A/N. A POV I've not seen often, but which I was curious about exploring! Next chapter will be Katara, then we return to Aang!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Tapping his fingers against the dark iron bars of their cell, the Water Tribe warrior sighed as he watched the last sliver of orange light disappear from the small crack in the wall. The guards had called that crack a "window", but he seriously doubted that. If his calculations were correct, today had been the last day of summer… The day that the comet came. Sokka had told them about it on the ship, and he had feared its coming after the failed Invasion.

Was that the orange hue that had hung in the sky during the night? He didn't know… It could be, but the days had blurred into one long agony during their month in prison. Gilak had caught a fever but had survived by some miracle. Some of the others had their wounds fester, but luckily the guards had been rather sympathetic, and had given him some medicine and clean bandages. If not for those small mercies, he didn't know how they would have survived.

Well… Survived…

Kranook, the old steersman of Hakoda's ship had died during the invasion with twenty other tribesmen. Iqaluk, young and impertinent, had died when the Fire Nation had dropped their bombs… Sure, Bato had not liked the man that much, but to see such a young life be snuffed out… That had hurt. The young man had a wife and two daughters back home… And if would fall to Bato, or Hakoda if he still lived, to tell the woman that her husband had died during a failed attack… And that he wouldn't be buried in the tundra beside her when her own time came…

"What is it?" A voice spoke from the darkness. He thought to recognize Alqaok, the youngest of the warriors.

"Nothing." He tried to sound upbeat, as not to arouse more suspicion than absolutely necessary. If it had been the comet… Sokka had told him what that comet had done to the people of the Avatar… Not that he had needed explaining. On their first voyage towards the Earth Kingdom, six long years ago, they had passed the Patola mountains. Those mountains rose up from the Southern Sea, without warning, to rise into the clouds. He too had listened to the stories Kanna told the children of the tribe, and he had known that the Air Nomads had lived there, a century ago… And they had seen the results of the Fire Nation attack. Aang had lived in the temple above in the sky, but there had been people living in the valleys…

And their skulls were pilled up on the shore, grim pyramids warning anyone that came too close to those valleys.

So no, he would not tell the warriors had he felt in his heart to be true. That the Fire Nation had used this thing to do something horrible. Something unspeakable.

They had either attacked the Earth Kingdom… Or the Northern Water Tribe. And if that was the case, their people were gone. No one could stop firebenders on such a day, if Sokka was to be believed. And having seen the results in the Patola Mountains and in the Northern Air Temple… He believed it.

"What was that light?" Alqaok insisted, and Bato sighed. The young warrior, all muscles but no brain, didn't realize that he was causing doubt to settle in the mind of the others…

"Probably nothing." The older water tribe warrior answered quietly, padding the shoulder of the young man in the dark as he let his back rest against the cold humid stones of the wall of their cell. It was a large cell, that had to be said. The food wasn't as disgusting as they had thought… But then again, this was the Royal Prison. Bato had thought long about the reason that they were here… And the answer was unsettling. Probably, the Fire Lord wanted them alive and fed accordingly because they would serve a purpose later on…

"But Bato… Sokka sa-"

"Shut up." He hissed quickly. No need to alarm anyone even more than they already were. No need to cause a riot.

"But…"

"No." Not now. Not here. Later, if they were led through the courtyard for their twenty minutes of fresh air… Then, he would explain.

Suddenly, far away, shouts were heard. Arching an eyebrow up, Bato hushed the young man with yet another pad on the shoulder. Perching his ears to listen to what was happening, he didn't hear anything else. The shouts had stopped as soon as they had begun… Probably just a few prisoners on the lower levels, calling for something…

Even his own brain didn't want to believe that. It had come from outside the prison… And whatever happened outside that cause the people to scream… Was good news for them. A few hours, they had heard a loud crash from somewhere inside the caldara… But their hopes had been dashed when a guard had walked past their cell, whistling softly as if nothing was amiss. So, they had ignored it.

But this… This seemed promising.

At least, he hoped it seemed promising…

As silence settled back into the cell, were hushed voices had whispered to each other, Bato kept listening. Shouts were not permitted inside the prison. The warden had been rather clear. No shouts, no riots, and their lives would be spared. Even as comfortable as you could expect as prisoners of war… No one had been tortured for information about the Avatar…

Not that they could have given them something interesting. What would the warriors have said? That the Avatar had spent three weeks with them, unconscious and wounded? That the young man had seemed sullen when he woke up? Those were not essential facts the Fire Nation needed to know.

Sure, they could also have told them that the Chief's daughter and the Avatar had something going on… But what difference would it make? Surely the Fire Nation was already aware of that… It wouldn't make a difference. But Tui and La, he hoped that the group of young people was alright. They had no business fighting this war… They were too young, had already suffered too much…

Katara and Sokka had lost their mother to the Fire Nation, and in a way, their father too. Bato had watched his friend sink deeper and deeper into his depression until he had found the way to fight it. To fight in the war had been his solution. And they had all followed him, not only because he was the Chief, but also because they felt that the murder of Kya couldn't go unpunished.

The blind girl, Toph, had not suffered from the war, but she had chosen to fight in it, because her friends had suffered.

And then, there was Aang… he was the one person who had the right to be angry, to be horribly savage to the Fire Nation… But he was also the one person who would never do that. Bato had heard the legends about the Air Nomads and had seen it for himself when speaking to the young airbender. He would never fight if he had a choice. He would always find the right and peaceful way.

In the dark, footsteps echoed through the corridor. The Water Tribe warrior sighed, standing up. It was early morning, so there would be a count. To check if no one had escaped or died during the night.

"Well, lads, we are all still here I believe. Can we skip the counting and just sleep a little longer?" He shouted jovially, hiding his anxiousness.

"Yeah, that would be great!" Another tribesman yelled in the same manner. It had become a ritual each morning, as the guards approached their cell, to make jokes and try to annoy them. It wasn't much in the way of resistance, but what else was there for them?

"And bring us something to eat! We are starving up here! And a book! I have had just enough of Bato's horrible stories!"

"Hey! My stories are great! I can't change the fact you are a boorish oaf! Can't understand some culture." He objected in a mild manner. Their banter was just to annoy the guards. But each time the soldiers had just shook their heads in a playful manner. They were men too and understood their need to humanize their situation. They weren't that bad to be honest.

"Bato?"

The Water Tribe warrior's heart seemed to stop for a moment. That voice… That slightly musical accent. He knew that voice.

"A… Aang?"

Squinting his eyes towards the corridor, he saw a soft light approaching fast. As it came closer, he saw that it was a small fire. Too small to light the actual person holding the lamp, but still, it was visible… Quickly grasping the iron bars of the cell, he heard the men behind him whisper in an excited manner. If it was truly Aang… They were saved! They would be liberated from this dump, and would be able to fight once more! It wasn't much, but surely there would be other warriors to be found in the Earth Kingdom!

"Are you alright?" The musical voice spoke, much closer to them this time.

"Yes! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in the Caldara!" Bato whispered. If the guards were coming for the morning count… Sure, the airbender could take them, but it would draw attention to them…

"How many of you are here?" The airbender ignored the question. Suddenly, the light was in front of him, and Bato had to look away, his eyes hurting from the light. But after a few instances, he turned back to the young man.

There was too much to register at once… The first thing Bato saw, was the wild look in the flame-lit eyes. The airbender had always had a soft, gentle look in those silver eyes, but now, that was gone, to be replaced by a panicked expression. Then, there was the fact that the light, which he had supposed to be a lamp or something of the sort, wasn't that. It was just a handful of flames… In the right hand of the Air Nomad. So, Aang had learned some firebending… That was weird, to be honest. Bato always associated firebending with the enemy. But to see the one person he had never considered his enemy, even before meeting the young man, bending the hated flames… it was a shock.

And finally, as he let his eyes slide over the airbender, Bato saw that the young man was only wearing trousers, leaving his tattoos on full display. Behind him, there was some chittering, and the lemur Momo appeared from the darkness, perching himself upon his master's shoulder. It was such a weird display, totally unsuspected in this dark prison… That Bato just stared.

"How many, Bato?" The airbender's voice sounded harsh and unyielding, and the Water Tribe warrior shook off his shock. There was time for explaining later. Now, with Aang here… They were free.

"Seventy. Twenty of the warriors died, and another ten were put in the mines… I don't know what happened to them. But forty in this cell, and thirty on the lower level." He explained. Aang, his face still lit in that unnatural glow of the flames in his hand, nodded and straightened. He put his hand to the wall and there was a horrible crunching sound. As Bato watched, the airbender pulled out one of the bricks of the wall. And another. And another. He knew the Avatar was also an earthbender, but he had never seen Aang bent earth. It was even more unsettling than the flames, because the he was doing it while holding the fire.

"I'm getting you out. I need to do something, but I can't do it alone. How many of you are wounded?" The airbender asked him, while another brick hit the floor. Bato realized the airbender was probably destroying the wall with the hinges of their prison cell.

"Some are too weak to do anything, and to be honest, I don't know if we are a capable fighting force. Perhaps in a few days… But Aang, what is it?" The airbender would never be so direct, so abrupt… Something had happened.

"Listen. Ozai is defeated, the Fire Nation has lost." The words were said aloud, and Bato did hear them, but he didn't register the significance of the sentence.

"Sorry, what?"

"I fought Ozai, and won. At the same time, Azula was defeated by Zuko and Kata-"

"Wait, Prince Zuko? Wasn't he the one that betrayed yo-"

"No time to explain. Zuko is good now. He is going to be Fire Lord. Listen!" The last word was said loudly and in such a venomous way that Bato put his lips together. There was definitely something wrong.

"Azula escaped. A Fire Sage who was supposed to bring her here hasn't done so. I came to check, to make sure. Then, I realized that there were probably prisoners in here other than the one that is supposed to be here." Another brick hit the floor, and Bato saw the bars of the cell bend outwards. Releasing them, he saw the two bars fall completely against the wall opposite their cell. They… They were free. Hesitantly, he stepped over them and into the corridor.

"Aang!" He grabbed the airbender's shoulder, feeling the warm skin. He was really here… Then, the young man hissed in pain and took a step backwards. Frowning, Bato looked at him again, and saw it. There was a gash in his shoulder, just next to the pink scar he had earned in Ba Sing Se. There were plenty of burn marks over his torso, and a part of his trousers was stained in a dark substance that looked a lot like blood. Tui and La… Had he just come from fighting the Fire Lord?

"I need you to help me." The voice of the airbender suddenly took on a whole other tone. At first, he had sounded angry and tired, then just harsh… But now, it sounded pleading. Fear gripping his heart, Bato realized something had gone terribly wrong. If Ozai was defeated, the airbender was supposed to be jubilant…

"Aang, what happened?" Bato felt the heat radiating from the young man… And it wasn't just the flames in his hand. It seemed the airbender was literally oozing warmth from himself… And not the kind of kind warmness, like a fire in your home after a long cold day… No, this was the heat of a forest fire, of the flames licking at your ship… A dangerous warmth.

The airbender suddenly looked him in the eyes, and Bato also took a step backwards, surprised by the intensity of Aang's gaze. The grey eyes were normally a kind silver, but had taken on the look of pure iron, dark and unyielding. It was such an unnatural sight, that the Water Tribe warrior didn't quite know what to make of it.

"She's missing." The flames in the young man's hand flared up, lighting the whole corridor. Bato squinted his eyes at the light, still confused beyond measure. Ozai was defeated, Azula had apparently escaped… What was all this?

"Azula? You already said tha-"

"Not her. Ka… Katara." The last word was whispered in such a lonely, low voice that Bato's heart cracked at the tone. It sounded so ancient and alone… As if the whole world had fallen away under the airbender's feet…

"Katara? Missing?" That sounded even more ridiculous than the idea of peace, after a century of war. Hakoda's daughter couldn't be missing… She had been a rock, a constant companion to this young man… And what he had seen from their interactions, Katara wouldn't let the young man out of her sight, for even a second… Bato was fairly certain that the two had something going on, he had seen Katara's interest even back in the monastery, and after that, on the ship, it had been so obvious… But he had not asked what exactly was going on, because it wasn't his business. Hakoda had meddled enough, the two youngsters didn't need the father's best friend asking questions too.

Aang had been much more noticeable. He had all but walked around with little hearts in his eyes whenever Katara talked to him... And that day, when Sokka and the Avatar visited the camp, before all that happened in Ba Sing Se… Bato had guessed the airbender had come to ask Hakoda for his permission, and his friend had confirmed it later.

"Yes! Come on, can you walk?" That question was spoken much louder, and the whole group behind Bato muttered that they could, "Good. Follow me." With that, the airbender turned around, and Bato had to hold in the sharp intake of air he had wanted to make. He had not seen the wound on the young man's back all those months ago, and he had worn a tunic during the invasion… But it was rather terrifying… How could anyone not scream, walking with such a scar on their back? But Aang didn't slow down, he kept walking. Bato, deciding that anything was better than to stay her, in the dark, began to follow. His cellmates, tribesmen every last one of them, also followed. What else were they supposed to do? Stay in that dark, damp cell? Or follow an airbender speaking nonsense?

Follow the airbender it was.

Bato didn't dare ask anything else in this dark place. As they followed the Avatar, he realized that this was more a prison escape than just being released… Before each corner, Aang stopped and stayed immobile for a few seconds, before continuing… The water tribe warrior guessed that he had learned the same freaky talent as the blind girl, Toph, had. Seeing through earthbending… That meant that the Avatar could probably feel his rapidly beating heart. This was crazy… If that orange light had been the comet, and Aang had just come back from fighting him… Had the Avatar fought the Fire Lord during the comet? The one that gave firebenders immense power? Tui and La, this was crazy… One man, whose bending was so powerful he could overcome an undefeatable enemy…

After having descended the staircase they had taken each time they were allowed into the courtyard, they arrived at the thick iron gate that was the entrance of the prison… Well, had been the entrance of the prison. The two gates were lying on the ground inside the corridor, clearly having been blasted away by force… Had Aang done that? Katara had always said that the airbender was opposed to violence… But this seemed all bit opposed to it.

The airbender let the flames in his hand die away, and waved it around for a few moments, as if to cool it down. Bato looked over the young man's shoulder, into the courtyard, and was even more surprised by what he saw. The day before, when they had been aired around in the lifeless square, it had looked like it had done the whole month of their imprisonment. Dull yellow grass with four high walls on either side… Now, one of those walls had been neatly brought down, and the flat square was gone. In its place lay a field that looked like it had been freshly ploughed… Spirits, Bato understood where the screams had come from. Those had not been other prisoners… it had been the guards, fleeing this place…

Stepping into the soft morning air, he couldn't help but inhale deeply, enjoying the cold… it wasn't as cold as home, but it came close… He had missed that. The days in the Fire Nation had been hot and unbearable… But now, a darky grey sky greeted them.

"Aang," The Water Tribe warrior stepped in front of the young airbender, forcing him to a halt, "calm down… What happened? Just go through it, step by step." The Avatar seemed erratic, lost in whatever thoughts he had. But Bato needed facts. Facts he could use to formulate an idea of the situation.

"After…" The Avatar suddenly looked terribly tired and staggered on his feet. Bato moved to catch the young man, but Aang had already steadied himself.

"After the invasion… We went to the temple. The Western…" Bato guessed that Aang meant one of the Air Temples, "Then, Zuko joined us. He is good now, fled his father… We trust him now. Azula found us, and we had to flee. We hid on Ember Island, in Ozai's summer house."

Bato smiled at that. Only young people with nothing to lose would be foolish, or brave enough, to hide from the Fire Lord in his own home.

"I woke… woke up on a Lion Turtle. Kya told me what it was… Then, I fought Ozai, at Wulong… A few hours ago, when that thing was in the sky."

Okay. Aang had officially lost it.

First of all, a Lion Turtle? Those creatures were the stuff of legends, but they weren't real. And what was the whole thing with Kya? Kya was dead… Bato didn't presume to understand everything in this world, but even he doubted that talking to the dead was a step too far to be believable.

"Alright, and what is it with Katara missing?" He asked gently, trying to let the airbender concentrate on that.

"You have to help me! My… Katara went to fetch us, with Appa. But she hasn't come back yet! And Azula is free… She… She threatened such horrible things…" Aang whispered. It didn't escape Bato that the airbender had wanted to say something else. My what?

"What did she say?" The warrior whispered back, so low that the other warriors, who began to crowd around them couldn't hear.

"Sell." That word was enough. It was spoken in such a fearful, dreading tone that Bato didn't need more information than that. Anger flared up in his heart, as he understood what Azula had wanted to do.

"Why?" Facts. He needed every fact.

"To get to me. Force me to stop fighting back." The airbender suddenly fell on his knees. Tui and La… The young man was exhausted, and all but mentally gone. He didn't make any sense, and clearly the fight against Ozai had taken every mental and physical energy Aang had… They needed to let him sleep, someone needed to check his wounds… Someone needed to take care of him. If all this was true… he deserved some rest.

"Aang, listen to me" Bato knelt down in front of him, "Why would Katara's capture force you to stop fighting?" He already knew. In his heart, Bato knew. Of course, there was no doubt…

"She… I… I… made a ne-" Before the young man could even finish his sentence, his silver-grey eyes rolled up in their sockets and he dropped in Bato's arms. Tui and La… The warrior knew enough. Aang had made a necklace, and it had most certainly been accepted…

"Alright men. I don't need to ask you, do I?" He turned to the other tribesmen. None moved, none said a word. But it wasn't needed. Grabbing the young man more firmly, he stood up, with the Avatar in his arms.

Quickly moving towards the breach in the wall, Bato emerged on the other side, seeing the Caldara stand proudly in the morning light. The palace was a good distance away… And there was smoke coming from behind it, from that plaza they had been brought to after the invasion.

"Great Spirits." A voice grumbled from beside the wall. Turning to his left, the warrior saw the small frame of Toph sit on a bit of rubble, "He always had a flair for the dramatic." She continued, waving a hand to the prison.

"Toph!" Bato sighed in relief. Her rather relaxed attitude was a sight for sore eyes, because that meant that Aang was probably overreacting… right?

"The one and only." The girl smiled, but Bato's heart dropped as he saw the forced way, she did it. No, that whole relaxed attitude was a façade… Not good…

"What happened, in La's name? Aang was rather… weird." He didn't have any other words for it.

"Yeah, you could say that. Has been for a few hours. For what happened, the brief version is this. Twinkles defeated Loser Lord, took his bending away, and we took down a whole airship fleet. Sugar Queen and Zuko beat the crap out of Azula, but now she has escaped, and half the Fire Nation doesn't accept Sparky as their new ruler. You know, everything to make a great new war. And to top it all off, Sweetness took Appa and we don't know where she is." Toph sighed the last part, standing up and walking towards them. She flicked a finger against Aang's head, eliciting a small groan.

"But… That could mean anything!" For Tui and La's sake… A new war? No… Not that. Ozai's defeat had been the thing they had all looked forward to… And if a new war brewed under the surface, they needed to put it down before it could even begin.

"I know! The others sent me after Twinkletoes, to get him back. Not that he was that fast or intelligent… Seriously, breaking you out of prison… He could just have asked Sparky to order your release." The blind girl shook her head, smiling sympathetically at her friend's unconscious form.

"Well, the best thing to do is sent out search parties for both Azula and Katara!" Bato waved his hands in the air. Spirits, this was messed up…

"Zuko already ordered some old stuffy general to do exactly that. Now, can you help me to get this idiot back? Seriously, if Sugar Queen strolls into the palace and doesn't find him there…" Toph pulled a face that hung between disgust and irritation. She gestured them to follow her and began to walk away. Bato, still holding the airbender, quickly moved next to the blind girl.

"Toph. I need to know something. Aang talked about a necklace. If Katara is indeed… Missing… What will happen?" In a rapid move, the blind girl grabbed his arm and pinched. Flinching, he opened his mouth to protest, but at that moment, he saw the pale green eyes of the earthbender fixed on his own, which was a rather… unnatural look from a blind person.

"If, and I say if, Katara is missing, I would give the Fire Nation a week before Aang manages to burn it all down."

With that reassuring note, the blind girls released his arm and walked faster, outpacing him easily.

Tui and La above and below…

Answers:

Rak: Indeed! I really looked forward to that part of the story to be honest, for it is so interesting to see two quite different people with the same goals. And you'll see how long it takes (or if it will happen lol!)