Boiling Point
Sundial

Sunrise, sunset...

...sunrise, sunset...

The days passed by with the sun rising and the sun setting yet keeping track of the number of the days which passed proved pointless as there was no real way to tell how much time passed between when he was first taken prisoner and his men killed to when he was transferred to Boiling Rock, but the times they decided to toss him into the cooler simply served to throw off the passage of time even more.

Sunrise, sunset...

...sunrise, sunset...

Despite not knowing how much time passed him by, Lu Ten knew he spent a lot of time thinking.

He thought about escape, yet every scenario his mind came up with brought the same conclusion; he would need a second person to help him, possibly even a third. In addition to this, any escape would also need time to pull off, which rattled around in the back of his head frustrating him. After all, the other prisoners stayed away from him, knowing full well the guards had their eye on him, or at least they majorly did when his coming into the place proved the exciting new thing.

Attention seemed to fade, but in truth said attention might come and go depending on what happened around the prison yard to which he made an effort to not draw attention to himself, to not get thrown into the cooler, particularly when the guards designed to keep him there chilling his fire longer than the other Firebenders. He kept his ear peeled, hoping to hear something about the outside.

Then, he heard something he didn't expect.

"Prince Iroh's insane."

Gone was the use of his father's title as general, but gone as well as the respect individuals held for The Dragon of the West. The tone of voice the man used was indicative of a level of disdain for the man.

"The entire royal family is insane," another prisoner said.

"Don't talk like that. Isn't that what got you thrown in here?"

"Isn't that what got me thrown in here?" the other prisoner parroted back. "It's true."

"It's one thing to talk about how Prince Iroh is insane, but the rest..."

Lu Ten watched the prisoners stop talking as a guard approached, having the feeling that they might throw even a non Firebender into the cooler for such talk, but when the two thought the guard was out of earshot they started talking again, about the foolish Prince Iroh and his tea parties, his games, and his music and how it went against...

Everything and yet nothing.

There was a time when nobody would flinch at a member of the royal family having tea, as this was considered proper etiquette. There was a time when nobody would flinch at the playing of games as a recreational pastime. There was a time when the royal family was expected to be patrons of the arts.

As such, while he thought about escaping his mind thought more about what was on the outside.

Lu Ten thought of his father, whose heart was broken by his son's death. In the eyes of the Fire Nation, his father was a shadow of himself, something Lu Ten struggled to believe, but the lessons his father taught him seemed to sink in more that he was older, even if he couldn't implement the wisdom the old man tried to impart upon him. Which, mentally Lu Ten found himself admitting was frustrating.

There were also thoughts of his blood, his son. "The entire royal family is insane," wouldn't have been said without reason, yet his mind wanted to focus on Ozai, who came up with the prison he was now in let alone the cooler system as the reason why anyone would think that. After all, Ozai orchestrated an entire plan to remove his nephew from the picture, among other things just to become Fire Lord.

Of course, there was also Asula who took after her father. Knowing now what he knew, that the two siblings had different fathers made him contemplate that she might have inherited her madness, yet there was another part of himself who didn't want to wish that upon any child. There was a part of himself who wished that it was simply what Ozai taught her.

Which in turn led to him wondering about his son.

If it was something passed on from Ozai, then Zuko was safe, at least as safe as one could be in a family which would just as easily turn on their kin to get ahead. He was safe from becoming what Ozai and Azula were, which put Lu Ten's mind somewhat at ease, but not completely knowing what those two might do.

Yet, if it was something taught that meant Zuko might be groomed to be what Ozai wanted him to be, which meant he wasn't safe from the manipulations. He was safe from at least Ozai, if Ozai thought him his heir, though not so much Azula who tended jealousy, just like her father. When Lu Ten thought in this direction, he wasn't sure if his mind was at ease or not, but more often than not came to the conclusion, no, he wasn't.

He also thought about Ursa and their unborn, hopefully, born child. His mind shifted from ease to disease and back, his doubts regarding whether they were alive shifting from sunrise to sunset, adding to his frustration about simply being able to think, his wisdom not something he could use, the clever plans of yesterday he might have thought of feeling like a cruel joke.

Sunrise, sunset...

...sunrise, sunset...

Time passed. Time passed, leaving Lu Ten lost to his thoughts, attempting to come up with some kind of wisdom that would solve his solution, only for him to think more and more about how he might have done things differently, such as admitting to Azulon the truth sooner even if it meant fleeing the Fire Nation, yet in his mind he knew rashness wasn't the best action, to ask Ursa what she wanted rather than just being clever.s

Sunrise, sunset...

...sunrise, sunset...