For about four more days, everyday Vande would be taken away for questioning about the Avatar, and come back beaten and pretending to be unconscious. She and Zuko would talk, and before long they trusted each other.
When Vande came back from her questioning that day, she was unconscious like normal, and when the guards left, Zuko waited for her to sit up. But she didn't.
"Vande?" He asked. But she didn't respond. This time she really was unconscious. He could hardly believe it. "Vande!" He tried again, still no response, so he waited.
About an hour later she woke up with a soft moan.
"Vande?" Zuko asked again. "Are you up?"
"Yeah…" She muttered.
"What happened?" He asked almost sounding concerned.
"I broke free from the guards and ran for it." She answered sitting up very slowly.
"Why?" He asked.
"It was part of my plan. I needed to know a fast way out of here, and to see what the deck looks like. I did, but they of course caught me." She said.
"It was part of your plan? He asked her.
"Yeah." She replied.
"So it's almost done then?" He asked.
"Yeah." She replied again.
"Alright, what's you plan?"
"Well, every time I go up for questioning, I've been getting a good tour of the ship. And now I know how to get out of here." She told him.
"What about the water?"
"Well, these locks were made to hold in a firebender. Not a waterbender." She said.
"But you're not a waterbender." He pointed out.
"I don't have to be. See if melt the water into the lock there and let if freeze, since water expands when it freezes, it'll brake off the side of the lock and all I'll have to do is melt away the water, and I can just unlock it." She said smiling.
"How did you know that?" He inquired.
"I studied water remember." She said smiling.
"Wouldn't the water just expand out the key hole?"
"That's why I have this." She pulled out a small metal slab. "It will slide perfectly into the key holes to stop that water from doing that."
"Alright, well, when we get to the desk, we swim to shore?" He asked pointing out that they wouldn't be able to swim to shore.
"I've thought of that to. I wasn't just pretending to be unconscious so that they'd stop beating me. The guards were a little more talkative when they thought I couldn't hear. To night the ship stops at shore for the night to restock. It'll be stopping at the earth town Krumb. We can escape tonight." She said still smiling.
Zuko was quiet for a long moment. "This might work." He said at last.
"I can't do it alone though." She informed him.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because if I get caught, I can't fight them all off by myself, but if I had you to help me, that increase my chances of getting away." She smiled at him. "So are you coming?" She asked
"Well, I either come, or stay here. Here leads to a big possibility of death. Your way does too though." He said weighing his options.
"My way will be more fun…" She added.
"I'll come." He said smirking.
She smiled back. "Wonderful."
That night they carried out her plan. Vande melted the saved water into the lock, and slipped the metal over it. Just as she said it would, it popped the side off.
"Wow…" Was all Zuko had said when she repeated the process for him because she had only one slab.
"Come on." She said unlocking it.
She led the way out of the cells room, up some dark steps. There was one guard outside the cells room, and he was asleep. Vande had not expected him, but it worked out anyway.
They were being as quiet as they could be and not talking because they couldn't risk somebody hearing them.
She led Zuko to the deck of the ship, and they darted behind some large crates and inched toward the ramp down. There was nobody on the deck for the most part. They were only being careful. But every now and then a soldier would walk up the ramp returning to the ship from his time in Krumb.
The got to the side of the ship where the ramp was and looked over it, the cost was clear so the shot down the ramp, as quiet but fast as they could. And they were in the town.
"We still need to be careful. There are still soldier in town." Zuko whispered, after they ran away from the ship and around the nearest building.
Vande nodded. "Did you see the woods west of here when we were on the ship?" She asked him.
"Yes. Is that were we're going?"
She nodded. "Come on." She started west to the trees.
The ship was long out of view by now, and they both were feeling more relaxed.
"I can't believe you did…" Zuko said still in shock about it.
"I said I could." She smiled at him. She was glowing with joy, and in the moon light. Zuko hadn't noticed this before, but she was beautiful. "You just needed to trust me."
"Trust isn't easy for me." He told her looking away.
"It's not easy for me either. You just have to trust the right people." She told him.
He nodded. "You know, I've been meaning to ask. Who really killed your parents?"
She looked at him. "Does that mean you believe me?"
He smirked. "It means I trust you."
She smiled, and then it faded a little and she looked away. "It was my uncle; my mothers' brother." She paused, and looked at him. "It was Zhao. He didn't want me to bring any kind of peace at all, and he couldn't think of better way." She looked away again.
Zuko stopped and reached his arm out to stop her as well. He waited till she looked at him, and never let go of her arm. "Why didn't you tell me before?" He sounded angry, sympathetic, and even maybe a little hurt.
"It's not because I didn't want you know." She told him.
"Then why?" He asked again, sound angrier.
"I was scared. He's the only man in the world that scares me. I saw him slaughter my parents! I couldn't bring myself to say it." She paused at looked away. "When he was questioning me, he wasn't just beating me. He kept reminding me of… that day."
This was the saddest Zuko had ever seen her. Saying, admitting, all this was making it imposable for her to hide from it.
"You trusted me with your past. It's only fair I do the same." He finally said. And with that, he told her everything about his sister, his mother, and his father. He told her about the days leading up to the day in the war room, he told her about the day in the war room, and he told her about the day he got banished. She listened to it all, just staring at him.
When he was done, he found that he was not looking at her, and when he did, she smiled at him.
"Does it feel as nice for to talk about as that as it did for me when I talked about my past?" She asked. He was still holding her hand, only his grip was much looser and it was as if he were holding it for comfort now.
He nodded slowly staring into her eyes. "It's like a weight has been lifted from my heart." He felt different know. It was a feeling he didn't want to go away. This feeling had nothing to do with the weight lifted from his heart, and more to do with Vandes smile.
She nodded too. "I know the feeling."
He couldn't help but think that maybe she wasn't talking about weight being lifted, but the other feeling. He smiled at her. It was a real smile, not a smirk. It'd been a long time since that had happened.
Her smile broadened when she saw his smile. She was staring at his eyes. No. She was staring into his eyes. They were so familiar. The way they were now, when he was smiling, not the way they were before. She could feel her heart pounding harder.
Suddenly there was a cry form behind them.
"Hey! You two! Stop where you are!"
They looked over and saw a soldier running towards them. They turned and started to run away from him. Other soldiers were joining him.
Next thing they knew they were running from ten armed firebenders. They had almost reached the woods where they would easily lose them. That's when things went from bad to worse. In a despite attempt not to let them get away, one of the soldiers threw a poison dark they had seize from Zuko when he was first taken in. The dart hit Vande in the back.
She tried to be stronger then it, but it was only seconds before she fell, unable to move.
Zuko looked back at her and say her on the floor. He turned sharply around to grab. He quickly reached for her and picked her up into his armes. He pulled the dart out of her back, and threw her over his shoulder with ease. In seconds he was running into the wood.
He ran for what felt like forever. He had lost them a long time ago, but just to me on the safe side he ran for another almost half hour. When at last he did stop, he put Vande down, leaning against a tree, and sat across from her.
She couldn't move, but she was staring at him, waiting for him to catch his breath.
It took awhile, but once he was breathing normal she said, "You didn't leave me…"
He smiled again. "Of course not. You saved my life, I saved yours, we're even."
"Thank you." She said smiling.
He nodded. "Thank you as well. You should sleep now. That poison should ware of by morning."
"And when morning comes what do we do? I never planed this far." She asked.
"Well, I'm going to steal a ship and go find my Uncle. I suggest you do the same." He told her.
She gave him a weird look.
"Well, don't find your uncle. Find the Avatar." He said with another small smile.
She laughed. "Oh! Okay, you had me worried for a second."
He reached out and grabbed her shoulders laying her down so she could sleep. "Tomorrow we're back to being enemies again." He told her.
"Fare enough." She smiled. "Good night Zuko."
"Good night Vande."
That night Vande dreamt.
She was eleven again. She was locked up in the cold, dark, damp cell. She was awaiting her death.
There was a strange noise behind her in her cell. She jumped up startled and locked where the noise was coming from. She could see one of the big bricks moving, and suddenly it popped out. She could see the shadows of a boy looking up from the hole.
"This way." He told her. "Follow me." He waved for her to follow him.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"I'm setting you free." He told her. "Please. Follow me." He turned a stared curling down the tunnel, she followed him.
The tunnel was at least a mile long, but when they reach the end they were by the ocean. He led the short walk to the beach, where she saw a small row boat.
"Can you row? He asked.
She nodded. "Yes."
"There's an island just out of view there." He pointed. "Row too it. They have a lot trading ships at the docks there. I'm sure you can find you're way away from here on a ship." He told her.
Again she nodded. "I can."
"Now go, it won't be long till they see you're gone." He turned around now and for the first time she saw his face.
He had black her tied into a ponytail. It was his eyes though that stuck out. Gold and innocent. It was when she looked into his eyes, the he began to change. His face and body grew, and she grew with him. His hair changed, and a scare formed around his left eye. He grew muscle and even taller. As he got bigger so did she. And the scenery began to change before her eyes as well. The beach, and ocean, and the little row boat were gone. There now was a town. She recognized it as Krumb. She also recognized the boy, no, the man that stood before her now. It was Zuko. He'd changed a lot since he was a kid, but his eyes were the same. It was his eyes that drew her closer. Before she knew what was happening she was kissing him. Or rather, he was kissing her. They were kissing each other.
The city was gone now too, all she could see was his eyes, and the moon and stares.
She would up with a jolt. She immediately looked over to where Zuko was; only he wasn't there. He was gone.
"Tomorrow we're back to being enemies again." He'd said that the night before and now he was gone.
She sat there for a long time. It was Zuko that had saved her when she was eleven. She couldn't believe it. Mostly because she had spent so much time with him, and never realized. She had seen the boy who saved her, and she didn't thank him for saving her that day. At least now she knew his name.
Vande walked to Krumb a little later thinking about her dream the whole way. When she got there, she did just as Zuko had told her to do. She stole a boat and left to find the Avatar.
She did too, a week later. And after some convincing and many stories and explanations later, the Avatar and his friends all accepted her and allowed her for travel with them.
It wasn't long until they were all friends, and Vande was fulfilling her destiny. She was happy… ish.