"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Zuko was surprised at Sokka's rather serious tone. He was used to his sarcasm-filled remarks or biting jokes that were mostly directed at him. He stood up and led Zuko away from the campfire they had made. Once they were out of earshot, he asked. "If someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?"
"What do you mean? Who was captured?"
Sokka crossed his arms over his chest and heaved a heavy sigh. "When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken. I just want to know where they might be."
The prince looked down at the rubble that littered the ground. "I can't tell you."
"What? Why not?"
"Trust me, knowing will just make you feel worse." Zuko didn't want to tell him about that place.
He was about to return to the others when he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him. "It's my dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."
"It's not good, Sokka..."
"Please." He hoped he could convey all his sincerity and seriousness to convince the prince.
He thought about it for a long minute before he answered. "My guess is... they were taken to the Boiling Rock."
"What's that?"
"The highest-security prison in the Fire Nation." He saw Sokka's face fall, but he wasn't finished. "It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable." He had never been to the place, but he had heard enough of it to know that it isn't exactly a tourist destination.
"So where is this place?"
The question grabbed his attention. "Why do you need to know? What are you planning?"
"Nothing! Boy, you're so paranoid!"
But Zuko already had a feeling where he was headed with this. "It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. You guys actually flew right past it on your way here."
"Thanks, Zuko." He gave him a sincere smile, then yawned. Just like that, he was back to the regular Sokka. "Just knowing makes me feel better."
"Yeah... I'm sure it does..."
Before the sun could rise into the sky, Sokka had packed a few rations of food into his satchel and was about to climb up on Appa's saddle.
"Not up to anything, huh?"
He let out a surprised yelp and fell back onto the cold hard floor of the temple. Once he regained his footing, he gathered his scattered belongings, avoiding Zuko's eyes. "Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"
"I'm never happy."
Sokka could say the same for the last few days. No matter how much he tried to hide it behind his smiles and jokes, guilt still riddled and twisted his gut. "Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea. I decided to stay when things were going wrong. It's my mistake and it's my job to fix it."
Zuko hopped down from the saddle and turned to face Sokka, who steeled his resolved and clenched his fists. "I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko."
He pushed past the prince to climb on the sky bison once more. "You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."
"No. I have to do this alone."
"How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison day-cares." He didn't know what pushed him to help Sokka. "Helping others must be the effect of changing sides for the better." He could see the hesitation of the teenager as he stopped getting on the saddle. "We'll take my war balloon."
Chiyo continued to train herself in the confines of her isolated cell. The only time she would allow herself to rest was when a guard would bring her the daily ration of food, or when Maya would swing by to check in on her.
She would never allow herself to admit it out loud, but she was thankful for the distraction provided by training herself until she was ready to pass out. It gave her less time to wallow in self-pity and guilt, and chased away her nightmares and daydreams.
She heard the familiar clicks of the mechanisms as someone was to open the doors of her cell, and hurriedly crouched into the corner and closed her eyes.
"How far you have fallen, apprentice..." It was the familiar, lazy drawl of the Warden. She could remember a handful of occasions that they had met under different circumstances. Even the Lady Suiren found him... repulsive.
"At least I didn't fall flat on my face like you did." She smirked and opened her eyes.
The Warden was easily disgruntled by her comment. She could see him twitching with rage. "You look like you still haven't learned your lesson."
"And you still look like a badgerfrog to me."
Her cheek was granted a strong slap, one she deemed was worth it. The Warden turned to the guards behind him. "Cut her food ration in half. Let's see how long this wench can last." With a final huff, they finally left.
"Pretty clouds..." Sokka tried to break the awkward silence between them as the war balloon made its way to the infamous prison.
Little did he know that Zuko was just as equally awkward. "Yeah. Fluffy."
"Uh, you know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."
"No kidding?"
"Yep, a balloon, but for war."
Zuko turned to increase the fire that kept the war balloon afloat, feeding it more flames. "If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war."
"Yeah, it seems to run in the family."
"Hey, hold on, not everyone in my family is like that!"
He held up his hands in apology. "I know, I know, you've changed."
"I meant my uncle." He sighed and looked away. "He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down."
"I think you're uncle would be proud of you." Sokka meant it, giving Zuko a comforting smile. "Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard."
"It wasn't that hard."
"Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about? Not even a girl?"
Zuko shook his head. "The girl I love died before I could tell her I love her." He wondered what made him open up about that, but somehow, he felt lighter. "She drowned in the high seas."
There was a pause for a few seconds, then Sokka reciprocated his confession. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon."
"That's rough, buddy."
By nightfall, the volcano that housed the Boiling Rock was within their line of sight. "There it is. There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we stay quiet, we should be able to navigate without being caught."
As they entered the mouth of the volcano, their war balloon started to descend dangerously fast. Zuko tried to send the flames directly up into the balloon, to no effect. "We're going down! The balloon's not working anymore!"
"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, so we can't fly!" Sokka explained, keeping a wary eye out for a spot where they can land safely.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know! Crash landing?"
The bottom of the war balloon skimmed hot surface of the lake. Fortunately, they hit land before it could halt and sink completely. Zuko inspected the war balloon, but it was broken beyond repair after the crash landing. "How are we going to get off the island if the balloon won't work?"
"We'll figure something out. I suspected it might be a one-way ticket."
The prince frowned. "You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?"
"My dad might be here, I had to come and see!"
"Uncle always said that I never thought things through, but this... This is just crazy!"
"Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place!" Sokka folded the cloth of the balloon over the wreckage and pushed it into the depths of the boiling lake. "And for the record, I always think things through! But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time, I'm playing it by ear. So there!"
"What are you doing?!"
"It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it."
Zuko sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing." They looked up at the towering walls of the prison. Cloaked in steam and darkness, it looked all the more menacing. "There's no turning back now."
The reduced food and water supply indeed made Chiyo weaker, but that didn't stop her from practicing her high kicks and punches. Her stomach grumbled in protest every now and then, and she tried her best to ignore it.
Maya had not come to her cell in days now and that worried her a bit. "Could she have been found out and gotten into trouble?" She waved those thoughts away and focused on improving her breathing technique. She thought of how she could take it up a notch.
The fallen flowers scattered by the season
Remains alone, lonely and sad
The sky, without the stars, is grieving
Like the falling rain, it is crying
She sang the high and long-winded notes of the song as she punched through the air. She must have looked like a fool, singing a slow, sorrowful ballad while jabbing at an unseen enemy. But it proved to be quite the work-out, having her gasping for air before she could even get to the chorus.
Chiyo slumped into the hard cot on the floor, heaving deep breaths.
"The best way to improve on something is to keep pushing yourself to your limits until those limits disappear."
"What if I break myself first before I reach my limit, Lady Suiren?"
"You will bend and you will cry, but you will never break, Chiyo. And at that moment, when you can smile through all the pain and still perform, only then can you call yourself a true entertainer."
She managed a weak smile before she passed out, dreaming of tear-filled golden eyes, and leaving warships.
"Hey, new guy! I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times, but this is the lounge. Relax!"
Zuko and Sokka had managed to slip into the prison and steal a couple of uniforms from the armoire. They blended in with the crowd of soldiers and split up to cover more ground in their search for Hakoda.
"B-but what if there's an incident?" Zuko gripped his tray as he lied to the soldiers who were casually eating their meals. "If I'm not prepared, someone could strike me on the head!"
They laughed at his absurdity and let him sit at their table. "Give it a week, he'll loosen up."
"Can the newbie ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?"
"No, you can't date the female guards." One of the ladies said as she sipped her tea.
A man leaned in to whisper something to Zuko. "Trust me, you don't want to date Maya over here."
The lady guard named Maya chucked her cup at the man's head, and more bouts of laughter erupted from the group.
"No... that's not it." Zuko lowered his voice. "The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals, right?" They nodded and he continued. "So what about war prisoners?"
One of the guards shook his head. "Haven't heard of any war prisoners here. Just a bunch of thieves, murderers, and deserters. Nothing exciting at all."
"Oh, but there is one!" Countered one of the guards. "You know, the bride of—"
He was cut off as Maya kicked his shin under the table. "Warden's orders!" She hissed and he immediately shut up.
After eating, he met up with Sokka in the guard tower overlooking the courtyard to present his findings. "Listen, I asked around the lounge. There are no water tribe prisoners. I'm afraid your father's not here."
"What?! Are you sure? Did you double-check?"
He wished could say the opposite. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Sokka spiraled in despair. "No... NO!" He pounded on the walls with frustration and more guilt than ever.
"I'm really sorry, Sokka..."
"So we came all this way for nothing?! I failed again!"
"What would uncle say?" The prince thought hard. His uncle always knew what to say in situations like these. He noticed the moving shadows beneath his feet and looked up at the sky. "Sometimes, clouds have two sides, a dark and light, and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich! So when life seems hard, take a bite out of the silver sandwich!"
"Maybe we haven't failed after all!"
"That's the spirit! I can't believe that actually worked! I didn't even know what I was saying—"
"No, what you said made no sense at all. But look! It's Suki!"
Zuko followed Sokka's love-filled, dreamy gaze towards a short-haired woman sitting by herself in the courtyard.
The alarm for the prisoners to return to their cells blasted through the courtyard and everyone shuffled back into the building. Sokka hurried back in as well to find his girl, Zuko right behind him.
They finally found her cell and the prince stood outside to keep watch while Sokka caught up with Suki. He wondered what was taking them so long.
Panic set in as he saw a female guard coming up and heading towards their direction. He knocked on the metal door to alert Sokka.
"Excuse me. I need to get into that cell."
Zuko blocked the door and stood straight. "No! You can't go in there! T-the lights are out. The prisoner could sneak up on you." He wished he could hit himself in the head for that excuse.
The guard regarded him suspiciously. "Step aside, fool—hey, Hey! What are you doing?!"
He was left with no choice but to attack her. Grabbing her arms, he trapped her in a tight lock with his hands and kept her sight away from the door so Sokka could escape.
"Help! Guard, help! I think he's an impostor!" The guard called out to Sokka who was carefully walking away from the commotion. "Arrest him!"
He wasn't left much of a choice. If he were to help Zuko, and they were both caught, their plans would be all for naught. He grabbed his arm and took him off the female guard. "You're under arrest!" He secured Zuko's hands behind his back and led him away. "Don't worry, I'll figure it out." He whispered, hoping Zuko would understand.
The prince was relieved of his uniform and was given the staple prison clothes, a faded red shirt and loose pants. They locked him up in one of the interrogation rooms and he sat there with his arms crossed against his chest.
The metal doors slid open. "Well, well, well... I'd never thought I'd find you in here, Prince Zuko."
"How did you know who I am?"
"How could I not?" The man drawled as he entered the room. "You broke my niece's heart."
"You're Mai's uncle?" He suddenly stood up straighter and put his hands at his sides. "I never meant to hurt her—"
"Quiet!" The Warden cut off his excuses. "You're one of my special prisoners now. And you best behave. If these criminals find out who you are, the traitor prince who let his nation down, well they'd tear you to shreds." He smirked evilly at the thought.
"So what's in it for you? Why don't you just tell my father and collect a reward?"
"Oh, in due time, believe me, I intend to collect." He gave the prince one last look before leaving, shutting the metal door heavily behind him.