Author's Note: Hey there, I just wanted to say, don't wonder, we're going to make a bit of an episode-skip again at the beginning of this. I figured that the first two episodes after 'The Day of the Black Sun' wouldn't really hold that much to this story, and I'm not here to basically rewrite ATLA, but for Mori's story. Thus, we'll start somewhat after the beginning of 'The Boiling Rock', even though, Mori will not be directly involved in these two episodes. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, and please review. Btw, we're going to hit 30 000 words with this chapter, Yay!

A war balloon over the High Seas, 100 AC

They already flew for quite some time. The way to the prison was longer than they had anticipated, and by now they were both uncomfortably silent and busy with their own thoughts. In an attempt to break the awkward silence Sokka said, "Pretty clouds."

Not knowing how to answer that, Zuko responded, "Yeah … fluffy.", hearing Sokka whistling he added, "What?"

This startled the Water Tribe boy a bit, "What? Oh, I didn't say anything. You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, "No kidding."

Smiling, Sokka added, "Yep, a balloon, but for war."

The banished prince sighed, "If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war.", he said as he blasted more fire into the tank.

"Yeah, it seems to run in the family.", Sokka commented.

Zuko seemed angered by this, "Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that."

Sokka held up his hands in a defensive gesture, "I know, I know, you've changed."

Lowering his gaze, Zuko replied, "I meant my uncle. He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down. Him and …", he trailed off and looked at the surrounding clouds.

Sokka had apparently not heard the last words, or he went over them nonchalantly, "I think your uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard."

Zuko shrugged his shoulders, "It wasn't that hard."

The blue-eyed boy looked at him questioningly, "Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about? No girlfriend, nothing?"

That made the prince grimace for a moment, "No, that's … complicated."

Sokka was now curious, "Complicated? What do you mean?"

Zuko's shoulders slumped, and he looked to the side, then he closed his eyes, "She's … dead. My girlfriend died not that long ago, okay?"

The Water Tribe boy got aware that he obviously touched a nerve, "Well, my first girlfriend turned into the moon, I know how it feels. I still think I should have protected her better." The banished prince looked at the other teen, if it wasn't so tragic, it was almost funny that they shared a similar fate. Sokka caught his gaze, "What happened to her?"

Zuko was silent for a moment, then he looked downward, and his head dropped a bit, "She was living with my uncle and me in Ba Sing Se. That day when we should serve the Earth King, we left her to run the tea shop. What we didn't know was that Azula had spied on us before and sent four imperial guards to the Jasmine Dragon. She managed to kill three of them, but then …", he broke off and ran a hand over his face. "Ever since I asked myself if I could have rescued her somehow.", then he remembered something, "Hey Sokka, what did you say was your father's name again?"

The other boy was surprised, "Hakoda, why?", Zuko quickly covered his mouth with one of his hands, leaving a confused Sokka, "Zuko, what is it? What is with my father's name?", without a word Zuko hurried over to the little bit of luggage they had. He quickly searched for something and handed it to Sokka. It was a blue piece of paper, a passport. When he read the name on it, Sokka shrieked back as much as the confined space of the balloon allowed, he read it out loud, but his voice was almost a whisper, "Kemori, daughter of Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe and Kaya.", he looked at the still shocked Fire Nation prince and shook his head, "Zuko. You don't say… No way! My sister would have never…"

Zuko shot him an angered glare, "What? You haven't seen her in eleven years. You don't know that much about her, let alone her taste in boys.", for a moment it seemed like they would fight, right then and there, then both calmed down. Seeing that he hurt the other boy, Zuko apologized, "Sokka, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Sokka stood up and gave him Mori's passport. "No, I'm sorry. You're probably right, I haven't seen her in a long time. It just, it hurts so much. Since we found out that she was dead, I also felt guilty about it. You know, when I had visited my father earlier, he told me that Mori was in Ba Sing Se. I wanted to see her but couldn't find the time to do it. If I had found her, maybe I could've changed her fate.", then he turned towards the other teen, "I know this sounds weird, but we've got some way ahead of us. Do you think, you could tell me more about her? How did you guys even happen to know each other?"

Zuko nodded and both boys sat down in the balloon. He still held her passport in his hands. "I first met her back at home, in the Fire Nation. When we were still children, I was about eight years old, Azula had been shown off to my grandfather as the firebending prodigy she was. I got jealous of the pride father had in her and wanted to show the same form, but I failed and landed on my behind. My uncle saw that and brought me to his house, where he introduced us to one another. Mori was his student, his prodigy. She learned faster than anybody, as far as I know, even faster than Azula, but at the same time she was much friendlier and kinder. She managed to help me whenever I needed it, and we became friends really quickly.

As we got older, we started to develop feelings for each other that went beyond friendship, but we were both not able to express them back then. Then I was banished, and I thought that I would never see Mori again. What I didn't know was that she was never far behind us. I guess, she and my uncle were in permanent contact. You must know, Mori was a person of absolute loyalty and trust. The only times when she was really angry at me was over my uncle being hurt, one way or another. For her, he was part of her family, and she would defend him at all costs.

Anyway, she joined us when I had left my uncle to follow Aang alone in the Earth Kingdom. I must admit, it was a pretty stupid idea from me, and as you know, it ended with my uncle being shot by Azula.", a picture shot through Sokka's brain, a light green clothed figure, holding Zuko back, so Katara could heal Iroh. "Mori helped me bring him into an abandoned house, she pretty much took care of our survival. I don't know if we had even made it to Ba Sing Se without her.", he smiled slightly at the thought of Mori bringing them fish and berries. "And to make a long story short, in Ba Sing Se we, well, we finally got together after she visited your father. We had a few good weeks together until, well, you know… Today I think that I should've told her earlier, then we would have had more time together, but I guess that's obsolete anyway now.", Sokka could see how sad Zuko was, he experienced something comparable with Yue. That was a sadness that would never truly fade.

Slowly he stood up and walked over to the Fire Nation prince. Sokka sat down next to him and put a hand on the other teen's shoulder, Zuko's gaze shot up to him, surprised by the Water Tribe boy's smile. Sokka said, "Thank you, Zuko."

Zuko raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, "What for? I couldn't rescue Mori, what would you thank me for?"

Tears glistened in Sokka's eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall, "For telling me about her, and … for making her happy, even if you couldn't save her."

The banished prince smiled relieved at the other boy. Then he leaned back against the balloon, "You know what's funny? I think, I've actually seen her ghost."

With a confused look the Water Tribe boy turned to him, "What do you mean?"

A small smile played around the firebender's lips, "After Ba Sing Se, I had nightmares every night. I would wake up at least once if not more times a night. The dream was always similar, though I hadn't seen it, I imagined how Mori died, in different variations, over and over again. It left me a crying mess every time. And then, one night when I had woken up again, I saw her in my room. She wiped my tears away and told me that I was not guilty of what happened to her, that I couldn't have done anything to rescue her. And that she forgave me, everything, except for betraying my uncle. She said, that was not on her to forgive. I think she meant that I should ask my uncle for forgiveness for that, not her. Anyway, I cried out for her to stay, but she left again.", he sighed. Sokka was silent for a moment. He had his own experience with his dead girlfriend showing up in visions and dreams. They sat a while in comfortable silence, before Sokka stood up.

He pointed towards something and said excitingly, "Hey Zuko, I think that there is the prison.", indeed the inactive volcano was still sending a great amount of steam into the sky that could be seen from a wide distance.

Zuko stood up, "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.", but as they entered the steam column, the balloon began to lose height quickly. Agitated, Zuko called, "We're going down! The balloon's not working anymore!", as he frantically continued to blast fire into the balloon's tank.

Sokka made out the problem, "The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, so we can't fly!"

Both teens fell to the side as the balloon tipped, standing up, Zuko looked over to the other boy, "So, what are we supposed to do?"

Panicking, Sokka answered, "I don't know! Crash-landing?", they almost crashed into the boiling lake beneath them, before landing on the prison island's shore.

After both of them climbed off the destroyed balloon, Zuko asked, "How are we going to get off the island if the balloon won't work?"

Sokka was not as half as pessimistic as the Fire Nation prince, "We'll figure something out! I suspected it might be a one-way ticket."

Zuko was surprised by this, "You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?"

The Water Tribe boy walked over to the destroyed balloon, "My dad might be here! I had to come and see!"

This annoyed the banished prince, "Uncle and Mori always said I never thought things through. But this … this is just crazy!"

Meanwhile Sokka was collecting parts from the balloon, "Hey, leave my sister out of this! I never wanted you to come along in the first place! 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 said, kicking the destroyed war balloon into the boiling lake, not without burning his hand.

"What are you doing?", the banished prince asked.

The Water Tribe boy replied, "It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it. "

Annoyed turned to look at the prison, "I hope you know what you're doing. There's no turning back now."

The first thing they did was searching for a supply room. Like they suspected, it was filled with reserve guard uniforms and each of the teens found one in a matching size. It was still an early morning hour, so there weren't too many guards on duty. "I hope these disguises work.", the banished prince said.

"We just need to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible.", Sokka replied optimistically.

Suddenly a group of guards ran past them, one of them turned his face towards them, "Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard. Come on!", hastily they followed up, they couldn't let their cover blow up that early. In the yard the prisoners had gathered and formed a large circle around a tall man in prisoner's uniform and another guard. Their group made its way through the crowd towards the center.

The prisoner was speaking in a low tone to the guard, "I didn't do anything! I'm going back to my cell.", he held up his hands.

The single guard in the circle responded with a wide grin, whipping fire at the prisoner, "Stop right there, Chit Sang."

Zuko wanted to approach, defend the seemingly innocent prisoner, but Sokka held him back. "We can't blow our cover.", he whispered.

In a mocking tone the guard continued, "I've had it with your unruly behaviour."

With a deep, calm voice the prisoner asked, "What did I do?"

The guard turned to the two disguised boys, "He wants to know what he did. Isn't that cute?"

Choking slightly, Zuko said, "Uh, very cute, sir.", followed by Sokka, "Super cute."

The guard then walked up to Chit Sang, "You didn't bow down when I walked by, Chit Sang!"

The prisoner seemed irritated, "What? That's not a prison rule."

The guard yelled at him, "Do it!", only to be answered, "Make me.", after a few moments of heavy breathing the guard seemingly walked away, only to turn around and whip fire at the prisoner. Chit Sang quickly blocked and redirected it, causing the guard to break it with a kick.

The guard grinned, "Tsk, tsk. Firebending is prohibited. You're going in the cooler.", he pointed towards Sokka, "You! Help me take him in."

The Water Tribe boy nodded and turned to his companion quickly, "Meet back here in an hour.", he whispered before running towards the guard.

When he was gone, Zuko thought about what to do now. As he was not a real guard, he didn't really have to follow their schedule, so he found and sneaked in a room where the records of the prison where held. When nobody paid attention, he quickly overlooked the registry. The name Hakoda was not there, not even a prisoner from the Water Tribes. Not a single one. He sighed, but there was still a slim chance, maybe these weren't up to date.

Afterwards it was time for lunch. He noticed that he was the only guard with his helmet on. That could prove a problem. He was searching for a quiet and lonely table somewhere in the back when another guard called out for 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 was taken aback, nervously he replied, "But what if there's an incident? If I'm not prepared, someone could strike me on the head.", that made the guards laugh.

A female guard intervened, "Give it a week, he'll loosen up."

Finding some confidence, Zuko walked up to their table, "Can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?"

The female guard grinned, "No, you can't date the female guards.", making the group chuckle.

One of her male colleagues leaned over towards the banished prince, "Trust me, you don't want to.", which caused his female colleague to throw her cup at him, making the rest of the group laugh.

Zuko smiled, "No, that's not it. The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals, right?", the guards nodded as he continued, "So, what about war prisoners?"

Later he walked up to Sokka in the yard, he wasn't really sure it was him, but he did have a feeling. "Hey there, fellow guard, how goes it?", he asked nonchalantly.

Sokka lifted the visor of his helmet, "Zuko?"

"Shh! Listen. I asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners. I'm afraid, your father is not here.", the banished prince said, lifting his visor.

Sadly, Sokka asked, "What? Are you sure, did you double-check?"

Zuko nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure."

The Water Tribe boy banged his fist against the wall, frustrated he said, "No. No!"

The banished prince tried to comfort his friend, "I'm really sorry, Sokka.", but it clearly didn't help.

Sokka was almost crying, "So we came all this way for nothing? I failed… again."

Zuko wished for one of the two people he'd turn to advice for to be there, though he knew it wasn't possible. Mori was gone. She would've had a solution for this mess, he was sure. She always found a solution. Where his uncle was, he didn't know. He wished he had paid better attention to his proverbs for once. Sighing he began to think about what the former general would say. Even he himself was not sure if he was speaking to Sokka or to no one in particular, "What would uncle say? Sometimes, clouds have two sides, a dark and a light, and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich! So… when life seems hard … take a bite out of the silver sandwich!", In his mind he could literally hear Mori laughing at him. He thought, I wonder if she's looking down at me proudly now, I mean besides the helping the Avatar thing I'm also risking my life to watch over her brother and rescue her father.

Suddenly Sokka snapped him out of his thoughts, "Maybe we haven't failed at all!"

Zuko turned towards the Water Tribe boy, "That's the spirit! I can't believe that it worked. I didn't even know what I was saying.", he said, folding his arms, a proud smile on his lips.

He was cut off by the Water Tribe boy, "No, what you said made no sense at all. But look … It's Suki!", Zuko didn't know the name, so he raised an eyebrow at the other teen.

Just as Sokka wanted to sprint down to the Kyoshi warrior, a voice was heard, "Prisoners, back into your cells!", so the teen ran instead towards the cells. The banished prince followed him sighing.

A little while later he stood guard outside the female warrior's cell. He couldn't understand every word that was spoken, but somewhat he understood that Sokka first hoped that Suki would recognize him without taking his helmet off but failed and got shoved into the next wall. The banished prince tried not to listen when the couple began kissing. Suddenly a female guard walked up to him, "Excuse me. I need to get into that cell.", she said firmly.

Zuko got unsure, "No, you can't go in there! The lights are out. The prisoner could sneak up on you."

The guard became annoyed, "Step aside, fool.", she began shoving him out of the way, but he grabbed hold of her arm and slammed her face against the door, "Hey, hey, what are you doing?", she protested as they began fighting. Meanwhile Sokka made it out of the cell unnoticed. As the guard saw him, she called out to the teen, "Guard, help! I think he's an imopostor! Arrest him! Get him off me and arrest him!"

Sokka quickly grabbed the Fire Nation prince and threw him on the ground. "You're under arrest!", he said, his voice raised, adding, "Don't worry. I'll figure it out.", in a whisper.

A while later Zuko sat in an isolated room, clothed in prison garb. The door opened and revealed an older man, concerning his uniform, he was the warden. He had tanned skin and brown hair that fell onto his shoulders, partly upheld by a ponytail and a headband with a metal attachment. The man began speaking, "Well, well, well. I never thought I'd find you in here, Prince Zuko.", a wide grin crept upon his face.

Zuko looked up to him, "How did you know who I am?", he was shocked that he was so easily spotted.

The warden looked pitiful at him, "How could I not? You broke my niece's heart."

Now Zuko stared at him, "You're Mai's uncle? I never meant to hurt her."

The warden cut him off, "Quiet! You're my special prisoner now. And you'd 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 folded his arms, raising an eyebrow at the warden, "So, what's in it for you? Why don't you just tell my father to come collect a reward?"

Grinning widely, the warden said, "Oh, in time, believe me, I intend to collect.", afterwards he walked off and shut the door behind him.

While he sat alone in his new cell he looked up to the ceiling. He almost lost all hope, sitting in the dark, all alone. He thought about what would now become. What would Sokka do? Would the group back at the air temple begin to search for them? After a while, his mind traveled to Mori. Pictures of her flooded his vision. She would have a solution, he thought, she would make it out of this. Spirits, did he miss her. He could almost see her younger self, back when they were not even ten years old, reaching out with her tanned hand to help him stand up. He could hear her giggling, talking to him, "Come on, you turtle-duckling! You can't sit here all day!", Zuko felt energy streaming through him. She was right, even if it was just a memory. So, he stood up and began training until his cell door opened.

His first task was mopping the floor. Zuko saw that Suki had the same and went over to join her. After a few grumpy exchanges, Sokka came over to them and began explaining his escape plan. He wanted to use one of the coolers that were used to punish firebenders as a boat to paddle across the lake. Unfortunately, they were overheard by Chit Sang, who demanded to come with them, "Okay, well, I come with you, or the warden hears about this too."

Suki looked at her companions with a stern expression, "I guess we have no choice."

The Water Tribe boy handed Zuko a wrench, "Okay, you're in. Now first we need someone to unbolt the cooler, from the inside."

Chit Sang grinned, "Oh, I can get you inside."

A little while later Zuko mopped the floor and "accidentally" bumped into the older prisoner. Chit Sang immediately turned towards him, shouting, "Hey! What are you, stupid? Watch where you're going!", then he shoved Zuko.

The banished prince was quick to retort, "Hey, you watch who you're shoving!", pushing Chit Sang.

The older man replied, "I think you mean whom I'm shoving!", quickly a crowd gathered around them and cheered them on as they fought. At one point they parted and Zuko went for a punch only to be thrown on the ground by Chit Sang.

Meanwhile Sokka approached the scene in his guard uniform. He yelled, "I need backup over here!"

Then Zuko blasted fire underneath Chit Sang, who evaded quickly by jumping over it. A guard approached and pointed at the banished prince, "No firebending! Into the cooler!", the guards then took him down and escorted him to his freezing punishment.

In the cooler he quickly began his work unbolting it with the wrench Sokka had given him earlier. Then he sat down, it was colder than he had imagined. Not as cold as the North Pole, but still considerably, and since he was only wearing the prison garb, it felt even colder. Looking at his own breath his thoughts wandered to Mori again. All these years he hadn't known that she was from the Southern Water Tribe. A firebender from such a cold environment. He wondered how that was possible, he had to ask Sokka about it when they had a minute, or his father, or Katara. Suddenly he felt terribly lonely and lost. In this cold, where his element was weak, he wished for nothing but to have Mori in his arms right now. A single tear ran from his face, cold against his skin. He looked at the iced ceiling of the cooler, whispering, "I wish you were here.".

A while later the door opened again to reveal a smirking Sokka, "I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson."

Zuko returned the smirk, breathing fire briefly to warm himself, "Yes, I have … completely.", he said as he revealed all the removed bolts and screws.

The Water Tribe boy then whispered, "I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago. They'll be waiting for us at the shore."

Suddenly Zuko noticed something, quickly he took Sokka with him into the cooler and closed the door, "Someone's coming!"

From the inside of the cooler, they could overhear two guards talking, "Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn.", "Anybody interesting?", "Nah, just the usual. Some robbers, a couple traitors, some war prisoners, though I did hear there might be a pirate.", "No fooling."

Zuko turned to Sokka and whispered, "War prisoners. It could be your father."

"I know.", Sokka said with a serious expression.

Zuko looked at him questioningly, "Well, what should we do? Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

"I don't know! Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom, all of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is going to show up?", Sokka asked.

With a determined expression the prince turned to him, "It's your call, Sokka."

The same night they met up with Suki and Chit Sang at the point Sokka had previously chosen. "Took you guys long enough. This here's my girl and my best buddy, they're coming too.", the older prisoner said in an impatient tone.

Sokka looked defeated, "Fine. Everybody in the cooler. Let's go."

Zuko turned to him once more, "Are you sure you want to go? You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself. Redeem your honor. Rescuing your dad is your chance."

Suki hadn't known that Sokka's initial plan was to rescue his father, so she asked, "Your dad?"

The Water Tribe boy turned to Zuko, "If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail."

"No, it's not.", the prince answered. He thought of the boy's sister, Mori would never give up that easily, especially when it was about someone she cared about, "Look, Sokka, You're going to fail a lot before things work out."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at him, "That supposed to make me feel better?"

Zuko continued as if he hadn't heard that, "Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again…"

The Water Tribe boy sighed, "Seriously, not helping."

The Fire Nation prince continued to ignore the other teen's reaction and grabbed his shoulder, "You have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail.", that seemed to have gotten through to Sokka.

Meanwhile Chit Sang called over, "Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?"

Sokka's expression became determined, "No. I'm staying. You guys go.", he turned to Suki, "You've been here long enough."

She smiled at him, "I'm not leaving without you, Sokka."

Zuko's face was as determined as the Water Tribe boy's, "I'm staying too.", he was not going to let Mori's brother potentially run into his demise without at least trying to protect him.

As the other prisoners got into the cooler, Sokka looked at the makeshift boat with concern written all over his features, "We gave up our only chance of escaping. I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake.", suddenly a bell was heard, shocked Sokka turned to his companions, "The plan failed! They're caught!", as they watched the boat being hit by a launcher and retrieved towards the prison.

Later they sat in the yard, as the gondola that connected the prison to the island around, began to move. Sokka stood up, "This is it. If my dad's not there, we've risked everything for nothing."

Suki took his hand, "We had to."

Nervously the Water Tribe boy watched as different prisoners exited the gondola, "Come on, come on…"

"Is that him?", Zuko asked.

Sokka quickly turned towards the banished prince, "My dad doesn't have a nose ring.", before his gaze wandered back towards the new prisoners, "Where is he? That's it? That can't be.", he sounded like he would cry soon.

Suki tried to comfort him, "I'm sorry, Sokka."

Suddenly they heard a guard, "Hey you! Get off the gondola!", and they saw Hakoda stepping out reluctantly.

Sokka instantly smiled, "Dad…"

As Sokka made his way through the line-up of guards towards his father a thought shot through Zuko's head. While it was sure great for Sokka and their mission in general that the Water Tribe Chief was here, he wasn't so sure for himself. He felt more like doom was upon him. That man there was Mori's father. How should he face him, he still felt guilty of her death. He dropped his head; he would have to face him. Maybe it was a good idea to ask him for forgiveness. Then again, maybe not. How would the Chief react when he told them he had been her boyfriend? Zuko sighed. Why couldn't his life be easy at least once?

The warden's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, the prisoners had lined up and the warden was inspecting them. He had stopped in front of Hakoda, "Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you.", he snared at the Chief.

Hakoda continued to avert the warden's gaze, "No.", he said in a firm voice.

This angered the warden even more, "Oh? You'd rather look at my shoes? Then take a look!", he said as he dragged Hakoda's handcuffed hands to the floor with his leg. The chief was sporting an angry expression as well. The warden leaned down to the now kneeling Chief, "I know exactly who you are, Hakoda of the Water Tribe. So strong-willed. But don't worry, we'll get rid of that in time. Now look me in the eye!", this time the Chief obeyed, but only reluctantly as he shot the warden a hateful glare. The warden continued, "See, isn't that better? You will do as I say or pay the price. You will all-", he was cut off as he attempted to walk forward, but Hakoda caused him to trip as he slightly raised his handcuffs. Two guards immediately ran to their boss to help him up.

A while later Zuko was sitting in his cell. By now he was done thinking about almost everything he could think of, and the loneliness was creeping up to him again, only sometimes interrupted by the anxiety what the Water Tribe Chief might do to him when they would have the inevitable talk about the man's daughter. Suddenly he heard a whispering voice from the door, "Zuko, are you in there?"

He stood up and walked towards it until he could see his friend through the slit. "I'm here.", he replied, whispering as well.

"I just got done talking to my dad. We came up with an escape plan together.", he said, but was interrupted by another guard, "What are you doing there?"

Sokka was startled, so he tried to act tough, "I was just telling this dirty lowlife what I think of him!"

"Well, you'll have to do that later. He's coming with us.", the guard replied.

"Why?", the Water Tribe boy asked.

The guard's partner reacted irritated, "Because we have orders straight from the warden, that's why!"

Sokka looked at them pleadingly, "Could I just get ten more seconds to rough him up a bit?"

The guard sighed, "Fine, ten seconds."

As the Water Tribe boy entered the cell, Zuko had already rolled up his mattress and held it up, so Sokka could punch it, he himself let out a few shouts in mock pain to complete the scenario. Meanwhile Sokka whispered, "We have a new plan, but it's going to need a big distraction. Be in the yard in one hour.", then the door opened again. Quickly they let go of the mattress and wrestled, trying to look convincing.

A guard separated them, "All right, that's enough.", then he escorted Zuko out of the cell.

As he was dragged along the hallway he asked the guards, "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?", they then entered a cell and the prince was thrown into an interrogation chair, "I didn't do anything wrong!", he shouted after them as the door was closed.

Suddenly he heard a familiar, annoyed voice, "Come on, Zuko. We all know that's a lie."

The prince turned around, shocked to hear it, "Mai!", unbeknownst to both of them an imperial guard was standing outside, guarding the door, hearing everything. Mori had come to the prison in Azula's following, she had happily raised her hand when no one else had to join the princess on the hunt for her brother. And she also happily volunteered to guard Mai, a friend of the princess, that wanted to interrogate Zuko first. Alone. She grinned behind her skull mask. If you're patient, the opportunity will come to you, she thought. But for the moment, she wouldn't do anything but listen.

Zuko began, "How did you know I was here?"

Mai replied sarcastically, "Because I know you so well."

Helplessly the banished prince asked, "But how-"

Mai cut him off, "The warden's my uncle, you idiot.", Mori could hear the prince sigh, "The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart.", outside of the cell Mori raised an eyebrow.

Almost silently Zuko said, "I didn't mean to –"

But he was cut off again, "You didn't mean to? Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving."

It was then that Zuko interrupted her, "Stop! This isn't about you."

By now the conversation was evolving into a shouting match as the girl answered, "I know, this is about this Water Tribe whore!"

Mori couldn't hear it, but Zuko's face became even paler than it normally was, "Don't you dare call her that.", he said with a suddenly almost whispering voice.

"Or what?", Mai retorted, "Here's another excerpt from your letter, I'm sorry if I made you hope that we could be together, but my heart belongs to someone else. She died recently, but I cannot forget her, and I don't think that she will ever leave this place in my heart.", outside the cell Mori was surprised to hear this. She blushed a bit behind her mask, a part of her wanted just to storm in, throw her helmet at the other girl and kiss that guy.

Zuko stood up from his chair, "Also, this is not about personal matters, this is about the Fire Nation!"

Mai reacted sarcastically, "Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better.", she said as she threw the letter at him.

He tried to reason with her, "Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country.", Mori smiled, he really did change for the better. At earlier times she could picture him exploding in rage.

Instead, the girl exploded on him, "Save it? You're betraying your country!"

Zuko reacted calmly, "That's not how I see it."

Suddenly Mori's attention shifted, she heard noise from the yard and a lot of guards running. She straightened herself, it was showtime. She opened the door quickly, "Ma'am, there's a riot going on! I'm here to protect you!", she said hastily, 'accidentally' leaving the door open.

Mai turned to her, "I don't need any protection."

Zuko chucked, "Believe me, she doesn't."

"I'm sorry, but I'm under direct orders from your uncle to make sure nothing happens.", Mori continued, while stepping towards the girl. She hoped Zuko would realize that the 'guard' made a few mistakes here, for example, not blocking the door in the slightest or preventing the angry girl from following him if he should run.

Zuko's mind was racing. That guard's voice sounded eerily familiar. Then it shot through his brain, the guard sounded like Mori, but it couldn't be. The skull mask prevented him from checking if the face was the same too. Then he saw that the guard made mistakes, mistakes that would allow him to run. For a moment he wondered if that was on purpose. Then he snapped back into reality and blasted fire at the guard and ran. The guard jumped in front of Mai to 'shield' her, but really blocked her more from following the prince. Angrily she yelled at the guard, "Get off me!", shoving the guard away, but Zuko had already closed the door. For a moment they stared at each other through the slit in the door before the prince rushed off to meet his friends.

Mori rejoiced that she helped Zuko to get out. The only problem was that she was now trapped into a cell with that angry, knife throwing girl. Mai was currently throwing every insult she could think of at her. Mori thought, I'm so sad that you can't see my eyes rolling behind my mask. Minutes had passed before finally a guard stopped in front of the door to release them. Just as he came in a few steps and Mai wanted to shove him out of the way, Mori sprung into action. She grabbed the guard by the shoulder and threw him at the grumpy girl before she kicked both together into a corner. Quickly she grabbed the guard's key and ran out, relocking the door behind her. Then she hurried towards the gondolas, it was time to go.

Zuko, Suki and Sokka had just reentered the gondola, after Azula and Ty Lee had retreated. The passengers all watched in horror as the prison guards proceeded to cut the line. Suddenly a fire blast hit the guards that were cutting. They heard one of the guards shout, "What are you doing?"

Mori took her helmet off, she felt as if it was about to suffocate her and threw it at a guard, then she turned to the one who shouted at her, with a grim expression she looked at him, "Shut up and fight."

Other guards came running over, but Mori welcomed them with a series of blasts and kicks, knocking off one after another. When she had a little bit of air in between she kicked off the bars in the wheel mechanism. She smiled at the sound of the gondola moving.

As she continued fighting off guards Sokka, Zuko and Hakoda stood in the gondola, all suddenly stiffened in shock. Sokka asked, "Who's that?"

Zuko staggered a few steps back, he almost whispered, "This, this can't be."

The corners of the Water Tribe Chief's lips twitched as tears appeared in his eyes, he whispered, "Mori."

They heard Azula shouting from the other gondola, "What is she doing?!"

It was then that the gondola made it to the top of the hill. All of them exited, leaving the warden behind. But Zuko, Sokka and Hakoda stopped almost simultaneously and looked back at the prison. They could still make out Mori's figure, though small, still fighting. Sokka stared in awe, "She's really good at firbending, isn't she?"

Hakoda smiled and Zuko couldn't help but smirk, "Yes, yes, she is.", as waves of different emotions washed over him all at once. Suddenly he was very worried. How would she get out of there? He couldn't leave her, not again, so he turned towards the gondola.

Sokka had noticed it and held his arm, "What are you doing?"

With a determined expression the prince turned to him, "I can't leave her there."

"If you go back all of our escape plan will be in vain!", the Water Tribe boy shouted at him, trying to drag Zuko away from the gondolas.

Hakoda watched the boys arguing for a few moments, before he interrupted them, "I think, my daughter knows what she's doing. Look!"

Meanwhile Azula and Ty Lee had arrived back at the prison where Mori was still fighting guards. The enraged princess attacked her, but she blocked her blasts with ease. Then Ty Lee jumped over her, trying to attack from behind, but was only met with Mori's fist. The blue-eyed girl had anticipated the acrobat's move and laid all her strength in a punch right in the center of Ty Lee's forehead. The pink-clothed girl was instantly knocked out. Mori then focused on Azula.

They didn't really have a lot of space, so the fighting got tense very quickly between the two firebenders. When Mori blocked Azula's strike and met it with her own blue and red flames met in a smoky explosion. As the smoke lifted, Mori was already at the half of the line. She just hoped that the damaged thing would hold long enough, so she would get over it.

Zuko smirked as he saw her, her focused expression, her hair flowing in the wind as she ran. Then he noticed something else, and his face went into shock. Azula back at the prison started to create lightning. He wanted to call out for her, but his throat was completely dry as he watched her aim at the girl he loved.

Mori for her part sensed the sudden tension in the air. She had created lightning herself and assumed that the princess was aiming for her. So, she jumped over at the last third of the line, before catapulting herself into the air again. She turned around mid-air to meet Azula's strike. Mori remembered her Sifu explaining the technique to her. Hand, Arm, Shoulder, Belly, Shoulder, Arm, Hand. Aim, she added. The strike was stronger than she anticipated. Together with the momentum of her jump it catapulted her through the air, lightning glowing around her. She saw the gondola station beyond her and smiled, she would land securely. Then she turned towards the prison, the energy from the lightning needed to get out again. She aimed for the wheel mechanism and redirected the lightning at it. The mechanism exploded as it was hit, before Mori landed on the roof of the gondola station. For a moment she looked back at the prison, smiling. Then she climbed down.

Zuko had watched her fighting in awe, he looked to his side to see Sokka and Hakoda also staring at the girl that was now coming towards them. As she got closer, she ran up to Zuko and hugged him tightly. In that moment it was all a bit much for him, not only was she not dead, but she just fought off his sister, and now she was hugging him. So, he stood still for a moment, before remembering how his body worked and hugging her back. "Mori", he whispered, his voice shaking from emotion. She leaned her forehead against his, he could still feel the energy from the lightning in her touch. "Zuko", she smiled and hugged him even tighter.

She broke away from the hug far too early for his taste and looked at him, quietly checking if he was okay. Then she threw herself into her father's arms, "Hey Dad."

Hakoda smiled and cried at the same time. He thought he could never hug her again. "Hey there, little firefly.", he choked out, his voice tear struck. The Chief put a long kiss on his daughter's forehead before releasing her from his hug.

Standing slightly behind his father, Sokka was a quietly crying mess. Mori wiped a few tears from her own face before she pulled her little brother close. As he was crying into her shoulder she said, "Hey there, warrior. Did you miss me?", the answer was just a high-pitched, "Hmhm."

"But how is this possible? I thought you were dead.", Zuko said.

While her brother was still crying into her shoulder, Mori turned her face to the prince and smiled, "I'll tell you, but we should get off of this island first.", and as the rest of the group got aware that their plan had a significant weakness, because they were still on an island with no means to leave it, Mori continued, "Azula and I came here with an airship. Its crew is currently held up in a prison. Why don't we take that?"

A little while later, Sokka had taken the stirring wheel and they all gathered around him. Zuko had laid an arm casually around Mori's waist a while ago, and since refused to let go of it, as if to make sure she didn't vanish into thin air, which made her laugh. But he just smiled at her.

"So,", the Water Tribe boy began, "Mori, would you tell all of us how you are not dead? Because you know, we all mourned."

Mori smiled, but looked at the ground, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

Her father interrupted her, "You don't need to be. The important thing is that you're alive. But I would also like to know what happened."

She smiled at him, "Okay. Well, as you might know, Azula had spied on us in Ba Sing Se and sent four imperial guards there to deal with me. We had quite a fight, and destroyed almost the whole kitchen, before I managed to defeat them. But I knew that if I survived, someone would be sent after me. So I changed clothes with a female guard and burnt her body to a point where she was unrecognizable. Then I took a piece of my burned dress and my passport as proof and reported of the four bodies in the tea shop. Since then, I lived more or less like an imperial guard. Back in the Fire Nation I searched for my Sifu, and once I found him, I helped him escape the prison."

Sokka interrupted her briefly, "So, this was your second prison break?"

Mori nodded, "Once he was secure, I was sent back. Actually, I wanted to protect you, if necessary," she elbowed Zuko a bit, "but you weren't there anymore. So, when I heard that Azula was hunting you, I stayed as close to her as possible. And thus, I came to the Boiling Rock."

Zuko kissed her hair, "Mori, you truly are amazing."

She blushed, "Not really.", but the other group members protested.

Soon the group separated into smaller gatherings as the flight went on. Zuko sat down near a window and looked at the sunset. He was surprised when Mori hugged him from behind. "Hey there, turtle-duckling.", she said as she kissed his cheek.

He turned to her and smiled, "It's been a while since you called me that."

She returned the smile, "I know.", she sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder, "We didn't really have time to talk, with my family all around and I bet it won't get better once we're at the Western Air Temple…"

He looked down at her, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, a lot has happened to both of us since we parted. Also, I did want to ask you if you could help me out of this armor, but …", she trailed off, blushing.

He blinked twice before a smirk crept upon his lips, he laid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, then he whispered in her ear, "But there's your family around."

She turned to him, their faces only centimeters apart, "But it's a big ship, you know?", she whispered before she pulled him in a passionate kiss. When their lips parted again, she put their foreheads together, "I missed you."

Zuko smiled at her, "I missed you too, more than I can tell.", a thought shot through his brain, he pulled away a little and looked straight into her blue eyes, "When I thought you were gone, I realized something. Back on the ship home I cried at the ocean, because I thought I lost you and I never even told you, well, …", he stopped for a moment as anxiety washed over him, but he pushed it aside, "I love you, Kemori of the Southern Water Tribe."

She smiled at him, "I love you too, Zuko of the Fire Nation.", before she pulled him into another kiss, this time letting herself fall backwards and pulling him with her. The prince was a little startled by her actions, but he knew where this was going. He began kissing down her throat but was stopped by her armor's high collar. He let out a frustrated grunt which caused Mori to giggle at him. She stood up quickly and pulled him behind her, leading him deeper into the ship until they reached the guards' rooms. Mori grabbed a chair and blocked the door with it. Then she turned to him again with an innocent expression, "We don't want anyone to walk in, do we?" He grinned at her, grabbed her hands and led her towards one of the beds.

A little while later Sokka ran through the ship, searching for his sister. He got frustrated. They would reach the Western Air Temple soon, and Mori was nowhere to be found. A thought shot through his brain, Zuko wasn't there either. "Oh no, you didn't…", he whispered to himself.

He tried every door inside the air ship, all were open except one. The door to the guards' room wasn't moving an inch. He hammered against it, "Mori? Zuko? Are you in there? Come on, guys! We'll be at the Air Temple soon."

All of sudden the door opened and revealed his sister, clothed in a black high collar tunic with matching pants and girdle. She had kept the forearm guards and the boot armor on though. She caught his fist mid-air and smiled at him, "That sounds great, Sokka. I can't wait to see Katara again."

Sokka saw Zuko appear in the doorframe behind Mori, he eyed first one and then the other questioningly, "What exactly where you guys doing in there?"

Both smiled at him, before his sister answered, "Zuko was just helping me out of this armor. Fire Nation armor can get quite complicated, you know.", the prince behind her nodded in agreement, "Anyway, you said we're almost there. Let's head to the exit.", she said, laying an arm around her brother's shoulder and leading him away, Zuko following them.

It was already night when they reached the Western Air Temple. Sokka and Zuko stepped out first, as the rest of the Gaang members approached the air ship carefully. Katara was the first to speak, "What are you doing in this thing? What happened to the war balloon?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, "It kind of got destroyed."

Aang giggled, "Sounds like a crazy fishing trip."

Toph added, "Did you at least get some good meat?"

Sokka beamed at this, "I did. The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and family.", as he said this, Suki, Chit Sang, Hakoda and Mori exited the air ship. Katara's eyes almost bulged out, tears of joy ran down her cheeks, "Dad? Mori?", she sobbed as she ran to them.

"Hi Katara", the Water Tribe Chief greeted his younger daughter, while Mori pulled her sister in a tight hug, "Hey little sis. I hope you behaved while I was gone.", making her sister giggle. The whole Water Tribe family then embraced in a group hug.