Chapter 12: Sitting On Volcanoes

Jade had never felt so scared in her life.

Here she was on an active volcanic island, held prisoner by her crazy uncle who would undoubtedly imprison her for conspiring with the banished prince that was currently chained up beside her after having just given away his own dream of returning home with honour to the Avatar.

The avatar…

Jade bit on her lip hard as she looked to the Sanctuary doors. They had been shut now for almost half an hour since the young airbender had slipped inside.

I wonder what he's doing in there?

She wondered as she examined the door. It was huge, and made of metal, with several metal tubes built into the front and moulded to be shaped like roaring dragons heads. But it was the red stone set at the very top of the door's arch that had her interest.

It was glowing brightly, though whether it was because of some mystic force or the last rays of sunset she could not tell…

Or is it both?

She frowned as she focused on the stone.

Was it her or was there a strange humming sound being emitted by it? and wasn't the air strangely thick for such a large space?

Suddenly she became aware that she could almost feel straight through the stone slabs beneath her feet and right down to the ground beneath the temple.

It's almost like Hei-Bai's shrine…

No not almost like. It was exactly like the spirit shrine!

Unbidden, the voice of Lord Iroh wafted into her mind:

"The winter solstice is a very important time of year for both the spirit world and our world. It is a time when the line between both the worlds becomes blurred"

The lines between worlds…the line between the spirit world and our world…oh goodness

Her eyes widened and if her hands were freed she would've clapped them over her gasping mouth.

It wasn't the air that was thick all about them, it was chi, and lots of it. This place was spiritually charged so much that her muscles were almost throbbing to release the pent up energy surging through her veins.

"When these doors open, unleash all your fire power" a voice hissed over her thoughts and she blinked just in time to see Zhao stand along with his soldiers before the great doors, gearing himself up to strike.

"how's Aang going to get out of this?" she heard the water tribe girl (Katara or so she'd heard), whisper to her brother (Sokka was it?) who replied just as worriedly:

"Forget that, how are we going to make it out of this?"

Jade couldn't help but agree with Sokka on that one, and though he didn't voice it aloud Zuko did too.

He grit his teeth as his hand over Jade's tightened.

How strange…

He couldn't help but think even now when he himself was afraid. How strange that the feel of her hand, small and cooler than his though it was, was still able to somehow calm his nerves even the slightest bit.

That was until the Sanctuary door began to open, the space behind it glowing brightly for a brief moment before dying out into two tiny eye shaped pin pricks.

"Ready?!" Zhao roared to his troupe of fire benders who all inhaled as one unit, their fists ready to strike at a moments notice.

"NO AANG!" Katara yelled as her brother did his best to struggle against the chains.

But even as he managed to free one of his hands the older commander yelled aloud:

"FIRE"

NO!

Jade stared wide eyed as at once, seven streams of fire were blasted out into the opening doorway…only to stop and swirl about into a massive glove of flame and embers.

Jade knew only one way fire could move like that, and even as she watched she felt her heart still in her chest.

There standing in the middle of the ball of swirling flames was not the young child like airbender. But a tall old man, with long white hair and beard and wearing red robes that swirled with his fluid but sharp movements. His eyes glowed white hot as energy seemed to burn and buzz about him as he bent the flames round and round his head.

"Avatar…Roku?" Zuko breathed beside Jade, his eyes also wide with awe and shock, only to shut them and cringe away as Avatar Roku made to blast the flames he'd manipulated, away in a great wave of heat.

The wave was so powerful that a very stunned Zhao and his equally astounded soldiers were all blasted back into the ground before it surged onwards to incinerate the chains binding his prisoners.

Without even pausing to think Zuko bolted away, dragging Jade behind him hard down the stairs just as Avatar Roku aimed a gigantic fireball at a group of Zhao's firebenders' only to miss and blast a gigantic hole in the temple wall.

The force of the blast was so strong that the entire structure itself trembled causing both the prince and the kitchen maid to trip, both of them rolling painfully down almost two flights before hitting a large landing.

"Come on! We gotta get outta here!" Zuko hissed as he dragged Jade back up to her feet, his back positively aching.

Jade wasn't doing any better and it was only thanks to her overwhelming fear that she was able to ignore the throbbing pain in her head from where it had been bumped several times whilst rolling down.

It didn't help that the entire building was still falling down above their heads.

As they ran down another set of stairs, cracks suddenly burst into being in the ceiling above. Like dominos in a line it crumbled down, first starting as a shower of tiny but sharp bullets, before giving way to large chunks of stone and tiles.

But horribly enough, falling rubble was not the worst of their problems.

"LOOK OUT!"

Zuko cried out in shock as the smaller hand in his tugged him back just in time as a gigantic hot spurt of burning fiery red, blasted up from the floor. It was so close that even as the prince was tugged back the pointed tips of his boots were singed off.

"HE'S SET OFF THE VOLCANO?!" He almost bleated and in spite of her fear Jade rolled her eyes.

"WELL SPOTTED PRINCE OBVIOUS-AHH!"she shrieked as another column of lava burst up on the railing to her right, just as the one in front of them went down….only to reveal a gaping hole in the path before them.

Oh crap! But maybe we can…

But even as she looked and her stomach sank.

The building was collapsing about them. Lava was bursting from the floor of the large cylindrically spaced staircase and there were absolutely no other paths diverging off it, save the one that was on the other side of the gap.

"This way quick!" she heard an aged man's voice yell and looking down she saw, two flights below, the Fire sages running helter skelter down the still intact stairs, Zhao and his soldiers hot on their heels.

One of them turned around to look up at the two stranded teenagers and bleated:

"sir! sir shouldn't we help-"

"NO! Leave them! The place is gonna blow any second. Besides they're both worthless brats anyway! No one's going to miss them!" Zhao snarled back at him before sneering up at Jade and Zuko, the latter of whom was glaring back just as furiously.

"The bastard!" he growled as the older commander and his men disappeared down another flight of stairs just as Jade began to start coughing roughly.

"I-I'm fine" she hacked hard when he turned worriedly to look only to start coughing himself.

"The volcanic fumes are getting thicker." He scowled as he looked around and sure enough dark smoggy fumes were billowing up from where a magma pit was bubbling down below.

"quick cover your mouth"

"Wait! I-I" Jade winced as her chest burned from consuming the soot filled hot air she was gulping down. "I have these"

And from her pockets of her apron (which was almost black with soot and stains) she pulled out two large, slightly daggy kitchen cloths.

Quickly she handed one to Zuko who tied his around his mouth and nose while she did the same, still coughing so hard her head felt like it was spinning.

She was relieved that the prince was so close to her because the next second the temple trembled again.

Crack!

Jade and Zuko almost froze in shock as they slowly looked down.

Sure enough down below their feet, the stone stairs had cracked.

"Zuko"

"Yeah?"

"What is this temple made of?"

"I don't know" Zuko gulped as another crack appeared below them. "some kind of rock reinforced with steel scaffolding…why?"

However Jade was scowling and cursing already.

"Metal…of course it had to be metal! Typical Fire Nation! I can't bend metal!" she snapped at the confused look the prince gave her even as she continued to rant "Great…just great…just what I always wanted! My uncle holds my brother to ransom, then he kidnaps me from the ship, then holds me to ransom to get the Avatar and now I'm going to die being incinerated by molten…"

And then suddenly her voice trailed off.

"Uh…Jade?" Zuko blinked horribly aware that beneath them another crack had appeared, this one double the size of the last one.

But Jade did not seem to hear him, her eyes widening as she looked down the gigantic staircase again.

There several stories beneath them, the pit of lava was still bubbling and bursting upwards but in it were several large pieces of rock, pieces larger than a rhino!

If only I could just reach it…

But even as the thought crossed her mind a column of magma burst up beside them, forcing them to back up against the wall as a part of the stairs was melted away. As they did, Jade could not help but notice a very familiar hot tingle in her fingers. A hot tingle of flowing chi.

"Jade! Come on! We gotta jump! It's our only option!" Zuko growled beginning to tug Jade towards the gap in the stairs.

But instead she tugged him back, and Zuko was astonished to see a small smirk play over her anxious face even as she bit her lips.

"No we don't!"

Zuko blinked. Then he glared.

"What do you-"

But Jade had already shoved him back against the wall with a hard push.

"Just stay back. I got this" She clipped before stepping towards the stairs edge.

If Zuko thought his heart had been racing beforehand it was nothing compared to the almost lightning paced rounds it was doing now.

She's crazy! She's absolutely crazy!

"Jade-"

"SHH!" she snapped not tearing her eyes away from the pit below. "I need to focus"

Come on Jade you can do this. it's just like that time father made you practice summoning a rock at the bottom of a pool!

Boy that training session, though it had only been a few months back, had felt like years to her now. She had not done badly then…but she also had not done that well either having only managed to summon up the stone only once by the time she had to leave. Even so… she had to try…

She shut her eyes tight and slid her foot into the ground, deepening her stance.

At once she could "see" lines appear before her vision. Lines that flowed over things and around them. She could feel the stairs beneath her, could feel how high they climbed, could feel how every single piece of crumbling rock separated from the greater mass whether it be small or large.

But most of all she could feel the fluid mass beneath.

It was a strange image, almost like liquid which was odd as she had never "seen" liquid in this state before.

No…no actually it was not a liquid at all…it was too solid in some parts to be like water…but yet it was also too smooth to be compact earth…

Rather like mud

She reasoned in her head as she opened her eyes and saw the mass of fiery reds and yellows bursting from big bubbles as the earth beneath them rumbled ominously.

One of the bubbles in the middle of the pit was exponentially growing larger than the others…and not stopping.

This is it

She bit hard on her lip as she held out her hands before her. She could feel the chi flowing through her blood making her arms positively buzz with energy that was almost as explosive as the volcano around them.

Doing her best to take a deep breath, what with the still sooty air filtering through her flimsy makeshift mask, she held onto her stance, her feet digging hard into the cracking earth beneath.

Three…

Two…

NOW…

"Jade NO!" Zuko cried out but before he could even take a step forwards the ground trembled again and another large blast of lava erupted up high into the air.

It flew up so high that it even passed straight up through the great roof of the temple before beginning it's messy splattered descent.

"Stay back!" Jade yelled as she raised her hands and leaned forwards into the line of the falling hot spray.

But it didn't hit her.

Had he not been so paralysed by fear, Zuko could have fainted with shock at the sight that greeted him.

There she was, this small soot covered, teenage girl in tattered slightly oversized and scruffy clothes and worn out petite black slippers standing at the edge of a six storey drop that led to a bubbling hot pit of absolute certain death, halting a column of LAVA above her HEAD!

NO WAY! NO F-ING WAY!

He felt his jaw descend almost to the crumbling floor as Jade made to slowly and carefully sweep her arms around to face a patch of the temple wall just a little way before the gap in the floor.

At once, albeit quite clumsily and messily, the hot dripping mass of molten rock swerved around the path her arms had led and crashed solidly into the wall!

There was silence as the small Fire Nation frigate sped, full steam ahead, towards the crescent shaped island, from which great billowing clouds of black smog and rivers of red were billowing out of a great conical crater at its highest peak.

On the boat two middle aged men were looking out at the horrifying scene. One was tall, strongly built with a brown beard streaked with grey.

the other was a shorter, stouter slightly plump man with a full head of greying hair and beard, which he was stroking as he looked over to a nearby cliff face.

On it was a tall stony temple, and it was crumbling down as lava and smoke consumed it whole from below like some gorging mouth from hell.

"Ruishi, I'm sure they'll both be alright" Lord Iroh mumbled but he was quick to quiet himself as he caught sight of Ruishi's stony face.

"She better be" the guard glared sidelong at his old friend. "Or else that boy will have to answer to me. And I don't care if he's the crown prince of the Fire nation or just your nephew. If he lets my daughter come to any harm, whether it be one scratch, I will not hesitate to put him six feet under that lava"

Several of the guards standing nearby bristled uncomfortably, but Iroh only sighed and put a consoling hand on the lieutenant's shoulder.

"I understand you are worried old friend. but if there is one thing I know about my nephew it's that in spite of his banishment, deep down he is truly honourable and would not let any of his trusted crew come to any real harm. And also you forget,"

And at this he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Your daughter is an earth bender. And such a location like this" he gestured to the earthy ground between the lava rivers. "It certainly would put her at a distinct advantage in terms of survival"

Ruishi spared his friend a small glance, in which Iroh saw for the faintest of moments, something that looked very much like fear and hopelessness.

"She's just one small girl" he mumbled softly so that none of the other guards could hear, in spite of the fact that they all were craning their ears to eavesdrop. "my little-"

"Yes she is your child" Iroh cut across him with a quirked brow "But she is also Lien's. And just like her mother, Jade is a strong, intelligent and independent young woman, not to mention a very good bender. Though she rarely has a chance to show it."

"I've not seen her bend in a long time…is she good?" Ruishi mumbled, his cheeks reddening with a little embarrassment as the older general fixed him with a small stern frown even as he muttered.

"Though she is stronger than what she appears given her size, she is still not as strong as many other earth benders. But Jade's true gift is not in her muscles or body. It is what is within that gives her, her true power. Any Earth Bender, or any bender, can simply wield their element; can chuck it around like a tool like one would just do with a sword or spear. But to Jade, her bending is not just a tool, or a weapon, nor is it merely an extension of her body. No. Rather she is the extension of the earth itself to move and to be...and she knows it and if she is able to, she accepts it as part of who she is. It is that that makes her perhaps one of the most talented bender's I've ever met. And I have no doubt that if her talent were to be allowed to flourish…she could become one of the great masters. But just like any young flower, if you keep Jade hidden in darkness and cold, she will wither and her potential will diminish and fade"

There was silence as Iroh's voice trailed off into the darkening dusk as the last quarter of the sun finally began to dip below the horizon.

Ruishi himself was watching the darkening silhouette of the exploding island before them, which was getting closer and closer with each passing minute.

Now the ship was so close that they could see the temple as its final storeys crumbled down to dust onto the cliff, where two tiny dark dots had just jumped off.

Both old men quickly turned to one another.

"Was it just me or did those look like…" Iroh paused worriedly glancing sidelong at Ruishi. But already the Lieutenant had turned round and was barking orders at the rest of the men.

"HEY all of you wake up and prepare one of the launch boats now!"

The splash that occurred when Jade and Zuko hit the water was so loud that the latter of them was almost deaf even when he surfaced first for air.

"Well! That went well" he snorted derisively out tugging away the cloth over his mouth to breathe better.

But even as he made to tread water with his aching body, nothing answered.

He looked around worriedly. There high above him was a tall vertical cliff face and all around him was water.

But no matter how hard he looked he couldn't see that familiar brown head of hair.

"JADE!" Zuko cried out, doing his best to keep his body from flailing out in panic as he floated on the gently rocking waters.

"JADE! JADE COME ON ANSWER ME!"

But like before there was no answer.

He stared all around him. She wasn't anywhere in sight and he had not heard her surface with him-

Oh no…Oh no-no-no-no-no!

Zuko took a deep breath and ducked his head under the water.

It was icy cold. Or at least it was a damn hell colder than the burning heat of the lava filled temple.

But none of that seemed to register with the prince at all, not when his gaze quickly found the object they searched for.

She was down a few feet below him, slowly and softly descending.

Her body was limp, so limp that it was almost stretched out like it were floating in mid-air. Her clothes billowing out around her, her eyes shut almost as if she were asleep.

So peaceful…

But it wasn't the kind peace that Zuko was going to tolerate, and without a second thought he dove down.

Just as he grabbed onto her unconscious (he hoped) body he felt his cheeks bulge and his own chest begin to burn. He knew he should've taken a bigger gulp of air, but he did not care.

He just kept kicking and striking upwards with one arm, hot, steamy water bubbling as fiery blasts were set off by his movements. But rather than hamper his progress, he was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually propelled him faster upwards.

Handy

He couldn't help but note as he broke the surface of the water, Jade's head following only a split second after.

But there was no gasp of breath, nor any sound at all.

"No…"

His heart sank as he felt her body limply lean back onto his, water dribbling from her open mouth, only to be splashed back in as something like a wave splashed into them from the side.

But no it couldn't have been a wave, Zuko thought wildly. It was too early for a wave to break. And last time he checked waves didn't make whirring mechanical noises.

He turned quickly just in time as a small motorised metal boat slid in the water close by next to him.

"UNCLE!" he cried out, his heart soaring as he recognised the face of the older man standing at the door on the side of the vessel, which he opened without further ado.

"Quickly prince Zuko" he hissed as Zuko managed to clumsily swim on his back trying to keep hold of Jade so that her face was above water at all times.

She still had not woken up and did not appear to be breathing and so it was with great panic that Zuko dragged her onto the boat and turned her over onto her side.

At once the clear salty water began to stream out and onto the floor.

"Come on Jade! Come on! Just breathe! Breathe!" Zuko found himself chanting over and over again as he tried to shake her awake.

She was almost frozen cold and sopping wet, but even so she made not a sound nor a movement that signalled any kind of life.

There was the sound of footsteps and the feel of something warm and dry around his shoulders, but Zuko only snarled:

"Back off!"

Whoever it was that had come backed away quickly from him with the towel. Not that he cared. All his thoughts were bent upon the unconscious girl he leant over.

"Breathe Jade! Just breathe!" He whispered softly into her ear as he slapped her cheeks.

"Please just one breath! Come on! You can do it. Just breathe! Breathe! Please! Jade come on!"

Nothing…still nothing...

His hands stilled against her face, her full deathly pale cheeks resting comfortably in his palms even as he leaned forwards.

He was so close that he was almost nose to nose with her.

"Don't you dare" he hissed, though the effect was ruined by the smallest of wavers in his voice "Don't you dare give up! I won't have it! I don't care who or what you are Jade, but I will not let you die! You hear me! I will not let you die! So don't you think of giving up on me! Now breathe! Come on! I know you can do it! You bent the lava for heaven's sake! So breathe! Just breathe you-you-you-"

But even as he was about to utter the curse, something happened. Something so marvellous and so miraculous that Zuko's own breath felt like it had jammed to a full stop itself.

A tiny cough unmistakable cough.

It was so small, that had he not been so close he might not have heard it.

But he had.

Then there was another one.

He pulled away quickly looking down on Jade's face in full. Her eyes were still shut, but her brow was furrowed slightly in a frown that had certainly not been there before.

Come on…

Zuko's grip on her head tightened slightly as he watched her closely.

His heart all but leapt into his throat as he saw the bob of her throat, the slightly bigger parting of her mouth and the deeper frown and then…then a pair of bright jade green eyes slid open just a crack.

"Zu…" a small voice all but whispered into the silence. "…ko?"

Zuko nodded his head, faintly aware that a grin was spreading over his face as Jade made to whisper his name again.

"Zuko…the-the temple…" She began to wriggle her body slightly but Zuko quickly pushed her down back onto the floor, still leaning over her closely.

"Jade it's ok. We're safe now." he whispered, brushing her wet hair away from her face. Even when wet it was still quite soft, he noted offhandedly as he added. "We're going back to the ship. We're getting out of here"

The corners of Jade's mouth twitched upwards into a small smile.

"that's nice" she sighed softly her eyes shutting again much to Zuko's sudden stern command.

"Jade-"

"Princess shut it! I'm fine…just…just…tired" she grunted waspishly, as she yawned wide. Zuko opened his mouth to speak again but Iroh cut across him as he swooped in from the side.

"Zuko, Let her rest she will be fine." He put a warm hand on his nephew's shoulder as the latter turned to glare at him.

However what with the soaring joy and elation currently surging in him, the prince's glare was short lived and it was with a heavy sigh that he nodded and pulled himself away from Jade. As soon as he was on his feet, both he and the girl on the ground were immediately swooped down on by the small crew of the smaller vessel.

Many of them were just soldiers or guards that were doing their best to shove warm dry blankets over Zuko as he did his best to wriggle away from them and keep a watch as Doctor Chan made to examine Jade as she slipped between the worlds of sleep and waking.

In the midst of all his confusion, the small boat had approached his ship fast and was gearing up to smoothly roll up the strange folding ramp that carried it back up into its stern.

As they ascended Zuko heard Jade snort sarcastically to Chan.

"Yeah… because one tilting structure just wasn't enough"

There were many sniggers and laughs amongst the crew, though one stood out more clearly than the rest, for no one had ever heard it. It was warm and happy, if a little raspy. Almost like its bearer had not used it in a long time.

A lot of the crew couldn't help but silently turn and stare at the source which was just as shocking as the sound itself.

Zuko…the ever brooding, always grouchy, always yelling, slightly paranoid, permanently angst-ridden prince…had actually cracked a smile.

Now that is a sight I never thought I'd see again…

Iroh smirked softly under his breath as he turned to look at the now sleeping girl laying on the floor.

Ah Jade… you really are a girl just full of surprises!

TA-DAAAA~! :D

yay chapter 12 is up and a go.

sorry for the delay but where i'm living it's been storming like cats and dogs for nearly three days in a row. it's really quite bad, in some areas power lines have actually been blown or smashed over by the wind (scary) like our street so we've been without power for a good day or so.

its lucky i still have my laptop to post from.

Anyways i hope you enjoy and keep R&Ring for more my lovelies 3