Square One (by Tom Petty)
It took a world of trouble
It took a world of tears
It took a long time, to get back here
She couldn't feel.
Toph couldn't sense the ground from high up in the air on Appa, and this panicked her. All she heard were explosions in the far distance and ragged breathing near her.
And heat. She could feel extreme heat, almost like fire.
Iroh shoved the twelve-year old Earthbender to the side, in vain attempt of dodging the deadly ball of fire that whizzed past them, missing Toph's head by a few inches.
"What's happening?" she screamed, wincing in pain as her small body struck a protruding scrap of wood that lay on the saddle.
"We're under attack!" Iroh replied, scrambling up to Appa's head.
"I know. By who?" Toph shot back, irritated. She tried to sit up, but the sudden pain stung her again.
"Our favourite enemy," Iroh informed her, grabbing for Appa's rope. "Are you hurt? I'm so sorry. Bend over, it'll help ease the pain."
"I don't want to bend over! This is ridiculous! Let me help! Where are we?" Toph shouted over the noise as Appa flew higher to dodge the fire balls.
"Toph, I don't think now's the time to –"
"Tell me where we are! I can help!"
"Toph –"
They were interrupted by a loud growl from Appa, who swooped downwards steeply to avoid another fireball. The sudden plunge caused Iroh to lose his grip, and he swung his body around to cling onto the reins, while Toph was sent hurling into the air.
Mid-air, Toph felt the whole world tilt. She couldn't feel the ground, and she couldn't feel anything solid. She just…couldn't feel anything. And it pained her.
She stretched her arm out, wanting to grip onto something. Anything. She stretched both her arms as far as they would go, and then she clenched her fists in defeat, letting herself plummet to the ground.
'I feel so helpless. So very, very, helpless.'
She curled her small frame into a ball, and let herself continue falling.
Appa flew further away, until they were out of range from the fireballs, before Iroh turned around to see if Toph was okay.
Instead of seeing her safely onboard the saddle, Iroh saw her free-falling in the air, about 50 feet from the ground.
"Toph!" he screamed, pulling on Appa's reins to reverse their direction.
In all his haste, Iroh had forgotten about Azula's onslaught of fireballs, and he turned Appa right into the pathway of a huge, burning mass of fire.
Appa's growl was the last thing Iroh heard before he was sent spiraling to the ground.
Sokka eyed the lone brass key that lay about a metre in front of him.
'Shouldn't I just take this? It's mine. I could get out.'
He shook his head, and glanced away.
'No, it's too dangerous. I can't risk Katara's life. She could get killed.'
Biting his lower lip, he tentatively edged closer to the gate, swiped the key, and pocketed it. Satisfied with not alerting any attention of the guards that were just positioned outside the double doors, he moved to the corner of the cell, and sat down.
He drew out the key, feeling how light it felt and its rusty surface. Suddenly, the double doors flew open, and in shock, he threw the key up in the air. The woman guard in-charge of Sokka trudged in, her lip curled in disgust.
"Bastards, all of them! Damn those bastards!" she muttered under her breath, cursing a few more profanities before pausing in front of Sokka's cell, placing his tray of food down.
Sokka gulped at how close he was to almost being caught red-handed, and stood up, attempting to put on the discerning tone and acerbic attitude he usually reserved for enemies and such. Hopefully, she would think nothing was going on.
"It's about time, I was hungry," he made his way over to the wrought iron bars and smiled hungrily at the food that was settled on the ground.
"Silence!" the guard spat, reaching around her waist for the large bunch of keys.
There was a lot of tiny keys that hung on the loop, but she knew exactly where to look for. She fiddled a few more keys hurriedly before finally deciding on a rusty, brass one, identical to the one Sokka had. She flung the gate open after unlocking it and pushed the tray over to his side, and then closed it quickly, before Sokka tried to escape.
He lifted both his arms out, spreading his fingers wide and palms facing her. "I'm not trying anything funny. You can relax."
"Right, and I suppose you can tell me that the Banished Prince is right in the Boiling Rock, too," she laughed condescendingly, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, yeah, he is," Sokka replied in a cheerful tone, bending down to grab his tray, which balanced a small bowl of gruel, topped off with spring onions.
She gave a derisive snort, and shook her head to herself, smiling amusedly. "Prisoners. Wackier by the day, I say."
"No, really," Sokka smirked, holding the tray and jutting out his chin.
She stopped laughing. "What's with the chin jut?"
"You better duck," he chorused, stepping back. She swung around and found Zuko standing behind her, and he swiftly threw a left punch, knocking her out cold.
"Told you so," Sokka grinned at her slumped figure, downing the contents of his bowl.
"I didn't know the guards were so friendly around here," Zuko said, checking the lock on the gate.
Sokka rolled his eyes. "And what are you doing here? Where's Katara?"
A silent Zuko told all.
"What happened?" Sokka shouted, his voice rising a pitch. "What did you do to her?"
Zuko pulled on the lock in frustration. "Nothing! Okay? I don't know where she is! I've scoured the whole building, but I couldn't find her anywhere!"
"What? Impossible!"
"It's the truth!"
A guard shouted from the corridor behind the double doors. "What's that racket inside there? Rin? Are you okay?"
"…crap," Sokka whispered, tugging the gate.
"It's locked! Where's the key I gave you?" Zuko whispered back.
Sokka bit down on his fingernails, remembering how he lost it. "It's a long story. I happen to have misplaced it."
"Great," Zuko stated, and punched the wall with his right hand. "Now what?"
"Firebend the gate or something!" Sokka suggested, throwing the tray aside, searching for the key.
"Rin? Are you there? What's wrong?" The voice came again, more persistent than before.
Zuko glanced at 'Rin', who was apparently the female guard he had knocked out cold. A glint caught his eye, from underneath her body. The sight almost made him jump, and he grabbed the hoop of keys from her belt, and began trying all of them on the lock frantically.
"There's like a hundred keys on that hoop, it'll take ages," Sokka half-whined, as he gave up rooting through his items in the cell, and watched Zuko try the twentieth one.
"Well, at least I thought of something! If we were up to you, we'd be caught by now! Have you even found that key?"
Sokka shrugged. "I really don't know where it's gone. Try the last few, I think I saw her fiddle around there."
"Rin? I'm coming in!"
Sokka and Zuko exchanged a glance of fear, and Sokka quickly cleared his throat.
"Uh, don't, guard! I'm fine!" he shouted back, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.
Zuko stifled a laugh, as he continued trying the keys. "That's a bad imitation."
"Like you could do better with your voice," Sokka whispered. He changed it to his 'female' voice again.
"You just stay out there, uh, what's your name?"
"Rin, it's only me! Are you sure you're okay, I mean, do you have a sore throat?" the guard shouted back.
"Ah! Bingo," Zuko grinned, letting the lock fall to the ground.
Sokka shouted back. "Well 'only me', I just happened to have forgotten to eat my gruel!"
Zuko hid another chuckle and positioned himself near the double doors.
Once the guard heard the reply, he barged in, ready to attack. Zuko kicked him in the stomach, and watch him fall to the ground, groaning and clutching said body part.
"Come on, Sokka!" Zuko beckoned, running out.
Sokka picked up the huge bunch of keys from the ground. "And thanks once again for these too."
He ran out, following Zuko, and leaving behind one dazed and another unconscious, trail of destruction.
"I feel horrid about everything, Katara. About leaving you behind and – "
"Shh, enough of that, Aang. It's alright. I was wrong, letting you think that way back then," Katara cut in abruptly, silencing the airbender with a wave of her hand.
They were still on the rooftop, but now Katara was fully clad in the guard uniform, as Aang had snuck a suit from the armor room that happened to have fitted Katara snugly. She had hidden her balled-up, dirty clothing behind one of the air vents.
"You say Sokka's here? And Toph too?" Katara asked, as they slowly made their way down the stairs that led them to the control room.
"Well, Sokka is in one of the prison cells, but Toph is safe somewhere else. She and Iroh had gone in another direction so Azula would follow."
"What?" Katara snapped, turning around. Her sudden movement pulled the skin on her stomach and stretched her wound, and she winced in pain.
"Aang, this is Azula we're talking about! It's not some old general or something. They could get killed! And are you sure we can trust Iroh?"
They made it to the control room, and a lone soldier was inside, at the helm of the controls. Aang put a finger to his mouth, indicating silence, and nodded his head slowly in response to her question about Iroh. Katara nodded back and flicked the cap off her water skin, assuming to battle again. Instead, Aang pushed calmly pushed open the door.
"Let them free," Aang ordered, breezing towards the guard.
He looked at him, his face puzzled. "What?"
Katara wondered why Aang was so carefree, and then she realized that they were dressed as guards, and with their helmets on, nobody could arrest them. They had joined anonymity.
"I said, my friend," Aang began again, leaning back onto the control table. "We need the prisoners out. Could you do it for us?"
The man snorted and raised his chin towards Aang's direction. "Orders from the very top insist I do not take any other further instructions unless it's from him himself. We're currently under lockdown, with the case of the Watertribe escapee."
Katara exchanged a glance with a slightly flustered Aang. He tried again in a cool voice. "Well, I was sent from the very top."
The guard sighed, rolling his eyes, and promptly ignored the disguised Airbender. Suddenly, he saw a smooth stream of water starting to curl around his neck, and he panicked. Before he made a sound, the stream clenched inwards, strangling him. Katara was behind, manipulating the jet of water with ease.
Without hesitation, Aang lifted the cover of the emergency handle, and pulled it down. "We're letting them out."
Katara released the tight grip on his neck and maneuvered the water back into her water skin, and he choked, before crumpling to the ground.
The alarm sounded, and all the prison gates withdrew, letting all of them out.
"Come on Katara, leave him. We've got to get to the courtyard, if any chance, we'd find Sokka there," Aang said, opening the door.
They left, running down the corridor that lead to bright daylight.
"Where are we going?" Zuko called out, running after Sokka.
They had taken down another batch of guards, fighting them openly, and Sokka had retrieved his boomerang from the weapons room where the guards stashed confiscated items belonging to the prisoners.
Sokka grinned. "The courtyard."
They turned around a corner, gasping for air and stopping. "Is it that the huge area outside where the prisoners hang during their break?"
"Yeah, from there, we can plan our escape route. Maybe through the gondola," Sokka suggested, shrugging his shoulders and leaning against the wall.
"Oh, okay. Sounds like a good plan," Zuko agreed, bending over and panting for air.
"You know what, Zuko, you're quite a good fighter back there. And you're not that bad either. I mean, in character," Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I guess I'm kind of sorry for not trusting you back there. You've changed."
Zuko half-smiled. "Thanks, Sokka. And I'm sorry for the bad things I've done before. I was confused…"
He let it trail off, and Sokka nodded slowly, understanding.
Zuko lightly punched Sokka in the right arm. "And hey, you weren't too bad either. Fighting, I mean."
Sokka grinned, about to retort with a comeback, when a sudden ringing alarm sounded through the corridors, echoing loudly.
"What's that?" Sokka shouted, clapping his hands over his ears.
"I think it's an alarm," Zuko shouted back, clearly stating the obvious and looked around. He paused, straining his ears. "Wait, are those footsteps?"
"Yeah, and it's by the hordes," Sokka looked around the corner. A steady stream of prisoners rushed by, running.
"I think there's something going on. Let's get to the courtyard."
Zuko and Sokka slipped their helmets back on, and joined the crowd, running to the exit of the dreary building.
The courtyard was filled with hordes of people milling around, dotting the entire once empty area with clumps of red, as friends within the Boiling Rock prison congregated with those they knew. Some groups were fooling around, pushing each other, screaming on the top of their voices, while other groups were mainly discussing why they were released suddenly, as exercise time was usually scheduled much later in the day. The hot sun blazed upon the prisoners, and the guards were nowhere to be seen yet.
"Wow…" Aang muttered as he shielded his eyes with his hand as the sunlight rays shone on him. They had just emerged in bright daylight and the intensity of the light rendered him temporarily blind.
Katara did the same as she ran out, and almost hit the railings in front of her. She gripped onto them before losing her balance. From the level they were at, the whole courtyard was laid out like a giant painting.
Dull, grey walls closed up around as the huge perimeter, almost like a rectangle and caging in the many prisoners clad in their standard-issue red clothes.
Katara and Aang were standing on the third level, where the guards would usually stand to keep an eye on the daily exercises. However, still as before, none of them were around, much less to say standing there for duty. Of course, since they were both dressed in the usual guard armour suits, prisoners who happened to look up saw Katara and began pointing and shouting, now curious for answers.
Katara stepped back from the railings, disappearing from their line of sight and into the shadows behind her.
"Aang, what are we going to do now?" she whispered quickly, her voice panicked.
Aang stood silent for a moment, contemplating.
"We should find Sokka," he said shortly. Katara nodded slowly in agreement, and then tried peeping over the railings so that she could get a clear view of the courtyard, at the same time trying not to be seen.
Another shout from an angry prisoner echoed against the walls and she withdrew her head back quickly.
"Why are they so hostile?" Katara mumbled, lifting up the visor of her helmet.
A sudden uproar began below, and guys started shouting, with everyone running to a particular area directly below Aang and Katara. Katara leaned over the railings as far as she could to figure out the cause of the commotion, when Aang jumped towards her and swept her up in the air, his right arm hugging her tight to his body.
"Aang?" Katara screamed, her question now sounding more of an exclamation.
"Just hold on tight, Katara," Aang assured her confidently.
10 minutes ago.
"Hey hold on, Zuko," Sokka cut in abruptly, stopping in his tracks. They were halfway down the corridor to the entrance of the courtyard.
Zuko skidded and paused, his eyebrow creased in confusion. "What? Hurry up, we don't have enough time. We're running short on finding Katara."
Sokka held up his hand, his palm and fingers spread out wide. "You're wearing a guard's uniform."
Zuko tried not to roll his eyes in attempt to stay indifferent. "So? And what's with the palm raise?"
"So…the prisoners might attack you in violence, I've seen these things happen. Most unlucky things happen to you," Sokka began, folding his arms in front of his chest. "And, the palm raise is for dramatic effect. We are going out to meet a few hundred rebellious people caught by the Fire Nation."
Zuko let out an exasperated sigh of disbelief. "Fine."
The banished prince began stripping off his armour swiftly and expertly, revealing simple red clothing underneath, though torn and tattered from the condition when he was held prisoner, and flung the armour to the side of the dimly lit corridor along with the helmet.
A shout echoed outside, followed by a few angry hollers.
"Something's happened, let's get out," Zuko gruffly stated, and the duo left the main prison hall for the courtyard.
They had some explaining, reasoning, and searching to do. And saving, of course.
Aang and Katara both went sailing over the railings and free-falling to the courtyard, with Katara trying her best to keep her voice down with the sudden jump. Aang created a billow of air below the both of them, and they slowly settled down to the ground without so much of a sound. Nobody saw them as they were all rushing to the prisoners' entrance of the courtyard.
"Stop, everyone!" announced a voice. "Relax, and please do not gather!" The crowds of people defiantly, but slowly, parted away from the source of the voice at the entrance.
"That voice sounds familiar," Katara whispered to Aang, as she slipped out of his grasp, slightly blushing. Aang quickly let go, and glanced at the floor.
"Alright people, I know, I know. You all got released and now there's no guards but you can't go anywhere and there's nothing you can do now. Azula and most of the guards have left the Boiling Rock in attempt to capture the Avatar, and meanwhile, the little guards left here are unconscious, passed out cold on the floor back in the building," the person continued to explain.
The prisoners started hollering and cheering loudly, and Katara and Aang strained to see the mysterious source of the voice.
"We're all going to get out of here!" Another different person shouted. His voice was deeper and much more hoarse, and Katara knew exactly who he was.
Zuko stepped out. "And we should all collaborate together for any likely chance of everyone escaping."
"We're thinking of escaping out through the gondola, and out by a stolen air ship. They have a few spares around if we look hard enough, I reckon," Zuko added, glancing at Sokka.
He nodded in response, and began separating the groups of people up with each a different duty to complete for their rough escape plan.
Zuko shifted his gaze forward, and only then noticed that Katara was standing a good 20 feet away. Even though her figure was clad in armour, he could see her long, brown wavy hair resting limply around her frame.
Katara lifted her helmet off, stunned at seeing Zuko again. His shirt was shredded, and his pants were dirty and half a leg of the material was gone, ripped at the seams. His slippers were worn down, and his hair was tousled and ragged-looking. Even his cheeks were a bit sunken, and his eyes didn't glow as golden as before. Basically, he could be mistaken for a starved beggar.
She didn't have the right to say anything, or even comment about his appearance. She didn't even have the right to run up there and hug him, contented to know he was alright and managing fine since Azula went berserk. All this time she thought he had suffered painfully, maybe even tortured to death through cruel methods given the anger sparked by Azula over the battle, even though she had kept the worst thoughts out of her mind. Seeing him standing there, although pale and almost emaciated, her heart still pounded a million times, her blood rushing to her head. Dizzy, she stumbled forward, her feet moving on their own accord. A simple, paced walk-shuffle turned into a full-blown run, her legs moving faster. She sprinted right up to him, flung her arms around his neck, and hugged him tight.
Tears rolled down her eyes, and she sniffed, using the back of her hand to wipe her face dry. "I thought you were gone."
Zuko just stood there, his arms not hugging her back, but not by his sides. He was in a state of shock, and his mouth was a small, little round 'O'. Aang was still standing stock still where Katara once was, his face showing surprise, confusion, and hurt, ever since Katara made the dash across the courtyard.
There was no mistaking it now; she had gone by her own free will.
Then Zuko hugged Katara back tightly, both of them locked in a warm embrace of friendship – or maybe more – as they stood there in the middle of the courtyard amongst the hordes of prisoners hurrying around, to prepare for the first escape ever out of the infamous Boiling Rock.
Author's Note:
I know hiatus has started after this chapter, which is pretty cruel seeing how this has ended off on the most Zutara-esque bit of the entire story. I hope you guys thought it had been a pretty good build-up of their relationship! They were definitely meant for each other. But I ship Zutara, so of course I'd say so ;)
With The Legend of Korra stirring a new interest in the ATLA series, I've edited every single chapter of WTR. To my horror, the format in all of them have all been horribly messed up. Also, I bet you're realized that the language has altered slightly from chapter 1 to 6. Admittedly, some of the stuff I've written in chapter 1 have made me cringe, but I still stand by my work. WTR has been my first ever epic story arc which I will continue to love and cherish as long as I love ATLA and Zutara.
Still a student, I'm currently struggling in junior college, and at the end of this year, I'll be taking the infamous A'levels – forget the infamous Boiling Rock prison. So I can't promise that I'd add another chapter to this, but I can promise I'll continue working on this until it gets completed from this December onwards!
Till then
xoxoxo
- Scarlet.