"Let's play 'I Spy'!" Iroh exclaimed, breaking the silence.
Nobody had really had much sleep in the past few of hours; it was too uncomfortable in the cell. To keep them occupied, Iroh had suggested playing 'I Spy' about twenty minutes ago, but had been shot down. Yet he seemed to feel the need to play the game, as he asked every five mintues.
Katara rolled her eyes in exasperation. She hated this game.
Not waiting for a response, Iroh went ahead anyway.
"I Spy with my little eye, something beginning with…'W' "
Katara looked at him, wondering if he could have come up with anything more obvious.
"Could it possibly be 'wall'?" Toph asked, deadpanned.
Iroh nodded reluctantly.
"It was pretty obvious." Katara shrugged as best she could, despite the chains.
"It could've been…" Iroh cast around for inspiration then sighed. "No, you're right, it was too obvious."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes.
Katara was praying to the Gods of 'I Spy' that Iroh would come up with something more inventive.
Like what? Katara argued with herself, Water? All the water we had you slapped Zuko with, remember?
Suppressing a smile, she nodded to herself. It was worth it.
Iroh snapped his fingers, making Katara jump.
"I've got it! Something beginning with…'D' " He said proudly.
"If the answer to that is 'door' then I swear to God I will metal-bend out of these manacles and hit you with the door." Toph said, facing the floor.
Iroh's face dropped comically and Katara couldn't help but smile slightly. If you looked past his family and his bending element, then Iroh is a pretty good guy, Katara thought to herself. Then again, that's a pretty big "if".
Then she ran over Toph's last comment in her mind.
"What do you mean, 'metal-bend' ? There's no such thing, right?" Katara asked, staring at Toph.
"I didn't tell you?" Toph asked, honestly surprised.
"Apparently not." Iroh replied, now looking at Toph with interest.
"Long story short: remember that letter I got from my mom saying that she wanted to meet?" Toph asked Katara, who nodded. "Well, it wasn't from my mom. It was two guys looking to take me back home. They shut me in a metal cage and wouldn't let me out. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to make a hole in the metal. I escaped, found Aang and Sokka, and then they filled me in on the situation with you and Zuko."
Katara sat in silence, stunned after Toph's revelation. Iroh also seemed incapable of saying anything.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Katara managed faintly.
"I don't know. What with you fighting and Aang dying and the Fire Nation taking over a supposedly "impenetrable" city I guess it slipped my mind." Toph said sarcastically.
"Aang? The Avatar? He died?" Iroh asked, eyes wide.
"Temporarily. But I healed him, so he's fine." Katara told him, not bothering to add that she nearly used the water on his nephew.
"You're a healer?" Iroh asked her, intrigued.
"Yes. But I can't bring people back to life with regular water. The Spirit Oasis water in the North Pole has -had- special properties. I got given some water for an emergency." She said, glad that they were off the topic of 'I Spy'.
Katara turned back to Toph, still not understanding the metal-bending aspect of Toph's abilities.
"So, is it only a certain type of metal, or all metal? Because, you know, these chains-"
"Won't bend." Toph finished for her.
"Oh." Katara murmured, disappointed.
"Sugar Queen, do you honestly think that I haven't trying to break us out of here from the moment we got chained up?" Toph asked sceptically.
"You know Toph, I'd really appreciate if you didn't call me 'Sugar Queen'!" Katara said, her voice rising in annoyance.
Toph shrugged nonchalantly, causing Katara to get even more annoyed.
Leave it. We're all stuck here together so I'll just have to ignore her for now, Katara told herself in a soothing voice.
"Have you tried bending the door?" Iroh asked.
"I can't." Toph replied, shaking the manacle for emphasis. "These stupid things cut off my blood supply if I even more a little."
Iroh nodded then fell silent. Toph and Katara followed suit, each thinking about escape.
The only chance we have at all is if we can get out of these chains…and since they're 'un-bendable' we'll have to get the key. And the only way we can get the key to escape from the chains is if we escape from the chains to begin with. In other words…
"We're stuck here." Toph sighed, as if finishing off Katara's thoughts.
"There must be something." Iroh pressed.
"There isn't." Katara replied hanging her head. "We need a key for these chains, which we can only get if we escape the chains in the first place."
There was a sudden noise in the lock of a key being turned. All three of the cell's occupants sharply looked up.
"Who is it?" Katara whispered.
"How am I supposed to know?" Top muttered back. "I don't recognise their footsteps. I can tell that they're anxious about something though."
The door opened with a creak, and a Dai Li agent stepped inside. Katara didn't know the agent; he wasn't one of the agents who had captured her and Toph earlier. In fact, this man didn't look as though he had been with the Dai Li very long. He was young, perhaps a few years older than Zuko.
Twenty or twenty one, Katara guessed. The young man's expression wasn't of cruelty or hate as so many of the other agents' were. He looked fearful and, as Toph said, anxious.
The agent checked behind him in the corridor before shutting the door.
"My name is Cai." The agent greeted. "I'm here to help."
A/N:
Sorry it took me awhile to update. Christmas does that to you. Anyway, I'll get the next chapter up if not today, then tomorrow. Hope you all had a good Christmas!