The sound of a clanging bell accompanied the opening of Lu Ten's cell door. He jogged out and followed the crowd out to the courtyard, where he quickly found Hakoda, Sokka, and a pretty, young girl.
"Hi," she said, extending her hand to Hakoda and Lu Ten. "I'm Suki."
Lu Ten and Hakoda shook her hand and introduced themselves as well. Lu Ten even used his real name. If Sokka trusted her, then so did he.
"This is it," Sokka said. "We have to start a riot."
"Okay," Suki agreed. "But how do we do that?"
Hakoda looked around and locked his gaze onto a large, bald man with tattoos standing a few feet away. He looked slyly back at his companions.
"I'll show you," he said.
He marched over to the man and shoved him hard in the back. The man shouted with surprise.
"Hey! What'd you do that for? That hurt my feelings."
Hakoda blinked in surprise. "Aren't you mad at me?"
The man shrugged. "Well, normally I would be, but I've been learning to control my anger."
The group, utterly taken aback, looked on with surprise.
"This isn't working," Sokka said with a sigh.
"Hey you!" said a harsh, deep voice as a man took Sokka's shoulder. "You're lucky I didn't rat you out. But my generosity comes with a price. I know you're planning another escape attempt, and I want in."
Lu Ten looked on questioningly.
"Actually, we're trying to escape right now," Sokka said. "But, we need a riot. You wouldn't happen to know how to start one, would you?"
The man smirked. "A prison riot? Please." He moved past Sokka, picked up another prisoner by the collar and lifted him over his head. "Hey!" he called, getting everyone's attention, before tossing the other man up and down above him. "Riot!"
Immediately, chaos broke out. Balls of fire shot through the sky. Prisoners were shouting. Fights were starting.
"Impressive," Hakoda remarked.
"Forget about controlling my anger," said the man Hakoda pushed moment ago. "Let's riot!"
He barely had the words out before he tackled a thoroughly surprised Lu Ten to the ground. Lu Ten fell with a soft "oof" and his head hit the concrete surface. He quickly drove his knee into the man's stomach, and the latter rolled off groaning in pain. Lu Ten scrambled to his feet and backed away, but the man did not try and attack him again, as he was snatched up by other rioting prisoners.
Lu Ten, Hakoda, Sokka, Suki, and the man who started the riot, who introduced himself as Chit Sang, took cover against the wall and watched the madness unfold. Zuko appeared as if out of nowhere and joined them.
"Zuko, good!" Sokka said. "We're all here. Now all we need to do is grab the Warden and get to the gondola."
"And how do we do that?" Zuko wondered.
"I'm not sure," Sokka returned.
Zuko growled with frustration. "I thought you thought this through!"
"I thought you told me it's okay not to think everything through!" Sokka shouted back.
"Maybe not everything, but this is kind of important!" Zuko argued.
"Hey, uh, fellas," Chit Sang interrupted. "I think your girlfriend's taking care of it."
They all looked around and watched Suki, in an impressive display of strength and agility, run atop the heads of the rioting prisoners the entire way across the courtyard, all while dodging fire and other objects being thrown in the air. Like an acrobat, she scaled the wall, and made it to the balcony. She knocked out on guard right away, dodged two more, and climbed even further to the next level. She flipped over the railing, took out a guard, and was face to face with the Warden. She made quick work of binding his hands and mouth before slamming him into the wall. It was only just then that the guys reached her, and they were still catching their breath.
"We've got the Warden," she said, beaming. "Now let's get out of here!"
"That's some girl," Hakoda said, impressed.
"I'll say," Lu Ten agreed.
"Tell me about it," Sokka said dreamily.
They wasted no more time before running back into the building to get to the terrace where the prisoners had arrived. Lu Ten felt a stitch in his side from all the running but did not dare stop. He tried to ignore the ache in his lungs with each breath and his racing heart.
When they reached the gondola landing, two guards shot fire at them. Lu Ten and Zuko jumped to the front of the group and blocked the fire with some of their own.
"Back off!" Zuko warned as two more guards joined the first two. "We've got the Warden!"
The guards moved to the side and allowed them to pass. They reached the gondola and Suki yanked the squeaky door open.
"Everyone in!" she encouraged.
Zuko and Lu Ten stood guard while the others piled inside. Then Zuko looked at his cousin.
"Go," he said.
"No, Zuko," Lu Ten returned. "Together."
Lu Ten kept his fists pointed at the guards while Zuko cranked the lever to start the gondola. It screeched as it started, and then Zuko kicked the lever until it broke, so the guards would not be able to send the gondola back to the island.
"Let's go!" Zuko called.
Only then did Lu Ten turn his back to the guards, who immediately sent fire after them. The cousins ran hard for the edge, pushed off the railing, and leapt toward the retreating gondola. Lu Ten felt the steam from the lake through his very shoes. It felt he was going in slow motion, but he was focused. His left hand took hold of the open window of the gondola while his right took hold of Zuko's. Zuko's weight almost caused him to lose his grip, but Hakoda took Lu Ten's arm. With a mighty pull, Lu Ten heaved Zuko upward to the window, where Sokka helped him through. Lu Ten was absurdly reminded of when Zuko was a little boy, and he would toss his cousin into the air like a doll. Little Zuko would shriek with joy and demand to go again and again. Lu Ten shook his head and returned to the present, where Hakoda and Sokka were pulling him into the gondola.
"What were you doing?" Sokka demanded.
"Making it so they can't stop us," Zuko said.
"Way to think ahead," Sokka said.
"We're on our way," Suki said confidently.
"Wait!" Hakoda barked. "Who's that?"
They all looked out the window to see Azula standing on the edge Zuko and Lu Ten had just jumped from.
"Azula," Lu Ten said, and was struck by the sight. He had not seen the princess since she was a little girl. Now, she was growing into a woman. She looked very much like her mother.
"That's a problem," said Zuko. "It's my sister and her friend."
Azula took some handcuffs from a guard, while her friend leapt onto the cables holding up the gondola. She gracefully ran atop them. Azula literally fired herself into the air, hooked one of the cuffs around the cable, and propelled herself forward with fire. Lu Ten took a moment to be impressed by his cousin's ability.
"This is a rematch I've been waiting for," Suki said darkly.
"Me too," Zuko added.
The two of them climbed onto the roof, and Sokka and Lu Ten did not hesitate to follow. Lu Ten wasn't sure how he felt about fighting Azula or her friend. He didn't make a habit of fighting girls. Also, he wanted to know what became of Ursa, and Azula was the only one with answers to that. If she was anything like Ozai, though, she would not be giving up any information without a fight.
Azula's friend, who Lu Ten was told was called Ty Lee, landed on the far end of the roof, and Suki immediately faced off with her. Zuko and Sokka faced Azula. Lu Ten stood toward the middle, waiting until he was needed. A fierce battle broke out. Lu Ten was mostly backing up Suki, although she handled herself very well. After several back and forth attacks between parties, Lu Ten heard the Warden shout from below them.
"CUT THE LINE!"
Thankfully, Chit Sang took hold of the Warden and dragged him back inside. Soon after, the gondola came to swinging stop. Everyone was thrown off balance, but Sokka was knocked off his feet. He slid toward the edge, but Zuko caught him just in time. Ty Lee leapt onto the cable and looked back toward the landing.
"They're about to cut the line!" she called.
Azula looked around for a way out and quickly found one. Another gondola was coming on the other line toward the island.
"Then it's time to leave," she said, smirking. Propelling herself again with fire, she abandoned their gondola for the one going the opposite direction. "Goodbye, Zuko."
Ty Lee back flipped off the cable to the other gondola to join the princess. Zuko, Lu Ten, Sokka, and Suki jumped back inside their gondola.
"They're cutting the line!" Zuko explained. "The gondola's about to go!"
"I hope this thing floats," Hakoda replied anxiously.
Lu Ten could hardly believe this. After everything they had done, they were not going to make it. His heart sunk. Then, with a lurch, the gondola moved again.
"Who is that?" Sokka wondered, looking out the window.
"It's Mai," Zuko gasped.
Within the next few moments, they had crossed to the other side. They ran out of the gondola, and Chit Sang threw the Warden back in it.
"Sorry, Warden," Hakoda said. "Your record is officially broken."
They kept running over the path that led to the outside of the volcano.
"Well, we made it out," Suki said. "What now?"
Sokka looked back at Zuko, who had stopped.
"Zuko, what are you doing?" he asked.
"My sister was on that island," Zuko said.
"Yeah, and she's probably right behind us, so let's not stop," Sokka pressed.
"What I mean is she must have come here somehow," Zuko continued. He ran to the peak and looked out. He pointed to a warship down below them. "There! That's our way out of here!"
They carefully climbed down to the warship, and when they boarded it, they found that Azula had not left her crew inside. It was empty. Lu Ten found this extremely lucky, and his spirits lifted. They were going to get out of this. He was going to escape the Fire Nation. And this time, he didn't have to die to do it. It was actually nice.
"So, where are we going?" Lu Ten asked.
"The Western Air Temple," Sokka said. "That's where we're hiding for now."
Lu Ten nodded and then approached Zuko, who was steering.
"Zuko, I don't know what's happened since Ba Sing Se, but I have to ask if you know anything about where my father is," he said quietly.
Since they had formed the escape plan, Lu Ten decided that was where he would go next. He needed to be with his father.
"I don't know," Zuko said. "I know he escaped during the eclipse, but I don't know where he went."
Lu Ten sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to track him down some other way. But, tell me, how did you end up with the Avatar?"
Zuko took a deep breath and explained that he had decided to leave the Fire Nation during the eclipse and that he had joined Aang to teach him fire bending. Lu Ten thought this was a rather beautiful turn of events, as he recalled Toph once describing Zuko as a mortal enemy of their group. He didn't know what Zuko had done to earn their trust, but he was proud of his cousin nonetheless.
"Well, I guess that means you won't be joining me," Lu Ten said. "I was going to ask if you wanted to help me find my father. But I see you are needed with the Avatar."
"Even if I wasn't, I couldn't go with you," Zuko said. "I betrayed Uncle back in Ba Sing Se. I could never face him."
Lu Ten saw the hurt in Zuko's eyes. He knew how it was to feel like he could never face Iroh. Back then, it was Zuko who told him he had to.
"You would be surprised what he will forgive," Lu Ten said, repeating Zuko's own words back to him. "You said so yourself."
Zuko did not seemed convinced. "It's not the same."
Lu Ten disagreed but said no more on the matter.
It was night before they reached the temple. When they disembarked, it was to the shock of Aang, Katara, and Toph.
"What are you doing in this thing?" Katara asked. "What happened to the war balloon?"
"It kinda got destroyed," Zuko answered.
"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip," said Aang.
"Did you at least get some good meat?" Toph wondered.
"I did," said Sokka. "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood."
It was then that Lu Ten, Hakoda, Suki, and Chit Sang revealed themselves.
"I'm new," said Chit Sang. "What's up, everybody?"
"Dad," Katara whispered, tears springing to her eyes.
"Hi, Katara," Hakoda returned, and embraced his daughter.
"How are you here?" she asked as they broke apart. She looked at Sokka. "What is going on? Where did you go?"
"We…kind of went to a Fire Nation prison," Sokka said.
Katara pulled her brother close and Hakoda held his children in his arms. Watching the family reunite made Lu Ten's heart ache. He missed his father, his wife, and now especially his daughter.