has nothing better to do than run around reading people's stories and bashing them horribly, I ask you please stop. It can hurt the writer and you come off as a jerk. If that's all you do than I suggest you either get a hobby or a life.

Thank you