Water

The Haishui Prison Rig: Part 3

There was a great deal of swearing from Sokka, which would have been much more impressive if he hadn't learned all his swears from Gran-Gran and her friends. Even if Katara were in the mood to have her mind changed by one of Sokka's tirades, the old lady swears spoiled the effect completely. So she watched, unimpressed, until her brother finally ran out of ways to call her crazy. He would see sense eventually.

And eventually he did. Or he just realized that Katara had no intention of backing down—either way, Sokka dragged a hand down his face with a prolonged groan and asked if there was any possible way to change her mind. And when Katara shook her head one last time, he finally gave in and started planning.

It took a few truly absurd ideas before they settled on a plan that sounded feasible. Katara and Haru would rally the prisoners, Aang would undertake a solo mission that Sokka called Operation Coal-Hole while Sokka led Operation Shippy-Stealy, and the prisoners would be in charge of Operation Smash-Firebenders-With-Rocks-(and-coal-is-a-rock-guys-how-do-you-not-know-that). Despite the mission names that Sokka insisted they all learn, it was a good plan. That didn't keep Katara from noticing that Operation Smash-Firebenders-With-Rocks-(no-Sokka-I'm-not-going-to-say-the-other-part) didn't leave her with much to do. It didn't seem fair. She had to convince everyone to play their parts and then stand aside while they all got to fight and be sneaky.

"So what am I supposed to do while everyone's fighting?" she asked in a whisper. Maybe there was something important for her to do. Maybe Sokka was just taking his time before explaining it.

Sokka grimaced and scratched behind his ear. "You can—y'know. Keep morale up. Make sure nobody gets hurt too bad."

She let out a huff. "Sokka—"

"We're too far up for you to reach the water," Sokka interrupted quietly, ticking points off on his fingers. "There isn't enough water up here for you to put out a candle, much less fight a firebender. You're all chained up, and—" he paused to give her a significant look. "Throwing rocks isn't exactly your specialty."

Katara could read a whole lecture between his tone and his expression, one that said, Don't even think about it. This is the worst possible time for you to try earthbending. Aang's already as subtle as a stink bomb in a perfume shop—don't you dare blow your cover too.

She bit back her protests. Sokka was right. The Avatar State was too obvious, even if she could control it, and the guards were all aware that she was a waterbender. As tempting as it might be, she couldn't be seen bending a second element. Not yet, at least.

So they went ahead with the plan, and Katara tried not to complain too much. Haru let Sokka borrow his prison tunic as a disguise while Katara lent hers to Aang. She and Haru would stand out, but at least they were meant to be here. The disguises would buy the boys enough time to set their respective missions in motion without being caught.

It all went according to plan. Katara persuaded the other prisoners to revolt, Aang flew off to blow the coal from the engine rooms into the yard, and Sokka gathered a small team of prisoners and set off with Appa to hijack the transport vessels. Haru fought alongside his father, a far more effective battle partner for Tyro than he had been for Katara. And for all her initial objections to the escape attempt, Tae Yun threw herself into the battle with a remarkable amount of gusto. She was holding off two guards singlehandedly, erring more on the side of precision than of brute force. There wasn't enough coal to allow many large attacks, but that seemed to suit Tae Yun just fine. A well-aimed lump of coal no larger than a fist caught one of the guards behind the ear and dropped him like a stone. The other guard was distracted for an instant—just enough time for Tae Yun to throw a larger piece of earth at his chest, sending him sailing back into the wall, where he landed with an audible crunch and lay motionless.

Katara was happy that everything was going so well, she really was. The prisoners had the guards outnumbered, and since the firebenders were occupied with the riot, the hijacking team should have no trouble capturing the transport ships. They just had to barricade themselves in the yard, defeat all the remaining guards, then they would be able to board the ships and escape with no fuss.

Her shackles chafed, and Katara frowned down at them. She should be out there too, fighting for her freedom along with everyone else. Despite what Sokka probably thought, she hadn't actually agreed to stay out of the fighting. She'd only agreed that revealing herself as the Avatar was a bad idea. She could still waterbend.

The shackles would have to go, that was the first step. Katara scanned the guards, hoping that one of the men entrusted with the keys would be unconscious already. No such luck. The only guard she recognized was bearing down on a pair of earthbending women—possibly the sisters who'd been transported here with her and Haru. The keys dangled from his belt—she wouldn't be able to just sneak up and grab them.

Keeping low, she crept over to the wall, careful to remain as out-of-sight as possible. They had begun the revolt after the changing of the guard, immediately before their midday meal was served. The vat of porridge that was meant to be their lunch was waiting at the end of the yard. A smile crept across her face. Porridge was made with water.


Uncle did most of the talking. It wasn't so much that Warden Hitoshi or Captain Genkei didn't trust Zuko, Iroh told him, it was more a matter of connections. Zuko was still too young for the military, and these men were more likely to agree with someone who had been a general than with a young prince.

Zuko heard the implications that Iroh was kind enough to leave unspoken—Zuko had been banished, while Iroh was merely retired. Zuko wasn't just young, he was hotheaded and prone to shouting when things didn't go his way. More importantly, Zuko was dishonored. It didn't matter that most of the world didn't know the particulars of his scarring and banishment—they would have heard rumors of his disrespect, and they wouldn't be inclined to listen to anything he had to say anymore.

"But what of the—conditions Prince Zuko has to abide by?" the captain asked delicately. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "It was my understanding that—"

"We were led to believe that Prince Zuko was barred from entering any Fire Nation territories until his banishment is lifted." Warden Hitoshi didn't bother averting his gaze. He stared openly at Zuko's scar. "What use will he be in transporting the waterbending filth?"

Zuko tensed in his chair, an angry retort on his lips, but Iroh stilled him with a glance.

"Prince Zuko's river cruiser is equipped to carry such a prisoner," the general replied smoothly. "It is true that Prince Zuko may not set foot on Fire Nation soil, but his crew is not bound by any such conditions. I will lead an expedition to transport the waterbender while Prince Zuko remains with his main vessel."

The warden narrowed his eyes. "Why would His Highness agree to such a menial task?"

Doing his best to keep his scowl from deepening, Zuko answered, "I haven't had many opportunities to serve the Fire Nation in the past few years. Transporting a prisoner won't interfere with my mission and it will spare my father's other men for—" he hesitated, and his voice dropped to a growl. "—more important missions." Uncle had been very particular about the way Zuko explained himself. So particular, in fact, that he made Zuko rehearse those precise words for more than an hour until he could say it without rolling his eyes or letting sarcasm seep into his voice. Zuko only agreed to it because he knew that Uncle understood these men. He didn't mean a word of it, though. His mission mattered. And although he'd been unsuccessful for nearly three years, he was finally making progress. Nothing could be more important than that.

Before the warden could speak again, alarm bells reached them from somewhere outside the office, and a harassed-looking private burst through the door, breathing hard.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion, Private?" the warden demanded, rising from behind his desk. "Did I not make it clear that I had important visitors and we were not to be interrupted?"

The private blushed scarlet and bowed. "Apologies, sir."

"I have said many times that I am not to be disturbed while we have guests," the warden blustered on.

Based on the look on Captain Genkei's face, the warden hadn't made any such remark in the past, but the captain didn't try to correct him. "What seems to be the trouble, Private?"

Still red-faced, the private bowed again. "I'm sorry sirs, it's—it's the prisoners. They're rioting. It seems they've been planning a prison break."

Zuko leapt to his feet in tandem with the captain and the warden. Iroh's advice—remain calm, Nephew. Any sign of agitation will put the girl's true identity at risk—was immediately forgotten. Zuko grabbed the private by the collar.

"Where?" he demanded, shaking the man a little. It didn't work as well as he hoped—the private was older and far heavier-built than the Prince himself. "Where is the riot?"

"In the yard." The private stared at Zuko and a wave of recognition washed over his face. "Prince Z—"

Zuko was halfway out the door already. "Show me the yard," he barked.


Katara ducked and dodged to stay hidden and eventually found herself crouching behind the vat, unnoticed, or at least ignored by the firebenders. Leaning back, she blinked up at the sky and took a slow breath. A tiny hand patted her knee, and she looked down to see Momo's bulbous green eyes staring up at her.

"Hey, Momo. Do you think you could see if there's a lid on this thing?" she whispered.

The lemur blinked and let out a chirp.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Right. You only understand Aang." She could feel the water in the vat—it was sludgy, but she could bend it. If there was a lid on the vat, though, she'd have to stand up and make herself visible before she could strike. It was safer to avoid that, if possible.

"Food, Momo?" At that, the lemur cocked his head to the side. "Want some food? It's in here." Katara rapped her knuckles against the side of the great pot. "Go get the food, Momo."

With a screech, Momo clambered up her arm, tugged at her braid, and leapt from the top of her head into the vat of porridge with a slurping sound. A few grayish drops splashed out onto her skirt. Well, that answered that question. No lid to worry about.

Katara drew a lumpy mass of porridge out of the vat and froze it experimentally. Not bad. Pure water was more responsive, but she could work with this.

Rising to her knees, she peeked out from her hiding place. The guard she needed to disable was only a few strides away. Katara took a deep breath and stood, then pulled the entire contents of the vat out and with a broad sweep of her arms, doused the man and froze him in place.

The two earthbenders who had been fighting the guard had only an instant to look surprised before another firebender stepped in to fill the void. Katara scrambled forward. If she had learned anything from her fight on Kyoshi Island, it was that ice couldn't slow down a firebender for long. She had to move quickly before the man thawed her gloopy ice and resumed his assault. Carefully, she thawed a patch of porridge near his waist and snatched the ring of keys from his belt.

"Thanks!" she said cheerfully before retreating behind the vat to shake the goop off of the keys and unlock the shackles. With a sigh of relief, she rubbed at her wrists. Standing, she surveyed the fight again. The guard she'd frozen was still immobile, but despite the number of unmoving firebenders scattered around the yard, the prisoners were still fighting furiously. Her heart sank. The entrance to the yard wasn't barred off as they'd planned, and more guards were flowing through the doors, replacing the fallen almost as quickly as they dropped. There wasn't enough coal to overpower every firebender on the rig, and the supply kept shrinking as it caught fire.

Without stopping to consider further, Katara ran forward again, taking a hovering ball of porridge with her to block the firebenders' attacks on her way to the door. She sprinted between the fighting pairs of guards and prisoners, shackles and keys dangling from one hand while she controlled her ball of floating liquid with the other to keep the flames at bay. She reached the doors in seconds and, not bothering to look back, slammed them shut. Holding tight onto the handles, she looked around for something to barricade the door. The only thing large enough to hold it shut for any length of time was the now-empty vat. Even if it were heavy enough to keep the firebenders from sending in more reinforcements, it was too far away for her to reach now. With a frown, she jammed her hip against the door and fumbled with the keys. One of them had to work.

Before she had a chance to try, she heard footsteps thundering down the corridor in her direction. She let out a squeak of surprise and the keys flew out of her hand. In a moment of panic, she whipped the shackles around the door handles and locked them.

The footsteps reached the end of the corridor, and someone slammed into the doors. Katara yelped, leaping back. Thankfully the shackles held, and the person on the other side of the doors grunted when the chain pulled taut.

"Time to load the boats!" one of the earthbenders shouted.

Katara cast a glance back at the door. Even over the sounds of the continuing fight, she could still hear the murmuring from the corridor, and the sound of one of the voices made her blood run cold. Heart pounding, she backed a few steps away from the door before breaking into a run.


He sprinted down the corridor, down one flight of steps, then another and another, barely two steps ahead of the private, who shouted directions after him all the way. The captain and the warden followed a bit farther behind. Zuko didn't look back, but the warden's deep voice boomed after them, droning on about broken spirits and the idiocy of earthbenders. Either he was following, or his voice had an unnatural ability to separate from his body.

At last they reached the doors, and Zuko flung them open. Or he tried to. The doors swung outward a few inches, then slammed shut again. Zuko swore aloud and tried again.

It was exactly the same the second time. Both doors moved, but only enough for him to see a sliver of light from the yard before they jerked to a stop. A metallic rattle caught his attention, and he peered through the crack. Chains. One of those stupid earthbenders had had the foresight to chain the door shut.

Snarling in frustration, he slid the grated window in the upper half of the door open. The prison riot could hardly be called a riot anymore—it was organized, and the earthbenders, though they were cramped together on the far side of the yard as if in retreat, were winning. There was a roar from overhead, and the airbender's fluffy white monstrosity landed in the unoccupied space between the guards and the prisoners. The beast raised its tail and swung it back down, the resulting gust sending all but three of the guards sailing through the air. The airbender and the waterbending girl dashed forward to finish the fight—the girl was wielding some sort of opaque grayish liquid rather than water—while the Water Tribe buffoon herded all the prisoners toward the fence overlooking the sea.

"No," Zuko growled, rattling at the doors again. They were both there. The Avatar and the airbender, the only two obstacles in his path home, and they were just barely out of his reach. Wild-eyed, he turned back to the others.

"Is there another entrance?" he demanded, heart roaring in his ears. He was too close. Failure wasn't an option. Not today.

"I'm afraid not, Your Highness. The crew's quarters would be too difficult to secure if there was more than one entrance."

The warden stepped forward and held out his hand as though it were a grand, magnanimous gesture. "You may use my keys to open the doors, Prince Zuko."

Zuko stared. "They're chained shut." He shoved the door again to demonstrate his point. He thought he remembered Uncle saying something about the warden—a few leaves short of a teapot, or something like that. As stupid as he found the analogy, Zuko couldn't fault it. Talking to the warden was useless.

Captain Genkei, at least, seemed used to the nonsense, and turned to the private. "The hinges should be the weakest point."

Zuko and the private nodded almost in unison and struck a firebending stance. Twin streams of fire struck the hinges, and Zuko's scowl deepened as he channeled more rage and heat into the blast. He could hear the roaring of blood in his ears, and his breathing hastened. He didn't have time for this. The Avatar was probably already escaping.

At last, the metal began to creak and groan. With a yell, Zuko threw the largest fireball he could produce at the center of the doors, and they crumpled out into the yard.

Zuko reeled from the effort and the force of the blast. Just long enough to see the waterbender glance back his way before leaping up into the bison's saddle. "No!" he shouted and bounded over the crumpled remains of the doors and the fallen guards strewn across the yard.

But the bison lifted off, and although he shot a fireball after the retreating Avatar, Zuko was too far away to make any difference. He roared in anger and bent down to grab the nearest guard.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Zuko shouted, shaking the groggy man's shoulders. "You just let the Avatar escape!"

There were mutterings from the few conscious firebenders, but Zuko didn't hear them. Breathing hard, he let the guard drop and straightened, glaring after the bison. He'd failed. Again.

From somewhere behind him, Iroh's voice carried across the platform, but Zuko didn't listen. His heartbeat refused to slow, and he felt almost nauseous. So close. If he had been stronger, faster, more ruthless, he would have had the Avatar this time. He could be on his way home right now if he weren't such a failure.

He pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead and let out another shout of rage. But when he opened his eyes this time, a flash of blue at the edge of the platform caught his attention. Hardly daring to breathe, he turned it over with the toe of his boot. The waterbender's necklace.


Katara tried not to look back. They were free, sailing off toward the Earth Kingdom with the setting sun at their backs. Not a single prisoner left behind, and the prison crew had no way to follow them.

Still, her mind kept calling up the memory of that familiar, gravelly voice, and the quick glimpse of a scarred face that she'd caught before they flew away. It shouldn't have been possible. Zuko shouldn't have been able to find them so quickly. She'd been at the rig less than a day before he caught up with them. Outrunning the Fire Nation was going to be harder than she thought.

She forced those thoughts from her mind. Right now, what mattered was that they were safe, that hundreds of earthbenders were going home for the first time in years. That families were being reunited after too much time apart.

A lump rose in her throat when Haru hugged his father again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sokka set his jaw, deliberately turning his head away from the reunion. Katara couldn't deny it. It was hard to watch someone else regain a father when they had gone so long without theirs, but she couldn't bring herself to feel jealous. Haru's family had been divided just as long as hers had. It wasn't Haru's fault that destiny had done him a favor first.

Tyro finally pulled out of the embrace but kept a hand on Haru's shoulder. "I never thought I'd see the day when we were all free again." He smiled warmly at Katara. "Thank you. Your courage was an inspiration to all of us."

Though she tried to hide it, her face split into a smile. "It was the least I could do."

Sokka snorted and jabbed his boomerang at her. "Yeah, because my plan got us out of there. All you did was decide to break out. I had to figure out all the details." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'm always the man with the plan."

"Sure thing, plan guy." Katara narrowed her eyes at him. "That's why I had to save your neck in Omashu."

"You went with my idea!"

"And it was my idea to use the shackles to barricade the door. If I hadn't done that, we'd still be back on the rig."

"I told you that someone would have to block the door!"

"But no one else figured out a way to do it." Katara planted her hands on her hips. It felt good to do that again. "Plan guy, my foot."

Sokka scowled at her. "Porridge bender."

Looking concerned, Aang stepped between them, staff extended as though he expected them to leap at one another at any moment. "Guys, the plan was great. All of it. Everyone did a really great job."

Katara beamed and tilted her chin upward. "Thank you, Aang. It was amazing how you got all the coal into the yard with your airbending." There. Now maybe Sokka would have a better idea of how to show his appreciation.

"What are you going to do now?" Haru asked, looking between the two siblings. "You're welcome to come with us if you want."

Katara considered it for a second. Haru was nice. His family was nice, and it would be nice to stop travelling for a while. They could go back to the Earth Kingdom, maybe even learn earthbending from Tyro or Tae Yun. Waterbending was meant to come first, but the North Pole was still a long way off. It might be nice if they could find a safe place to hide from the Fire Nation, to stay out of Zuko's reach, for at least a little while.

"Hey, Water Tribe!" someone shouted from the stern of the ship. Sokka and Katara both turned toward the voice, but only Sokka's eyes lit up with recognition at the nickname. "I thought your team hijacked every boat from the rig?"

"Uh." Sokka scratched his head sheepishly. "Sort of?" he called back.

"What?" Katara hissed, smacking his arm. "They can follow us if they still have a boat, genius."

"We've got company!" Tae Yun yelled from the top of the command tower.

Katara glared at Sokka.

"It was Zuko's ship," He explained in a whisper. "The whole crew was still on board. We couldn't take them out without alerting the whole rig, so—"

"So now he's after us?" Aang asked, eyes wide. Momo leapt from the saddle onto his head, and Aang had to catch himself with his staff.

Tae Yun pounded down the stairs onto the deck and planted her hands on her hips, staring daggers at Katara. "I thought I told you the only way this escape scheme was getting past me was if all my people made it out safely. Any bright ideas on how to handle this mess, waterbender?"

Katara let out a long breath. Of course. Of course Zuko was on their trail again. She gave Haru an apologetic look. It would have been nice to go with them. If it weren't for the war, for the crazy firebending prince chasing them, she would have told Haru yes.

Setting her jaw, she turned to Tae Yun again. "Yes. We're going to lure him away with Appa. If he sees us leave, he'll follow."

Sokka nodded grimly and rested his hand on Aang's shoulder. "Right. That's Prince Zuko. He's been chasing the three of us since the South Pole."

Katara looked across at him and returned his solemn nod.

"You can't outrun him," Sokka continued. "But that doesn't matter, because he's chasing us, and we can."

The mood of the entire crowd turned subdued in an instant, and Katara climbed into the saddle after her brother, suddenly heavy with exhaustion. She didn't want to leave. All that work to save these people, and she couldn't even stay long enough to watch them return home, to see them take back their villages and reunite with their families. It wasn't fair. She settled against the front of the saddle, looking back at Haru. He was her friend. No matter how short their friendship had been, she didn't want to leave it behind.

Appa let out a melancholy groan as they lifted off into the air, and Katara watched Haru grow smaller in the distance. She barely heard it when Sokka announced that the plan was working—that Zuko's ship was following them north while the earthbenders sailed east. It's going to be okay, she told herself. We'll just keep moving, and everything will be fine. Katara reached up, seeking the reassurance of her mother's necklace. But her hand closed around empty air, and her heart sank.


Author's Note:

And that's my take on "Imprisoned" (finally)! I'd love to hear what you all think of it—I try to respond to reviews, so if you have any questions or comments (or if you just want to yell randomness), go for it! I'll yell right back if I can!

Normally I'd have a lot say about the chapter, but beyond the fact that this whole journey through "Imprisoned" took longer than I expected but I'm really proud of how it turned out... I don't have much. I did write up some extended notes on my Tumblr—if anyone wants to read my ramblings, feel free to go and check that out (I have no originality when it comes to names, so I'm soopersara on there too). I really hope you all enjoyed it! And a million thanks to anyone who's left a review so far!

Thanks for reading,

SooperSara

PS: I'll be participating in Zutara Week this year, so keep an eye out for those fics at the end of July! Unfortunately, that means that Chapter 11 of A Tale of Ice and Smoke is on hold until Zutara Week is over, but I do have some of it written already. I have no idea how long it will take the finish drafting and revising when I get back to working on this fic, but rest assured, it's still coming! I'm just a slow writer, and house shopping is cutting into my free time pretty badly.