Chapter 25 The breakout scene! bleh, I slept with my contact in an now I'm, like, blind in one eye so you better love me for his :) haha im so excited to write these last few! for everyone whose stuck with me so far, *award music starts playing* *sniffle* and i want to thank thee academy... alright, i'll quit drabbling on. Enjoy!
TOPH'S P.O.V.
I take a deep breath, cracking my fingers. My stomach is in knots but I'm playing it off easy, like I've done this before. I'm sitting oh-so-(im)patiently when Katara finally joins us in kitchen
"Got everything?" she asks me. I nod patting my suitcase. Inside are all the things i could stuff inside: clothes, no shoes, toothbrush, soap, lots of underwear, some food, three bottle of water, a blanket, and my avorite CD's. I also have a list of addresses: one for here, one for my house, one for Jet's house, and one for Suki's house.
"I got all'a Sokka's stuff right here," Jet says pointing to the black suitcase on the floor.
"All right, you ready?" Katara asks. "Because we gott do this right. You didnt open it, did you?"
Jet shakes his head, pulling the plastic gloves out of a shopping bag. We all throw them on our hands and he opens the box.
You see, we left Sokka in jail for about a week and a half, much to my protesting. Everyone else voted to have a very detailed, careful prep for our plan, while I opted for a very loud, potentially bad-ening break out. Of course, I got out-voted. Jet pulls out his explosive, a long stick of dynamite.
"Where did you get that?" Aang asks.
"I know a guy," Jet shrugs.
We're all dressed in our correct clothes: we bought cheap shoes with dollar bills (no paper trail) with identical bottoms, cheap, plain long sleeve shirts and pants. Everyone with long hair has their hair tied back, with a hat over it. We've got on our latex gloves to keep our fingerprints away. Earlier, Katara put tape over the licence plates on Sokka's car and we've got masks for later, when we storm the building. About a week ago, I visited him and told him to wear his shoes Friday (today) and I was sure to step extra-heavily, to feel out where his cell was.
And we all have alabis. Katara was able to convince her friend to make it seem like they were at the mall. Jet would be 'out and about' with Smeller Bee and Longshot. Suki would be sparing in the gym (she payed off the workers to tell her mom so if asked). Aang would be with Katara. And of course, Sokka and I wouldn't need an alabi. We'd be gone. I left Zuko a note on his bed (Aang wrote it for me). All my loose ends were tied up...well almost all of them.
"I'm gonna miss you," I say, hugging Aang tightly. "You were the best brother anyone could ask for."
He hugs back. "I love you, chick," he says into my shoulder. "Promise to visit."
"Promise." I grunt, rubbing my eye as my brows furrow and my lips curl into a frustrated frown. "Dammit, I wasnt gonna cry until you got all After School Special or whatever on me." He laughs. "Jet and Suki, take care of yourselves, kay?" They nod. "And Katara, we'll visit you, too."
She nods, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "I'm gonna miss you, Toph."
We pull our masks onto our faces, and quickly run out the door. Thankfully, Sokka's windows are tinted. It's silent in the car on the way there; we keep the radio off. "I've never done anything illegal before," Suki mutters.
"I have...but it wasn't this extreme," Jet says.
"What happens...what happens if we get caught?" Aang asks.
"I guess we all go to jail," Suki whispers.
"Just in case," Jet says. He pulls a silver bracelet from the console and hands it to Suki.
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm." She lifts his mask and crushes her lips happily against his. They pull their masks over their faces and I crack a smile as I think Hey, that'll be me in less than two hours.
Katara parks the car a few blocks from the jail on the side of the road, which is pretty empty. They keep the convicts far from regular society in case they escape. We dart through the trees and my heart rate is pumping and my hands are sweating. I'm so anxious. What if it doesnt go down right? If we get caught? What'll we do? We'll be separated from one another and I'd probably go fucking ballistic. We come up to the wall of Sokka's room. I smack the wall three times and after a minute, three knocks come back through. I nod to Jet who lights the stick. He sets it against the wall and we run as far away as we can. I count down silently in my head. 5...4...3...2...1...
BOOM!
The earth shakes and we cover our ears. Debris fly everywhere and the others do their job by abandoning us. Jet had his car set up a few blocks in the opposite direction, so they flee. I run towards the firey building, calling out Sokka's name.
"Toph! Over here!" he shouts. I leap over a small wall of fire and take his hand. He lifts of the mask and we crash our lips together. "Let's go!" I shout over the roaring flames. We go to leave out the hole but more brick topples down, blocking us from that route.
"Where do we go now?" he asks.
"We can't leave out the back way," I say, picking up a blown-off bed leg, "then we're goin' out the front door!" I grunt as I stick it in the door and pry it open. It throws itself open and we run out. We're met with a guard holding a shield. Perfect, I think, smiling lopsidedly under my mask. I yank it from him, shoving his hefty body into Sokka's old room and shutting the door.
"What was that for?" he asks.
"Police have guns. We need a shield." He crouches behind me as we run down the hallway. Here and there he takes out a few non-armed guards and we come to a wall with two large glass panels. "Get ready!" We ram through the panel, sending shards flying everywhere. We tumble to the ground. I hear, with my superhero hearing, a gun click from my left. I lift the shield over us, and the bullet bounces off with a ping! He pulls my arm and we run even more. "Which way?" I ask as we come to an end with three hallways to run down.
"This way! The other two are to the library and cafeteria!" we run down. "It's a straight shot to the front door!" We run, but skid to a stop when we're met with a blockade of gaurds. "Go, go, go!" he yells pushing me the other way. We round a corner, and into an empty, cold room. I drop my shield as he locks the large deadbolt. "Come on, let's go," I say, grabbing his hand. I feel a window that has two bars: easily knocked out by the shield. We slip out of the opening as I hear a commotion on the other side of the door. I lead him through the woods, which makes me paranoid. I'm sure that every little bump on the ground is them, chasing us down. I slip into the car, him in the driver's seat. We speed away, police cars still parked in the garage. He takes a right onto the highway, where we drive for about thirty minutes.
"I'm gonna pull over," he tells me. Outside, he peels off the tape on the liscense plate and we both slip into the background, unoticed. He changes from his prison uniform and I slip outta my jail-breaker outfit. We stuff them into the toilet, where I pour a bottle of beer over them.
"Would you like to do the honors?" I ask him.
"It would be my pleasure," he says. I hand him the matchbox and he sets it on fire. We make a puddle of water around the toilet, to make sure we dont burn this gas-station down. We stroll out and get into the car, driving as if it were a Sunday drive around the country-side.
"So," he says guesturing to all of our stuff in the backseat, "how long did it take you guys to plan this out?"
"About a week," I say. He pecks my cheek.
"What about the others?" he asks.
"They'll go on living their lives and we can always visit...y'know...incognito," I say smirking.
"Awesome."
"I gave a note to Zuko," I say. "It said 'Zuko, I love you very much, but I'm leaving. Dont come looking for me, I'm long gone by now. Perhaps we can meet again when we're older' or something along those lines."
He's silent as he pulls onto the highway again.
"So," he says, suddenly enthusiastic, "where to now? We've got a lot to see-er...go around to. I, for one, really want to visit the World's Biggest Ball of Yarn."
"And Vegas!"
"And Point Place, Wisconsin!"
"And Memphis!"
"And New York City!"
We laugh, more than happy with our new-found freedom together. I'm turning seventeen in three weeks. He's turning eighteen in four months. We're young, in love, we've got a car, and gas.
I catch his lips off gaurd and he speeds down the road, barely paying attention as we stay in this blissful lip-lock.
We separate and I punch his arm playfully. "Onward!" I shout in a pirate-like voice.
"Righty-o!"
"Where are you from, London? Some pirate."
"Shut up."
His car speeds down the highway, and we disappear from the view of our little valley town.
Tada! There are two more chapters after this: a brief look at what they do a year after they leave and the last is Zutarian alternate ending.
Reviews are always a help! I'm trying to get 100 reviews (I'm pretty sure I'd crap my pants...just kidding!) but it would be pretty fantastic.
Peace, L.