No man's land, outside the walls of Ba Sing Se

At night, No Man's Land was a foreboding place. The wrecks of the Fire Nation drills, imposing enough in the day when it was obvious what they were, now resembled carcasses of some mighty beasts. Before them, the walls of the city towered, presenting an imposing obstacle. Behind them, the only light came from the torches lit in the Fire Nation siege camp. With the exception of the odd Fire Nation engineer scurrying between the wrecks and the camp, nothing moved.

And then, underneath one of the wrecks, the ground split open. Four people climbed out, two of them dressed as Fire Nation guards.

"Here goes nothing." Sokka said with uncharacteristic seriousness, looking at the camp ahead of them.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Katara asked.

"Suki only, uh, borrowed these two uniforms from the Ba Sing Se armoury, so it's best we go alone. Besides, you stay here so you can intervene if it goes wrong and we need a quick exit."

Katara nodded.

Sokka and Suki made sure their disguises looked authentic enough to get them in, took a deep breath, and stepped out from under the drill.

Lake Laogai

The Blue Spirit stood at the edge of the lake, with the moonlight glinting off the surface of the water. Supposedly, here was where the Earth King took prisoners of high importance- and the person he was after was of very high importance indeed.

There was just one problem. He had neglected to ask that idiot guard how to get in. He supposed that there was some way of earthbending a way in, but he was not an Earthbender.

The Blue Spirit was about to despair when he heard the ground begin to rumble. Earthbenders. He dove behind the nearest rock as the water of the lake split, a path of earth rising from the depths until it formed a clear ramp leading down under the lake.

Convenient, the Blue Spirit thought, but I'll take it.

He would have to intimidate a guard into letting him out again, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. Several shadowy figures emerged, wearing the green robes and large hats that the Blue Spirit knew to be hallmarks of the Dai Li secret police. He waited until they had travelled past his rock before moving silently towards the entrance.

The Fire Nation Siege camp

"State your name, rank, and what you were doing in No-Man's Land.

"Lieutenant Li, and this is Captain... Mai." Sokka grabbed for the first Fire Nation female name he thought of that wasn't Azula. "We were running guard duty on salvage operations on the drill."

The sentry saw no problems with their story, and so they were waved through. Sokka was suspicious of how seriously the guard seemed to be taking his job, but they were in and he was not going to complain. "Where next?" He whispered to Suki.

"They were being kept in a large cart. Look out for one of those."

As they passed through the camp, the sights and smells of an army were laid out for them. Along the lines of tents, Sokka could see fires around which men and women sat, eating dinner, chatting and laughing. Komodo Rhinos sat around, tethered to posts to make sure they couldn't cause too much chaos for their own side. The lines of tanks were for now unattended, apart from a few guards. It all seemed so...normal. Dress all these people in blue and this could be a Water Tribe camp, although the water tribe didn't have tanks.

"There!" Suki pointed.

Lake Laogai

The Blue Spirit crept through the corridors of this secret facility. Uncle had been right, he realized. He had had no plan beyond charge in, find Mai, and get out again. He had only got in through luck, and getting out might present a problem. Still, one thing at a time. He had to find the cells.

As he slipped past a doorway, he suddenly felt eyes upon him, and jumped around with his swords at the ready.

Instead of Dai Li agents about to swarm him however, he found a room full of women, but there was something... off about them. They didn't seem to have acknowledged his existence at all.

They didn't even seem to be blinking.

They just stood there. Their eyes were wide, and they had the most creepy and fake grins plastered across their faces. He was at least relieved that he didn't recognise any of them.

What has the Earth King been up to? The Blue Spirit wondered in alarm. Despite the women not posing any threat to him whatsoever, he turned and almost ran until he thought he was far enough away from that room.

The Fire Nation camp

Disappointingly, the cart turned out to be empty. There were no prisoners there, only rows of benches on each side. "This was the one." Suki said with certainty. "We must be looking for a large tent then."

As they turned away from the cart, they were suddenly confronted by a wiry man with a harsh face. "You two!" He barked. "I know what you're up to!"

Sokka's heart dropped, and he felt Suki tense beside him, clearly ready to give this man a taste of her war-fans. "And what are we up to?" He inquired, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Didn't you hear the no dating rule in basic training?"

Sokka's relief was immense. "Oh, well, sorry. We'll try not to do it again." As they walked away, the man called out after them.

"You'd better not! We're here to liberate this city, not on a honeymoon!"

Liberate? Sokka and Suki looked at each other once they had made their getaway. What have they been telling these people? The two of them walked further into the camp, on the lookout for a large tent, any large tent, that might contain the people they were looking for.

Lake Laogai

The Blue Spirit had now managed to find the cell block, all the while dodging Dai Li agents and trying not to get spotted. He had a few near-misses, but was always fortunate enough not to get caught. This would be hard enough without having to fight his way out on top of it. A line of doorways extended down the hall, all lit with an ethereal green light, much like the rest of the facility.

The jailer had been dealt with easily; it had been the work of moments to sneak up behind him, bash him over the head, steal his key, and lock him in a closet. Hopefully someone would hear him and eventually let him out, but the Blue Spirit aimed to be long gone by the time that happened.

The first cell he looked in, he saw a pitiful old man, who seemed driven mad. The Blue Spirit did not linger long, but he heard him mutter something bizarre about an invitation. He didn't have much more luck in the next few cells, only getting screams, curses, or demands for food from inmates who thought he was the warden for his troubles.

He did not have any luck until the 21st cell he tried.

"Finally, someone new around here."

Mai had been paying attention, and so she had heard the shouting that had told her something was going on. She was now standing in the centre of the room, looking at the door with her arms folded. She looked the most bored he had ever seen her, and that was saying a lot.

The Blue Spirit unlocked the door.

"The Blue Spirit. I heard my family talk about you. They said you were an enemy of the Fire Nation. Who are you and what do you want?"

"I think you know who I am", Zuko said, pulling off the mask, "and I want to get you out of here."

The Fire Nation camp

Sokka was beginning to despair of ever finding this tent. He trusted Suki and was willing to go along with what she said, but this place was vast, big enough to house an army tens of thousands of men strong. They would be here forever if they weren't careful.

There had been a few tents they had deemed large enough to investigate; so far they had interrupted three field kitchens (Sokka approved) a tent dedicated to washing the uniforms of Fire Nation troops, and a tent full of livestock.

They had taken the opportunity to steal as many of the uniforms as they possibly could, realizing that they would need them to get the prisoners out of the camp. These were now in a small cart that Sokka was pushing.

Suddenly, Suki held out her hand to stop. "Another large tent. And this one has guards on the door."

"What makes you so sure it's them?"

"None of the other places we tried had guards. The guards must be there to protect something important."

"Shall we?"

Suki put on her best leadership voice, and marched over to the guards. "We bring food for the prisoners!"

Sokka tried to pretend that his cart of laundry was in actual fact full of rations.

"The prisoners have already been fed today." The first guard said. So they are in here.

Suki looked around, and then back at Sokka.

"I was afraid you would say that."

And faster than anyone could react, her war-fans were in her hands and the two guards were slumping off to the side.

"Oh spirits! What was that for? What if someone saw you!" Sokka whispered, panicking.

"Nobody did see us. There were only a few avenues down which someone could have, and they were all empty. I did look before I whacked."

"Ready to rescue your friends then?"

Suki nodded, and together they entered the tent.

Lake Laogai

At the first glimpse of Zuko's face, Mai rushed forward and hugged him.

"What's wrong? Did they do anything?" Asked a slightly concerned Zuko.

"No, nothing like that. It's just so boring down here! I thought it was dull in Omashu, which was why I agreed to go with Azula, but that's nothing compared to here. At least I could see the sun in Omashu. Besides, I'm just glad to see you again.

"It's been three years hasn't it?"

Mai nodded, but quickly changed the subject. "What are we going to do about Azula?"

"Azula's been chasing me for months now. She's the reason I became a fugitive. I only came here for you."

Mai didn't seem as upset by this news as Zuko had expected, which was a relief; he didn't know what he would have done if Mai turned out to believe in the justice of Azula's cause. She didn't even try to convince him to free Ty Lee, probably for the same reason he didn't want to; they both considered her far too loyal to Azula.

"Shall we go then?" She led him out of the door. "We'll continue this catch up later, somewhere the Dai Li can't get us".

The Dai Li were nowhere to be found, which was odd. Once out of the cell, Zuko took the lead. Despite the fact he still had to get out of here, he had got Mai out of her cell. He was sure he could smooth things over with uncle when he got home. Mai held his hand as they walked through the corridors of Lake Laogai. Just as he was deciding to try the entrance he had used to come in though, a familiar voice sounded.

"Zuzu?"

Zuko stopped in his tracks.

The Fire Nation Camp

As Sokka and Suki pushed back the cloth and entered the tent, they were greeted by the sight of a great many Earth Kingdom citizens, all tied up. Many of them looked resigned. Several of them wore the green uniforms of Kyoshi warriors, and Sokka saw the look in Suki's eye as she took in the scene. It was not a pleasant one.

"What do you want?" One of the Kyoshi warriors spat.

"Mingzhu, is that any way to address your commanding officer?" Suki asked, dramatically pulling off her helmet to reveal her face.

Mingzhu's jaw dropped for a second, before she and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors began to cheer for their leader. They then remembered where they were and began to cheer much quieter.

Sokka also pulled off his helmet and moved to the nearest prisoner, beginning to untie them.

"I'm sorry I was not with you for this." Suki addressed her warriors. "I went to Ba Sing Se to deliver the Avatar and the prisoners, and then stayed, at first because of Sokka, and then because of the siege. Had I known what you would have to go through, I never would have left you."

"Never mind that!" Mingzhu exclaimed. "You're here now, that's all that matters."

"I agree."

A new voice entered the conversation, and everyone whirled towards it at the same time. Dozens of hearts sank in unison.

For standing in the entrance to the tent was Fire Lord Ozai himself.