Episode 16: In Need of a Good Plan

It was an hour before enough Agni Kai's had left the area for Zuko to crawl out of the gutter he'd been hiding in. He hoped enough of the Villagers had gotten away before he'd been so embarrassingly taken down. He had bigger things to worry about now.

The Painted Lady was in the custody of Phoenix Industries. Also...he'd fallen from a two story building onto the concrete after being stabbed with a knife.

He'd had better days.

Drops of blood dripped from his side as he rode his bike home, barely keeping it upright. It was too much effort to lock it up like he usually did, so he left it leaning against the tea shop's back wall before staggering up the stairs. He was happy to find Sokka alone in their apartment, up late playing video games. He was in full gamer mode: headphones on, packaged snacks piled on the table, and the TV the only source of light.

"Hey man, grab a controller and help me. I can't get past the fifteenth level."

His final energy spent, Zuko slumped to the floor.

"Zuko!"

He groaned when the lights came on, then Sokka turned him over onto his back on the floor.

"What happened to you?" Sokka demanded. "I'll call Katara."

Zuko grabbed his wrist before he could get up. "Don't," he rasped.

"What do you mean 'don't'?" Sokka demanded. "You're bleeding all over the carpet!"

"I don't want her to see me like this." Reaching back, he pulled the mask out of his bag.

Sokka recoiled from the sight. "What is-? Why do you have a Blue Spirit mask?"

"I'll explain everything," Zuko said, "but first, I need your help."

It was a slow process, explaining to Sokka what to do and how to do it. Even boiling water seemed like a chore.

"Turn it until you hear the click. The click, Sokka. Now you have to wait until the gas disperses. Agni, have you never turned on the stove?"

Sokka's voice was exasperated, "Is it the same when you boil water?"

"Why would it be different when you're boiling- Don't answer that." Zuko breathed deeply in and out. "Just pass me the wrappings, will you? I'll need you to tie me off in a sec."

"I don't understand why we can't just call Katara," Sokka said, finally getting the fire started under the kettle.

"We went over this." Zuko continued wrapping the cloth tight around his bruised ribs. "I don't want her to know I'm the Blue Spirit."

"I don't want to know either!" Sokka exclaimed. "And yet here we are: you, the Blue Spirit. Me, knowing you're the Blue Spirit."

"It was unavoidable because-" Zuko breathed deep. "Your father's in danger. I need your help."

Sokka's blue eyes turned icy. The look had an uncanny resemblance to his sister in fury. The thought almost made Zuko smile.

"What happened with my father?" Sokka asked. His voice had changed. It was his serious tone, one that Zuko didn't hear often.

"You know how he owes money to the industry?" Zuko finished wrapping his ribs and ripped the gauze with his teeth. "I think it has something to do with that."

"But why would that put him in danger?" Sokka crossed his arms as he leaned back against the counter.

"I think they got fed up waiting for him to pay it back." Zuko shrugged. "Last night his name came up in the bounty database."

Sokka's face softened. "Is that why you were gone all night?"

"Yes." Zuko held his breath while he gingerly tugged his shirt over his new wrappings. "His price went down this morning so I don't think it will be as bad, but that doesn't mean I want to risk it. You should move up the camping trip, take him out of the city for a couple of days."

"Dad will never go for that." Sokka shook his head before listing off, "It's the middle of the week, he has a business to run, and he knows I have school."

"Sokka, we're talking about his life here," Zuko insisted. "You have to figure out a way to convince him."

"Can't you just watch him another night? That would give me some time to plan, maybe set up some excuse."

"I can't." Zuko moved to the living room. "I have somebody else I need to take care of."

"Someone more important than my dad?" Sokka demanded.

Zuko nodded. "They have the Painted Lady."

Sokka scoffed. "So what?"

"She's a beacon of hope for this town, Sokka, I can't just leave her to whatever Phoenix Industries has planned for her."

"This is my dad, Zuko."

"I understand that-"

"No, you don't!" Sokka's fist hit the table. "You don't understand what it's like to have family. To have a father who loves you!"

Zuko stopped.

The room was deadly still. The whispered bubble of the boiling water blanketed the tension between the boys who faced off across the apartment.

Then Sokka let out a heavy breath. "I'm sorry, Zuko, I don't know what came over me." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm...I'm terrified, but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have said that."

"You're right," Zuko whispered. "I don't know what it's like. That's why I'm doing everything I can to protect yours."

"I know, man, I know." The kettle whistled and Sokka turned off the stove before moving it to the side. Then he moved across the space between them to put his hands on Zuko's shoulders. "You're my family too. My brother. We'll figure this out together."

After some more botched first aid, the boys sat together on the couch staring at the wall.

"We need a plan," Zuko said.

They sat for a while longer, Sokka stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What if-"

"We need a good plan." Zuko amended, all too familiar with Sokka's way of doing things.

His roommate pointed an accusing finger at him. "I resent that comment."

Zuko's head dropped into his hands.

"I've got it!" Sokka snapped. "Azula said your dad wanted you back, right?"

"Right," Zuko drew out. "But how am I supposed to go back now? I'm too confused." He ran his hands through his hair for the thousandth time that night.

"That's fine. You're going, but you're not actually going to go back."

"I need a real plan, Sokka." He was starting to move from worried to frustrated.

"Would you just hear me out?" Sokka cleared his throat. "You go back as Zuko, act all snooty and sign papers, eat shrimp."

"That's not really-"

"Shh-sh." Sokka stood and began pacing their small living room. "It's changed since you were there, right? So they'll give you a tour! Make sure it's extensive, ask where they keep high profile criminals. You can find out where they're keeping her and then we can decide how to bust her out from there."

"What if they don't give me a tour?" Zuko asked. "I have no idea why my father asked me to come back. I don't graduate for another three months."

"It is suspicious." Sokka was back to stroking his chin.

"Azula could have been lying." He was ashamed that his heart clenched at the thought. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the desire for his dad to want him, to be proud of him. Was that such a bad thing?

"I don't think she was lying, what would she have to gain? They'd just turn you away at the gates, right?"

Zuko shrugged a single shoulder. "I suppose so."

"So there's nothing to lose. We might as well try it." Sokka resumed his pacing. "Once we know where she is, how will you get her out?"

"I was thinking of doing it as the Blue Spirit," Zuko said.

"But won't that ruin your alliance?" The sarcasm had Zuko lifting his gaze. "Don't they need you to keep being a jerk?"

Zuko sighed. "Sokka..."

"No, I think I get to be a little upset," he replied. His hands were waving about as he talked, the more emotional he got the wider they would arc around his body. "You've been sneaking out of here behind my back for the past three years nearly every night to go kidnap children, steal rare artifacts, and who knows what else."

"I never kidnapped children." Zuko stood up.

"You stole people, Zuko," Sokka insisted. "That makes you a criminal."

"I thought they were criminals." Zuko's hand gestured to the window. "A lot of them were! I just didn't realize not all of them were."

"And the thievery?" Sokka crossed his arms, not backing down.

"I stole from Phoenix Industries. That's like accusing you of stealing your own clothes, they belonged to me."

Sokka narrowed his eyes at him. "You got to admit that's a stretch, bro."

Zuko frowned. "Fine, but I couldn't let my father get a hold of those things, they might be destroyed by now."

"Now that excuse, I'll take. I'm always rooting for a worthy cause."

Running a hand down his face, Zuko pleaded, "Can we get back to the plan, please?"

"Fine, fine." Sokka waved his hand. "What's your idea for getting her out?"

Gripping her coat tighter around her shoulders, Katara shivered in the dark. Every once in a while she would hear a loud bang from somewhere outside the door to her cell, followed by some shouting. It was all she could do to keep the fear at bay. How could she have been so stupid? She should have waited for the Blue Spirit like he had asked her to. She'd been too distracted by Zuko...by the kiss...and now she might never see him again.

Nobody knew where she was. Sokka would be out of his mind. What would her father think?

With a heavy creak, the door to her cell opened a fraction letting in a small slice of light. Throwing out her hand, she threw a wave of needle-thin icicles towards the entrance and the metal door immediately slid shut again. So far she'd been able to keep them away, but she was running out of water. She was running out of time. She couldn't seem to figure a way out.

And nobody was coming to save her.