"Crap." That one word was unbelievably accurate.

They'd collapsed the exit.

We were trapped in.

I kicked at a nearby rock. "Why can't we be earthbenders? Seriously!"

Longshot looked at me. (Well, now we know why they didn't come after us.)

"Yay." 'Cause that helps so much.

(We'll find a way out of this.)

"Uh-huh. Sure we will." I sat on a rock that came up to my waist and leaned back over it.

(Are you even trying to think of a way out?)

"Of course I am." For some reason the lake reminded me of the one in the forest. It was pretty deep, maybe… twenty feet? We used to play in it when we were younger. Heck, forget younger, we swam until a couple months ago. Until we… disbanded. Sometimes we'd even try and swim all the way down and back up. Usually we could only get halfway down. Then Jet would start lecturing us about how dangerous it is… And then he'd do it himself.

Although… after a few years, Longshot and I could both do it pretty easily…

I jolted upright. "Longshot!"

He turned, looking kind of startled.

"I have an idea!"

He raised his eyebrows.

"How deep do you think we are?"

He shrugged. (Probably somewhere between thirty and fifty feet. This lake's pretty deep. Why?)

"Do you think we could move these rocks?"

(Yeah, but why would we? Wouldn't that flood the place?)

"Exactly! We can just move the rocks and swim up! Easy!"

(Um, Bee? Between thirty and fifty feet.)

"So? We can hold our breath that long. We did it back in the forest."

(What about the water pressure?)

"What about it?"

(You always complained about headaches after you dove all the way down. It's because the water was pressing down on you. It'll be twice as bad here.)

"Um…" I honestly couldn't think of anything. Those headaches were pretty bad, but I've been through worse. A lot worse. "Well, we came in this way, and it seemed like less, maybe it's not as deep as it seems. Hope we're higher and that it's not as bad as you're making it sound?" I said hopefully.

He looked at me incredulously.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better!"

He rolled his eyes. (Fine, fine, we'll try. Just try to not get us killed.)

I stuck my tongue out at him and turned to the landslide. "Yeah, yeah. Just start digging."

(Oh…)

I groaned. "What now?"

(Um… How are we going to move them so that it doesn't crumble and fall on us before we can get out?)

So close!

I studied the rocks for a moment. "How tall was the doorway?"

(Like… eight feet. Again, why?)

"This has to be, like, eleven. The walls should still be up behind the top three feet, so if we can get those off, it should make it easier to dig without getting crushed. Now the only problem is reaching the top…"

I thought a moment. "Ah-ha!" I whipped around to face him. I looked him up and down for a moment.

(What?)

"You're what, 5'10"?"

(Somewhere around there, why?)

"And I'm… a little taller than 5'?"

He nodded.

"Think you could give me a boost?"

He seemed to realize what I was thinking. (Um… I guess so.)

I turned back to the pile and got as close as I could without tripping over the pebbles around the base.

He knelt down and laced his fingers together. I stepped on and he lifted me up.

I reached up and tried to grab the rocks on top. I came up about eight inches too short.

I sighed. "Set me down."

He lowered me and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm too short," I grumbled out of the corner of my mouth.

He looked amused.

"Oh, knock it off!" I looked around and found a relatively rectangular rock about a foot tall.

I picked it up – it was surprisingly heavy, which was probably a good thing – and set it down in front of Longshot.

"Try that," I said, stepping back.

He laced his fingers again and set them on the rock.

I stepped on, and he lifted me, then stepped onto the rock.

Now I could reach it. I picked up a rock about the size of my palm and dropped it down.

"Ow!" I heard before I was sent tumbling.

I managed to land on my feet, but jarred my left ankle.

Longshot was on the ground, rubbing his head. His hat was hanging around his neck.

"Sorry," I said with a sheepish grin.

"Nice," he said through his teeth. "Next time, warn me before you throw a rock at my head." He sighed and stood up. (Let's try that again.)

"Hang on." I hobbled over to a rock, sat down, and rubbed my ankle.

(Are you okay?)

"Yeah, my landing was just a little bit off." Actually, it was getting worse. I was starting to worry I'd sprained it.

He walked over and crossed his arms.

"What?"

He raised his eyebrows.

I sighed, rolled my eyes, and took off my boot.

He looked at my ankle. (Bee, it's already swelling.)

"So?"

He rolled his eyes. (So you shouldn't walk on that, let alone try and balance on my hands.)

I shoved my foot back in my boot and stood up. "Seriously, I'm fine." I walked over to the pile and looked back at him. "Come on, help me up."

He shook his head.

I groaned. "Longshot! We can't stay down here. We don't have food, we don't have drinkable water, and we don't have enough air to just stand here arguing!"

He sighed and walked over. (Will you be careful?)

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'll be careful."

(And if it starts to hurt too much, you'll tell me?)

"Yes!"

He rolled his eyes, knelt down, and held out his hands. I stepped on, he lifted me up.

Making sure to put more pressure on my right, I picked up a rock. "Bombs away!" I yelled before dropping it.

I kept tossing rocks down like that for what felt like the better part of an hour. The doorway was narrow enough for me to be able to reach both sides if I leaned a little bit either way.

After a while I started to feel Longshot's hands shaking. Even though nine years of archery had made him incredibly strong, he couldn't hold up a good… oh, hundred pounds forever.

"Hey, Longshot, how're you holding up?"

(I could do with a break, but I'll be fine for a few more minutes.)

"Nah, just lower me. I'm gettin' kinda tired, too." The only lie in that was the 'kinda'. I was exhausted. And my ankle was killing me. It was just… I knew our lives literally depended on this. I could deal with a little pain.

He lowered me and stepped off the rock, looking twice as worn out as I felt.

I walked towards the only wall not at least partially covered with rocks.

"Come on," I called over my shoulder. "We could both use a nap."

I sat against the wall, he sat next to me. For a few minutes, I just thought.

He must have noticed, because he looked at me and "said", (Are you okay?)

I jumped. "Yeah, I was just thinking."

He looked at me expectantly.

"Have… have you ever wondered… how it came this?"

(What do you mean?)

"Well… when we were little, before we joined the Freedom Fighters, I mean, we had everything we could ever want. Family, close friends… and when the Fire Nation took that away, it felt like we had nothing.

"And then Jet found us, showed us we weren't alone. It felt better. Better than even our real families. Like it was… more right. It still hurt when we thought of the past, but the Freedom Fighters made up for that, and more.

"Now that Jet's… not here, I feel like the floor's been yanked out right from under me, and I'm just barely hanging on, just by this tiny ledge. And if someone doesn't pull me up, soon, I'm just gonna fall."

I'd completely forgotten Longshot was there until he answered. Out loud.

"Yeah. That's how I feel, too. Although… what's your ledge?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said you were hanging on by this tiny ledge. What's the ledge?"

I thought a moment. "I guess… you." I chuckled. "Cheesy, huh?"

He shrugged. (Eh. A little.)

"But, really. To be honest… now, all we have is each other." I thought about that for a moment. "At least, until we get Pipsqueak and the Duke. Then we'll have a lot more."

More specifically, a 6'6" animal-loving giant and 8-year-old whiz kid.

My eyes started to close. "How long do you think it'll take to move enough rocks to get out?"

(A few more hours. Those rocks must be pretty tightly packed to block out this much water.)

My eyes flew open.

Longshot noticed. (What?)

"Do you think… maybe the walls are still up? That the rocks are from the surface, not the tunnel?"

His eyes widened. (But… that would mean we'll have to dig the whole way out.)

"Uh-huh. This could be a problem."

(On the upside… it'll be safer. We won't have to worry about water pressure.)

"But it'll take, like, five times as long!"

(I think it'll take more than that. Maybe… seven or eight?)

This was not going well. "So… how long?"

(I'd say… at least twenty-four hours.)

"Crap."