Kidah's POV

Sokka had fallen asleep in the back corner of the basket. I paced in the front, trying to ease my anxiety without waking him. Zuko would watch me occasionally, but left me alone with my thoughts.

His voice startles me, "there it is." Sokka is instantly at my side as we look over the edge of the basket. Zuko points to an island with a cratered volcano in the middle. A large cloud rises from below.

"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we're quiet we should be able to navigate through it without being caught," Zuko explains. He goes to push more flames into the fuel tank, but the burner doesn't rise.

"Uhm… Zuko?" I call, noticing the ground is coming closer into view.

He rapidly firebends into the tank to no avail. "We're going down. The balloon's not working anymore!" Zuko pushes flames directly up into the vent of the balloon.

"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside so we can't fly," Sokka reveals.

I grab his arm, "So, what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Sokka smiles weakly. "Crash landing?"

The balloon falls rapidly towards the boiling water below. I hold onto the basket hoping to steady myself. Zuko's arms grasp the edge on either side of me, protecting my body with his. I hold my breath to keep myself from screaming as we crash onto land. The basket shatters into pieces around us.

I stand and look around. Sweat already beading on my forehead. Zuko rubs his head roughly, and I hold out a hand to help him up. "How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?" He pulls himself up and looks to Sokka for answers.

"We'll figure something out. I suspected it might be a one-way ticket," he replies. My hand makes an audible smack as I hit my forehead in annoyance.

Zuko whispers angrily, "you knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?"

Sokka begins gathering the broken pieces of the basket and vent. "My Dad might be here. I had to come and see." He looks at me pointedly. "We owe them that."

Zuko circles him, "Uncle always said I never thought things through, but this, ugh - this is just crazy." He throws his arms out in front of him in desperation.

"Hey! I never wanted either of you to come along in the first place." He throws the cloth from the balloon on top of the rubble he has collected. "And for the record, I always think things through. But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time I'm playing it by ear. So there." He pushes the basket off the shore but yelps as his hand is burned. He proceeds to kick it, and it slowly sinks into the bubbling water.

"What are you doing?" I demand.

"It doesn't work anyway. And we don't want anyone to find it."

I turn to Zuko for help but he just stares and watches our ride disappear. "I hope you know what you're doing. There's no turning back now."

What have I gotten myself into?

Sneaking into the prison wasn't too hard. We were able to sneak in underground through some tunnels. Zuko led us to a break room filled with Fire Nation uniforms and long tables. Once again, I remove my crown and place it in a pouch at my waist.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of how revealing all the female Fire Nation clothing appears to be," I say looking down at my new clothes. The guys had full leather armor, but my stomach was exposed, and a slit in my pants went up my outer thigh, revealing my tan legs.

Zuko raises his visor to look me over and smirks. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Sokka pulls on his arm, "stop flirting. We need to move." I blush and put on my helmet, following them out the door.

"I hope these disguises work," Zuko says as he tugs at his uniform.

Sokka whispers, "we just need to lay low and find my Dad as soon as possible."

The corridor in front of us is suddenly filled with running guards. One of them stops to yell at us. "Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard, come on."

Following the running soldiers in front of us, we are led to an outside courtyard. A large group of prisoners in red had encircled around two people fighting. Guards shove the spectators aside. I follow silently behind Zuko.

A very tall man looks at a guard indignantly, "I didn't do anything. I'm going back to my cell."

He tries to walk away, but the guard firebends a whip and lashes it near his legs. "Stop right there, Chit Sang," he yells.

I see the whelp forming on his leg and move to help, my healing nature overcoming me. Sokka grabs my arm and whispers, "We can't blow our cover."

The guard booms, "I've had it with your unruly behavior."

"What did I do?" Chit Sang asks.

The guard laughs lightly, "he wants to know what he did." He turns to Sokka and Zuko at my side. "Isn't that cute?" They stare at him in silence. When they don't respond, he raises his visor to look them over.

I pinch Zuko's arm. He flinches and recovers, "Uh, yeah, very cute, sir."

"Super cute," Sokka adds.

The guard smiles satisfactorily at their answers and walks back towards Chit Sang. "You didn't bow down when I walked by, Chit Sang."

"You're kidding…" I murmur.

Chit Sang looks at him outraged, "What? That's not a prison rule."

The bully of a guard crosses his arms, "do it."

The prisoner looks at him dead on, "Make me."

He smirks and walks away from Chit Sang. Turning around quickly, he then proceeds to bend another whip, but the tall man kicks out a flame, redirecting the attack.

The guard shakes his head, "tsk, tsk. Firebending is prohibited. You're going in the Cooler." Chit Sang drops his stance as the horrid soldier points to Sokka. "You! Help me take him in."

Sokka whispers to us, "meet back here in an hour."

As the crowd disperses, I try to size everyone up, looking for the hierarchy of this place. Zuko and I slowly walk the perimeter of the yard. Another guard walks up to us, "you guys ready to take lunch?"

"Yeah, let's go." Zuko says pleasantly.

He leads us inside towards the lounge we had visited before. Zuko and I stand in line quietly waiting for our turn at the buffet. Zuko grabs his tray and turns to look for an empty table.

The same guard who brought us in called over to him, "Hey, new guy. I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times but this is the lounge. Relax."

Zuko leans toward me slightly. "Just follow my lead," he whispers. Looking to the table, he asks innocently, "but, what if there's an incident? If I'm not prepared someone could strike me on the head." I follow him as he walks towards our new friend's group, who all laugh.

A young woman with a sweet smile nods at us, "give it a week, he'll loosen up."

We take a seat at their table. I shrug and say, "what the hell?" I take off my helmet and let my hair cascade over my shoulders. The other male guards eye me hungrily.

"Thatta girl," she cheers, holding up her cup to me. Zuko stiffens beside me, knowing he can't take off his helmet without giving up his cover. Trying out my womanly charm, I play with my hair innocently.

Zuko coughs lightly, directing the attention from me, "can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?"

The girl chuckles beside me, "no, you can't date the female guards."

A guard with long sideburns slaps Zuko's back. "Trust me, you don't want to." She chucks her cup at him, and it hits him square in his forehead. Everyone at our table bursts out laughing.

"Idiots," she mumbles as she jerks out of her chair, stomping away from the group.

Zuko chuckles drily, "No, that's not it. The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals, right? So, what about war prisoners?"

"Whoa, buddy. Someone's eager," says the man with sideburns.

"Just curious, really. I've heard the stories about this place." Zuko waves a hand dismissively.

We need to get this conversation moving… I think to myself. I lean onto the table and put a hand under my chin, smiling towards the male guards. I lower my voice just a tad, "is it true about the invasion attempt on the capital? I heard rumors, even in the colonies…"

They look at one another briefly before giving in to me. Sideburns leans forward and smiles cheekily, "yeah, there was an invasion, but they got pummeled. No one can pull something so major off with just a couple of water tribe troops." He scoffs. "They were taken down within minutes."

I fake a small giggle. "Wow! That is so interesting…" I lean forward a little more so my breasts lay on the table. Poor Zuko is probably about to lose it. "Are they here?"

He comes a little closer, "Nah, most of those guys ended up below the palace…" His smile sickens me as I think of my people locked immobile with Azula walking all over them.

Masking my hatred, I sit back up and put on my helmet. "Greeeeaaat. Well, it looks like we have to go." Zuko stands just a little too quickly and the male guards flinch. "See ya!" I add a small wave to keep them off his scent.

Once in the hall, Zuko grabs my arm. "What the hell was that?"

I try to pull out of his grasp, "'follow my lead'? Your lead was getting us nowhere."

"You're not thinking things through. You're acting like Sokka," he whispers.

"Please." I scoff. "That was me pulling intel from two sexually frustrated men. If anything, you should be proud that I covered for you."

Someone comes around the corner, so he pulls me into another hall. "For me?" He pulls his visor up.

"Look, we can't do this right now. We need to find Sokka." Zuko opens his mouth to retort, but I walk away towards the yard. I didn't have time to argue about this. We needed to get out of here.

We stand in a corner, trying to figure out which guard is Sokka. Just when I am about to give up, someone comes to stand next to us.

"Hey there, fellow guard. How goes it?" Zuko asks awkwardly.

Sokka raises his visor, "Zuko?"

Zuko raises his finger to his mouth, "Shh. Listen, we asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners. I'm afraid your Father and Kidah's people aren't here."

Sokka turns to me, "What? Are you sure? Did you double check?"

I cross my arms and let my head fall, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"No," he holds his head in despair as he walks towards a wall. "No!" he bangs his fist against the wall in frustration.

"I'm really sorry, Sokka," Zuko says as he places a hand on his shoulder.

Sokka leans against the wall. "So we came all this way for nothing. I failed. Again." Feeling defeated, myself, I stay quiet. My chest feels as if it is caving in on itself.

Zuko paces, trying to think of some way to make us feel better. "Err, what would Uncle say? Sometimes clouds have two sides, a dark and light. And a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich. So... when life seems hard…" Sokka, who had basically been ignoring Zuko this whole time, looks to the side and his eyes widen. Zuko continues, "take a bite out of the silver sandwich."

Sokka's smile is so broad, I find myself worrying for his mental state. "Maybe we haven't failed after all." I follow him to the railing, trying to see what he sees.

"That's the spirit. I can't believe that worked. I didn't even know what I was saying," he says from behind us.

Sokka shakes his head beside me, "no, what you said made no sense at all. But, look," he points, "it's Suki!" I follow his arm and see a young woman with short brown hair. I knew Suki was a Kyoshi warrior, but we'd never met.

A guard yells across the yard, "prisoners! Back in your cells!" He runs in her direction, and Zuko chases after him.

A heavy hand on my shoulder stops me from following them. "Are you part of the new unit?" I turn to see an older man wearing a gold and red headpiece, marking him as the overseer of this prison.

I bow my head out of habit, "yes, sir."

He looks me up and down, and the hairs on my neck stand up. "Name?"

"Yewa, sir." I square my shoulders, trying to conceal my discomfort.

"Well, why don't you accompany me as I welcome the new prisoners? Give me something nice to look at, while I greet the scum."

Gross… I try not to grimace. "My pleasure, sir." He holds out an arm for me to walk in front of him.

I become hyper aware of my hips and try to walk normally, but I can hear some of the male guards behind the Warden. "I bet she's trash from the colonies… look how curvy she is."

"Hey, man, I'm just trying to enjoy the view." I hold my head up high and try to ignore them.

I lead the Warden and his small group towards the gondolas, where they bring in the new prisoners. A female guard comes running up to us, "Sir, we found an imposter!" My heart clenches, and I hold my breath.

He waves a hand at her mockingly, "lock him up. I'll deal with him later."

"But, sir-"

The Warden sighs dramatically and turns on his heel, "take me to him." I silently follow them into the building, where the woman leads us to a prison cell. She opens the door, and I see Zuko. His head hangs low, and he's dressed in the same red clothes as the other convicts. I start to take a step forward, but remember the mission. It stops me.

"Well, well, well… I never thought I'd find you in here, Prince Zuko." The Warden's voice is full of scorn.

"How did you know who I am?" Zuko meets his gaze.

"How could I not? You broke my niece's heart."

Zuko straightens from his leaning position against the cell wall. "You're Mai's uncle?" He asks guiltily. "I never meant to hurt her." Jealousy runs through me. I realize he doesn't recognize me in my uniform.

The Warden throws out a hand, "Quiet! You're my special prisoner now. And you best behave. If these criminals found out who you are, the traitor prince who let his nation down. Why, they'd tear you to shreds."

Zuko crosses his arms. "So, what's in it for you? Why don't you just tell my Father and collect the reward."

His voice becomes darker, "oh, in due time believe me, I intend to collect." The Warden steps out of Zuko's cell, and the female guard slams it shut.

"Yewa, if you will?" He gestures down the hall.

"Yes, sir." I lead him to the gondolas, where we welcome the new prisoners. Again, no water tribe.

The Warden finally released me from duties. I started my search for Sokka and Zuko. I found Zuko with Suki mopping on the lower levels. I watch them as they kneel down behind some stairs, talking to a guard that I assume is Sokka. Walking over quickly, I lift my visor so Zuko can see my eyes. His face fills with relief. I quietly stand behind Sokka.

"So listen, I think I have an escape plan. First, we have to find Kidah."

I tap him on the shoulder, "present!"

"Whew," he sighs. "That just saved us a lot of time. Where have you been?"

I cross my arms and roll my eyes. "Evidently, I'm the Warden's type. He's had me following him around all day so he 'has something nice to look at'." I raise my hands into air quotes for emphasis.

Zuko stands from his crouched position, "what?!"

"When you guys ran after Suki, he stopped me. Something to do with my hips?" I gesture to my lower body. Suki pretends to vomit beside Zuko. "Usually I'm okay with using my femininity to my advantage, but that sucked."

Sokka places a hand on Zuko's shoulder to calm him, "at least she's safe right under his nose. And now, we basically have an inside-inside man."

Zuko crosses his arms and returns to the floor, "I don't like this."

"But you'll like my plan, trust me…" Sokka looks around for eavesdroppers. "I checked out the Coolers again, the whole point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"

"Yeah…" Zuko mumbles.

"So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well to keep the cold in it also has to keep the heat out, right?"

Suki tilts her head, "just get to the point, Sokka."

"It's a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water."

Zuko looks at us all skeptically, "the cooler as a boat? Are you sure?"

Sokka nods confidently, "I'm telling you, it'll work."

A bell dings nearby, alerting us that its time for the prisoners to get back in their cells. Sokka takes Suki, and I lead Zuko.

He sighs and looks at me out of the corner of his eye. "I can't believe the Warden has been ogling you all day."

"What was I supposed to say? 'No, thanks'?" I sigh in frustration. We turn another corner, just a few yards away from his cell. I slow our pace to give us more time. "Why didn't you tell me about Mai?" I ask. My cheeks burn from embarrassment.

He inhales deeply, "you were there for that?" I nod, feeling lucky my visor is covering my emotions. "She had waited for me for three years during my exile… I felt like I owed it to her to at least try to make things work. I broke up with her before I left during the eclipse." I nod again.

We reach his cell. "Kidah," he whispers. "There's nothing left between Mai and me. I promise."

I nod again and give him a weak smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The next morning, Sokka comes up with a plan to get Zuko thrown into the cooler for firebending. I spent my morning with the Warden, keeping him from the yard. If he saw Zuko out there, he'd just throw him back into his cell, or worse. I kept my head down and listened to every word he spoke, just like my many years in the palace. So far, no pertinent information had been divulged.

"New prisoner files, sir." A young guard sets a large envelope down on the Warden's desk.

He opens it eagerly, and the sight disgusts me. He inhales deeply, "Ahhh, this is an interesting bunch… War criminals." My head perks up. "No benders, thankfully." He turns to look at me, "the day we stopped imprisoning waterbenders made my life a hell of a lot easier."

My blood runs cold. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood so I don't accidentally start a snow shower in his office. Not able to get any words out, I simply nod in response.

"I have a few errands for you, Yewa." He hands me a small scroll. "We have a few special guests arriving in a day or two, so this place needs to be perfect." I bow my head and turn towards the door, reveling in the idea of a bit of freedom. I needed to tell Sokka and Zuko about the new prisoners. "Oh, and Yewa? Do hurry back."

I stop at the threshold, "yes, sir."