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I Do Not Own the image~ Bea-Gonzalez from DeviantArt owns this beautiful image!

(Revised 4.14.20)

Clara awoke with something chilly clasped against her neck. As she became fully conscious, she sensed this same sensation on her ankles and wrists. It was an odd feeling. Clara could tell that these things pressing into her body were cold but she didn't get the impression of being cold. She opened her eyes to see a black bricked ceiling above her. Turning slightly, she heard metal clinking together.

I'm in chains...

Raising one arm so she could see confirmed her thought. She wasn't so shocked by this. Her gift made her a difficult prisoner.

Prisoner...

Never could Clara have imagined herself in this type of situation... ever. Back home, she'd always been cautious, never doing anything that could cause trouble, to both herself or anyone else. At least, that's how she was when by herself. Clara had only ever done anything reckless with Sam. She was the fearless one in their group of friends. The one who was always trying to get Lacey and her to come out of their shells. She was the one who said it would be cool to do dangerous things... like learn how to rock climb, with and without ropes... Clara never did end up doing it without the ropes, neither did Lacey. The three girls had been practicing at one of their towns many gyms for a little over two months, longer than necessary. This was mostly because Clara felt safer practicing and delaying them from actually going to a real mountain. Sam eventually got tired of training and said she wanted to try it for real.

On the day of the climb, Clara didn't tell her mom what she would be doing. Partially because she didn't want her mom to worry and didn't want her to envision what would happen if something went wrong. Rock climbing was a sport people still died from if a bad mistake was made. This spared her mom but did not help Clara. She couldn't stop herself from thinking of all the ways things could go wrong on the climb.

She remembered how the whole drive out she'd been panicking. When they had stopped at the base of the mountain she'd been breathing into a paper bag, completely terrified. Sam and her two older brothers, Collin and Seth, had to convince her that they'd let nothing happen to her before she finally got out of the car. No one made fun of her as she got her rope all ready for the climb.

Only Sam and her brothers had been daring enough to not use ropes.

'They're crazy enough and may end up dead sooner but... They want to experience life before that happens', Lacey had said as the two of them had watched from below before they too started climbing up.

Thinking about her friends had Clara's heart aching again. Breathing in deeply she realized how her body was feeling... and it was exhausted! She'd never felt so drained before in her life! Looking around she found that there were no windows, which made her surroundings very dark.

Maybe the bricks aren't black, they just look like it because of the darkness...

After a moment, she realized that it was quiet, deafeningly so. The silence, however, was broken when Clara's stomach growled. It was angry in its demand for food, sending cramps of pain throughout her insides.

In an attempt to sit up, she gasped. In her mind, she could picture what her back now looked like. Littered with bruises and she felt cloth wrapped around her right shoulder and her waist underneath her clothes. Examining as best she could in her current state, Clara noticed her pink pajama top had been replaced with a light brown tunic and she wore similar colored pants. Carefully, she rolled her shoulder and waited for the pain. It never came though. She sighed in relief but this confused her.

Why would they bandage me if I'm not hurt...? Nothing feels wrong, minus my back and stomach...

Her stomach snarled loudly again, making Clara wince. The last good meal she'd had was before she'd left with Aang...

"Aang...!"

Tears came to her eyes and quickly began spilling over her cheeks as she thought of him. She knew he would survive, but couldn't control the guilt she felt roll over her. Clara wrapped her arms around herself, holding her breath before exhaling. A whimper escaped her lips despite her attempt to try and smother it back down.

It was just so different from seeing the events play out on the show to seeing it happen with her there in the middle of it all. Breathing out heavily, she reminded herself that these events may be destined to happen even with her now in this universe. Patik's words echoed in her mind.

'Think of how your actions will affect others around you and trust your instincts on what you believe is right.'

I did do that... and... at least I know that I tried... Aang will be okay...

A loud clank made Clara yelp in surprise and instinctively she sought to move away from the noise. Her restraints prevented her from getting very far before she saw that it was a guard. Light glowed dimly from the hallway behind him. His face was concealed by a Fire Nation helmet, not that she would have been able to make out his face clearly in this dark room. He set down a tray of food by her feet. He said nothing before he walked out, locking the door behind him.

Another growl from her stomach had Clara lunging for the food, not caring about her manners since she was alone. She was ravenous and tore her teeth through the strange food. It was some kind of meat and seasoned with something spicy. Pepper maybe. It heated her mouth but she didn't mind. The water she saved for last and only drank half, not knowing when the guard would come back. In her windowless prison cell, she had no idea if it was morning or late at night.

Since they gave me meat... it could mean it's dinner time... but then again, this is an Asian inspired world so that could mean it's breakfast too since-

Clara shook her head, stopping her overthinking.

It doesn't matter.

She moved her left hand to her bandaged shoulder. Touching it, she still didn't encounter any pain. As best as she could manage, Clara moved her shirt collar aside and peeked underneath the white cloth wrap. Her breath caught in her throat.

Even in the dark, she could see why they had bandaged her. A raw chasm of puckered flesh greeted her eyes. It was angry red and looked rough to the touch. Swallowing dryly, she set the bandage back in place. Her whole body started to feel numb as she tried to grasp this... Her brain worked fast, having her realize where she was bandaged was where Azula's had struck her. She'd be scarred forever and tears stung her eyes again when something occurred to her.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" Clara screamed, surprising herself but the thought frustrated her! The contradictions had her mind reeling. Her back felt painful and bruised yet she felt no pain from where lightning hit her!? She'd felt unimaginable pain when she had been hit by it but now! Now she felt nothing!

She exhaled, angry as she ran a hand along with the wrap around her waist. Through the clothes and cloth, she felt rough skin there as well.

How come it's only lightning that can cause damage and yet... it doesn't hurt...?

A new thought crossed her mind, and it caused her to tremble. Clara brought her knees to her chest.

Azula, Iroh, and Fire Lord Ozai... if it's the same here as it is in the show... They are the only people who could generate lightning... Which means I only have two people to worry about...

Laying with her left side against the ground, she touched her shoulder again.

"At least it's nowhere that's noticeable..." Clara whispered before wondering how she would have reacted if she hadn't been so lucky... Her mind instantly pictured Zuko. She hadn't had much time to think about him.

He was identical to his cartoon counterpart come to life. His fierce expression lingered at the forefront of her mind. Recalling where his character was at this point in the show, he was probably only beginning to feel the inner confusion and guilt about his decision to side with his sister.

Maybe... it's also possible he's pushing those feelings down, trying to ignore them... which means it'll be a while before he is approachable...

Clara studied the room and wondered how long she would be there.

Why would they keep me a prisoner anyway? Was it because they saw that I can firebend? Cause I survived being struck by lightning? Are they curious...? They think Aang is dead so they don't want information from me...

The more she thought of the fire nation characters and their ways of thinking, particularly Azula and Fire Lord Ozai, the more it made sense why they would keep her captive.

They would want to use me somehow...!

"Never gonna happen," she whispered firmly to the room. Clara could feel her energy coming back slowly now that she had eaten.

"I need to get out of here..."

Slowly, she wrapped her hand around the base of the chain by her wrist. Breathing in deeply and exhaling in a gust, Clara drew the heat from her body's center to her hand as she tried to see if she could get free of these chains.

She watched as the chain began to change from grey to a dim red. Slowly it spread and she flinched when it touched her skin. Holding it away from her wrist, Clara hissed in pain as she looked at where the chain had burned her. Except... it hadn't burned her.

Nothing. No mark, no blister, nothing looked like she had just burned herself. But she had felt as if she had.

"Makes no sense," Clara muttered before bringing heat to her hand again, this time taking special care to not cause herself pain. When it bent in where she held it, she pulled harshly and the chain broke open.

"Yes!" Clara silently cheered. Rubbing her wrist before switching to her still chained one. She didn't stop until she was completely free of all of them. Looking to the door, a sigh left her.

Now I just need to wait until the guard comes back...