Chapter 9

Zuko woke to voices. Where was he? He tried to speak, but he couldn't quite get his voice to work. He also couldn't open his eyes. The voices went silent.

Suddenly, he could feel a hand on his thigh, which made him work that much harder to open his eyes. After several tries, he managed to do so and tried to focus on the blurry image before him. Toph was pulling at something caught in his pants leg. "Don't move," she whispered.

He tried to answer that he couldn't move anyway, but his voice still failed to cooperate. His head pounded and his tongue felt thick. He looked at her again. There were tears on her face. Why was Toph crying? He tried to reach for her, but couldn't. So he closed his eyes and began to focus on making the energy move through his body again, attempting to force himself back to consciousness.

His memory began to trickle back and he knew what had happened. They'd been ambushed by someone hidden under the carriage. Now they were being taken somewhere. He'd heard the voice say something about ransom.

And Toph was crying. He made himself open his eyes again. She sat next to him, but on the floor. He was lying on some kind of cot. She had one hand resting on his waist.

"Hey there," she said softly, "welcome back."

He tried to answer her, but no luck. He closed his eyes again to stop the pounding in his head. It didn't work. Vaguely, he became aware that she was brushing her fingers through his hair. He tried to move his hand; maybe he managed to shift it a little.

"Just relax, Sparky," Toph instructed gently. "You took a double dose of that drug. It's going to take a bit for it to wear off."

He didn't have time to wait. Ignoring the headache and the paralysis, he slipped into a deeper state of concentration. The fire inside him felt sluggish and cold. Mentally he began to perform the more basic firebending forms, channeling his chi into the old patterns engraved in him since childhood.

With each pass he could feel his life returning, feel the heat in his torso spread out to his limbs. He brought himself back to awareness, back to Toph's hand on his body, back to the feel of the bunk beneath him. He opened his eyes.

She was still there beside him. He could see tearstains on her cheeks and her eyes were red. Finally, he managed the question he needed to ask. "Why are you crying?" he asked hoarsely.

She smiled at him and rubbed her face with one hand, leaving the other where it rested. "I'm not crying, I'm acting," she answered quietly.

"Where are we?" was the next logical question on his list.

In soft tones, Toph filled him in on their predicament. "It's best they think you're still out," she continued. "Don't ever say I am not the world's greatest earthbender. I still can't believe I actually stopped that dart in time."

He closed his eyes again for a moment. What was she doing dragged in the middle of all this? How had he let this happen?

"Sparky, we need to make a plan," she began. "Do you think you can bend us out of this cell?"

He was feeling stronger by the minute, but warning bells kept going off in his mind. Something wasn't right. Then it came to him—that unusual smell. Naphtha. The room was soaked in it.

"No, sweetie, I can't. The walls are coated in a flammable material. One spark and this whole room becomes an inferno. It's an old jailers' trick," he answered then tried to sit up.

"Hey, you're asleep, remember?" alarm was evident in her voice.

Zuko looked at her, then gave her all the reassuring smile he could muster. "I have got to sit up for just a second," he said. She nodded a little, then helped him up. The movement made his head swim.

Toph was worried. She hadn't been nearly as effected by the drug as he was. The double concentration must have effected his nervous system. This wasn't good. He'd get another dose over her dead body.

Using her touch on the button, she did a little earthbending check on him. She could tell that he was improving, but not fast enough to suit her. But she must have moved a little when she checked him because he apparently took notice of her hand placement at his beltline.

"It's not what you think," she began to explain. He just looked at her, bleary eyed but amused, as she continued.

As Zuko listened, the reality of her blindness hit him fresh. He pulled her close to him, resting his cheek against the top of her head. Her life was in danger because of him. They were both caught, helpless, because of him.

"Isn't that sweet," came a rough voice at the doorway. Zuko looked up to see the same man that had hit Ling. The anger that rushed through him brought a fresh wave of energy, but it wasn't enough. "I guess his highness needs another shot."

"Nah," called a voice from above. "I already gave him one."

"You need to check your aim, then, because he's wide awake. Aren't you, your highness?" the man sneered.

"Please, don't," Toph began, and the fear in her voice infuriated Zuko even more.

"It's okay, sweetie," he whispered to her, then addressed the man at the door. "We aren't going anywhere and you know it. You must be pretty desperate to turn your boat into a floating deathtrap. One stray spark and the whole thing goes up in flames—you with it," Zuko threatened.

"That keeps us all on a level playing field," the man replied. "No unfair advantages. But you were going to have to wake up anyway. The trip is going to be longer than expected."

Zuko examined his captor with a careful eye. He was not very many years older than his prisoners. He wore a black bandanna over his apparently bald head and had a Fire Nation insignia on his red tunic. Interestingly, the tunic topped an Earth Kingdom green shirt.

"Former soldier?" Zuko guessed aloud.

"I never fought anybody for what I had. Me and mine earned it with our sweat," the man snarled, then spat on the floor.

"Colonist," Zuko realized. "What's so bad about coming home?"

"My home was in Pagong. Those Fire Nation slums you forced us into will never be home," the man answered savagely, then turned and walked away.

"Pagong is an Earth Kingdom province," Toph said with understanding. "What are the slums he's talking about?"

"They aren't slums," Zuko began, then realized that he had very little personal experience with the areas the man referred to. Resettlement had been a very difficult job. He'd spent a great deal of time forging agreements with landlords and bureaucrats to carve out neighborhoods where these displaced people could return.

They'd been forced to leave their farms and houses behind, so he'd been under a great deal of pressure to be certain they had affordable housing, schools for the children, and work opportunities. His memories of being a refugee himself in Ba Sing Se fueled his commitment. He'd been assured that these communities were thriving and happy. What was going wrong?

"Sparky, talk to me," Toph interrupted his thoughts. "How can I help you if you won't tell me about it?"

The last thing he wanted to do was to burden her with this bureaucratic nightmare and he said so.

"I've got nothing better to do right now than to listen to you," she said with a smile. Then she moved to sit on the bunk next to him. "So, fill me in."

He sighed and began explaining. She must have gotten tremendously bored, but she never let on.

Later on, the other man came to the door bearing a tray with two wooden bowls. "It's not much," he apologized. Zuko took a good look at him as he approached. This man also wore a black bandanna, but around his neck. He also wore a mix of red and green. He was younger, perhaps somewhere between Zuko and Toph in age.

"Are you from Pagong as well?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, we had a beautiful orchard on the farm there. My grandfather planted it when he arrived with my grandmother," the young man replied accusingly.

"And what was already on the farm when he arrived?" responded Zuko.

"My grandfather was no thief," the man snapped.

"Of course not," Toph answered soothingly. Carefully, she walked to the door to take the bowls from the tray. "No one's saying that." She held Zuko's bowl out to him, and he was grateful he could take it without shaking. He was still very weak.

"Just where are you taking us?" Zuko asked the young man, who had already turned to go.

To his surprise, the man actually answered. "Hell," came the matter-of-fact reply.