Chapter 10: What Goes Down Must Come Up

The forest had originally begun as a heavy terrain and has now transitioned its density to a sporadic terrain, and eventually there is not even an occasional tree planted around the place. The mercury Zuko has noticed has slowly been descending as their walk persists. If he hadn't seen that map he would one extremely curious teenager as to why the temperature at the least had changed so dramatically from the humidity to the wintry days and nights.

He sees thick mist building up in the distance and Zuko raises an eyebrow becoming aware that they are nearing the Water Tribal area.

"Sparky, this may sound a little crazy but the earth disappears when we get over this hill."

"Disappears? It can't just disappear."

She shrugs in a way that says 'I'm only telling you what my feet are telling me'.

He desperately squints through the mist but all his eyes can distinguish is the abrupt end of dirt to snow.

They near the top of the hill and as Zuko peeks over the top an image of a perfect ice platform is displayed in front of them. He stares out over the landscape of pure white as if he's staring at a photo shopped picture. It doesn't look real. It's too perfectly smooth to be real. He has never seen white so pure.

"Toph, I may need to piggy back you again?"

"Why, what's going on?"

"Well we are about to step onto a block of ice. I really big block of ice! Although, I'm afraid that it might be too much weight on the ice."

She bites her lip. "Could I wear your socks?"

"Sure." He pulls of his boots and takes of his socks. Before passing them to Toph he inconspicuously smells them and recoils. "Are you sure you don't want me to piggy back you?"

"No, I'm not out of energy I can walk. Plus I don't want to fall through the ice, because that'll be the end of me," she retorts.

He places the socks in her hands and she pulls them over her feet as Zuko pulls his boots back on.

"Ready?" he asks.

"As I'll ever be. But are you sure that this is safe?"

There is a short pause. "To tell you the truth, no. But it's a risk we've got to take because frankly I can't find any way out of this Yue forsaken place…unless you'd rather find the rebels ask them?"

"I'll pass. Ice it is."

Wordlessly they begin their journey across the ice knowing full well that was their only decision and frankly had no but to cross the iced over lake…more like ocean.

After a good hour of the occasional small talk Zuko's eyes are now adjusted to the glare off the ice from the sunlight's rays. They are both now aimlessly walking in what they hope is a straight line toward the Southern Water Tribe. Toph would occasionally (and accidentally of course) bump into Zuko when she began veering off to the right, but he kept her straight, she could not see a thing through her feet if her life depended on it. If they were to slowly veer off to the left or right they were sure to be stuck out there forever.

Now Zuko and Toph honestly hadn't been lost in the woods for that long but regardless they were only content to know that they only had cross this bit of ice to reach their destination. They would see their friends and at least have some proper, warm food to devour.

Of course they missed those closest to them…which in retrospect was definitely not considered their family. Except Iroh was always on Zuko's mind if he wasn't thinking of Toph. He was the only family that he wouldn't gag when thinking about them. Yet of course if he was imagining his Uncle with a women, or in the shower, or…OK, why would he even be thinking about that? But the two hadn't mentioned their family since the talk they had had days back. They figured it was a touchy subject to be talking about in such circumstances, so they kept their mouths shut. So their minds wandered to their friends who would by now have gotten word they had not returned home in days.

And throughout all the worrying and what not, they both still managed to think about each other. Yes, they thought about making each other was safe and each other's comfort. But they thought about each other in much different ways. Toph had undoubtedly noticed Zuko's heartbeat quickening pace when they got close or even when he racked his brain to talk to her just so he could hear her voice, to know she was there beside him.

Toph all of sudden slips on the ice and Zuko catches her before she can have a very sore behind. And this is one of those times when Toph would feel his hearteat race. But she didn't have her earth for that now, but it didn't take a genius to know it was…and she knew hers was too. He holds her hand and they stay like that for a long part of their walk.

As they do Toph thinks about how Sokka would be coming up with all sorts of scenarios of the two. She reminds herself to ask everyone later what Sokka thought had happened to them. She was due for a laugh.

Now as the 'small talk' continues, amongst all of it is the question Zuko thought Toph had forgotten. But since when has Toph forgotten anything?

She angles her head toward Zuko and smirks letting his hand go. "So, you never did tell me who you had that crush on. And remember when you were in the quicksand and you said that you'd do anything? Well, you have to tell me who it is. You can't back out now!"

"You can't prove that I'm lying, though." He smirks despite himself.

"Sparky, I've known you for how long now? Don't worry, I know when you're lying even if my feet were on fire, you are a terrible liar."

He growls inwardly and as he does so a cracking noise rings through his ears. The noise he had been dreading through the entire walk, it had not left his mind once. And now that it had happened, his mind is blank. Before his mind regain itself and register what is happening he is falling, and in seconds he is enveloped in the icy cold water. Now Toph wishes she was still holding her hand in his so tightly that she would never let go of him ever. She could have saved him, or they could've gone down together.

Everything seems to happen in those mere seconds. For one, Zuko can't find the hole for his life (literally). He swims as close as he can to the ice and attempts to punch through it. He bashes against it, keeping in mind he has broken fingers and can feel them throbbing in agony opposing him against it, and Toph can faintly hear his desperate attempt of getting free from the holds of the water.

The other main concept that ensues is that Toph screams out to Zuko something inaudible to him in pure desperation. He needs to hear her voice, and she needs him to hear hers.

He tries to melt the ice after attempting to break through it, but this turns out to be a failed attempt, as his inner fire has temporarily frozen over due to the ice cold temperature that has suddenly hit him and because of the panic he is experiencing. Adrenaline can't help him now.

Toph yells out again, tears falling down her cheeks, but it doesn't reach his ears. She can't do anything for him, not a thing. She can't help him find his way back to the hole, she can't swim to him nor can she retrieve his firebending. Still screaming out to him in desperation she tentatively but also quickly gets on her hands and knees and feels for the edge of the broken ice. When she finds it she plunges her hand down into the water, the arctic feel up her arm forgotten, in attempt for him to see it and grab hold. But to her dismay she knows he is already gone. It had become less and less unlikely, and now finally very unlikely that he would bob his head out of the hole and begin laughing and saying things like, 'you should have seen your face'.

No, this was not like a surprise birthday party, considering as though she can feel the vibrations in the room before she even gets there. But now she had lost all ounce of hope he is going to show his face again and now she doesn't know what to do.

Sit there and hope to Yue that he'll eventually float back up. Not possible, not even the Fire Lord can hold his breath for that long. So should she sit there and cry until there are no tears left and she eventually forget what she is crying about until it all comes flooding back and the cycle starts all over again. Or, the last option, get up and keep on going. No, she doesn't know how far away the Water Tribe is. No, she doesn't know where to go. She is sure that she'll veer off into another direction and die out there. No, she doesn't know if Zuko is alive…but how can he be?

In the panic and out of breath Zuko manages to swim down as fast as he can, his joints stiff. Through the darkness of the water he sees an outline of an object in the distance, just a shadow. In a final attempt, his lungs filling up with water, he discovers it's a shipwreck, but not just any shipwreck...

It seems like a strange eerie silence surrounds him as he reaches it. He realises that in fact he is now completely alone, and in a far worse situation than he ever was. At least he had a better chance of survival in the forest with Toph. And for the umpteenth time today he thought he was going to die, that his days were finally numbered. He thinks that this is what he was meant to do; this is why he was found in the forest by Toph. That was purely because he was meant to guide her back home, well a home of sorts. His destiny, his fate, was meant to guide Toph and put her on the right track, and he had done that. And in the back of his mind he knows that she's going to be safe. That she will arrive safely, it was his destiny after all. Although, a voice argued that she may not actually be safe. But his heart tells him she will be, she needs to be, so that he can die happy. Because this was his fate, and everything happens for a reason.

He continues swimming toward the shipwreck, in which he doesn't realise holds an air pocket. With the last breath of life in his body he swims inside and amazingly his head bobs out of the water and he splutters out water, coughing out the water in his lungs. He takes in large gasps of air that his lungs are in desperate need for. He regains himself after nearly slipping into unconsciousness.

I'm alive, he thinks incredulously. This can't be happening. I should be dead. How can this be happening?

"Ouch. OK, I'm alive." He had just pinched himself to prove that he was in fact alive. "Zuko, listen, there is a perfectly good reason why you are still alive. Please, use it for good. Get out of this ice hell alive."

Nodding to himself in reassurance he takes a breath and goes back underwater to look around. He doesn't know what he is looking for, but none the less he still has a peel. And there on his left he spots a tunnel heading further into the depths of the ocean.

OK, Zuko, it is impossible for me to break through the ice with a practically broken hand and no firebending. So, I'm going to swim through that tunnel and see where it takes me. But first, I'll grab that piping down there just in case, Zuko says in this head to motivate himself.

Nodding to himself again, he fills his lungs with one last gulp of oxygen and swims down to easily pull off the rusted metal pipe from where it is held in place. He then swims through the tunnel hoping to Yue it leads him somewhere where he can see the sky again and breathe in life's sweet smelling scent of freedom and fate.