I am so, so, so, SO sorry for giving you guys such a lame chapter. To make it up for you I'm giving you a nice long chapter and hopefully this one won't be so boring for you
disclaimer - I don't own ATLA
Just when Zuko thought things couldn't have been worse, the universe once again proved him wrong. Apparantly the warden of the Boiling Rock was Mai's uncle. The firebender sighed and leaned back against the wall again. The warden threatened blackmail on Zuko (either behave or he will let the prisoners to tear Zuko, the prince of their nation who let them down, limb from limb) because he was angry with the prince for breaking his niece's heart. Zuko felt guilty for how things were between him and Mai. He knew she had a crush on him, but now that he thought about it Mai was most likely in love with him.
Now Zuko had two things to worry about; the warden telling the prisoners who he was if he didn't behave and when Azula, the Imperial Firebenders, or even Ozai himself were going to come to the prison and have him face the consequences with torture and execution for treason.
The door opened again and Zuko looked up, expecting to see the warden again only to see a guard instead; in his hand was a mop. The guard threw the mop to the firebender which he caught easily.
"Time for your chores." the guard said bluntly, stepping aside so Zuko would pass.
The firebender left his cell, mop still in hand, and followed the guard downstairs where the other prisoners were mopping the floor or just standing around. The guard showed him where the bucket of water was and Zuko got started. It didn't matter how he did his work, the floor still had the same dark brown color to it no matter how hard he mopped and it didn't seem to get any cleaner. Zuko looked around at the prisoners and the guards, hoping to see a familiar face until finally he saw a girl with a heart shaped face and short ebony hair with her bangs pulled back in a little ponytail.
Suki.
Without ceasing his mopping, Zuko went closer to Suki.
"You're Suki right?" he asked her softly
"Who wants to know?" the girl asked without even looking at him.
"Have you seen Sokka lately?"
The girl stiffened, stopping her mopping. She turned to look at Zuko with surprise which quickly turned to anger when she recognized Zuko.
"You." she growled at him. Her light blue eyes pierced him with her glare. Zuko couldn't help but notice that she seemed vaguely familiar.
"Look before you do or say anything, you have to know I'm good now."
Suki snorted at this statement. Zuko didn't blame her.
"I know. It's hard to believe. But Sokka's sister and I have gotten to know each other for a few weeks so now I'm on your side."
Suki continued looking skeptical at him.
"Also Katara and I are together now." Zuko added
"Together." Suki repeated with a raised eyebrow
"Well, more than that actually." Zuko scratched the back of his neck. "We're actually-"
"Hey you two!"
Zuko and Suki jumped when the nearby guard adressed them.
"Get back to work!"
The two of them immediately started mopping again. Not long after this Sokka approached them.
"Oh, good. You guys have met." said the warrior
"A…actually, we met a long time ago." Suki corrected him
"We did?" Zuko asked confused
"Yeah, you kind of burned down my village."
Now Zuko remembered. Suki was one of the painted warriors he fought on Kyoshi Island. She looked so different without all that paint.
"Oh. Sorry about that." he said to her. "Nice to see you again." And he thought things were awkward when he was around Haru, The Duke, and Teo, none of whom he had actually wronged in the past.
Zuko and Suki stopped mopping and hid behind some stairs with Sokka to hear his escape plan. The plan was to use one of the prison coolers as a boat to get across the lake. It seemed like a plausable plan but there was one problem; how were they going to get the cooler out?
Suki even asked this question but unfortunately instead of getting an answer, the three of them realized that the prisoner from earlier, Chit Sang, had listened in on their plan and wanted in. Knowing they had no choice but to let him in on it, Sokka told the man with reluctance that he was in. The Water Tribe boy then handed Zuko a wrench and told him that he needed to get himself into a cooler to unbolt it from the inside. Chit Sang helped them come up with the plan for how to get the young firebender inside.
Zuko and Chit Sang staged a fight which ended with the prince firebending, causing two guards to slam him to the floor and drag him to the cooler.
He was shaking so much it was a wonder how he was able to keep the wrench steady as he took out the bolts and nuts, holding the ones he already took out and checking through his window regularly to make sure there weren't any guards coming. Zuko hadn't felt this cold since the North Pole. No firebender should ever have to go through this sort of thing. It just wasn't humane!
This better work Zuko thought to himself while he worked. If I get a cold from this I am going to kill Sokka!
Finally, he had unbolted the last nut. Zuko waited a moment for the air to let out a little before testing his firebending. He inhaled, then exhaled deeply, breathing out fire. Zuko smirked. He did it. Sure, the air was still very cold but now that he had his firebending back he would be able to keep himself warm while he waited for Sokka to get him out. He sat down on the cold metal floor held his knees close to his chest, and his head down, breathing out fire to keep himself warm.
The cooler door opened a few minutes later and Zuko heard Sokka's voice
"I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson."
Zuko lifted his head and sighed a breath of fire. "Yes, I have." he answered with an evil smile on his face. "Completely." He showed the bolts and nuts he took out to Sokka who smiled and said he had already let Suki and Chit Sang out and they were waiting at the shore. Zuko then heard footsteps
"Someone's coming." he said. He grabbed Sokka, pulled him into the cooler, and quickly slid the inner door to the cooler closed. Through the door the boys were able to hear what the approaching person was saying
"Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn." a guard said in a deep voice
"Anybody interesting?" asked another guard. The same one Zuko fought with outside Suki's cell.
"Nah, just the usual." answered the male guard. Neither of the passing guards noticed the cooler door opening slightly. "Some robbers, couple of traitors, some war prisoners." Sokka looked to Zuko when he heard the last part. "Though I did hear there might be a pirate."
"No foolin'."
"War prisoners." Zuko echoed when the guards were out of earshot. "It could be your Father."
Sokka looked away and closed his eyes. "I know."
"Well, what should we do?" asked Zuko. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"
"I don't know." Sokka looked towards Zuko with what almost looked like tears brimming his eyes. "Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom? All of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?"
"It's your call Sokka." was all Zuko could say.
Getting the cooler out and getting it down the slope was easier said than done. Zuko and Sokka had combined their body weight to keep the thing from rolling down the hill too quickly. Just when they were almost at the end of the slope, Suki and Chit Sang rushed over to help them. Zuko saw that Chit Sang had brought two extra people to escape with them. This annoyed him greatly; how were they all going to fit in the cooler?
When they finally got the cooler at the bottom of the slope they put it into the right position. While Chit Sang's friends got into their "boat" Sokka went to get his things from under a rock.
"Are you sure you want to go?" Zuko asked as he and Suki watched Sokka sling his sword and pick up his Water Tribe clothes. "You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself. Redeem your honor. Rescuing your Dad is your chance."
"Your Dad?" Apparantly Sokka did not tell Suki the reason he and Zuko came to the prison in the first place.
"If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess." said Sokka. "Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail."
Zuko understood how Sokka was feeling at that moment. This was how Zuko felt all those times when he came close to quitting before his Uncle gave him words of encouragement.
"No, it's not." he said. "Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."
Sokka slung his bag over his shoulder, giving the firebender an annoyed look. "That's supposed to make me feel better?" he asked as he made his way to the cooler
"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again..." Zuko continued as if Sokka didn't say anything.
"Seriously, not helping."
Zuko grabbed Sokka's shoulder to stop him from going further. "You have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."
Sokka thought over the firebender's words and decided to stay. He told Suki and Zuko to leave but they refused to leave without their friend. Chit Sang, however, left in the cooler with his friends.
"We gave up our only chance of escaping." Sokka said to Zuko and Suki. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."
Zuko prayed they made the right choice.
The three teens made their way up the narrow platform when they heard yelling and the sound of a bell gong. It only meant one thing-
"The plan failed!" Sokka whispered loudly, "They're caught."
They slowly made their way across the platform with their backs pressed against the wall to avoid being seen. When they made it to the end of the wall, Sokka peered out carefully around it.
"The gondola's moving." he told Zuko and Suki in whisper
The gondola slowly made its way to the tower where the prisoners entered the prison.
"This is it."
Tthe gondola finally docked at the end of the platform of the tower.
"If my Dad's not there, we risked everything for nothing."
"We had to." Suki told Sokka, putting his hand in her's.
"Come on, come on."
One of the guards opened the door of the gondola a large buff man with shaggy long hair, a long beard, a nose ring and a tattoo on his arm walked out handcuffed.
"Is that him?" asked Zuko. He had no idea what Sokka's father looked like.
"My Dad doesn't have a nose ring." Sokka answered as if this was obvious.
One by one more prisoners got off the gondola in a line. Zuko could tell Sokka didn't recognize any of them for he didn't say anything about any of the new prisoners.
"Where is he?" asked Sokka, sounding desperate.
A shirtless man left the gondola. No one followed him.
"That's it? That can't be it."
"I'm sorry Sokka." said Suki
"Oh no." Sokka lowered his head in dismay
From the tower the trio could hear one of the guard's voice. "Hey you, get off the gondola" The teens looked up at the tower again. Could this be it?
Sokka waited nervously in anticipation. Finally, a man with dark brown shoulder lengthed hair, a bear, a small ponytail, and a strand of hair with beads that hung on one side of his face got off the gondola. Zuko then knew that this was the man they came for when he heard Sokka say this word.
"Dad."
And there you go. Hope you like this one better than the last update *yawns* man I'm tired!