"Sokka," Toph whispered, tugging on his sleeve. "Do a few routine questions so I can get a feel for him. Something's weird and I want to make sure to read him right."
"Sure," he replied quietly. "I'll do that if you make sure our buddy doesn't try to roast the guy," he said, glancing back at Zuko. He stood in the shadows against the far wall, glaring daggers at the man chained up in the cell. A few glowing embers spat from the ends of his trembling fists.
"Try to roast him again, you mean?" Toph chuckled. Sokka looked back at the prisoner—his clothes did seem a little singed.
"Ah. Yeah, let's try to avoid that," he replied as Toph moved away and squatted to the ground, palms pressed against the dark stone.
Clearing his throat, Sokka moved a little closer to the prison bars. "State your name," he said gruffly, glancing at the parchment in his hand with the info he'd gotten on the guy from Great Sage Shyu.
"I-Ishan, of the Jha family," the man replied nervously, eyes darting to Zuko's dark form and back. "P-please, why am I—"
"Occupation?" Sokka continued, crossing his arms.
"I'm a fire sage, in t-training, sir."
"Age and gender?"
Ishan wrinkled his brow. "Twenty-three and male," he said, clearly flustered. "W-why are you—"
"Toph?" Sokka asked quietly, looking down at her. She simply nodded.
All right. Let's do this.
"Why did you poison Suki?" he asked harshly.
Ishan's eyes grew wide in the shadows. "Wha…what?"
"Don't mess around. Just answer the question." He took a step closer.
"P-please…I'm confused. Will you just tell me why I'm in here? No one will tell me what's going—"
"Stop playing dumb!" Zuko snarled, moving forward. "There's no way you're talking your way out of this, you filthy piece of—"
Sokka threw an arm out to stop him. "Hang on, man. Just give us some time with him. He'll talk." Sokka looked back down at Toph—her brows were knit together tightly, a deep frown set in her face.
"Ishan," Sokka continued. "Just tell us why you did it. Were you working for someone?"
"No! I mean, I wasn't going to do anything, I promise! I just wanted to show Suki some ancient stories," he said, speaking quickly. "I g-guess she didn't seem too keen on coming down—I just talked her into it because…I just don't, um, get to talk to girls—I mean, people my own age very often and—"
"You like her," Toph said suddenly, moving to her feet. "That's why you brought her down there."
"N-no! Of course not!" Ishan exclaimed, staring at Zuko in fear.
"I can tell you're lying," Toph said darkly.
Ishan paled. "I—" he started, staring at the hard ground for a long moment before looking straight up at Zuko. His eyes narrowed. "Fine. Maybe I do. Maybe I think Suki deserves someone better than you," he spat.
Zuko bristled, steam pouring from his nose and mouth. "I'M NOT THE ONE WHO ATTACKED HER, YOU BAST—"
"I DIDN'T ATTACK HER!" Ishan shouted back, trying to rise to his feet. The chains around his wrists and ankles kept him on his knees.
"LIAR!" Zuko roared, pushing past Sokka, flames spitting from his fingers. "I caught you red-handed, you dirty son of a—"
"He's not lying," Toph said quietly.
Zuko turned his head back towards them, glaring at Toph with his scarred-over eye. "I think you need to get your feet checked," he growled.
Sokka placed a hand on Toph's shoulder as she scowled. "No, I don't," she said firmly. "He doesn't remember what he did. This is just like what happened with Jet…and with The Dark One last year…" she said anxiously.
Sokka frowned. Something about this didn't feel the same as with Jet, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what. His friends remained quiet as they also tried to process this new information. Zuko's anger seemed to slowly morph into fear as he looked back and forth between Ishan and his own feet.
"Agni, Toph, are you sure he's not lying?" he asked desperately, finally looking back at her.
"If he is," she said darkly, "then he's a better liar than Azula."
Zuko's eyes grew wide as he stared at her, chest rising and falling heavily. He took two slow, heavy steps backwards before turning around and breaking into a sprint out the door.
Sokka chewed on his lip, giving Toph's shoulder a squeeze as he looked down at her. "If this guy doesn't remember what he did… You know what this means, don't you?" he asked her quietly.
Toph nodded, grinding her teeth. "All those interrogations we did on the staff…" She scowled. "They were worthless."
They had started moving towards the door when Ishan called out quietly. "Wait," he said. "Is Suki…is she okay?"
Sokka paused, eyes narrowing. He didn't turn around as he replied, "Yeah, she'll be fine."
In response, Ishan's chains scraped loudly against the ground behind them. Toph began to tremble beneath Sokka's hand, her pale eyes growing wide. "S-Sokka…" she whispered, almost inaudibly. He saw a bead of sweat drip down her chin. "He's…gone, again."
Sokka turned back slowly, heart pounding against his chest. He saw the man gripping the prison bars loosely, an eerie grin flashing across his face, a darkness clouding his eyes. His reply resonated hollowly off the dark walls.
"Good…to hear."
"Where's Appa?!" Zuko bellowed, throwing open the door to the healing ward.
Katara peeked her head out from the curtains surrounding Suki's bed, giving him a death glare. "Zuko, I know we had a long night, but I swear if you interrupt me one more time I'll—"
"Just tell me where the bison is!" he shouted, striding across the room and poking his head out the window to scan the late morning sky.
"Shouldn't you be wondering where Aang went?" Katara asked, still irritated but also mildly amused at Zuko's sudden interest in their furry friend.
"…Aang? Oh, yeah—where is he, anyway?!" he asked angrily, storming back towards her. "I can't believe he hasn't even bothered to—"
"Zuko," Katara interrupted. "I need you to take a deep breath."
Zuko's face turned a deep red as he pursed his lips, two small trails of smoke spilling from his ears.
"Zuko," Suki's voice echoed weakly from behind the curtain. "She's only trying to help."
He looked up at the curtain quickly, face contorting as he bit his lip. After taking a deep breath, he sighed and ducked his head. "…Sorry, Katara."
"It's okay."
When he looked back up, his eyes were starting to water again. Katara's face fell. She would have preferred him yelling over that.
"Zuko, it's okay," she repeated quietly, grabbing his arm. "Suki's going to be just fine, I promise."
He nodded absently, looking away and rubbing the stubble growing along his jaw. "So, where is Aang?" he asked.
Katara bit her lip. He looked like he could use some good news, but she didn't want to raise his and Suki's hopes if it didn't work out. "Um, he had some…Avatar business. You know how it goes," she fibbed. "He left yesterday, before everything happened. He'll be back before the wedding though, of course."
Zuko frowned a little, but nodded. "Okay. Whatever. I'm assuming he took Appa, then?"
"Well, yes," Katara replied, furrowing her brows. "Why the sudden interest in—"
"All right. Thanks for the help," he interrupted, moving around her and pulling aside the curtain. She heard them speaking softly for a minute before growing silent. Not wanting to interrupt something private, Katara moved away quietly and waited in one of the metal chairs until the curtain parted again. Zuko walked out and left the room, face streaked with an equal mix of concern and determination.
"Where's he going?" Katara asked, moving back inside and dipping her hands in the water basin.
"He said Constable Sung needed him as they finish the investigation," Suki said quietly, staring in the direction Zuko had left in.
Katara grinned a little. "You realize what you're getting yourself into, right?" she teased, thinking about Zuko's recent outburst.
"Yeah," Suki said softly. She turned back towards Katara, looking pained.
"Suki, what's wrong? Does it still hurt—"
"Am I being selfish?" Suki said suddenly, looking like she was going to cry.
"What? Why would you think that?" Katara asked, sitting beside her on the small bed and resting a hand on her shoulder.
Suki swung her legs over the side, gripping the edge of the cot and staring at her feet. "I know he won't leave me over this," she said, a trembling hand over her abdomen. "He still wants to marry me. But is it wrong that I'm letting him?" she asked desperately. "Am I forcing him to betray the Fire Nation, for me?"
"Betray the—Suki, of course not. Why would you think—"
"We can ignore it for a few years but…people are going to realize something's wrong," Suki continued, shaking. "What will happen then? What will we do? They'll try to force him to—they'll want some other woman to—" She stopped, cringing. "And he won't, he promised he won't. And is it wrong that I don't want him to?" she choked out.
"Suki, what are you—"
"But if he doesn't have an heir, what will happen to—" She gasped. "Oh, oh no. I—I'm putting the entire Fire Nation in danger, aren't I? The entire world could suffer if Zuko is overthrown. Oh, Oma and Shu, w-what if they try to kill him again?!" she cried, dropping her face in her hands. "I can't—what should I—this is what I was so afraid of when we first—"
"Suki! Suki, wait a minute," Katara said, wrapping an arm around her quaking shoulders. "Look…I wasn't going to tell you this because I didn't want to get your hopes up." She paused. "But I just remembered—it's never wrong to hope. And I think you could use a little right now."
Suki looked up slowly, wiping her eyes. "What? What do you mean?"
Katara hesitated a moment, leaning over to pull back the curtain to check for eavesdroppers. "Aang's not really doing 'Avatar business' right now," she said quietly.
Suki looked puzzled. "He's not? Then where did he go?"
Katara smiled a bit. "He's out getting your wedding gift."
High Sage Rishi strode calmly down the dark, damp halls of the prison, hands folded in front of him, chin lifted as two prison guards flanked his sides.
"Thank you for the escort, gentlemen," he said.
The men nodded quickly before one pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the prison door before them.
"Leave us," Rishi said as he moved inside, glancing back at the guards as they retreated back down the narrow corridor. He turned back to face the young man before him, cowering behind the thick metal bars.
"H-High Sage Rishi," Ishan stuttered, prostrating himself before him. "I-I'm honored to see—"
"You have disgraced your position," Rishi said blankly. "Such actions do not befit one who wears the sacred robes of our office."
"B-but Your Eminence, I didn't do it! I swear to you, I—"
"Young Sage Ishan," Rishi interrupted, suddenly crouching down before him. "You may have disgraced your office, but your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed," he said, smiling wryly. "In fact, I'm here to thank you."
Ishan lifted his head slowly. "Wha—what?" he said breathlessly.
Rishi's grin widened. "Like you, I abhor the Fire Lord's insistence on marrying that Earth Kingdom peasant. He's betraying everything this nation once stood for, and is determined to taint the royal bloodline forever," he snarled. "I regret that you didn't come to me, however. Together, we may have found a way to remove her more…quietly."
Ishan stared at him wide-eyed, a look of horror sweeping over his face as his arms quaked against the ground.
"That being said, I was hoping you could still be of some use to me," Rishi continued. "Tell me—did you gather any useful information on the girl? Anything I could use to—" Rishi gasped as Ishan's cuffed hand flew between the bars to wrap around his throat. The young man's previously fear-filled eyes were suddenly dark, his once quaking limbs calm as he pulled the High Sage closer to him.
"Indeed, I do have some very useful information," Ishan smirked, his voice strangely deep and distant. "Though I think it is you who will be of use to me."
Rishi grunted as the young sage pulled him against the bars, pressing their skulls together for one long moment. As Ishan released him, the High Sage stood slowly and stared down at the prisoner who was once again a trembling mess.
"Ah," Rishi said deeply. "Much better."