I gasped and looked down, my eyes wide. There was an arrow sticking out of my side on the left, and blood was spreading over my clothes from the new wound. Everything was foggy now. There were now three men wading through the swamp toward Aang and I, bows ready to fire. Once they saw that we were now no threat, they quickly stuffed the bows away and walked closer. A net was thrown over Aang, he was hit hard in the temple, and knocked out. I gasped in horror and clutched my bleeding side; I was too sick and weak to fire bend against these men.
Then, one of them rounded on me and crouched to look me in the face. I tried to scuttle backward away from him, but I was in too much pain. He looked at me, nodded, and reached down to where I was wounded. He pulled the arrow straight out of my ribs with a slashing noise, and even more blood started pouring out. I whimpered and frantically moved both of my hands over the puncture wound, trying to stop the blood.
"You come with us," he said, pulling me up by the arm. Come where? I didn't know where he was going to take me, but it might have been better than bleeding to death in a swamp. When he pulled me to my feet, I was very unsteady. My knees almost instantly buckled, and I fell again. The man pulled me up again, this time supporting my dead weight. He pulled me onto his back, my arms wrapped around his neck, and my feet dragging the ground. My eyelids drooped, and I saw no more.
I fluttered my eyes open and looked around: I was in some kind of prison hold! I tried to move, but my hands were tied to the wall above me. I panicked and screamed, fire shooting out of my mouth. I looked around the room to try and find a way out, but Aang was in the same situation as me.
"Kiyah!" he shouted, struggling against his ropes, "we have to get out of here! Can you reach my ropes from there?" he asked, shifting nervously. I bit my lip, thinking.
"Maybe...but I don't want to burn you," I said uncomfortably, looking up at my own bonds. Rope! I burned the rope from around my wrists and dropped gracefully to my feet. I was still extremely weak, but I knew I had to get Aang out of here. I ran over to where he was tied up, and bended little streams of fire to burn the rope from around Aang's wrists and ankles. He jumped down as I burned the rope from around his feet, and pulled me into a hug. I smiled and hugged him back.
Once we had let go of each other, the door burst open, and there stood a figure in a blue mask. I gasped and clutched my side in pain. It was no longer bleeding, but a mixture of wet and dried blood stood on my shirt. The figure motioned us toward the door, and we followed, slightly confused. We walked silently through the corridors, many of the guards tied up or knocked out. This guy must have really wanted to save us. But why?
We reached a large hole in the floor at the end of one of the corridors, and the man motioned for us to jump into it. Aang wrinkled up his nose in disgust, but we all jumped in. It must have been a sewer system of some sort, because there was flowing water and it lead underneath of the fortress. The man lead us through the sewer, bringing a finger to the lips on his mask as we reached a grate. The grate was over our heads, and many guards walked across it. Aang and I obeyed, not wanting to get caught.
Once we had reached the end of the sewer, we climbed out, everything below our knees soaking wet. Thankfully, the opening of the sewer was in an extremely dark corner of the fortress's courtyard. There were high walls everywhere, and I had no idea how we were going to get out without being detected. The man pulled a long rope from the side of the sewer, and chucked it over the wall in front of us. It must have had some sort of hook on the end, because there was a soft clanking noise as it hit the other side of the wall. The man beckoned me forward first, helping me get a good hold on the rope to climb up. Just the man and Aang began to follow me, guards swarmed at the bottom of the rope, but that was the least of our worries; a soldier appeared at the top of the wall and cut the rope, sending us all screaming to the guards below. I landed on the man with the mask, and he gently but quickly helped me to my feet. And then I heard a voice...a terrible voice that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
"The Avatar and the Governor's daughter are escaping! Close all gates immediately!" It was Zhao, and he was obviously very upset. Anger flooded through me and fire shot out of my nose. But I didn't have time to be angry; the gate was closing in front of us, and we had to get out. Aang pulled me forward, calling for the man to stay close to us, and we ran toward the gate as fast as we could. My side seared with pain, but I kept running. Aang looked backward and saw that the man had been caught up in a melee battle. Aang told me to stay where I was, and ran back to help the man. Aang airbended the guards away from the man, pulled him over to me, and grabbed my arm. He airbended us over the wall! I was shocked that he could do such a thing, and stumbled once my feet hit the stone. Guards instantly rushed us; I sent a large jet of fire at them, causing them all the jump from the wall to protect themselves. I smirked and turned to Aang and the man. Aang then ordered the man and I to grab onto him. He brought his staff from behind his back, and both the man and I grabbed onto Aang. The guards were throwing spears at us, and Aang was knocked off balance. I screamed as we fell to the ground, and I landed hard on my ass. That was going to hurt tomorrow...if I lived.
The many guards came running toward us, and back to back, all three of us started into battle. I kicked the sword out of one guard's hands and send a streaming jet of fire toward the others who were coming toward me. They all ran away from the fire, and I jumped at them again, punching and kicking my way through them. Again, my side ached with unbearable pain. I knew I couldn't stop, but I fell to the ground in agony, clutching the wound. With all of my movement, it had opened up again, and was bleeding everywhere. I whimpered, ready for one of the guards to come and take me back to Zhao...but it never happened. The man in the mask was fighting off the guards around me, protecting me in my state of weakness. Once most of the guards were either knocked out or injured, Aang picked me up with some difficulty, and all of us ran to the wall. Once we reached it, we climbed the wall, and we were free. The man in the mask had been knocked unconscious by a flying arrow, but Aang and I dragged him far away from the fortress and into a clearing.
"He might need some medical attention," I panted, clutching my side. Aang nodded, and took off the man's mask. We both gasped in horror and surprise. It was Zuko...
I immediately hugged the unconscious body, stroking his hair as I did so. I knew that it may not be a good idea for Aang to be there when Zuko woke up, so we hugged and I bade him goodbye. After promising that we would see each other again, Aang left. I laid on the forest floor with Zuko until he awakened. His amber eyes fluttered open and he sat up quickly.
"Where's the Avatar!" he asked angrily, fire shooting out of his nose, "What happened!" he demanded. I was hurt that he didn't seem so happy to see me. I explained that he had been knocked out, and that Aang had gone away once he had seen who the man in the mask was. Of course, this last part was a lie, but I didn't want to disappoint Zuko. He rubbed his eyes and buried his face in his hands.
"I thought I had him this time," he whispered, obviously upset at himself. I squeezed his shoulder and leaned in close to his face. We stayed like this for a while, and then he looked up at me and pulled me into a hug. I smiled and weakly hugged him back.
Zuko lead me back to the ship, supporting every bit of my weight. After I bathed, Iroh cleaned my wound and wrapped large bandages around my whole torso. I followed Zuko to his room and laid with him. He was still very upset, and ordered that there be no disturbances.
We lay facing each other, his hands cupping my face. He kissed me gently, and we both closed our eyes for a much-needed sleep.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this, guys. I've been really busy with school this week, and I haven't had much time to write. Thanks so much for your love and support of this fanfic, it really makes me happy that you all like it so much. Please excuse me for not posting as often because of my busy schedule! But I swear that the chapters won't be too far apart!