Chapter five
Zuko looked over to his uncle as they continued to traveled to Omashu on a small caravan that was heading to the city. Thankfully they were travelling at a faster pace than just walking, but Zuko's uncle was still suspicious, they were travelling in conditions that were not fit for a Fire Nation noble, so Zuko knew his uncle was wondering why he wasn't complaining. Zuko hid a smile from view; He's probably wondering other things than that. He thought, "Uncle, is there anything on your mind?" He asked, just being blunt.
"Why yes, there is." Iroh said, eyeing his nephew, "I have told you before that you're acting different, but I have never seen you so calm before. I was sure you were going to say no to this kind family who cared enough about our well being to give us a rid."
Zuko nodded, "I will tell you in Omashu."
"I understand that, but what could be so important that we need to be inside an Earth Kingdom city to discuss?" Iroh said, and then whispered, "It does not make sense, I know you do not know any Earthbenders in the city," A short paused, "Or any in general." He said as an afterthought.
"You just need to trust me."
Iroh nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to break through and figure out what it was Zuko needed to tell him before it was time to tell, "I just hope it's nothing you will regret in the end."
They were silent as the caravan continued on its path to the city. It took another few days, and soon they were at the giant earth-gate of the city. The two of them looked up at the great city, the afternoon sun giving off every detail of the place. There had to be thousands of houses there, and Zuko shuddered to think how many Earthbenders had to be there, if they got caught, they were done for here.
Even iroh was impressed by it all, but looked on worriedly at the guards who were stationed at the gates. They both looked on at the people waiting to enter the city, betraying no emotion on their face. Soon Zuko and Iroh were walking up to them, ready to enter the city.
"We need names." Zuko muttered, "I'll be Lee, you can be Mushi."
"Mushi?" Iroh repeated, but he couldn't deny the name, because they were coming up to the Earthbending guards.
"What's your business in Omashu?" They asked, holding their weapons in a cross between them and the gates of the city.
"We're refugees." Zuko said, "I'm Lee, and this is my uncle Mushi, our village down to the south has been taken over by the Fire Nation, we have nowhere else to go… We thought we could maybe find work here."
The guards looked them over. Upon seeing nothing on the two that could cause harm they allowed them to enter "Very well, welcome to Omashu."
At that moment the gates in front of them parts, and even Zuko couldn't stop his jaw from dropping at the majestic opening. He stared wide eyed at the city as they entered – it was even bigger than he imagined. Shaking himself out of it, he turned to his uncle, "Ir – Mushi, let's go rent a room for the night."
Iroh was busy admiring the city as well, but stopped when Zuko told him to come on, "Of course Lee." He said, walking behind Zuko, continuing to admire the place. Thankfully, the city had an inn right outside of the gates, so they didn't have to go far to get a room. Fortunately for them, they had enough Earth Kingdom currency to get a room.
"Who knew converting Fire Nation currency into Earth Kingdom money would eventually help us." Iroh said as he laughed at the handful of coins he still had.
"Uncle, don't say that. It's suspicious."
Iroh nodded, "Of course Lee. Now tell me, what are we doing here in the city?"
"The person I was supposed to meet isn't here yet. I'm going to go wait by the gates to the city. You can go shopping if you want, just don't waste all our money." Zuko said dismissively, as he began to walk out of the room.
Before he could leave though, Iroh grabbed his arm, "Zuko, explain to me why we're here."
"Uncle," Zuko said trying to free himself.
"I'm worried Zuko, do you truly believe you can find the Avatar here? What will you do if you find him? Reveal that you're trying to capture him to return to your father? You're not thinking things through!"
"Please, I know what I'm doing." Zuko said, getting his arm back after his uncle loosened his grip, "I'm going to wait for my friends to get here before I tell you what is going on, but I promise that it will explain everything.
"Promise?" Iroh asked unnecessarily.
"I promise." Zuko confirmed, "Hopefully they'll be here later today. Waiting a full day here isn't my idea of fun, especially since we need to stay undercover."
Iroh was not listening, Zuko has changed. He claims to have friends coming to the city, but when did he meet anyone, and for long enough for him to consider them friends? He paused, The Avatar? He laughed at the mere thought of Zuko befriending the Avatar, That would be the day. I guess I'm just going to have to trust Zuko on this.
With that decided, he shrugged, "I'm going shopping, do you want anything?"
"No, I'm going to go wait by the gates. You have fun with that." Zuko said walking out of the room followed by his uncle.
Zuko leaned against the wall by the gate, and watched his uncle wander off into the city. Knowing that he was in for a long wait, Zuko let out a sigh and closed his eyes, allowing the heat of the sun to comfort him.
Unknown to Zuko, Aang was going as fast as he could to Omashu.
"Are we there yet?"
"No Toph." Aang muttered, his left eye beginning to twitch, "Please, don't ask again."
Toph didn't even listen, "Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
"And how about now?"
Aang didn't answer this time. Toph had been doing this on and off for a few days now, and it was beginning to drive him nuts.
"I'm beginning to wonder if getting you so early was the right idea." He muttered darkly.
"You know you missed me!" She laughed slapping him on the back in a friendly, yet brutal manner - Aang nearly fell off Appa as a result.
Aang knew she was right though, "Yeah."
If possible her smile widened, "You know it would be even better if some other people here would break out of their funk and have some fun."
Aang didn't even bother to stop her, the young girl had been doing it non-stop for the past few days, but each attempt was ignored. It was obvious to even a casual viewer that Toph was getting annoyed by their teammates angst.
She even pushed Katara's buttons to try and get a response. In camp the previous night she went to Katara and off-handedly remarked that Katara must like being one of the taller people in the group again, and waited for the eventual scolding she would get, yet it never came.
"I'm bored." She sighed, "Can you please do something about this?"
Aang glanced back at Katara and Sokka, "Yeah, I think I will." He finally said, "If neither is going to take the initiative to fix the problem, then I will tonight."
Toph cheered, scaring Momo away from her lap. The lemur flew to Aang, knowing that Sokka would just ignore him.
He truthfully wanted it to end. Katara had even gone so far as to stop talking to him. He didn't know why, but it was beginning to depress him, and at night he couldn't get to sleep without her by his side, he just stays up all night watching over his friends. Similar to Sokka now, she was also beginning to neglect her training. Thankfully Toph was there to help him with Earthbending.
"They're adults, it's embarrassing that they let something like this get to them."
"Well technically-"
"Well technically what, twinkle toes?"
"Eh, nothing."
"That's what I thought."
Thankfully for Aang, Toph let up on annoying him for now, and soon another four hours of constant flying passed. That changed when Aang saw a glimpse of Omashu.
"We're here guys!" He called out, and then said in a normal volume, "It's not destroyed now, thank the spirits."
"It's beautiful looking. I love it." Toph said, looking straight at it.
"Yeah, and-" Aang sighed, "Does that ever get old for you Toph?"
"Nope."
Rather than say anything else, Aang flew Appa a little outside of the city, in a small wooded area that would hide him from the observing eyes of the city. Once that was finished, all four of the children jumped off of the bison, who promptly sat down and began to fall asleep.
"Sorry boy!" Aang laughed, "I forgot that you can't fly as much in your younger body either." Aang hugged his friend, "Don't worry boy, you won't have to fly for another day at least."
Appa let out a grunt of appreciation, and licked Aang. Momo meanwhile flew down to Aang, and rested on his head, "You want to come with us?" Aang laughed. He took the constant noises that Momo made as a yes.
"Ready to go guys."
"Yeah!" Was Toph's reply.
"Yep." Katara said quietly, and Sokka silently agreed.
Aang rolled his eyes, and tried not to let the dampened group spirit get him down, "We're going to go see Zuko first, and then when we're there we'll meet Bumi and Iroh, and we'll tell them everything that they need to know. Including when the solar eclipse is going to happen, and we'll tell Bumi around when his city is going to be attacked so he can do something else rather than surrender."
"Are you even sure he'll do anything else? He seems a little loopy if you ask me."
Aang truly didn't know, "Well, maybe he'll do something else?" He shrugged.
Toph sighed, "Lets just go."
"All right." Aang said, leading the group. Toph walked by his side, and the siblings, again, stayed in the back.
Toph nudged Aang, "Talk to them now."
"But-" He attempted to whisper back.
"Do it now. This is getting really old really fast."
"Um, hey, Sokka, Katara." He said turning to them, "Try not to make a bad first impression, ok? You guys should try to be a little more happy."
Toph slapped her forehead, the sound repeating over and over in the distance.
"Of course, Aang." Katara said.
"Right." Sokka said, though he didn't seem to be interested in anything.
"Crisis averted." Aang turned to Toph smiling.
"If I could see you, I would be glaring at you." She mumbled, "Let's just get out of here."
The four of them reached the gates, and like Zuko before them, were blocked from entering the city. "What is your business in Omashu."
Aang bowed to the man, "I am the Avatar, this is my Earthbending teacher Toph, this is my Waterbending teacher Katara, and this is my strategist Sokka." He said pointing to each member of his group.
The two men gave the younger boy a dumbfounded look before they glanced towards each other. They blinked rapidly, before a smile broke across their faces. Aang smiled too, but dropped it when the two men began to laugh. They were almost falling to the ground, their sides heaving and their breath coming up short.
"Oh, oh spirit!" One of them said amid his laughter.
"Yeah," The other laughed, "he sounded so serious too."
They both held onto each other to try and prevent themselves from falling over.
Aang just stared at them blankly for a second, and sighed, "I'm serious."
"Ok kid, right. You expect us to believe that you, just a boy, are a master Airbender, that your little girl friend is a master Earthbender, and that she is a master Waterbender? Oh, and of course your strategist over there." He laughed, "Ok kid, you're cute, I'll give you that. So what are you really doing here."
Toph had enough, and in a quick movement trapped both of them in their place, "I'm a master Earthbender, and you will let us pass. It's vitally important that we see the King soon, and we will not be held back by you two."
The two men were visibly shocked that a young girl got them in such a firm hold, they couldn't even break out of it.
"R- right." They sighed, "The Avatar, of course."
Aang sighed, and did a very simple Airbending trick. He formed a ball in his hand, and then jumped on top of it, "This is my air scooter. I invented this." He grinned at their now truly dumbstruck faces, "Can we go in now?"
Within seconds of being released the guards allowed them to enter the city and they wandered around the bit, Aang taking in the site of an undestroyed city once more.
It didn't take long for a familiar voice to appear, "You guys got here sooner than I expected you to."
"Zuko!" Toph yelled, turning towards the boy, "How have you been!"
"I've been doing fine," He smiled lightly, "It's good to see you Toph, but please call me Lee here."
"Oh, ok Lee." Toph laughed at the name.
Zuko sighed, "You always find something to laugh about." He turned to Aang before she could retort, "You got here right on time. Uncle and I arrived a few hours ago."
"We came as fast as we could once we got Toph." He said, "How have you been doing since," He looked at Sokka and leaned forward and whispered, "Kyoshi Island."
Zuko glanced towards Sokka, and did notice the boy to be off, "I've been well." He muttered, "I basically told my uncle that something was different though, so there's no way we can back out of this now. He was really opposed to coming here."
"He did come, right?"
"Yeah," Zuko laughed, "I would be surprised if he didn't come."
"Can you two stop flirting now?" Toph muttered getting between the two of them, "Can we go somewhere quiet so people won't wonder why five kids wearing strange clothes are talking in the middle of the street."
"Strange?" Zuko looked down at his Earth Kingdom clothes, "You mean, four kids wearing strange clothes."
"Whatever, not like I can see if you haven't noticed."
Aang wanted to question how she knew they were wearing odd clothing, but thought against it. Sometimes it was better to just let Toph have her way when she said things like that, and this time he agreed with her, "Do you have somewhere we can go?"
"My uncle and I rented a room, we can go there."
He led them through the streets, and to the inn. Inside, he led them upstairs to his room, but Zuko pulled everyone but Sokka into the Hallway, "We'll be right back." Zuko called in to Sokka, and shut the door and led them down the hallway a little ways.
"Ok, what happened?"
Aang and Katara fidgeted a little bit, but Toph didn't even have to be asked twice to tell, "Sokka is worried about Suki. The reason Katara is quiet too is because she and Sokka got into a fight over it, so she is being boring like Sokka is."
Katara sent a glare towards the girl, but it was ignored.
"Oh, he thinks she died?" Zuko asked.
"She didn't?" Katara asked.
"No, Zhao didn't kill her."
Aang smiled, "Really? Where is she?"
"I don't know if you'll like what you hear." The three looked eager to hear him out, so he just let out a small sigh before saying, "He took her to a concentration camp for prisoners of war. If I am right, she should have arrived there a few days ago. You guys remember how horrible those places are."
Everyone's eagerness was washed away with that.
"Really?" Aang whispered.
"Yeah," He confirmed, "That is why I wanted to talk to you guys about it first, I know if I tell Sokka he is going to want to do something stupid."
"And we should!" Katara said, "She is our friend, and doesn't deserve to be there!"
"That much is true." Zuko allowed, "But there's one problem that has been on my mind for a while about it, we're just kids. We don't stand a chance breaking into there, even with all five of us working together. That is why I am hesitant to tell Sokka."
"I think you should tell him." Toph shrugged, "A broody, silent, boring Sokka is much worse than a driven Sokka in my opinion."
Aang thought it over before nodding, "I think you should too. We're not going to leave her in there, no matter what."
Even Katara nodded her head in agreement.
"I guess I am outvoted here." Zuko muttered, "I told you guys because I thought you would understand, especially you Aang. I'm beginning to wonder if I should have stayed quiet about it..."
"We won't leave people who need help behind." Katara said, her voice left no room for argument.
Zuko moaned, "Fine, I will tell him, but I know this won't work out well."
"Stop being such a negative nancy!" Toph said punching his arm.
"Right." Zuko said, as the four of them entered the room to find Sokka sitting on one of the beds looking out the window. The room wasn't that great, only two beds a few feet apart, a small desk and chair, and a window, it was obviously very cheap.
Zuko looked over to Sokka, and he walked over and sat down next to the boy. He tried to think of something to say, and just decided to go with the first thought on his mind, "I am sorry for your loss Sokka."
Sokka for the first time since he got there looked up, "Look guys! Stop trying to make me feel better, ok?"
Zuko shrugged, "If you insist, but I have something you might be interested in."
"Like what?" Sokka said narrowing his eyes at Zuko. Everyone else in the room was just surprised that Sokka seemed to be lucid at the moment.
"I know where Suki is right now."
Silence met the answer, and one could hear a pin drop in the room if they so desire to do so.
"Where?"
"Zhao took her to a concentration camp outside of a port I docked at when I came here."
"Wait, you went by there, but you didn't bring her?" Sokka was grinding his teeth.
"You're kidding, right?" Zuko asked, "Not only would that blow my cover, but if I even attempted to do that I would be brought down. That is why I told Aang before you, I knew you'd say something stupid like that!"
"Stupid?" Sokka shouted, "I have been worrying for almost a week now, I wondered if she was even alive, and you have the gall to say that to me? And you told them before me?" He looked hurt and betrayed.
"I wasn't sure if telling you was the right thing to do."
Sokka growled, but forced himself to calm down, "You're right." He finally sighed.
"What?"
"It probably wasn't smart. I am going to get Suki whether you guys want to come or not."
"On the contrary Sokka, they all want to go too."
Sokka actually smiled at that, "Really?"
"Of course Sokka, we're going to help you get Suki back." Katara said, the first words spoken between the siblings in nearly three days.
Aang and Toph nodded, but Zuko had to ruin the party, "It won't be easy, I truthfully think it's impossible."
"It doesn't matter, do you have any information on this place?"
"Nothing very useful, I only know that it is heavily guarded, and that if any one even attempts to escape they will be killed. Stealth will be very difficult."
"So we'll have to knock on the front door." Sokka decided.
"You can't be serious." Zuko muttered, "That would be like walking straight into your death."
"You didn't finish listening to me." He said, "You're the prince of the Fire Nation, right? You can bring us in, and we can begin to destroy the place from the inside."
"You want me to arrest all of you." He asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"Yeah, you say it's heavily guarded, so we just need to get inside so we can quietly and quickly dismantle everything."
"They put you in chains you know."
"I figured." Sokka said, shrugging, "But you're still the prince, you can say you'll do it yourself."
"You don't get how royalty works, do you Sokka." Toph said, "They don't do any of the work. It would be really suspicious if Zuko went back there and said he'd do it."
"Do you have a better plan?" Sokka sounded annoyed, "I am working with little to no information, and I am going to try getting her whether it kills me or not."
Before any conversation could continue, the door to the room opened, and Iroh walked in carrying a bag of food. He looked down at all the children gathered in a small circle on the floor with a lemur lying on the bed lazily, and blinked a few times before his eyes wandered up to his nephew leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. All the children were looking at him, and he paused on one in particular, "Avatar?" He whispered.
"Welcome back uncle." Zuko said, "I didn't expect you here so soon."
Zhao entered the concentration camp with a sick smile, "Welcome to your new home, girls." He pulled the chains connected to the handcuffs on all their wrists, yanking several of them off their feet and making them fall into the dirt and mud, "It's a filthy place, but you'll soon learn to call it home, or until you're sold to someone else. Either way, I hope you all enjoy a life of hard labor."
The camp had high wooden walls, with a watch tower erected every few points on the wall. Inside the walls, there were a few buildings where the Fire Nation soldiers and watch would live in, and outside was a bunch of broken tents, and other places to try to sleep. Every day the prisoners would be forced to work hours upon hours to mine coal from the mine inside the camp, and would be fed just enough so they wouldn't die the next day.
In other words, it was a real life hell for the prisoners there.
Zhao took them to an important looking man who leered at them for a moment before turning to Zhao, "More prisoners Zhao? We're nearly bursting at the seams with them." He laughed at that as if it were a funny joke. The man wore very nice armor, and his hair was tied into a high ponytail, and he was very tall - almost as intimidating as Zhao.
"There's a lot of insects to crush, General Hong," Zhao shrugged, "They're your responsibility now. Do whatever you want with them, but be careful, they're feisty."
"Don't worry about it Zhao, they'll soon learn how things are done here. You staying tonight?"
"Maybe, I am currently on an assignment to capture the Avatar - Firelord's orders."
"Oh, sounds like fun." The man smiled, "Good luck with that, please, drink with us tonight, you look like you've had a long day."
After a little banter, Zhao finally accepted the offer, and soon the Kyoshi Warriors were pulled further into the camp by the man. "In here you will call me Boss. I am nothing more than your superior to you, if you attempt to escape, you will be killed, no exceptions. If you try to steal food, you will be killed. If you even look at me the wrong way, I will kill you." He turned to the girls, "Any questions?"
Upon seeing their glaring eyes, he smiled, "Very well, enjoy your stay." He attached their chain to a post in the middle of the camp, where hundreds of other people were staying. They didn't attract curious eyes at all, the people in there were completely lifeless.
"You will be stay here for a few weeks." General Hong said upon chaining them in place and locking it, "Then once I am positive that you'll obey me you can begin to work. Dinner will be served later tonight." He walked off, leaving the warriors to contemplate their situation.
"What do we do?" One of them asked.
Suki looked at the chains that weighed her hands down, and attempted to slip out of them, but they were on very tightly. "We have to hold on tight." Suki said, a sick feeling in her stomach. I have been to one of these places, but living in one... She couldn't help but shudder at the thought. I hope you're doing better than I am Sokka.
Sokka looked at Iroh, and then to Zuko. Uncle and Nephew were just staring at each other, neither were sure how to vocalize what was going on.
"Can, you explain what is going on Zuko?" Iroh finally asked, finding his voice, "It's rather... odd, that you're in company of the one you've attempted to capture for so long."
"I can explain." Zuko said, getting off the wall and turning to his friends, "I guess introductions are in order first. This is Sokka." Said boy waved at Iroh, "This is Katara, this is Toph," Both girls waved as well, "And as you've guessed this is the Avatar, otherwise known as Aang to the rest of us."
"I suppose that you're going to explain why you're on a first name basis with the Avatar now?"
"Yes, I should." Zuko nodded, "It's a very long story, so you might want to sit down." Iroh sat down on a bed next to Aang. The little boy showed the old man a bright smile, which oddly disturbed Iroh somehow - not his happiness, just the situation.
"Long ago in a different time I tried to capture the Avatar." He tried to begin, but was interrupted.
"Wait, you're going to start from the beginning?" Sokka asked, "That WILL take a while if you do that!"
"I was going to give an abridged version." Zuko sighed, "Even then it would be long, hence why I asked uncle to sit."
Sokka sighed, "Just get to the point."
"Whatever! Anyway, I know you're not aligned with the Fire Nation and its teachings. Throughout my entire life you've been trying to show me the right way, and I stupidly would ignore you, or just tell myself that you were wrong. It wasn't until I became a fugitive from the Fire Nation when you began to actively teach me things that were against normal Fire Nation regulations, and you tried to change my view point."
"I see." Iroh nodded, "So you mean to tell me you're from a different world?"
"Kind of." Zuko sighed, "We actually came to the past. In the future, or, other timeline, whatever you want to call it, the Fire Nation won. We tried to fight back, but a decade after they won, resistance efforts slowly crawled, until it was just us. We were hunted down, every day we had to claw our way through the day just to survive. Eventually, our main goal was not to end Fire Nation rule, but just to survive until we were thirty."
"We would have given up hope, but we found a scroll." Aang said, "It detailed how we could fix our mistakes, so we did as it asked. It was vague, and it took us nearly seven years to find everything, but we did, and it sent us to the past."
"So you know everything that is going to happen?" Iroh asked.
"To an extent." Sokka sighed, "A lot of stuff has already changed, but then again things always seem to play out the same, just slightly changed. Like, for example, in the other time Zuko attacked Kyoshi Island, but this time it was Zhao."
"I see." Iroh nodded.
"You seem to be taking this well uncle."
Iroh looked at Zuko, "I have known something was different about you Zuko. It was as obvious as day and night. The reason for it though, is admittedly difficult to believe." When Zuko was about to speak up he stopped him, "No, I believe you, It's just a lot to take in."
"Just give him a moment." Toph said, "He's about to have a heart attack." She said jokingly.
"She can feel your heartbeat." Katara clarified for Iroh's odd expression, "She can also tell if you're lying or not."
"Oh." Iroh nodded, trying to keep up with the information, "Anything else I should know?"
"You and I were good friends." Toph said, "We met when you were chasing after Zuko and I ran away from the group for a little while."
"It's nice to meet you Miss. Toph."
Toph laughed, "Just Toph."
"Very well."
"Ok, I know you're dying to ask questions." Sokka said, "So ask away."
Iroh looked visibly uncomfortable, and laughed slightly, "Zuko, I guess I did eventually get through to you."
"Kind of." Zuko said, looking away.
"Is something wrong?" Iroh asked.
"No, you did, but it took a lot longer than you thought it would. Before I realized my mistake I helped my sister take down the Avatar, and actually succeeded in killing him. Katara revived him, but I had to do a lot of bad things to do right. It wasn't until I was with my dad when I began to realize that I screwed up."
"At least in the end, you did what was right. I assume I was proud of you then too?"
"Yes, you were."
"Iroh, you need to assemble the Order of the White Lotus sooner rather than later." Aang said changing the course of the conversation, "In about three months Omashu is going to be attacked, and it needs as much defense as it can get, so this time Bumi won't just surrender right away."
"Three months?" Iroh thought aloud, "I suppose I can begin to get them organized, and tell them I have inside information from the Fire Nation, but Avatar, your friend is part of the White Lotus. If he didn't contact us before the siege, then he didn't want us to be present during the battle for this city. Are you sure it's for the best that we fight for Omashu?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Aang said, "Ba Sing Se fell as well, mostly due to the corruption of the government. This city doesn't allow itself to be ran by the Dai Li, so we can easily see the King here."
"The Dai Li," The disdain in Iroh's voice was easily identifiable, "I have heard very few good things about them. You say they control the government?"
"Yes, the Earth King has no idea about the war beyond his walls. We tried to get an army there to attack on the solar eclipse, but it failed when Azula conquered it."
"Azula conquered Ba Sing Se?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Iroh was shocked by that news, and couldn't say anything.
"Yeah, that was my reaction too." Zuko snarled, "I will take her down this time."
"You mean kill her?" Iroh pressed.
"Whatever has to be done."
"She's family I hope you remember. I know she's a little crazy, but killing her doesn't seem like the right thing to do."
"You're wrong uncle. It was because of her that everything went wrong. We need her out of the picture as soon as possible."
Iroh was quiet again, "I need time to reflect on all of this, he looked them all, "I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that my nephew befriended the Avatar."
"We'll leave you be." Katara offered.
"No, not yet. I will have to think long and hard about everything you told me, is there any other things that I need to know."
And so the five children told him everything that happened in the past, from the siege of the North Pole, to the Fall of Ba Sing Se, to the failed attempt to defeat the Firelord, to recapturing Ba Sing Se, to the second siege of Ba Sing Se.
"Was I around for that?"
"No." Zuko sighed, "You were killed before by Azula."
"Azula killed me?" He asked shaking his head, "Perhaps she is far too gone."
"Well, this was over five years since we lost to the Firelord," Aang provided helpfully, "Maybe that had something to do with it?"
"Possibly."
And soon, they finished recounting their story up to the point where they began to their frantic search to find the heirloom items to come to the past.
Iroh absorbed it all, and let out a sigh, "Please, allow an old man to rest."
"Ok, we'll be gone tonight anyway." Zuko said off-handedly, ringing alarm bells in Iroh's head.
"Doing what?"
"Going to free Suki, the other person who came back in time with us," Sokka said.
"Where is she being held?"
"Some camp near where we docked." Zuko said.
His eyes widened, "That camp? The concentration camp? You cannot be serious Zuko! It is heavily guarded, and if they saw you trying to break in they would brand you a traitor without a second thought!"
"I am not leaving my wife behind." Sokka said, ending any further argument, "We are going to save her, nothing bad can happen."
"I think your affiliation for her is blinding your judgment." Iroh said, "It is very unwise to attack there, especially with only the five of you."
"I tried to tell them that." Zuko said.
"We're going to save our friend." Toph said, both Aang and Katara agreed.
"Then I suppose you'll need my help, what's the plan?"
Sokka smiled when Iroh got on his knees and huddled with them in the circle, "Telling King Bumi is going to have to wait Aang." Aang didn't seem to mind though, "Now, here's what we're going to do…"
Nighttime arrived without any fuss for the camp; as usual the people in the concentration camp began to fall asleep on the dirt for the night. The sentries patrolled the wooden walls built around the place several months ago, and in the officers building a large feast was held in honor of Zhao, who was kind enough to grace the camp with his presence. They laughed, cheered, and had a good time, contrasting sharply with the situation outside.
This is what Zuko and Iroh came across that moonless night as they dragged along two children behind them in chains.
"This is a stupid idea." Zuko said for the hundredth time.
"Hey, I don't care what you think." Sokka said, "This plan to going to work, and we'll all leave here a little wiser!"
"Or dead." Zuko muttered.
"Now Zuko, don't be so close minded. Your friend seems to know what he is doing."
"We're getting close," Katara said, getting déjà vu, I did this once before. She thought to herself. She wanted to laugh at it, but for some reason it just made her feel ill.
"Be quiet now." Zuko ordered, "We're getting close."
As if on cue, two guards walked up to them, while several more were poised on the wall, ready to strike. "State your business."
"I am Prince Zuko. I have some prisoners, friends of the Avatar." Even though Zuko was covered in poor quality clothes and his hair was cut, the attention was on his two prisoners instead.
"The Avatar's friends?" One of the two soldiers stepped over and examined Sokka and Katara, "Water Tribe eh? Is either of them a bender."
"No."
"Ok then, bring them in." The giant wooden doors parted, and the four walked into the camp. Torch light lit up the entrance, and they watched grimly into the dark, where the prisoners would either be sleeping, or doing spirits know what else.
Zuko felt someone attempting to take the chains from him and he glared at the man, who backed away, "Sorry, I was just going to take them for you."
"Fine," Zuko said, about to hand over the chains, but his uncle grabbed them before the soldier could, "Uncle?"
"You could at least show your prisoners the courtesy of doing the work yourself," Iroh chastised, "After all, you were the one who captured them."
Zuko looked away, "Whatever." He took the chains back, "Where do I go to do this."
He was handed a torch, and the soldier told him where to put the new prisoners, "General Zhao came earlier today with some other prisoners, a lot of ladies." The man chuckled at that, "They were cute, but more importantly Zhao is here. If you want, you guys can talk or collaborate on capturing the Avatar since you do have his friends."
Zuko looked at the young soldier, either he was stupid, or he didn't know of the well known hatred between both men. Zuko decided on the latter for now, and just chose to ignore him.
Iroh however, stroked his beard, "Zhao is here right now?"
"Yes," the soldier confirmed, "I could take you to him if you'd like."
"Hm, maybe." Iroh thought, "I will consider it."
"Good, I'll tell him that you're here so-"
"No. Don't tell him we're here." Zuko said immediately, earning him a confused glance.
"What my nephew means to say is that he would like to surprise the general. I'm sure Zhao would be thrilled to see Zuko, so my dear nephew doesn't wish to ruin the surprise."
The young soldier smiled and nodded his head, "All right, hurry up though, they are having a lot of food out tonight, and I think they just started eating."
"I'll keep that in mind." Zuko muttered darkly, before he turned and wandered further into the camp.
Sokka was having trouble containing his laughter, but managed to hold it in until the soldier left, "Oh wow, I can't believe that guy. He actually thinks you and Zhao are friends!"
"Shush up Sokka." Katara scolded, "This does complicate things though."
"Are we still going through with the plan?" Zuko asked, looking back at his chained friends.
"We've come too far to back out now," Sokka said, looking down.
Meanwhile, on the outside of camp, Aang and Toph are leaning on Appa. Momo was neatly tucked into the saddle of Appa fast asleep. They were situated close to the camp, but far enough so the watch towers wouldn't be able to see them, thankfully that night was a new moon, even if it meant that Katara's Waterbending wouldn't be quite as powerful. The darkness provided allowed them to easily fly close enough to the camp.
Both Aang and Toph were supposed to wait for a signal, whatever it was, and then they could go in and help, but not before then. However, there was one small problem with this plan…
"I am bored." Toph mumbled, "When can we start kicking butt?"
"Soon," Aang promised, "You're always too impatient."
"And you're too jittery." Toph countered, "I can feel you from over here, and it feels like a mini earthquake."
"Sorry, I'm just nervous."
"No, really?" Toph asked.
"We're risking everything!"
"I thought you were all for this plan."
"I am!"
"So why are you whining?"
"They should have taken me inside instead, not Katara."
"Or Sokka," Toph pointed out, "Aang, you know that is stupid. You think we're taking a risk now? If they took you in there, I doubt you'd come out without having fifty thousand pounds of chains covered over your body."
Aang sighed, "I know, I'm just really worried for them."
"Don't be. Zuko is holding Sokka's sword, and Iroh has a pouch of water on him for Katara. If anything, it's the Fire Nation you should be worried about."
"You're right." He muttered, yet the shaking did not stop, much to Toph's annoyance.
Sokka was leading the group now, holding the torch as he looked at the horrible conditions the people were living in. He had to ignore it for now though, because he was focused on finding only one group of people at the moment. Katara was right behind him, and she couldn't help but flinch at the living conditions, she had seen it all before, but it didn't mean she would ever get used to the brutal work of the Fire Nation.
Zuko and Iroh had left them behind, knowing that they couldn't be seen running around the place looking for someone. Instead they went into the shadows and observed the Fire Nation soldiers, their job was pretty much complete, now they only had to intervene if it was getting really bad, which was a worst case scenario.
The siblings passed by a mine shaft, and they both looked down it before continuing on.
"We took this camp down before." Sokka whispered.
"Yeah, I remember." Katara answered, looking around to make sure no guards were nearby.
"Do you have any idea where Suki could be?"
"No." Katara admitted, "Maybe we can ask someone?"
"I don't think they would help."
Katara didn't disagree, the people lying around the place looked miserable, and worst of all, they looked lifeless. Their eyes glossed over, and their will to live apparently gone.
"Come on, that soldier pointed us in the general direction." Sokka muttered as they continued to crawl through the blanket of darkness.
Taking a few more minutes the two ran across several posts in what they assumed was the middle of the concentration camp, and there attached to it was the one they had been looking for.
Sokka had to visibly restrain himself from launching himself at her, and he simply crawled over to her, and shook her lightly, "Suki, hello?"
Suki opened her eyes only slightly, and looked at Sokka and smiled before closing her eyes again and going back to sleep. Sokka shook her a little harder this time, and this time her eyes widened all the way, "Sokka is that really you?"
"Yeah," He said, "I'm so glad you're ok."
They hugged tightly, and Sokka couldn't help but cry a little as he did so. Suki wasn't doing much better, and the two silently embraced one another.
Katara watched feeling conflicting emotions. She was happy for Sokka, and so very glad that Suki was all right. She could rest easy now knowing that Suki was going to be fine. However, she felt a sadness welling up inside of her. She had been ignoring Aang for the past couple of days due to her shame of acting so out of line. Aang had never said anything to her, but she could always seem to sense when he looked sadly towards her.
Unfortunately, Katara had to break up the moment between the two of them, "Come on guys, we got to get out of here."
Sokka snapped out of it, and seemed to realize at that moment where exactly they were. He reluctantly let go of Suki, "where are the other warriors?"
"They're right here." Suki raised her arm, showing them the chain, and the down along the lengths of the chain were the other warriors cuffed in a similar fashion. "They were going to starve us and weaken us before letting us go, that way we wouldn't be able to try to effectively escape, even if it were possible." She concluded.
"Yeah well, we're busting you out of here." Sokka said, "Katara, can you break this chain?"
"Definitely," She said as she bended some water from her pouch and began to rapidly slice at the chain. The momentum of the water made it as sharp as a blade, and soon, after many repeated strikes, the chain broke. She then worked on Suki's other hand, and soon Suki was free from her bindings.
"That feels so nice." Suki sighed, rubbing her sore wrists.
Katara went to the other warriors and freed them, and soon they stood in the middle of the camp, Sokka, Katara, Suki, and twelve other Kyoshi Warriors behind her.
"Ok, we have to liberate this camp." Sokka said, "The original plan was to have Zuko and Iroh burn the walls, and houses, and then have Aang and Toph come here in the confusion and kick ass. Now I am not sure if that is such a smart idea."
"Why?" Suki asked.
"Zhao is here."
"Yeah, he brought us here just today."
"I know, but Zuko said that he should have come a few days ago. This changes everything. I don't know if we can do it."
"Well we're not just leaving everyone here to die." Suki whispered harshly.
"And I didn't suggest that!" Sokka whispered back, "But do you have a plan? There are sentries all over the walls, there are over a hundred Fire Nation soldiers here, and I came here knowing that, it's Zhao and his men who really worry me. We're only about 20 people strong, and you and your warriors aren't at full strength. I have no clue how we can do this now with him here."
"You're the idea guy, think of something."
Sokka shook his head, "I don't know." He mumbled, "We're at a huge disadvantage. Maybe we should have tried to talk to King Bumi about this."
Katara wandered around the camp, and saw a small patrol of two men walking around the camp. She turned to Sokka, "Sorry to interrupt you two, but there's a patrol incoming."
Sokka watched them men as they held the torch above their head, laughing and joking with each other as they walked through the horrible conditions of the place. Mind made, Sokka turned to Katara, "Can you incapacitate them without them making a single sound?"
"Easily," Katara said as she went to do that without waiting another beat. The group, affectionately named Team Avatar by Sokka, always listened to everything the boy said. He may occasionally act stupid, but he knew what to do, and when to do it. When he gave an order or anything that even resembled an order, any member of the group just does it without asking for further inquiry into the subject.
And Katara did just that, she got behind the two guards. Years of hiding from the Fire Nation had improved her stealth beyond what anyone thought she could possibly do, and along with her small stature, she was perfect for anything requiring it. If she wanted, she could easily be an assassin with her skills.
And with those skills, she didn't even need to water bend as she leaned forward and jabbed with both hands a pressure point on the back of their necks, knocking both men out instantly.
"There, now what?" She said, looking up as the dozen warriors came and examined the fallen bodies.
"Your training with Ty Lee really paid off." Sokka mumbled, "I should have listened to her more." He decided.
"What do we do with the bodies though?" Katara asked, disregarding what he just said.
"You and Suki wear their uniforms."
Katara raised an eyebrow, "You know Sokka, these guys are much older than us, not to mention that they are men. I doubt their clothing would fit us."
"It doesn't matter; just resemble them from a long distance." He said, removing the armor off one of them, "You and Suki will go up onto the walls, and pick off their sentries. Then with that out of the way we can try to contact Toph, we're not going to use the Fire strategy now, not with Zhao here. We need to contact them a different way… Suki, I will require your Kyoshi Warriors, I have an idea, but it's quite a stretch."
"Girls," Suki turned to the Kyoshi Warriors, "Sokka here is an excellent strategist, please do as he asks, he will get us out of this alive."
They didn't have any objections to that.
"Ok, Katara, Suki, once you get those clothes on follow me. I will show you where to start taking the sentries out."
They nodded, and eventually wore the uniforms, even though they were oversized, bulky, and somewhat heavy.
"I must look ridiculous." Katara muttered.
"Yeah, you do." Sokka shrugged, "Now come on."
"I hope Zuko and Iroh will be able to get out of here." Katara whispered.
"Don't worry, they will." Sokka assured her.
Soon they were at the base of the wall, Sokka looked up the twenty-five foot tall structure, "Ok, Katara, Suki, you do what you do best. Do not get caught." He whispered, "It will ruin everything."
"Leave it to us." Both girls climbed up the wall, which proved to be very difficult, but Katara was able to improvise using her waterbending to dig into the wood and make groves where he feet could go, and Suki followed right behind her.
Once on the wall, they walked side by side, grabbing a torch that was perched at that area, and taking out any others that were there so Sokka could be shrouded in darkness. With that finished, they went about taking out any sentries on the wall.
Down below, Sokka smiled and turned to the Kyoshi Warriors, "Ok, I have a friend outside this wall who can sense things with her feet, like stomping. Unfortunately, all of us stomping simultaneously probably wouldn't reach her, so we need to drop something heavy from up there!" He pointed at the wall, "Then she will sense it and come to us."
"That seems like quite a stretch." One of the warriors admitted.
"I know." Sokka acknowledged, "But it's all we've got, and we have to pray that Toph gets the message. Otherwise we're going to be having a hard time getting out of here. Now, is there anything heavy to drop? Like a gigantic rock?"
"How would we get it up there?"
Sokka nodded, "A good point." He admitted. He began to pace around, the warriors just stood still, awaiting his orders. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, Damn my mind for coming up with much more difficult ways! "Ok, can you guys climb up walls too?"
They all nodded.
"Ok, I want two of you to climb up, and go over the wall, and go get them, just go straight from here. They have a giant bison with them, so it's hard to miss. If you do miss it, Toph will be able to find you."
Two of the Kyoshi Warriors began to step forward.
"Ok, when you find them, tell them to come and Earthbend under the wall, we don't want to attract attention, so tell them to leave Appa there. We'll be waiting here." They nodded and went to do their assigned tasks, climbing up the wall, soon to be disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"Now, we just sit and wait for them to return." Sokka said, turning the rest of the women behind him and leaning against the wall. The two girls were halfway up the wall, when suddenly a body fell next to Sokka. He held in his yelp of surprise and looked up to see Katara sheepishly waving down at him. She mouthed sorry and continued to do her job.
Aang was leaning against Appa, impatiently tapping his feet when he heard the bushes near him start to make a sound. He flipped the staff into his grip in both hands, and prepared to attack. At the same moment, Toph glanced over uninterested, "It's just Zuko."
"Zuko?"
"Hey." Zuko said, coming out of the woods, "We got them inside. I came here because uncle said he could handle anything else."
"Why are you here though?" Toph asked.
"Bad news. Zhao is in there; our plans won't go as smooth as we originally thought."
"So?" Toph scoffed, "We'll just finish him right here right now! People won't know it was the Avatar who took the place out if no one makes it out of it alive!"
Both boys gave her a disturbed look.
"I was just joking," She sighed, "You guys are way too serious sometimes."
"So, what does Sokka say we do?" Aang asked, returning to the issue at hand.
Zuko was about to speak, but Toph interrupted, "Hey, someone is coming. Two people," She clarified, feeling the ground with her hand, "And they're coming right towards us."
Everyone got into their stances, but stopped when two Kyoshi Warriors appeared; they were tired, and ragged, but knelt down towards Aang. "Avatar, Sokka said he requested you to come immediately."
"He wants us to make our flashy entrance?" Aang thought aloud.
"No," The girls said, "He wants you and Toph to come. He said go under the wall and meet up with him."
Toph cracked her knuckles, "Finally, some action!"
Aang nodded, "We'll go immediately." The two girls nodded, ready to follow Aang.
"I guess I'll just stay here with Appa." Said bison licked Zuko's back, causing the boy to shudder and glare back at the animal, "None of that."
Aang couldn't help but smile for a small bit, but let it go away as he turned towards the direction of the concentration camp, "Ok, let's do this."
He, Toph, and the two warriors left, determined to be successful in their operation.
Zuko looked towards Momo and Appa, before he shrugged and leaned on the giant bison, "At least I don't have to do anything." Appa grunted, and Zuko glared at him, "You can't be serious. Let them handle it, I could screw it up if I follow them." Another grunt later, Zuko got off the bison, "Fine! If you're so concerned I will follow them!" He stomped towards the path the Avatar had taken to get to the camp, muttering under his breath the entire time.
He stopped for a moment, I must be going insane, I had a conversation with an animal... He looked back at Appa, and shook his head before forcing himself to go forward.
"Might as well see what uncle is up to while he's there."
Chapter five - End
A/N - Decided to split this into two chapters instead, or else I think it would run over twenty thousand words. I haven't even reached the part with King Bumi, which was in the outline for this chapter. Oh well, next chapter will feature them actually fighting, so hold out for that.
Thank you for reading!