Author's Notes: Did I actually just post an unfinished chapter?? You'd think after about 8 postings I would get it right. Anyway, this chapter is longer... 1000 words longer. And if it seems choppy and separated, it's only because Nick (the site I first posted this at) only allows VERY SHORT chapters. Sorry!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, and neither does Sasuke. But I DO own a love of both...
I woke up in some strange, dirty, small prison cell lying on the floor.
"Let me out!" I tried to scream, but my voice was hoarse.
"Please!" No one answered my cry. There were no windows to the outside except for a small barred square in the otherwise solid door. I was cold and isolated.
"Please," I cried. I sat sobbing, hopeless. My neck hurt so badly, it stung and burned at the same time. I sat in the corner, wondering how life could go on, how long I would be here, what would happen to me next. I wouldn't do anything now; maybe I was dreaming a sick, cruel dream. I lay there, curled on the ground waiting to wake up.
I never did.
I stayed there for hours. Maybe I could burn a hole through the door, and I had nothing to lose. Nothing.
I unleashed every ounce of power I had left in my weak body to accomplish something, but with no avail. I kept at it, I had to.
"It won't melt." I fell back, startled by the sound of a voice.
I stopped trying, and strained to look through the window.
"Who's there?" I called. No one answered. No footsteps were to be heard. I plopped on the floor once again and kicked the door. I groaned.
"Why?" I cried weakly. I started sobbing again, sorry for myself. I would never get out of this death-trap.
I lay there awake the whole night, finally giving up sleep. I was too scared to be scared, too tired to be tired. I heard heavy footsteps storming in the corridor. The handle of the door turned, and a large, rough Fire Bender came in.
"What do you want with me?" I called, backing into the wall. I held fire from my palms.
"Just wanted to say good morning!" he said with a sickening evil smile. He walked closer to me, and I pushed against the wall.
"And good luck with your job." He pushed me forcefully from behind and out the door.
"Let me go!" I squirmed, but he held me firmly and dragged me out on deck.
"The prince needs a servant for a few days," he said in my ear. "Lucky you." he said. "And don't try anything funny girl, or next time you might not wake up."
I stamped on his foot, and he pushed me toward Zuko. He was standing on the edge of the boat, looking out at the sea. I stood as far away from him as possible.
"Go clean the deck," he ordered, not even looking at me. How could he be so disrespectful? How could he live with himself, ordering around the people he injures? I hated him, I always will.
"Yes sir." He snapped around at me, and I ran below deck to get a mop and bucket. As I walked back up the steps, I tripped and fell flat on my face, spilling the water.
I heard Zuko yelling from up-deck, "Hey! What's taking so long?" I gathered the bucket and mop, furious. I went back to get more water, when I saw two men talking in a room, door almost closed. I could tell they were trying to talk quiet, so I pressed my ear against the wall.
"What will we do with that kid?"
"I don't know; she's useless. There's no way she'll speak up." I pressed closer. "I say we sell 'em. You can get a pretty good price for young kids, Hikai."
"We better go feed that Takara girl, no one wants a scrawny slave." The man chuckled for no apparent reason.
"I think it's Katara," the other said. Katara! She was here! I was so excited for a moment, until I remember what they would do to her. They couldn't! I kept telling myself that it wasn't true, that I must be mistaken. But in the back of my mind, I knew that she was in a fatal position. I couldn't let them do that to her! I looked behind me, and there stood Zuko.
"What are you doing?"
I stuttered. "N- nothing." He kicked me, hard.
"Now get to work, useless." I stumbled off, already scheming up a plan.
I lay on the ground, cold, aching, hungry, furious inside. I couldn't let it show, who knew what they would do to me. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I wanted to go home, with my family, not be a prisoner here. Maybe they would feel sorry for leaving me to be wasted by a bunch of Fire Benders! But I wouldn't care. I couldn't. I wasn't home, who knew when I would be.
I had to focus on what was important: Katara. I couldn't let her end up like me, she was my friend.
I had spent the whole day thinking of a plan to let her free, and if lucky, possibly share her freedom. I looked at the hourglass in the corner: it was early morning already. I couldn't wait any longer. I stood up and grabbed my cloak, piled up in the corner.
I took my hair tie and put the thin end into the keyhole. I turned it slowly, careful not to break it. Click, the doorknob turned. "Yes!" I whispered.
I opened the door, ever so slowly, trying to hide its rusty creak. I shut the door behind me, and walked into the hall. My footsteps were soft, making no noise. They only thing I heard was the sound of the waves and my own breathing.
I poked my head out through the door that led to the deck. In the far corner was a guard, leaning against the wall, apparently sleeping. No one else was there.
The door that I needed to go through was about ten feet away from the guard.
I closed the door behind me, took a deep breath, and tried to gather myself.
I walked outside and toward that door. I tried to go in a quick walk, crouching low. I looked at the door, then to the guard, and not at the ground in front of me.
I tripped over a rope, and fell, my knees banging against the metal. I shrieked when I hit the ground.
I tried to get up when the guard stirred and opened his eyes.
He strode toward me.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
I breathed fast, trying to back up into the door from which I came. I shook my head furiously as to say "Nothing." The guard went from a jog to a run. He shot fire at me, but I just barely dodged it.
"Get back here!" he demanded, but I turned and punched flames right back.
He chased me all around, his steps pounding on the metal of the floor. My foot slipped, and accidentally sent a line of flames back at him, knocking him to the ground. Before he could get up, I darted for the door.
I heard shouting and running from below deck.
When I was a foot away from that door, guards flooded in from the other door. I ran inside, and pushed my back against the door. But there were a dozen of them, it was no use. I tried to weld the door shut, no good either. I heard the footsteps and shouting get closer, so I ran for it.
I sprinted down the hall, and into a room. I locked the door behind me, and ran into a closet. The closet was smaller than it looked. I squirmed trying to get comfortable, not that it really mattered.
I heard a torch light, but all I could see was pitch-black.
Men were talking. "If you're in here, come out." I made no noise. The room was very large. I heard items being ruffled, and not much else.
"C'mon she's not in here," one of them said. I let out the breath that I had been holding for who knows how long.
But I had no reason to relax. Katara was in here, somewhere, and I had to find her.
After a few minutes, I stepped out of the closet. They wouldn't look that long for me, would they?
I exited the room, creeping along the wall. I looked through the cracks in the door at each room. There were numerous sleeping guards, storage rooms, and some just plain empty rooms. I came to a different, larger double-door trimmed with gold. I could guess who was in there, so I didn't even dare look.
I tiptoed down to the next door. I heard a murmuring that wasn't there before. I peeked through the crack in the door, seeing a squirming figure in the corner. Katara!
I opened the door and rushed to her aid. I helped undid the tie on her mouth so she could speak. She exhaled and smiled wide.
"Thank you, thank you," she whispered.
"How did you end up here?" I asked.
"I w- why are you here?" she said.
"Oh yeah. I was captured while I was fighting. Now I'm Zuko's servant. I've had an awesome week, haven't you?" My sarcastic smile turned into a hopeless frown. "Please, tell me what happened to you," I questioned.
"I was taken aboard about three days ago."
I interrupted her. "We fought about three days ago, how could I not know you were here?" I pressed my hand against my forehead.
"I was wondering," Katara said, "How did you find out I was here?"
"I heard some of his crew talking about you," I answered. Her face turned white, even whiter than it had been before. "They were going to sell you as a slave." I hung my head. "That was why I came here, to rescue you."
"They can't do this!" she yelled. I heard running coming from the hall.
"Now see what you've done? Come on!" I pulled her up from the ground and we ran. We ran, and ran.
"Stop!" they yelled, but we only ran faster. They blasted fire at us, but Katara put it out before they could reach us. My sides hurt and my lungs burned. We ran, dodging fire every second. Finally, we reached the deck. I would've run with her out onto the dock, and be free- if there was one.
Nice going, Mika. Find Katara, rescue her, escape out onto the open sea!
There was a small island in the far-off east, a couple miles away, but nowhere near my village, my home. I couldn't understand how I could be so stupid! I turned around, and heard running and shouting come from behind the door.
"What're we gonna do?" Katara said franticly.
"I- I don't know." The door slammed open, and Fire Benders flooded in.
"You won't get away this time!" When they got close enough, they blasted fire at us. I returned the flames while Katara lashed them with water, temporarily knocking some down.
"Can you Water Bend us out of here? I don't know, make an ice path or something!" I yelled over the noise of splashing and fire. I still fought, five against two.
"Uuh!" Katara had stuck four of the five to the wall with ice, leaving us with a split second time to think. "I could make an ice raft..."
"Then do!" We fought the one man, confused.
"Aah!" He was washed off board by Katara's wave.
"No, I can't do that," she said.
"Why not!" I was frustrated with her beyond belief.
"I can't make one strong enough to hold both of us, and those guys are about to thaw any second now!"
I would have laughed my head off if our lives weren't in danger. I stood there, imagining all possible choices, but none of them were what I thought useable. There was one that was possible...
"Then go."
"What are you talking about? I can't leave you!" Tears were building up in our eyes. I pushed her toward the edge of the boat. "But what about-"
"Go," I couldn't help but cry as I watched my friend leave, for maybe forever. I didn't look back, it would be too painful.
I gazed up at the stars, forgetting about everything. I envied those stars, they never felt pain. They never had to leave the ones they cared about. I strained not to look down at the deep indigo sea, and keep my eyes off the only thing on my mind.
I snapped out of my sorrowful daze as flames blasted past me. Duh! A load of psycho Fire Benders behind me, and I'm too busy watching the stars to notice! I turned around and punched them back. I dodged flames on both sides of me, and watched their every move.
"Rrah!" I yelled as I lashed flames toward the Fire Benders, scorching some of their armor. I ran around to the other side, side stepping to dodge the flames. I jumped as another one came at me, aimed at my feet. I kept moving round, and they followed at the opposite side. I kicked and punched, fire lighting up the sky.
Finally, my back was to the door. I ran in, almost hit. I slammed the door shut, and ran, ran, and tried to get somewhere where they wouldn't find me. I ran into the first door on the left, the one trimmed with gold.