Around night, I decided to make tea for the group. Aang helped Katara with dinner, so I figured it was only fair. Uncle taught me how to make tea, as he put it, 'properly', since I couldn't make it right. I could tell by his look of disgust every time he had some. I'm just hoping that this tea tastes better.

I handed tea to some of them. "No one makes tea like my uncle but I hope I learned something," I said, handing a cup to Katara. She glanced at me but accepted it anyway. "Do you guys want to hear my uncle's favorite joke?"

"Sure," Katara said, swirling the tea in her cup.

"I like jokes," Aang replied.

"Bring it on!" Toph said. It sounded like a challenge but I ignored it. "Okay," I paused. How did it go again? Was it a bush asking a question? Was it a tree or the leaf? Oh wait, the leaf answers the question. "Uh, I can't remember how it goes but the punch line is 'Leaf me alone! I'm bushed!'"

Nothing. "Yeah, it's funnier when Uncle says it."

"Maybe it's because he remembers the whole thing," Katara said, giving me a weird look. Everyone laughed at that. Well, at least I sorta got them to laugh. If only I remember how that joke went. Toph sighed. "It's nice to relax once in a while!"

"Yeah," Aang agreed.

I walk over to hand Sokka his cup. "Hey, uh, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked as he accepted the cup.

"Uh, sure," I said. I put the tray down and followed Sokka. "What's up?"

"If someone gets captured in the Fire Nation, where would they go?" he asked, twirling his fingers.

"Why? Who was captured?" I asked. Obviously, he's asking this for a reason. "When the invasion failed,d some troops were taken by some Fire Nation guards," he explained. "I just want to know where they went."

I paused. Some of his troops were captured during the invasion. That means they could only be taken one place, The Boiling Rock. It never brings good news. "I can't tell you, Sokka," I replied.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Knowing would make you feel worse." I started to walk away but he stopped me. "Zuko, please. It's my dad. He was taken too."

"It's bad, Sokka."

"Please, Zuko," he begged.

"They were probably taken to The Boiling Rock." I gave in.

"What is that?" he asked.

"The highest security prison in the Fire Nation. It is on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable. One step in the wrong direction and you end up there."

"So, where's it at?"

"Why? What are you planning?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "You sure are paranoid!"

"It's in the center of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation," I replied. "You actually flew past It on the way here."

"Thanks, Zuko," Sokka said. He covers up his nervousness with a yawn. "It makes me feel better knowing." He walked away. "Yeah, I'm sure it does, Sokka," I said to myself.

The only reason why he'd want to know is to go rescue people. It never makes anyone feel better knowing that they are in the Boiling Rock. He's trying to cover it up, not very well, of course. I just gotta keep an eye on him.

Once everyone went to sleep, I hopped onto the bison's saddle. He's going to sneak out when no one notices and get himself captured as well. It's not smart. It's stupid. He's walking in on his own funeral.

Sure enough, he climbed into the saddle. "Not up to anything, huh?" I checked. He didn't notice me there and lost his bag and fell out of the saddle when I spoke. "Yeah, okay, you caught me. I'm going to go rescue my dad. You happy now?" I lean over the side. "I'm never happy."

"Look, I have to do this," Sokka said, grabbing the stuff from the floor. "It was my invasion plan. It was me who wanted to stay after we were caught. It was my fault they were taken" He isn't giving up on this. He's really going to go. "I have to save them. It's my mistake and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor." He hopped onto the bison's saddle.

"Honor?" I asked. "What honor have you lost?"

"They probably lost hope, stuck in that prison this whole time. They probably don't want me making the plans anymore. I have to help them. I have to-"

"Look, I get it. It's your responsibility. That's why, I'm coming with you."

He looked at me. "I have to do this alone."

"How are you going to get there?" I asked.

"On Aapa, of course," Sokka replied.0

"Last time I checked, they don't have bison daycares." Sokka sighed and climbed out of the saddle. "Fine, what do we take then?"

"We'll take my War Balloon," I said. "It's less conspicuous." I said.

"All right," Sokka said. "Just, let me write a note first." He began writing on the paper. "There! That sounds convincing enough!" He held it up. I read it over. "'Need meet.' Really?"

"They'll believe me!"

"Until they see who we brought back," I said.

"It's convincing enough!" Sokka replied. "They won't know until we come back!" He put the paper down. "Hold up, let me write something." He handed It back to me.

On the paper, I told Aang to do exercises every time a Badgerfrog croaks, which is pretty often, but not enough to tire him out. We don't want a tired Avatar. Sokka read it before he put it back down. "He he, he's got homework."

We headed over to the War Balloon. I blasted some fire into it, quietly. Eventually, we got far enough that I could make it go higher. For a while, I don't even know how long, we were quiet. Sokka is really set on saving his friends and his dad. I wonder how it feels, to have a father that cares about you.

"Pretty clouds," Sokka said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…fluffy," I said. Not sure why he brought up the clouds. Maybe he just wanted to start something to break the silence. "A friend of mine actually designed these balloons," he said.

"No kidding," I replied. I know about the guy he's talking about. He was captured by the Fire Nation to make our weapons. "Yep. A balloon…for war…" he said awkwardly. He talks all the time. Why is he not now? Is it because I'm going with him? Is it because he didn't expect anyone to come with him?

"My dad's good at war." I blast more fire into the tank. We gotta stay high so they won't see us. "It does seem to run in the family," Sokka said.

"Not my whole family is like that!" I replied.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You've changed."

"No, I was actually talking about my uncle." Sokka glanced at me. "He was more of a father to me and I let him down."

"I think he would be proud of you. Leaving your home to help us. That's hard."

"It wasn't that hard really," I said.

"You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?" he asked, now looking at me.

"Well, I did have a girlfriend. Mai." Sokka smiled at me. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" he checked.

"Yeah. Everyone thought I was a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it." Sokka looked back down. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon." What? Was his girlfriend the Moon Spirit? What have I heard Aang say before? I looked at Sokka. "That's rough, buddy." Sokka smiled a little.

"Yeah, her name was Yue. She said that when she was young, the Moon Spirit had helped her live. She had to repay the favor by giving up her life to replace the Moon Spirit when…" He stopped.

"General Zhao?" I checked.

"Yeah. When General Zhao killed the last one," he finished.

"That is rough," I said.

"I still miss her. Sometimes, I look up at the moon. She is so pretty." I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your first girlfriend like that. Being turned into the new Moon Spirit. After a while, Sokka stopped talking. Evening came and Sokka was fast asleep.

I couldn't stop though. We were almost there and I had to keep this thing up. Plus, I can't sleep with his snoring. "There it is!" I called. Sokka's snore was cut short. "Huh?" he said sleepily.

"We're here." He looked over the side of the balloon. "Huh. It is a volcano."

"What did I tell you?" I asked. "Anyway, your friends should be in there." I paused to examine the steam. "There is plenty of steam. If we keep inside of it, we should stay hidden. They won't see us coming."

"Right," Sokka agreed.