Washing her face in the small bathroom, Azula sighed and went into the main part of her hut and picked up her shoes. Sitting down on the chair she made sure her socks were pulled up before she slid her feet into her boots. Taking a second to try and wake up properly, she lost focus and stared into the fire, watching as the flames danced along the logs as the wood cracked creating a nice ambient sound that filled the room.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and saw that Ty Lee was already dressed and handing her a bowl of seaweed noodles, encouraging her to eat something.
"We don't have time for me to eat," Azula said, only having woken up ten minutes ago to a rude knock on their door demanding they get to the council chambers as soon as possible.
"They can wait five minutes, eat Azula," Ty Lee replied, making her take the bowl of food.
"Fine," Azula agreed, grabbing the chopsticks and eating the noodles as quickly as she could.
"It's not as cold outside today so do you want your jumper or jacket?" Ty Lee asked, grabbing her jumper and putting it on.
"Jumper." Slurping up another mouthful of noodle, she chewed quickly and swallowed, taking another bite of her breakfast.
"Here, have some water before we go," Ty Lee said, handing Azula the cup as the girl finished her bowl of noodles in record time.
Knowing not to say no to Ty Lee, Azula took the cup of water and sculled it. Putting the empty cup of the small table, she stood up and took her jumper off Ty Lee. Quickly putting it on, she gave Ty Lee a quick smile before she walked over to the door and exited the hut, Ty Lee following close behind.
Wincing as the sunlight shone brightly and hit her in the eyes, she looked around with minimal vision and could see children up and running about, playing games with each other. Feeling Ty Lee link arms with her, Azula let Ty Lee guide them around the centre of the village and to the council chambers.
Knocking on the door, they heard the chief tell them to enter. Entering the room, they looked around and saw the full council sitting there with two empty chairs off to the side for them to sit in. Walking over to the chairs, they sat down and looked up at Chief Hakoda, wondering what was going on.
"Thank you both for coming and sorry I had the kids wake you up on this fine and beautiful morning. I have asked you both here as we have had some developments happen overnight. As you were both aware, we had a hunting party go out looking for food. This is usually normal except this time they were hunting near where the ice prison is and they ended up finding a fresh fire pit that only looked to have been extinguished a few hours beforehand. We as the group of council members decided that we needed to let you know just in case it is General Zhan and Toshiko and they are out there somewhere near our village." Looking at the two girls sitting down in front of him, Chief Hakoda could see that they were both uneasy looking and kept on swapping glances.
"That is not good at all, is anything going to be done about it?" Ty Lee asked, knowing that the expression on Azula's face was one of apprehension and trepidation.
"I was going to take a very small search party over to the prison to see if we can locate any more evidence that there were people around and try to see if they left any footprints in the snow. It is quite warm today so I'm hoping the sun hasn't melted any of the snow yet," Chief Hakoda replied, still looking between the two girls.
"I want to go too," both Ty Lee and Azula said at the same time, wanting to see it with their own two eyes.
Sighing and rubbing his forehead, Chief Hakoda knew that they weren't going to let this go. "You can both come but if anything happens I want you to both retreat so nothing happens to you."
"We will try," Azula said, knowing damn well if she was to see them both she and Ty Lee would help to recapture them.
"We are leaving straight away; while I'm gone Sokka will be in charge once he finishes unloading the boats. Come with me."
Following the man out of the council chambers, they walked right through the middle of the village and headed for the large shelter that was made for Appa. Seeing the large sky bison out in the open and saddled up, Azula looked around and could only see Aang and Katara waiting.
"Is anyone else coming or is this it?" Azula asked, expecting there to be more people going.
"This is it, who needs more people when you have a water bending master and the Avatar ready to go," Chief Hakoda said, smiling at them as he gave Appa a fresh apple he pulled from his pocket.
"Don't worry Azula, we won't let anything bad happen," Aang said, air bending himself onto Appa as the rest of them climbed into the saddle.
"I don't like this one bit," Azula softly said so only Ty Lee could hear her.
"I don't either," Ty Lee agreed. Putting a hand on Azula's knee, Ty Lee shuffled a little closer to her partner and offered her a small smile.
Returning the small smile, Azula sat there and wondered what she was going to do if she ended up seeing either Toshiko or General Zhan. She hadn't seen them since her last day in the ice prison and she knew that they were both more than willing to kill her to keep their secret. She felt uneasy, nervous, worried, and a little scared. What scared her the most was that if she was to see them would she be able to defend herself or would she freeze and not be able to do anything.
Feeling Ty Lee's thumb gently caressing her knee she knew that Ty Lee would have her back no matter what happened and for that she was very thankful. Ty Lee had been there for her through every up and down and she knew she could count on her best friend, her partner, the person she loved. Reaching out, she rested her hand on top of Ty Lee's and left it there as she looked out over the saddle and watched the scenery go by.
Watching as the snow covered mountains passed by, Azula could see some Polar Leopards that looked like they were hunting for food. Keeping an eye on them until she couldn't see them anymore, she suddenly felt a cool wind start up around them. Blinking, she looked ahead and saw that they were near the water's edge, near where the old camp used to be of the soldiers that took shifts guarding the prison with her inside.
"Are you okay?" Ty Lee softly whispered, knowing that being back could bring up some memories.
"Yeah, I'm good," Azula unconvincingly replied, giving Ty Lee's hand a quick squeeze.
"The camp for one looks like no one has been here at all. There are no footprints, no impression that a boat was ever docked on the shore, no remains of any rubbish, fire, or food," Chief Hakoda said as he studied the ground below for any tracks.
"I think it's clear here," Katara agreed, looking down over the other side.
Watching as Katara and Chief Hakoda swapped sides as they did another circle of the old camp, Azula wondered how they were so easily able to walk across the saddle. Every time she stood up while Appa was in flight, which was a total of once, it almost made her throw up from the motion sickness and she was not one to just get motion sickness from anything.
"I'm going to call it, the camp is clear. Aang, can you and Appa take us to where the prison is buried, please?" Chief Hakoda said, sitting down on his knees while he looked over the side of the saddle.
"Of course," Aang said, guiding Appa up the hill to where the prison was buried under a fair amount of snow.
Deciding she needed to look over the edge of the saddle, Azula watched as nothing but smooth snow covered hills went by them as they got to where the prison was. Feeling Appa do a sharp turn around the prison, Azula felt Ty Lee press against her as Aang let out a nervous giggle and rubbed the back of his head.
"What's that?" Azula said, pointing to part of the prison that looked to be uncovered.
"It looks like a solid ice wall has been revealed," Katara replied, trying to get a closer look at it.
"Aang, can you set us down, we need to go and get a good look at the wall," Chief Hakoda said, pursing his lips together as this was exactly what he needed.
Feeling Appa start to lower, Azula tried her best to get a good look at the wall but it was proving useless as there seemed to still be quite a bit of snow covering the bottom of the wall. Touching down on the ground, Azula quickly got up and slid down the side of Appa and offered Ty Lee a hand and helped her down.
Marching through the thick snow, Azula went over to where the wall had been revealed and her feet sunk into the snow. Kicking at the snow, she felt around for a hard patch of snow and got down on her knees and dug out the soft snow, throwing it behind her as she knew there was something there, she just didn't know what.
Feeling some broken shards of hard ice, she picked one out of the snow and handed it to Chief Hakoda.
"This is not good at all," he said, taking a deep breath in and holding it for a second.
Seeing Ty Lee and Katara join her, they dug more of the snow out, throwing it in all directions as they slowly revealed a small hole in the side of the ice prison that was just big enough to fit one person in if they crawled on their hands and knees.
"They have managed to get into the prison, this isn't good at all," Chief Hakoda said, as he stood back and examined the hole in the wall. "Can I please get you all to stand back so I can check to see if whatever caused this hole didn't also affect the whole structure of the building."
Watching as the three girls stood back, Hakoda walked over to the hole and examined it. He ran his gloved hand over the cold ice and felt the texture of it. It was smooth and it made him more concerned than he already was. Moving his head inside he looked around but couldn't see anything, it was pitch black. Removing his head, he ran his hand over the outside of the hole and he felt along the walls around it. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a weird instrument none of them had seen before. It looked like a stick but instead it folded out to the desired length needed and fit snugly inside of the hole. Getting down and up close with the hole, Chief Hakoda pulled a small hammer with a soft end of his pocket and gently tapped it against the walls near the hole. Raising an eyebrow, he started to hit it harder, the sound echoing through the snow covered mountains.
Standing up and dusting the fine layer of snow he got covered in, he put his instruments back in his pocket and stood up above the hole, looking down at it.
"Do you think it's safe, Dad?" Katara asked, hoping it wasn't about to fall on top of them.
"I believe that the structural integrity of the building is still fair, I don't think it will fall down or collapse if anyone was to enter," Chief Hakoda said, looking between his search party.
"How do you think such a perfect hole got there?" Ty Lee asked, jumping down into the pit and looking at the hole up close.
"I assume they used some form of explosives to blow it out and then since they are both fire benders, they probably were able to just melt the ice enough to make it smooth. When you guys were digging the snow away from in front of it a lot of shards of ice were discovered which is why I'm going with explosives or maybe blasting jelly possibly," Chief Hakoda replied, not impressed that something was able to break the wall.
"How would anyone know this was the spot to hit?" Aang asked, knowing what went on as he was there when the prison was built.
"While General Zhan was working here he must have searched the building thoroughly and found a weakness in it and never reported it to anyone. I knew I couldn't trust that man but the Fire Lord told me he was one of the best and to trust him," Chief Hakoda voiced, not happy with what they were finding.
"You just straight up listened to Zuko and believed him? He is so naive and he doesn't know what he is doing half the time," Azula said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow.
"Zuko is the Fire Lord and he did show us we could trust him," Aang replied, picking up on Azula's frustration.
"Do we think there is anyone inside of the prison?" Katara asked, changing the topic of the conversation.
"The hole was covered up so I would think they have moved on," Chief Hakoda said, looking at the group of teens with him.
Walking over to the snow pit that allowed access into the prison, Azula jumped down and got on her hands and knees, and crawled inside. "I'll let you know if I find anything, someone has to do it," she said, disappearing inside of the building.
"Wait up, Azula, I'm coming too," Ty Lee said, jumping down and crawling inside.
Standing outside of the hole, Chief Hakoda sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Aang, can you please go with them while Katara and I keep watch out here in case they come back."
"Of course," Aang agreed as he glided down into the hole and just managed to crawl inside.
Looking around at the pitch blackness of the room, Aang stood up and held out his hand, lighting a small fire in it so they would be able to see.
Seeing Ty Lee and Azula standing close together, Aang walked around the room and noticed torches hanging on the walls. Lighting the eight fire sticks, he extinguished his flame and went over to the two girls and they all looked around.
"Do you we know what this room was used for?" Aang asked, noticing some empty tins on the ground with their lids thrown aside.
"I have no idea. While I was here when Azula was still locked up I did go exploring but I never came to this room. If we follow the corridor it may take us to a place I recognise," Ty Lee replied, reaching up and taking one of the torches of its holding.
Heading down the corridor, Ty Lee went first carrying a torch while Azula stayed in the middle and Aang brought up the back while also holding a torch. Making their way down the corridor, Ty Lee wondered why there was a roll of carpet over the ice floor. Not wanting to voice anything until she saw the rest of the prison, she stopped in front of a door which was slightly ajar. Pushing it open using her shoulder, she entered the room and hung the torch up to get a better view.
"I was in this room once, it was Zhan's office," Ty Lee said, bending down behind the desk and pulling out an empty metal box.
"That doesn't look promising," Aang said, holding up another similar container. "This seems to have something green still attached to the wall."
"Don't touch it, Aang. It would be best to just close it and leave it somewhere out of the way. It could be exploding putty and even small amounts can cause major damage," Azula warned, hearing the same warning from her mother when she was very young and thought it was a toy.
"Oh, yeah, I'm going to put this back where I found it," Aang replied, carefully closing the lid and gently sliding it back under the desk.
"The cupboard over here is also open," Azula said, checking out the shelves attached to the wall.
"If I remember correctly, Zhan kept special Fire Nation food up there. I know for a fact he had at least three tins of Fire Flakes though I don't know how he'd get them to flame. He also had some fire gummies, and some cinnamon cookies that I can remember," Ty Lee replied, looking around at the ransacked room.
"We should check the break room next, if more food is gone they have come back," Ty Lee said, swallowing hard as she went over and picked her torch up again.
Leading them from the office of the General and down a long, ice corridor, Ty Lee scrunched her nose up. She could smell rotting fruit and it was making her stomach turn. Trying her best, she entered the break room and hung her torch on the wall as Aang did the same.
Walking around the room, Ty Lee watched as Azula sat down in one of the chairs and sighed. Taking a mental note to get to that later, she pulled open the cupboard which had non-perishable food in it and sighed to herself. It was empty and everything was gone. She knew that there was at least a weeks' worth of food stocked in this room on any given day, and for none of it to be here only pointed to it being stolen.
"I think we have done all we can in these rooms, we can split up and I'll take the left side of the corridor if you two want to take the right," Aang suggested, grabbing his torch and walking in the direction he said he was going in.
Watching as Ty Lee grabbed her torch, Azula started to wander the corridor and saw one of the archways she remembered very well. Going through it, she walked for a bit and ended up at her old cell. Putting her hands on the bars she felt the cold metal in her grasp as she stared at the room, her face blank of all emotion.
It was the first time she had been inside this building and near her old cell in at least ten months. Taking a deep breath in, she wasn't ready for the memories it brought back. Days were she had no food, no water, no clean clothes. Times when Jing and Peng came in and beat her up just because they were bored and had nothing better to do. Feeling warm tears running down her face, she let out a sob and clung to the bars.
"Azula, baby, come here," Ty Lee softly said, pulling Azula to her.
Holding Azula tight in her arms, Ty Lee felt Azula hold on for dear life, her face buried in Ty Lee's neck as she sobbed. Rubbing gentle circles onto Azula's back, Ty Lee placed a soft kiss on Azula's forehead and just held her. She knew Azula wouldn't want to discuss it just yet so she kept quiet, providing the comfort she knew her partner needed.
Taking a few moments to control her breathing, Azula took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Wiping her face on her jumper, she looked up and her gold eyes locked with Ty Lee's grey and they were full of nothing but love for her and it made her feel something positive deep down, something she hadn't felt in a long time. "Thank you for getting me out of here," she softly said, as fresh tears ran down her face.
"I have loved you for as long as I can remember and no matter what I'll always be there for you, doing the right thing by you and making sure we are both doing our best," Ty Lee replied, wiping the fresh tears from Azula's face.
"I love you, Ty Lee, so much," Azula said, gently cupping Ty Lee's face and placing a warm kiss onto Ty Lee's soft lips.
"Ty Lee! Azula! Come here please," Aang called out, sticking his head out of a small room to try and see them.
"Give us a second please," Ty Lee called back as she let Azula go and looked at the girl in front of her. Using the sleeve of her jumper she wiped away the tears from Azula's face and smiled at her. Pulling a piece of cloth out of her pocket, she handed it to Azula so the girl could blow her nose.
Making sure Azula was okay first, they headed down the corridor and found Aang inside of a storage area that had shoes, buckets, sheets, blankets, and clothing thrown around everywhere.
"So this is where they kept stuff," Azula said, picking up one of the jumpers that hadn't been thrown onto the floor. Making sure it was dry she slid it on over the top of her current jumper. "It's freezing in here."
"It is," Ty Lee agreed, catching the jumper Azula threw at her.
"It's not too bad, but the blanket isn't as warm as I thought it would be," Aang said, wearing it around his shoulders like a cape.
Sliding the jumper on that Azula had given her, Ty Lee went and grabbed her torch and shone it around the area. "Should we quickly finish looking around?" she asked, wanting to check every room still.
"Of course," Aang agreed. "I've already looked all the way down there and to the main doors and nothing seemed out of order. We only have the rest of this corridor to go."
Leading the way, holding her torch up high, Ty Lee walked down the rest of the corridor and pushed open the door to the side which revealed a bathroom for the soldiers to use. Continuing on, they came to one last door with a heavy lock on it that appeared as if someone had tried to open it from the bottom but didn't succeed.
"I don't think we are able to get that off," Azula said, looking at how large it was.
"Yeah we won't be able to; we should also probably go and update Chief Hakoda and Katara on what we have found," Ty Lee agreed, looking to Aang who nodded his head.
Following Aang through the corridors and back into the old General's office and out into the corridor, they could now see the hole in the side of the ice prison. Putting their torches back on the walls, Aang blew one out and left the other one there so they had just enough light to make their way out.
Exiting out of the hole, they went one by one and all stood up on the bank so they weren't in the pit in front of the building anymore.
"What did you find inside?" Chief Hakoda asked, looking between the three of them.
"Chief, we found a lot of mess really. Someone has gone in and taken all of the food and possibly some clothing, blankets, and shoes. There was a door inside with a massive lock on it too, it appeared as if someone tried opening by the bottom but we doubt they got inside. Otherwise there is nothing much to say," Aang replied, making sure he didn't miss anything.
"The door with the lock holds chains that can stop a person bending, Fire Lord Zuko made sure there were a few spare sets just in case. He is also the only one who has the key to that room. I think it's safe enough to assume we can cover the hole and compact the snow back in front of it. Katara, the floor is yours," Chief Hakoda said, stepping back to allow his daughter to stand in front of the ice prison wall.
Taking a second to calm her breathing and her thoughts, Katara opened her eyes and bent the snow so it twirled around in front of her, getting bigger and bigger until it turned into its liquid state. Carefully moving the ball of water to the hole, Katara concentrated as hard as she could and slowly the water turned into ice, covering the hole as if it had never been there.
"Wow, that was amazing," Ty Lee said, having just watched one of the best water benders in action.
"Good work Katara, that was fantastic! Also, now that the hole is patched, you kids can help me move this snow back into the hole you dug it out of," Chief Hakoda said, kicking some of the snow down into the pit.
Motioning for the four of them to get to work, they all moved the snow back into the hole, having it done in about ten minutes. Walking over to where the snow was, Chief Hakoda walked over it, compacting it down, making it harder for anyone else to find the weak point if they ever came looking.
"While we were in the council chambers this morning you mentioned something about the hunters locating a small fire pit near here; how far away is that?" Azula asked, only now remembering it was mentioned.
"The fire was located about four or five hundred metres down the other side of the ice prison," Chief Hakoda replied, pointing in the direction.
"That's going to be hard to get to in the snow so I suggest we take Appa, we can do a fly over the area and see if we can spot something the others weren't able to," Aang suggested, heading back over to Appa who was happy to see him.
Getting into the saddle on Appa's back, Azula sat close to Ty Lee and cuddled into her side, resting her head on Ty Lee's shoulder. Seeing the others get in, Azula soon felt Appa rise off the ground, getting higher into the air.
Moving a little to see over the edge of the saddle, Azula looked down at the ground below and tried to spot anything that looked out of place. Seeing the small fire pit coming up, Appa circled around it slowly as Azula studied the area around them.
Seeing something off in the distance, Azula squinted her eyes to try to get a better look but couldn't make it out. "Can we fly over in that direction, something caught my attention and I don't know what it is."
"Of course," Aang replied, feeling Appa move in the direction Azula pointed to.
Keeping her eyes trained on the ground while listening to what was being said around her, she knew she was the only one looking at the snow covered hills as the others needed a moment. Spotting it again, her eyes went wide when she realised what it was. "Do these look like two sets of footprints to anyone? There is some slight snow over them but they are there."
Watching as everyone suddenly moved over to where she was, she shuffled back and let them look.
"I believe you are correct, they are footprints," Chief Hakoda agreed, still studying them. "Great find, Azula."
"I'll follow the footprints and see where they lead too," Aang said as Appa slowly flew over the footprints.
Watching the footprints continue on as they went up and over the hills, they finally came to an end just outside of a cave.
Feeling Appa set down on the ground, Azula jumped out of the saddle and landed on the ground. Helping Ty Lee down, they both headed in the direction of the cave only to feel a strong hand on both of their shoulders.
"We need to be careful; we just can't walk straight in there. They are escaped prisoners; we need to deal with this using caution. I'll go in first with Aang, then the three of you can come in behind," Chief Hakoda said, getting everyone into order.
Entering the cave, they could see the soft glow of a small fire. There were food wrappers and containers littered all around, a small stack of sticks and twigs and some blankets on the ground with someone sleeping inside.
Hearing very soft footsteps coming up behind her, Azula quickly turned around and kicked out, sending Zhan to the ground, landing on his back. Seeing him get up, he went into an attack stance and looked at Azula, gathering a flame in his hand. He lunged at her and she sidestepped it easily, bringing her hands down on the back of his neck with a solid whack. He stumbled backwards, hands in fists, chest heaving with each breath. His jaw was slackened, his eyes sunken. The cold had gotten to him, for it was unforgiving. But he wasn't about to give up on his mission to hurt Azula, so he forced flames from his fingertips and stepped forward again, his footsteps uncertain.
Azula stood there and raised an eyebrow at him. "Is this really all you've got?" she said, watching him stagger a little before she charged at him and knocked him up against the wall of the cave where he fell to his knees, his body cracking loudly.
"I've got this one now," Chief Hakoda said, going over to the man and tying his hands and feet together so he wouldn't be able to escape.
"The cold has gotten to them both, it has affected their bending and they can barely make a flame. Toshiko seems to be unconscious but breathing but we can't get her to wake up and I don't want to try healing them until we have them safely away," Katara said, looking down at the woman as she lay there unresponsive.
"Azula, what do you think we should do with them?" Chief Hakoda asked, wanting to secretly test her.
"Personally, I'd leave them here to rot but I know that's not the right thing to do so I guess we should take them back with us and hand them over to Zuko, and maybe this time he can manage to keep them locked up," Azula replied, watching as Chief Hakoda pulled Zhan to his feet.
"You are correct. Aang, if you are able to, can you please get Toshiko back to Appa," Chief Hakoda said as he started to lead Zhan out of the cave.
Standing back as Chief Hakoda dealt with Zhan and Aang had somehow air bent a bubble of air under Toshiko to move her, Azula watched them as they headed for Appa. Seeing Ty Lee walk over to her, she linked her arm through Ty Lee's and sighed. "I don't like this one bit," she softly said, making sure the others weren't around.
"I agree, this was too easy, it doesn't feel right," Ty Lee replied, watching as Chief Hakoda basically threw Zhan into the saddle.
Taking a deep breath in, Azula slowly let it out, "We should probably join them," she said, taking Ty Lee's hand and guiding them over to Appa.
Getting up into the saddle, Azula sat as far away as she could manage with Ty Lee sitting next to her. Toshiko and Zhan were on the other side of the saddle with both Chief Hakoda and Katara keeping a close eye on them. Watching Zhan for a moment, she could see that he was slipping in and out of consciousness, his eyes were closing and he kept on startling himself awake.
Feeling Appa rise off the ground, Azula kept her eyes trained on Zhan. She observed every little movement and if something was to go down she was ready to fight. She didn't trust the man at all and now with his bending being affected by the cold they were both on a more even playing field.
Before she knew it they had reached the village. Appa sat down near the pier and Chief Hakoda called out to some of his warriors who rushed over and helped to keep Zhan and Toshiko under control.
Getting out of the saddle, Azula joined Ty Lee and Katara who were watching the village soldiers carry the two criminals onto the prison ship that was docked on the pier. Chief Hakoda followed after them as they all disappeared inside.
"I was not expecting today to go like this," Katara said, watching as Aang took Appa back to his shelter to brush him out.
"Same, I still think we should have left them to rot," Azula replied, feeling anger towards both Zhan and Toshiko for what they did to her.
"All we can hope for is that Zuko deals with them a lot more harshly this time round and lets no one know where they are being kept," Ty Lee added, taking off her extra jumper as the warmth from the fire was making her feel a little warm.
"I'm beginning to think we may have to take them to Zuko just so word doesn't get out that we have them," Katara said, rubbing her stomach as it rumbled loudly.
"I think I have the best idea so far, how about we go get something to eat, I'm starving," Azula said, both Ty Lee and Katara agreeing with her as the three of them headed off together for the dining hall to grab something to eat.