A/N: REWRITE COMPLETE EVERYONE! I'M ACTUALLY REALLY HAPPY WITH THIS AND HOPE YOU WILL BE TOO. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE MSGS, IT MADE DECIDING SO MUCH EASIER. ALSO, TITLE CHANGED.
PLEASE ENJOY, THOUGH I'D REALLY RECOMMEND GOING BACK AND STARTING ANEW.
"FUCK I NEED TO PEE!"
"SHUT UP!"
"MAKE ME!"
The guard glared at Tomu from behind his cell. He didn't sign up for babysitting duty and would soon lose his mind having to deal with this brat. But it would all be over soon. They weren't far from the site they'd be dumping him in for the time being. It was a holding facility on its own island where criminals were sorted before being shipped out to the actual prison. The brat would probably end up in the prison next to the capital. Or even the Boiling Rock. All he knew was that the princess had matters to attend to and would simply be dumping off the trash for the time being.
The door slid open revealing the Fire Nation Princess.
"Leave us." She ordered.
With a formal salute, the guard was off.
"To what do I owe the honor?" Tomu looked up at her, legs crossed and head resting on his fists.
"I want to know why you joined my idiot brother in this stupid game you two appear to be playing," she crossed her arms. "What did he promise you in return?"
"What? Nothing!" He sat up properly. "I did this out of my own volition. Azula we're trying to save the Fire Nation! This isn't some game. Zuko finally cleared his head and it's about time you did the same! The Fire Nation is in danger and you could be as well!"
"Ha," she scoffed. "The only danger I see is the one you'll be in unless you learn to shut your traitorous mouth. But because I'm such a generous person, I'll offer you a choice seeing as how you appear to be so misled by my dear ol' brother."
"Are… are you offering me an ultimatum?" he looked at her skeptically.
"Mm, perhaps. Surely you wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life rotting away with the other traitors once all of this is over with?" she tilted her head to the side.
"I already told you Azula, you don't scare me. I'd rather rot than betray my best friend. And besides, if I did accept whatever you had to offer, there'd be no way of trusting you."
"Did Zuzu tell you that? Surely you don't believe everything he's told you?" she questioned in a mock tone.
"He's never given me a reason not to," he replied sternly.
"How cute. You must care enough about him to wish nothing, bad, happens to him."
"I care about all of my friends, you included. Which is why you need to open your eyes and see everything clearly for your own damn safety! Something bad will befall the Fire Nation and not even you will be able to stop it!" he was gripping his ankles, hating the fact that he couldn't stand.
"My eyes are open and things have never been clearer! I thought I could reason with you and offer you an opportunity to prove yourself to me but I can see now that in these past few years you've become just a big a fool as Zuko," she turned to leave.
"And you've become an even bigger tempt!" He shot back.
"I'm the Fire Nation Princess," she waved as the door closed behind her.
The guard from before entered shortly after.
He cleared his throat. "Ex-girlfriend?"
"Man, not even," Tomu groaned and lay down on his side.
Sokka watched as Zuko sat alone on a rock near the campsite. Something was troubling Zuko and he had a hunch on what it might be.
"Hey, mind if I join?"
Zuko looked up. "Yeah, go for it."
They sat in silence until Sokka spoke up.
"Worried about Tomu?"
With a sigh, Zuko nodded. "I'm sure he's alright, but… but what if? What if they didn't make it? What if he was captured by my sister? Do you have any idea how bad that would be?"
"I think being captured by your sister is bad enough."
"You don't understand. He and my sister kinda have some recent history."
"What!? Tomu and Azula!?" Sokka couldn't believe it.
"Shhh! Keep it down! But yeah. He took my sister on a date not that long ago but the thing is that she didn't recognize it was him. My sister's not dumb. I know she now knows it was him. But I also know that she had no idea he'd be joining me in this."
Sokka placed an assuring hand on Zuko's shoulder. "He seems to be a really tough dude. I'm sure he and the others made it out safely and are waiting for us at that island you mentioned."
"Yeah." Zuko nodded. Tomu was alright, he just knew it.
Tomu's dead fish eyes were an ever-growing sign of his irritation. If it wasn't one cell it was another. The only difference was that he could move, had a bench to sit on, and a sleeping bag. He wasn't sure how long it would last though since this place wasn't exactly a prison. It was still high security but it was more of a holding center until they sorted you into an available prison. It was, after all, easier to transport multiple people as opposed to making multiple trips for individual people.
He'd give it a few days. He was the princess' prisoner after all so he'd either end up at the Boiling Rock or somewhere near the capital… or even in the capital. He shuddered. None of those sounded pleasant.
A banging on his cell door caught his attention as it opened, revealing a guard holding a mop and a bucket.
"You're on cleaning duty." He tossed them at Tomu.
Well that was something to do. He followed the guard to where some of the inmates were allowed to roam and got to mopping alongside another inmate. He was slightly taller than Tomu and had a stocky build with dark shaggy hair.
"New guy huh?"
Tomu nodded. "Unfortunately."
"What did you do?"
Tomu stopped mopping for a second to think about, what had he done? "I took the princess on a date." And he continued mopping.
"No way?!" the man stopped mopping for a second. "So, are you like an enemy to the Royal Family?"
"That's probably how it's being seen. What are you here for?"
"Ah, you know, causing trouble for some nobles," he shrugged. "Well, best of luck to ya."
"Thanks, you too."
The next day was spent like the last, sleeping and mopping. It wasn't until the third day when he was allowed to roam a designated area. He was sitting alone at a table mulling nothing in particular when someone tapped his shoulder.
"Hm?" he glanced back only to be blinded by a pair of… small arms wrapping around his neck.
"Tomu!"
"Ty Lee!?" he stood in disbelief. It really was her! But what was she doing here? She was an inmate? "Mai!? You're here too?!"
"Eh," Mai shrugged.
"Zuko told me what you did at the Boiling Rock. I'm glad you're alright. But, Ty Lee, what are you doing here?"
"Ehe, well…" she explained what went down after the gondola had left.
"Noooo," Tomu held her at arm's length in disbelief. "You really did that to her? Ty Lee you're a badass!" he pulled her into a hug, glad she was alright. "You too Mai, c'mere."
She sighed and joined with a side hug.
"What did you do Tomu?" Ty Lee asked.
Tomu explained the situation and what went down at the temple.
"So Zuko is alright," Mai commented with the slightest hint of a smile.
"I'm assuming Zuko told you some stuff before the invasion?" Tomu questioned.
Mai nodded.
"We need to figure out a way to get back to them. Do you know where you're going?"
"I think we might be headed to the capital," Ty Lee answered.
That was annoyingly far from Ember Island. They were closer now as it were.
"Hey Tomu," a new voice greeted.
Tomu looked up at the new voice. "Ah, Oskar. How are you?" he greeted with a firm handshake.
"Enjoying not having to mop the facility," he laughed. "Who are your friends?"
"This is… my sister, Ty Lee. And her friend, Mai," Tomu introduced. "They too were, you know."
Oskar nodded in understanding. "Ladies, if possible, may I have a moment with Tomu?"
They nodded and left them alone with a smile and a wave.
For the past two days Tomu and Oskar had been on cleaning duty together and for the most part chatted when they could.
"Do you know what you're going to do when you get out?"
Tomu looked at him quizzically. "When I get out? Man, I don't even know if I'll get out. I don't even know what prison they're going to take me."
"You said that you have your history with the Fire Nation. Well, if you had an opportunity to fix it, would you take it?"
Tomu smirked. That's what started everything in the first place. "Yes, I would. But I can't really do anything here. Heh, to be honest I wouldn't be so sure if I could do anything that would fix the Fire Nation." Tomu was very interested on where this conversation was headed.
"Alone probably not. But alongside brothers and sisters that share the same feelings as you, perhaps."
"Perhaps," Tomu rubbed his chin. He was very interested on where this conversation was headed. "But like I said, as long as we're in here, there's nothing that can be done."
"What if I told you that there was a way to get out?"
Ahhhhhhhh and there it was.
Tomu glanced around. "You?"
Oskar shook his head. "Brothers and sisters. Are you in?"
"Will my sister and her friend be in as well? We all harbor the same feelings and I won't leave without them."
"Of course, brother. Keep an eye out at night," he held his hand out.
Tomu nodded and shook his hand.
Ty Lee and Mai noticed Tomu alone so they went back over to him.
"So, what happened?" Ty Lee took a seat next to him.
"I think I've just been recruited..."
"For what?" Mai asked.
"I'm not sure, but I also think we might be getting out of here tonight. Stay alert."
A bell sounded overhead indicating they were to return to their cells. Food would be brought to their cells within a couple of hours then nightfall would soon follow.
With the sleeping bag over the bench, Tomu lay with his hands behind his head. He honestly had no idea what to expect. He felt time passing yet nothing. He was beginning to drift off when he could have sworn he heard some noises outside the cells. He was about to shrug it off, blaming his tiredness, when he heard another noise. He was positive he had heard it this time. It sounded much closer.
He sat up and closed his eyes, trying to focus on more noise when his cell was opened.
Ty Lee rushed in with Mai and Oskar standing by the door. "C'mon Tomu," she whispered to him.
Tomu nodded and joined the group.
"I went and got your lady friends," Oskar shook Tomu's hand.
"Thank you, Oskar." He noticed that it wasn't just them three. There were three other inmates with them.
"C'mon, the others will be waiting." Oskar led the way as they navigated some very empty halls.
Where were the guards?
After some more navigation, they turned into a hallway littered with unconscious guards.
Who the…
"Here," Oskar motioned for them to enter the guard tower. Once at the top, he pulled out a small mirror and maneuvered it in the moonlight towards the opposing tower. He kept doing that until something shined from the opposing tower. He then directed the mirror towards the ground until something shined from down below. "Stand back," he warned as a metal clawed hook grasped onto the ledge. "Go."
One by one they slid down the rope onto the ground below to where they were greeted by more people. There were probably about twenty of them total, not including the few that weren't wearing inmate uniforms, the outside men.
Alright, now they were out of the prison, how would they get off the island?
Those questions were answered as they found themselves in some hidden docks of sorts with a ship waiting. It was a navy vessel. It looked like a cruiser but it was too small to be a cruiser. Did they commandeer it? But how?
"Hurry, onboard."
Before they knew it, they were onboard and taking off.
"Well that was a rush," Mai sighed as she leaned against a railing.
"Tomu," Ty Lee wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down next to hers. "Those guards were chi-blocked," she whispered.
"W-what? Are you sure?"
Ty Lee nodded with absolute certainty as she stepped back.
"Ah, how are you siblings faring?" Oskar approached the trio.
"Oh, you know, relieved to have been able to escape together," Tomu wrapped an arm around Ty Lee's shoulders.
Ty Lee and Mai nodded.
"Wonderful. You three best rest up, the Fire Nation won't be bothering us ever again."
Tomu's eyes slowly widened as Oskar took his leave.
"I know who these people are…"
A/N: As always, love to hear what you think! And thank you once again!