While it's still nighttime, we sneak through the front door. I'm able to—barely—Air bend us up to the top, then I freeze the guards in place while we sneak past. Honestly, where would the guys be if I weren't here? At the bottom of the lake.
Just before dawn, we find the guardroom and quickly change. We store everything in my backpack, which I'm able to squeeze under my uniform. The female uniform happens to be a midriff baring top with a skirt, but there's leggings under the mini skirt. Rather chic for the time period.
"I hope these disguises work," Zuko prays.
"You worry too much," I give his hand a quick squeeze.
Sokka lays out our plan. "We just have to lay low and find my dad as soon as—"
He is cut off by a troop of guards running down a conjoining hallway.
"Guards!" one of them calls. "There's a scuffle in the yard. Come on!"
I give Zuko a look that has I-told-you-so written all over it, and we quickly join the sounds of running.
When we get to the yard, the prisoners—all dressed in Fire Nation red (this time period really likes their color coding)—are in a huge circle around a guard and another prisoner.
"I told you," the prisoner says as we fall in the ranks, "I didn't do anything! I'm going back to my cell."
As he turns to leave, the guard bends his fire into a whip. "Stop right there, Chin Sang."
I move to defend the prisoner, but Zuko holds me back and gives a small shake of his head. "We can't blow our cover," he murmurs.
"I've had it with you and your unruly behavior," the guard declares.
"What did I do?" Chin Sang challenges.
The guard smiles. "He wants to know what he did," the guard turns to Sokka, who's right behind him. "Isn't that cute?"
"Uh, very cute, sir," I stammer, drawing his attention off of a frozen-in-fear Sokka.
"Super cute," Sokka adds.
The guard turns back to the prisoner. "You didn't bow down when I walked by, Chin Sang."
"What? That's not a prison rule!"
"Do it!"
"Make me."
The guard walks behind Chin Sang and makes his Fire whip again. This time, when he aims it at the prisoner, Chin Sang bends the Fire back at the guard.
"Fire bending is prohibited," the guard claims his victory. "You're going in the cooler. You!" The guard points to Sokka. "Help me take him in."
"Meet back here in an hour," I tell Sokka as he walks away.
After the guard and Sokka remove Chin Sang from the yard, the rest of the prisoners move back inside. Zuko and I fall into step with some other guards headed for the break room.
When we get to the break room, I notice the other guards have their helmets off. No one knows me, or will even recognize me, so I take mine off too. Zuko keeps his on to hide his scar.
We go to the food bar to stock up—we didn't get breakfast. Their food actually looks pretty good, but it's all fish, as in sushi. Personally, I don't like eating anything from an animal unless it's cooked, so I grab a banana instead.
"Hey, new guy," we hear a male voice call. Zuko and I turn around. "I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times, but this is the lounge. Relax!"
I start sweating, but Zuko has his response ready. "But what if there's an incident? If I'm not prepared, someone could strike me on the head."
We move to sit with the man and his two friends—another man and a woman. They all laugh as if Zuko had just said the funniest joke they'd ever heard.
"Give it a week," the woman says, "He'll loosen up."
"Can the new guy as you veterans a few questions about the prison?" Zuko says. I almost choke on my banana at his formality.
"No," the woman says whacking me on the back. "You cannot date the female guards."
"Trust me, you don't want to," the man jokes. The woman throws her empty cup at him.
"No, that's not it," Zuko keeps his straight face. "The Boiling Rock: it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals, right?" The man and woman both nod. "So what about war prisoners?"
At that point, I get up to leave. I don't think I could stand another moment sitting there pretending not to know our secret plan. I could explode from the tension between Zuko and me. Instead, I throw the remains of my banana in the trash and go to poke around the prison.