AN: I finished this about 10 minutes before posting.

Chapter 14 Enter The Tigerdillo.

In the early hours of the morning, six women and a sole man, seated in their cramped improvised boat, drifted across the scalding hot water of The Boiling Rock's infamous lake, amid a daring escape attempt. Almost halfway across, Chit Sang, having sweat through his prison uniform, was growing tired of the heat. The boat might have been insulated, but the air just above the lake was at an uncomfortably warm swelter, and the humidity was palpable.

"This current is so slow." Chit said to the rest of the boat.

"Keep quiet." Suki said, only to be ignored.

Chit stood in the improvised boat, and grabbed a plate of metal loosely hanging on the upper lip. "I could probably use this as a paddle." He said to himself before ripping the sheet metal off of the boat's side, and dipping it into the water. Consequently, upon the first attempt to row the cooler, boiling water from the lake splashed up onto Chit's hand…

As Sokka and Zuko walked through the halls of The Boiling Rock, only to hear the faint echo of the alarm bell in the prison yard. The two glanced at each other before quickening their pace. They knew the cooler team had been caught.

Once outside the two could hear the Warden shouting over the sound of the alarm. "THIS IS A LOCKDOWN! WE HAVE NEW PRISONERS ARRIVING ANY MINUTE! I WANT THIS PLACE COMPLETELY SECURE!"

"New prisoners?" Sokka asked Zuko before they both nearly jumped.

"YOU TWO NUMBSKULLS, STOP STANDING AROUND AND GET UP HERE TO HELP UNLOAD THE PRISONERS!" The warden yelled at Zuko and Sokka. Taking off into a jog, they quickly made their way up the staircase of the prison's central tower, before the gondola on the outside wall began to move.

Standing on the edge of the U that the guards were creating around the platform, both Sokka and Zuko put their arms behind their back, and waited… The steel body of the gondola finally arrived at the prison tower, and the doors were pulled open by the exterior guard. One by one, men in shackles stepped off of the carriage with a variety of tattoos and facial hair, and for a moment it seemed like the gondola had been emptied, before the guard on board roughly shoved the last man out into the daylight. Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka caught sight of the last prisoner, as they all stood in line to face the warden, and he had to resist the urge to break into tears.

There, only a few paces away, stood Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe.

Aang woke up well past sunrise, and though still groggy, got dressed, before stepping out of the room he was staying in, and into the crisp morning air of the Western Air Temple. "tɒp əʊ ðə ˈmɔːnɪŋ." Aang heard from his right, nearly jumping at the strange sound of Connor speaking English. Turning he saw everyone enjoying breakfast.

"Uh… Good Morning?" Aang asked, unsure of what Connor had said.

"Morning Aang." Teo said with a wave.

"You're up late." Toph said. "Enjoying your homework?" She asked.

"Not really." Aang said, as he rubbed his eye, before a badger frog croaked in the distance. Aang groaned. "Yeah, yeah, thirty hot squats."

Connor waved his hand, "Ay, forget what Zuko and Azula said." He set his empty bowl down, and stood up. "You and I are going to do a little training of our own." Aang raised an eyebrow at Katara, Toph, and everyone else. "Don't mind them, grab your breakfast and eat. You'll need your strength." Aang didn't like how Connor was grinning.

The door to Hakoda's cell was opened, and he looked up, finding a guard had entered and closed the door behind him. "Aren't you a little short to be a prison guard?" Hakoda asked, standing up and cracking his neck, expecting a fight, before the guard sighed.

"I should just leave the visor up when I come into the cells at this point." Sokka said, as he lifted his helmet off, letting his father see his face. "It's me dad."

"Sokka?" Hakoda asked, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes, before he took two steps forward and embraced his son for a moment before breaking away and placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Boy, I almost beat you senseless."

"I have a feeling Suki would have done the same thing." Sokka shrugged. "So where's everyone else from the invasion? Bato? The Mechanist? The rest of the tribesmen? I was told you wound up in Long Island Province Prison." He asked.

Hakoda shook his head. "Bato was taken to a hospital in the countryside, after we were all captured. Your friend The Mechanic was pulled out of prison early, my best guess is he's being forced to make weapons for the Fire Nation again. The rest of the tribe is still in Long Island Provence."

"So why'd they send you here?" Sokka asked.

Hakoda smirked. "Well, first they had to catch me." He said.

"No way." Sokka said in disbelief.

"I was able to break out of the provincial prison in the first week along with about four others, but the army found us close to the Island's north coast, and transferred me here after I got captured. The other tribesmen might still be on the run, but I guess they wanted to keep me separated from everyone else to prevent me from organizing another break out." Hakoda said as the two sat against the cell wall.

"Think you're up for another escape attempt?" Sokka asked.

"I'm guessing you've got something planned?" Hakoda asked in return.

"Yeah… Well I don't, but you know Prince Zuko and Princess Azula?" Sokka continued.

"The Fire Lord's kids? I know of them, but I don't see what they have to do with us breaking out." Hakoda said toying with one of the beads in his hair.

"Well both of them are here." Sokka said with a smile.

"Oh. Well that could be a problem." Hakoda said, tersely.

"Actually, they're on our side now." Sokka said. Hakoda just looked at his son skeptically. "I know it sounds weird, but Zuko's teaching Aang fire bending because he hates his dad or something, and Azula fell in love with an earth bender." Hakoda's look of skepticism remained. "It's a lot easier if you just go with it."

"But you're working with them on a way out of here?" Hakoda asked.

Sokka crossed his arms. "Well we originally were going to use a cooler to float across the boiling lake, but I'm pretty sure they've already been caught. The good news is that Azula made a contingency for something like this happening, and organized a ride off of the island for at least her, Zuko and I."

"But how is it that you're going to get out of the prison itself?" Hakoda asked his son.

"That's the crazy part of the plan." Sokka said. "Azula turned herself in so that a ship would have to come and take her back to the capitol to face her father, and when she's moved, Zuko and I were going to "guard" her to the ship. From there, the three of us would be able to steal it, then come back to the prison with our friends and bust everyone else out with metal bending and Appa."

"Who's everyone else?" Hakoda asked.

"Suki, my girlfriend, her and her Kyoshi warriors are here too. And I suppose we should still take Chit Sang and his girl." Sokka said.

"Well, looks like all I have to do is just sit and wait." Hakoda said.

"That's just it. I have a bad feeling about the person coming to get Azula. The Fire Lord's named them as the new heir to the throne or something, so they're either one of the Fire Lord's crazy relatives, or someone who could give Zuko or Azula a run for their money." Sokka said, looking at the ceiling.

"Then it's a good thing no Fire Nation prison can hold two water tribe geniuses for more than a day." Hakoda said, wrapping an arm around his son's shoulders.

"Then we better find two." Sokka said, before the two started laughing to themselves.

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Chit Sang turned away from the bright light in the hallway. Two guards filed inside before the warden stepped in. "Are you comfortable, Chit Sang?" He asked.

Chit sat up straight in the chair he was cuffed to at the ankles and wrists. "If you want me to talk, forget it, I'm not a squealer."

The Warden smirked. "I only asked if you were comfortable."

Chit raised an eyebrow. The chair did have a rather nice cushion on it. "Well, actually, yeah. I am pretty comfortable." He said, with a pleased smile, before suddenly the warden kicked the chair over and Chit Sang fell face first into the floor.

"Still comfortable?" The warden asked.

"No." Chit grunted as the warden crouched down towards him.

"Chit, you and your cell hopping skank aren't smart enough, or connected enough to get in on an escape attempt the magnitude I just caught you in the middle of." The Warden said.

"Then why not ask the girls we were riding with?" Chit offered.

"The Kyoshi Warriors won't talk. They're zealots who follow The Avatar's most violent and convicted incarnation. They won't crack no matter what I could do to them. But you'll break, of that I've no doubt. If I had to bet a gold ban on the genius behind the attempt, I'd say it was the warrior's leader, but she'd have no way of knowing the guard tower blind spots, no access to keys, and hasn't ever seen the inside of a cooler… So I'm going to ask nicely. Who came up with that escape plan?"

Sokka found Zuko leaning up against his sister's cell door, and the two momentarily lifted their visors.

"What took you so long?" Zuko asked.

"Is that who I think it is?" Azula asked from inside her cell, before her eyes peeked out of the slit in the door.

"I had to explain a few things to my dad, then see Suki, but that's not important. We've made a new plan." Sokka said with a grin.

"New plan?" Azula asked, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean, new plan?"

"Look, even if this mystery heir you told us about shows up, there's no way I'm just going to leave My dad and the Kyoshi warriors here." Sokka said.

"So what, we're just upending our best chance of getting off this island?" Zuko asked.

"It's not going to compromise Azula's plan, just, add to it, like she added to my cooler plan." Sokka said with a grin.

"Oh, I would slap you, if I wasn't locked in here." Azula muttered to herself.

"Look, we just need a distraction to happen in the yard, and if your ride off the island shows up, then all the better." Sokka said, before the three heard footsteps on the metal stairs past Azula's cell.

Azula moved away from the door, as Zuko and Sokka acted casual, as if guarding the prison's most dangerous inmate. The first to speak was the female guard between the two that had come down the steps, the very same that Azula had gut punched. "Alright you two pervs, I know watching the princess sleep must be exciting, but we need to get into that cell."

Zuko glanced at Sokka for a second. "Got some payback in mind?" He asked.

"Oh please, if I was going to be returning any favors, I'd have one of the other female inmates beat her in the showers with a soap filled sock." The guard said, earning a chuckle out of her male partner.

"Then what's going on?" Sokka asked.

"A special guest has arrived to see her." The male guard said.

Sokka glanced at Zuko, before the two nodded. Azula's ride had arrived. "Alright then, whatever the warden wants."

Zuko unlocked the cell door, and Sokka entered, before pulling Azula out into the block, handing her over to the other guards. She was cuffed, and then unceremoniously shoved up the stairs and out of the block.

On the top of the cliff that the Western Air Temple hung under, Connor stood beside Aang, and copied the "boxing" stance Connor had shown him. His right foot behind his left, body slightly angled so that his left shoulder was forward of his right, left hand extended in a fist, his right held back, almost covering his liver. His head was pulled back, keeping his chin slightly tucked to the left side of his chest.

"Now I know this might feel goofy to you." Connor said.

"Extremely." Aang said with a small nod.

"But trust me when I say, this is probably the most flexible stance you could ever fight with." Connor said.

"I just don't get how? What bending form did this originate from?" Aang asked.

Connor chuckled. "Guess your friend's haven't told you then, eh Avatar… What I'm about to teach you, is a combination of three separate fighting disciplines, two from your world… And the third, is from My world."

"Your… world?" Aang asked, lowering his fists as he turned his head to look at Connor, really taking in everything he saw and knew of the tall red head, before nodding twice. "Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense." Aang said, scratching his ear. "So are you like a spirit that's taken physical form?"

Connor rolled his eyes. "No, not world, like… dæm, wɒts ðə wɜːd? … Realm? It's more like I'm from another physical plant, a mirror of your's." Aang just looked confused for a second. "Nevermind that, get those hands back up." Snapping too, Aang raised his fists and looked straight ahead again. "This stance is what prize fighters use when they're in the pit with each other, and mind you, this is the type of fight that non benders would have, fists only. But, we're incorporating two separate bending philosophies into the mix, and of course the actual practice of earth bending. Still, you'd have to at least learn the basics of boxing."

"So what's at the core of the art form?" Aang asked. "Water is change, earth is substance, fire is power, and air is freedom, but this box fighting isn't based on an element, so what principle is it supposed to instill?"

Connor turned and faced Aang, the "older" and taller boy reached down with his left fist and slightly knuckled Aang's temple. Aang turned and looked annoyed at Connor.

"Being Pragmatic. You would never be able to hit me in the head like that at your height, but I can reach you just fine. We've got two different bodies, and so we're gonna' fight in two different ways, and there's nothing that a kata or a scroll can teach you to change that, which is why boxing is instead going to teach you to play to your advantage, and do what works. For me, if I was fighting you, that would be to keep my fists lower to protect what I can expect you to hit, mostly my gut, and what I can't protect, if you're a dirty cheat, or this is a street brawl, which is realistically what you could expect, I'd move away so I don't get punted." Connor said, as he lowered his fists to his waist, and then stepped out of Aang's range, before extending his fist, only just tapping Aang's head. "In the end, I still have my range advantage. For you, if you were fighting me, your fists would need to be at about eye level to guard your head, and get as much reach as you can, and if you want to play to your height, you could bend at the waist, to effectively increase your range, and get yourself even lower than I can reach."

Aang bent halfway over, fists still raised. "This still feels awkward."

"But it works. Striking with only your fists is the honorable way to box, but as I said, you can realistically expect in a street fight to be kicked, or bitten, or tackled to the ground, so as far as striking is concerned, you do what you have to if you want to survive an ass beating…" Connor shrugged.

"It kinda seems like box fighting is just really dirty Kung Fu." Aang said, with a raised eyebrow. "When do we get to the bending part?"

"Well call it whatever you like, but it's practical, and I'll get to the bending, don't you mind. This is where the philosophy of your two bending forms comes into play. Like with earth bending, you can't just rush in and expect to take every punch sent your way. It's best to wait "your turn" and slug the idiot for making a mistake. If need be, you can duck punches and dance circles around your foe…" Connor said, bobbing his torso left then right, before shuffling around to come face Aang's torso, the two now squared up. "To avoid taking a blow all together. Even if it's a lighter one, your opponent's going to be more tired throwing that than you will be dodging it."

"Hey, that's kinda like air bending, evading, and avoiding to conserve as much energy as possible." Aang said, with a smile.

"But that's only half of the fight of course… What would you do with all that energy you saved? If you're an earth bender you might just let it go to waste, take a new stance, and then throw a punch. Waterbenders, well they need an enemy's energy to even begin their attack if it's going to be effective, and I've no clue what you air benders would do, which is why I think that firebending has the right answer, though I could be biased, as it's forms are the only one's I've been taught… Once you've found the right moment to strike, when you've avoided an attack, when your opponent's slipped up, you take that opportunity, and put every ounce of strength you have into that next punch, because it might be your last one."

To demonstrate, Connor turned around, ducked left, then right, going low, as he pulled his fists in, and then exploded upwards with a right uppercut, and with his earth bending uprooted a tree from where it stood in the forest, as the stony ground burst into the air from below it, before the first and the flora crashed back to the ground. Connor turned to Aang and grinned.

"That's amazing…" Aang said, before turning left, mimicking the movements, and ripping a chuck of the earth up at a high velocity as Connor did. "But…" Aang turned back to his temporary teacher. "Fire Firebending uses a bender's inner fire to draw it's power, and a lot of earth bending forms rely on, well, earth to be effective. How would an earth bender be able to… Keep up the attack, I guess?"

"Every attack originates from the ground, and that's true with every element, every type of fight I can think of, every punch, every kick, it's beginning's come from where your foot meets the dirt. It's true even in air bending. You can fly around with that glider of yours, but you started out on land at some point, and to land you will return. For an earth bender like me, to keep up the same kind of pressure, you have to constantly keep recreating contact with the ground, you have to keep making those origins for an attack, and you have to make them fast. I'll teach you a simple one, I call, The Volly." Connor said, before facing perpendicular to Aang.

"Step." Connor said, planting his left heel, a few stones flying up to about shoulder height. "Throw." He launched his right fist forward, slamming his knuckles into the cluster of rocks, which stripped the leaves off a nearby shrub. "Follow through, into a step." Putting his right foot forward now, Connor planted his heel, causing another cluster of earth to pop up from the ground. "And then I'd hit that with my left, and on, and on." Connor said, relaxing, causing the rocks floating in the air to fall. "At speed, I'd be throwing several bullet sized stones every second. You'd have better chances facing a line of British regulars."

"I don't know what that means, but I'll take your word for it." Aang said, before performing the basic attack twice, letting off two splatters of small stones at the tree Connor had knocked down. "So does this form have a name yet?"

Connor put his hand to his chin. "Well boxing is already taken as a non bending art, and it's not exactly earth bending in it's strictest sense since it's supplementary to every blow you dole out if you're out of fist fighting range… It's kinda a… Ah you have no word for this, it's a kaɪˈmɪərə of all the other bending arts. A hybrid creature."

"Hybrid…" Aang said to himself. "Hybrid bending."

"Huh?" Connor asked.

Aang smiled at Connor. "Bending that take's lessons from the other arts, and uses them to their advantage. Hybrid Bending. It's probably been done a whole bunch before, but you're the first person I've ever heard of that was formally trained in fire bending, but is an earth bender."

Connor let out a single "Hah!" Before he kicked at the ground to create a seat for himself. "That sounds like something the master of all four elements is supposed to have under their belt already… You've really never just let a punch fly like a fire bender would, and blown someone off their feet with air?" He asked.

Rather than copy Connor by making a seat, Aang simply sat in a lotus on the ground. "As an Air Nomad, I've sworn an oath to treat all life as sacred. Unnecessary acts of violence go against everything the monks have taught me, and I wouldn't try to hurt anyone unless every other path has been taken." Aang said, putting his fists together and bowing to Connor, seeing their physical training to have been complete.

Connor nodded his head down to return the gesture somewhat halfheartedly. "That seems a bit contradictory, freedom and peace. In my experience to gain one, you have to give up the other, and then the question becomes, which do you hold in higher regard? For me, that'd be freedom."

Aang looked at the ground for a second, before taking a breath. "I'm not sure which to choose…" Aang looked back up at Connor and asked a question. "In Ba Sing Se, before you… Before you shot me… You said that there couldn't be peace with false idols among men… What does that mean?"

Connor bit his tongue for a second, then sighed. "It was an assertion based on the first command that God, the creator of all things, passed down to mankind in my world… It means that there can be no peace in the world, so long as people worship, or see others, be that lesser gods, or other men, as above themselves, or above God the creator… I said what I said to you because at the time I believed you were someone that was worshiped as a false god, and that killing you would end the idolatry, and so anyone who followed you would reject you as a god… I know now I was wrong about you. You really don't act like a man that's worshiped."

"Believe me, I've been there before, it's not all it's cracked up to be." Aang said, looking at the sky. Connor chuckled. Aang glanced at his thumbs. "The reason I asked was because you claimed to be a man of peace, but were willing to kill me if it meant obtaining what you believe to be peace in the end… And that's compromising on your values, though it's only one… I'm going to have to fight the Fire Lord if I want to free all the people that the Fire Nation is oppressing, and I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can go against my vow of peace, and kill him, even if it means that balance would return to the world."

Connor looked over his shoulder for a second. "See here, Aang, I can't tell you what the right answer is. The world's freedom, or your vow of nonviolence. Taking a life is not something to look forward to, for someone your age especially. If you were from where I was from, that decision might be easy, but you're not from my world, so I can't expect this advice to mean much to you, but… Freedom has a cost, it always will, and to borrow the words of my country's leader… "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." For the people of your world to be free, either you, or Ozai, is going to have to die if you come to blows."

Aang closed his eyes and exhaled, before Connor stood up, catching the shorter boy's attention. "But… And this is just between you and me… If you find yourself unable to take his life, and I'm around, well…" Connor said, pulling out his double barrel pistol from it's holster. "I have wanted to see what letting off both barrels into a man's chest would look like…" At Aang's mortified expression, Connor put the gun away. "Kidding… But really, all you need to do is ask."

After being pushed through the prison, Azula was led to an interrogation room in the east block, where she was thrown inside. Stumbling, she turned and saw the door was left open, but four guards stood outside. Two stepped out of the way, and a familiar face entered the room. "Azula…" Mai said flatly.

"Mai…" Azula said, somewhat pleased to see an old friend. "Well this makes things marginally easier… I'm assuming you've come of your own accord to aid in my escape?"

"You've assumed wrong." Mai said, narrowing her eyes, as the small smile Azula had grown, faded away.

On the other side of the block, the warden smirked to himself, as he watched Chit Sang sweat uncomfortably from his position, suspended upside down while cuffed to a chair. "Ready to talk?" The warden asked, Chit Sang nodded quickly, before the prison's two largest guards turned him back right side up, and set the chair down. "Now who all was involved in your escape attempt?"

Chit took a second to catch his breath as all the blood that had pooled in his brain returned to the rest of his body. "There was… There was someone else…"

"Who?" The Warden asked.

"One of the guards… Dirty, real dirty. I don't know his real name, but he said he was a freedom fighter, trying to free those girls. I overheard, and got in on the plan." Chit said.

"Could you give us a description?" The warden asked.

Chit shrugged. "Normal height, tanned, like he works the yard most days. Full head of hair, in a top knot or something. I could point him out if I saw him."

The Warden smiled lightly, before patting Chit Sang on the head. "Very good Chit… If you keep up this kind of good behavior I might be able to pull some strings and knock your sentence down to just twenty five years."

In Azula's interrogation room, Mai stood squarely with Azula, the two not moving from their spots in the room. Azula was the first to speak after a moment of silence. "So, I'm guessing that your uncle told you I was here?"

"Close. He told your father, who told your cousin, Kozato, who I'm tagging along with to help drag you home." Mai said with a shrug.

"And here I thought you would be more loyal than that… Is Ty Lee with you?" Azula asked.

Mai scoffed. "Does it look like she's with me? After you and Zuko betrayed the Fire Nation, she stole a war balloon to go and join you, only to get shot down and charged with treason… She's probably going to be in prison for the rest of her life now."

"You're acting as if it's my fault." Azula said.

"It is your fault, Azula." Mai said sharply. "Everything that you stick your hands into only ever ends in misery and suffering. You ruin people's lives with words alone… You ruined Ty Lee's with that stupid "oh I've a higher calling" letter you left her. You've ruined mine by roping Zuko into your power fantasy of claiming the throne from your father. And now here you are, doing everything you can to ruin your own nation… In league with The Avatar… I just don't understand how you and Zuko could both do something like this."

Azula broke eye contact for only a second. "Ask yourself a question Mai, how far must the Fire Nation have fallen into moral decay, if I, Azula, the fearsome, evil, ruiner of lives, power hungry princess 'betrayed" it? Do you know what my father has planned? He wants to wipe out the other nations entirely."

Mai shrugged. "So?"

"What do you mean, so?" Azula asked in something close to disgust.

Mai shrugged again. "I don't see anything wrong with the Fire Nation getting rid of the dirt people, or the snow savages… In fact, I'm all for it. The sooner the rebels in the Earth Kingdom are taken care of the better, and who cares if the rest of them get killed."

"How can you say that?" Azula asked, "You've met the earth people of Ba Sing Se, they hardly even knew of the war."

Mai pouted. "Those subhuman stone chuckers tried killing me and my entire family almost every day we spent in Omashu… They kidnapped Tomtom… What kind of animal uses a toddler as a hostage? You used to understand that these barbarians were worth putting in their place… Before you fell in love with one of them." Azula grit her teeth at that. Mai puffed a breath through her nose.

Mai looked over her shoulder and out the door. "You left with your brother and your boyfriend, so one of them's got to be close by… Who's here with you?"

Azula set her jaw, and remained silent.

As Sokka slowly made his way towards the east block, he was stopped by four guards, two approaching him from the nearest hallway, and the others coming from behind him. "Hey you, blue eyes, the Warden wants to see you."

Sokka cringed a little. "Can I reschedule? I'm kinda busy right now. I'm sure he'll be able to work me in tomorrow." Sokka said with a shrug, before the two guards behind him grabbed either one of his arms and started dragging him up the central staircase towards the prison's main tower.

Once out in the daylight, Sokka was stood at the end of a row of guards, and his helmet forcefully taken off. He felt himself tense, seeing the Warden facing them all. At his side was Chit Sang.

The Warden looked over the guards in the line up with a smug expression. "One of you is an impostor who thought he could fool me… For your own sake, I'd advise you to come clean and co-operate now, or else your time in my prison is going to become a lot less comfortable." He said, as Chit was ushered up towards the line up.

Standing completely still, Sokka glanced down the rest of the line up, then made eye contact with Chit, who smirked. With no more than an inhale, Sokka watched as Chit Sang turned his attention away from his side of the line up, and held up a finger. "That's him, Sir. That's the guy." Most of the guards turned to look at who was being accused of impersonating a prison guard, and to nobody's surprise, it was Buru, the guard that had only been working at The Boiling Rock for half a year, and was recognized as a nuisance even to the guards. Most of the ones in the line up knew that Buru wasn't an imposter, and that Chit was just getting some payback for being thrown in a cooler, but honestly, none of them cared enough to clear his name, and hardly any of them believed there even was an imposter to begin with.

As Buru was arrested and dragged away, Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, before he and the others were returned to duty.

Stepping off of the gondola, his airship prepared to depart at a moment's notice, Prince apparent Kozato, concealed from the neck down by a red cloak, led a squad of his men through the prison, the sound of metal rattling all the way. Being guided by a guard through the dimly lit lower halls to the man in charge, the young captain's head was fixed forward.

The guard leading him and his men finally stopped at the door of an interrogation room, and Kozato smiled to himself, as the guard opened the door for him. The warden rounded towards the metal creaking, anger already written on his face from whatever he was occupied with, before he calmed down, and just seemed unimpressed. "Prince Apparent Kozato… You're late. The girl you sent ahead this morning is already speaking with the former princess right now."

As the warden spoke, Kozato ducked under the doorframe, and stepped into the room, his head swiveling to look at the guard to his immediate right. The guard, a whole head shorter than the prince to be, visibly swallowed. "I arrived exactly when I intended to… The finishing touches to a recent project had to be completed while docked, and I wouldn't step foot in this nearly condemned stockade without it, knowing who you're keeping here." Kozato said, as he entered deeper into the room, looking over the two guards at the back wall.

"The former princess is secured." The Warden said.

"Really?" Kozato asked, not bothering to glance at the man he was talking to, before he turned and sniffed Buru's hair. "She intentionally gave herself up, and you think she couldn't get out if she wanted to? Something is keeping her here, and I'm willing to bet it's not just the Kyoshi warriors or her trust that I will stop hunting her brother if she comes home…" Kozato looked at the last guard in the room, who turned his attention away from the prince to be. "That is why you kept her alive isn't it? You assumed, incorrectly, that I was coming to take her to her father?"

"Why else would you bother making the trip?" The warden asked, as Kozato returned to his spot just in front of the door.

Ignoring the question, Kozato looked over the warden's shoulder to Buru. "Who is he?"

The warden checked over his own shoulder, finding Buru looking uncomfortable. "An imposter I caught aiding the Kyoshi Warriors in an escape attempt."

The young man looked down at the warden and shook his head. "Takei, your blindness is astounding. I came here because Azula didn't leave the Fire Nation alone. She was traveling with her brother, and a monster she's got on a leash. The fact that she was found, but neither her brother or attack lizard were, tells me that at least one of them, possibly two if her pet has gotten a tan in the last few weeks, are still in your prison roaming free. As well, the Kyoshi Warriors being caught makes it likely Azula herself orchestrated this escape attempt… She's been recruiting." Kozato said, standing up straight, as a new thought entered his mind. "And it's entirely possible she planned for me to act as her ticket out of here… Then where would she?-"

"What?! How?" The Warden asked, interrupting Kozato.

Kozato turned and looked over his shoulder, ducking through the doorway as he left the interrogation room. "I'd lock your prison down, Takei… There's an escape attempt in progress." While the warden scurried away to get control of his prison, Kozato exited the room and walked past his squad, issuing a command. "The plan has changed. You know who we're looking for, find them… And I want them alive now."

Sokka and Zuko both entered the control tower to the general population block, and approached the man at the steam powered, gear driven controls. "Are you two my relief?" He asked, before Zuko executed a near perfect high roundhouse kick, striking the man in the head, and knocking him to the floor where upon impact he fell unconscious.

Sokka looked at Zuko like he'd committed a murder. "What?" Zuko asked.

"He's gonna' wake up now and know that the two new guys let everyone out of their cells!" Sokka said loudly, before he went about pulling the mass door release levers, allowing the prisoners out.

"The tower guard also has a key to the armory." Zuko said, as he knelt down and pulled the key in question off of the man's belt, before handcuffing him with his own shackles. "Besides, if this goes right, we'll be out of here in an hour."

"Oh yeah, we might need guns for this." Sokka said, cringing a little.

"I'll get the weapons, you get our stuff from the closet vent." Zuko said, before the two split up.

Leaving her cell, Suki made eye contact with her warriors, and they all filed outside, crossing Paths with Hakoda, then Zuko, who was carrying over half a dozen flintlock muskets, before everyone was approached by Sokka, who had a knapsack full of his, Zuko's and Azula's personal possessions from before their infiltration, and his sword slung over his back.

"Great, now all we're missing is, Azula." Sokka said, before a hand was clapped on his shoulder.

"Hey!" Chit Sang said. "You're lucky I didn't rat you out."

"And I appreciate that." Sokka said. "Chit, this is my dad, dad, this is Chit… Oh and his girlfriend." Sokka said, pointing to the girl who waved at the older man. Hakoda awkwardly waved back, before Sokka looked up at Chit Sang. "If you're still in on getting out, I could really use some help here."

"Just say what you need." Chis said with a smile.

Sokka grinned. "We need a riot, and I mean, a full blown, prisoners take over the prison sized riot. Think you can manage that?"

Chit smirked. "A riot? Please, that'll be too easy." He said before stepping away, and approaching one of the guards in the yard who looked confused by all of the prisoner's milling around. Picking the smaller man up by his shoulder and leg, Chit shouted out to the yard. "RIOT!" And with that, he threw the guard into a crowd of inmates, who proceeded to beat the guard to a pulp. Suddenly the entire population of the prison erupted into a frenzied mob, as fireballs were thrown, and fights broke out, inmate, guard, it didn't matter, everyone was liable to get sucker punched.

"Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Sokka said.

Chit dusted off his hands as he rejoined the group. "What now?"

In Azula's interrogation room the sounds of the riot outside could be heard echoing through the halls, and Mai made eye contact with Azula who smirked. "Guess that's my exit cue."

Before Mai could move to launch a dart at Azula, the much more agile princes in exile lept into a fire blast assisted backflip over the wooden chair using it as momentary cover from the three darts Mai let fly, which impacted on the wooden backing. Grabbing either side of the piece of furniture, Azula simply chucked it at Mai, who grunted as the chair collided with her. Bolting out the door, and slamming it shut behind her, Azula looked through the little window slit seeing Mai seething at her on the floor. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for all the years I've spent treating you like a pawn… But if you can't see why I'm- WHOA!" Azula shouted ducking down as Mai threw a knife, which flew through the window slit and nearly took Azula's eye. "Ok, I think you need this time out more than I realized." Azula said, before backing away from the door, then taking off. "I am sorry though!" She shouted back to her former friend.

As he exited the hall, Kozato caught a glimpse of a prisoner fleeing an isolation room. Approaching, Kozato found Mai locked inside, and then narrowed his eyes, knowing Azula was the one he'd seen run around the corner. Unlatching the door, Kozato let Mai out of the room, and then continued to walk with his men down the hall towards the prison's central tower.

Not pausing, Kozato issued an order. "Helmet." And shortly after, one of his men placed the fully enclosed piece of steel over his head, his vision restricted to just two small slits over his eyes.

Azula came sliding to a halt in the prison yard, nearly bumping into the rest of the escapee gang, as they ran towards the prison's central tower. Sokka pumped a fist. "Yes! I knew you'd escape on your own. This is perfect."

"What about this is perfect? You started a riot!" Azula shouted. "Was this part of your idiotic "add on" to my plan to simply walk out the front door?!"

"Hey, take it easy. My dad and I came up with it. Trust me we're all getting out of here." Sokka turned to Suki, before the two looked up towards the central tower and spotted the warden. "Ok, now we just need to kidnap the warden."

"Kidnap the!- Are you telling me your plan involves capturing the most guarded man in this prison?" Azula asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Think about it, the guards won't cut the lines to the gondola if their boss is on it. We can still walk right out now that your ride's here. And besides, are you telling me that you can't get him?"

Azula narrowed her eyes, before Suki smirked, and offered a challenge. "Last one to reach him is a spoiled turtle duck egg." Suki said, before she took off into the crowd.

"Oh, no you don't, you little bitch!" Azula said, as she turned towards the tower, and took off.

Hakoda looked down at Zuko as he passed every non bender a musket, paper munition, and powder horns. "You know, I thought you and your sister would be a little more…" Hakoda trailed off.

"Evil?" Zuko offered.

"Mature, but yeah, that too." Hakoda said, as everyone started loading their guns.

Suki jumped up onto the head of a rather stout prisoner, gaining momentum as she bounded off of two taller guards, before kicking off of the wall of the prison's central tower, hooking her foot on a rail hanging from the tower's balcony to swing up onto it, where she was faced with several guards.

Azula saw Suki making far more progress than she had from her spot in the yard, that was until the exiled princess reached the wall of the nearby cell block exterior. Plating her foot against the wall as she impacted it at near full speed, Azula created two large jets of fire from her fists held out behind her, which assisted her in running a short distance up the wall, to the point that she was able to jump away and grab the railing of the tower walkway, and jump up again with the assistance of tow fire jets, projected from her feet this time, to the walkway above. Grabbing the under hanging rail, Azula swung in place for a second, before again blasting fire from her feet to throw her up to the walkway's handrail, where she found the warden, and just past him, Suki.

Azula threw a basic fireball with her fist, and the warden turned to avoid the attack, which landed near Suki, who jumped up and over the blast, before advancing on the distracted warden.

Grabbing him by his wrist, Suki bound the man quickly with her own cloth belt, before slamming him into the wall as Azula approached. "Guess we know who the rotten turtle duck egg is?" Suki said with a grin.

"I cannot fathom how you were able to reach him before me." Azula said, before looking at the Warden. "Shouldn't we gag him?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." Suki said, as she pulled the man's headband down, spun it around his head, and forced the knot into his mouth, where it was tightened.

As the two girls pulled the warden off the wall, the others, having had to take the much more conventional stairs, were all slightly winded. Upon seeing the Warden tied up, Hakoda nodded. "Where did you find these two?" He asked his son.

"Actually, both of them found me." Sokka said before huffing.

Immediately making their way up the tower's central stairwell, the group was faced with not only the four firebenders of the prison guard, but also half a dozen men, armed with short muskets, wearing a strange uniform that not even Azula recognized.

The Firebenders were the first to react, throwing two blasts of fire at the group, which Zuko and Azula both took turns defusing with their own bending, as Chit held the warden out in front of him like a human shield. The uniformed men all readied their carbines, though remained tense seeing the hostage in their line of fire.

"Step out of the way." Sokka said, sword drawn. Hesitantly, the guards and uniformed men made room for the group to pass through, but everyone kept up their weapons or fists. Once past the guards, the escapees picked up the pace, reaching the gondola station, before Azula caught sight of something strange.

From the staircase of the central tower emerged a tall man covered in a red cloak, with a shining steel helmet covering his entire head, and what looked like a platoon of men behind him, all armed with carbines. Then from behind the man, Azula saw Mai appear. Almost instantly Azula knew who she was looking at. Kozato, the cousin her father had named as heir to the throne, approached.

As everyone piled into the gondola, Azula looked between the control lever beside the cable mechanism, and her approaching enemy. Pushing the lever forward, and starting the cable car's slow accent towards the prison's exterior wall, Azula then created a bright blue flame at her fingertips, and used it to melt through the thin metal of the lever arm, preventing anyone from being able to stop or return the cart from the prison tower. Azula stepped away from the gondola station, while the rest of her friends took notice that she was still on the tower. "What is she doing!?" Sokka asked, as everyone watched her from afar.

Kozato stopped his march, and his men ceased their movements. The others lowered their weapons. Mai stood to the left of Kozato, and scowled at Azula, who ignored her in favor of accosting her cousin. "So, father's named you as the new heir?" Azula asked. "It has been a while since the extended family's been gathered. I'm assuming the last time we met, I had probably just been born."

Kozato tilted his head up. "Actually I was there for your brother's Agni Kai with your father…" His voice was slightly muffled from inside of his helmet. "You've grown, but not by much… Though what I've heard you've accomplished since then is rather impressive."

"Care for a demonstration?" Azula asked, widening her stance, left foot forward of her right, body bladed sideways, right fist cocked back over her head, and left held out towards Kozato.

"Please, do… And don't worry about everyone else…" Kozato looked over his shoulder at his company. "All men, at ease. No one is to interfere with our fight."

"Kozato!" Mai said.

"I said, no one is to interfere with our fight!…" Kozato nearly hissed at her. "There are plays yet to be made in this game which you could not possibly know of." Kozato turned his helmeted head back to Azula, as Mai reluctantly stepped out of harm's way. "Let us fight."

Azula smirked, and stepped forward, throwing her fight fist out, along with a massive gout of blue flames, the burst of fire completely covering Kozato, for all of two seconds, before the from the blue blaze, which turned a bright orange, Kozato emerged unscathed, the red cloak he wore burning away. To Azula's surprise, The man beneath the cloak, was covered, head to toe in shining steel armor, which left not even a gap in it's joints that fire could slip into. On his left hip, sat what Azula knew to be a pistol, though far larger than what Connor had carried.

Kozato, who had shielded his eyes with his left forearm, grabbed the burning cloak over his shoulders, and ripped it away, tossing the garment aside, before throwing an unconventional underhand palm strike, his finger's played wide, but curled, creating a low angled fire blast which fanned out like four individual streams of their own lashing up towards her in a wave.

Taking a step back, recognizing the attack as one from the Qiu Hu school of firebending, Azula spun and kicked a blade of her own blue fire across the four waves, breaking the attack. Kozato jumped forward, mobility unimpaired by his armor, and first kicked another blast of fire at her, before landing, ripping his left hand back, and right hand across Azula's own blue blade of fire, tearing the attack apart before it could hit him, before thrusting his left back forward in another splayed palm strike, the attack breaking up into a cluster of four smaller fire blasts

Sidestepping the flying kick's blast of fire, Azula then used her jet propulsion to rocket herself up into the air, flipping backwards before landing on the roof of the gondola station, dodging the four incoming trails of fire in the process. Azula felt as if there was only one option left if her cousin was wearing a suit of armor capable of withstanding fire.

Quickly, though carefully, Azula extended two fingers on each hand, separating the chi within her body, before arching her arms in a wide circle, electricity crackling in the air from her nails before she drew her right hand back towards her stomach, then released a bolt of lighting, her two fingers pointed at Kozato.

The thunder clap was immediate, and echoed across the mid day air, but after the brilliant flash of blue light, Azula was surprised to find that Kozato, though having stumbled back, and looking confused, was still standing. Once he'd stabilized himself, the armored prince to be, patted his chest where the bolt had only left a sooty black stain on the armor there, before he looked down at his leg and hands.

As Azula broke her stance, Kozato looked up at her, and the former princess swore that she heard her cousin mockingly say, "Heh." Seeing this as a sign she should leave, Azula turned and ran towards the still moving cable behind her. Jumping onto the line, only managing to grab hold of the wire with one hand, she started to swing, one arm after another, towards the gondola as the cable moved with her.

Inside of the gondola, the warden, left unattended, as everyone was enthralled by Azula's fight, was able to unknot his restraints, and pull the gag free from his mouth. Leaning his head out the window, he shouted as loudly as he could to the guards of the gondola station. "CUT THE LINE!"

Snapping into action, the six gondola station guards jammed the cable's spool, causing the gondola to come to a halt. Azula nearly lost her grip as the cable shook, before she reached the cable car, and dropped down onto it's roof. Zuko helped her back inside, as Hakoda, Chit and two Kyoshi warriors all wrestled the warden to the floor, and tied him up again.

Kozato meanwhile, displeased with the Warden's orders, issued his own command, aided by the drawing of his pistol, and the rest of his men raising their rifles at the six gondola guards. "As you were!" Once the guards raised their hands in a confused surender, Kozato, six shot pistol still drawn, kicked the bar being used to jam the cable spool out of place, letting the car resume movement.

"What are you doing, Kozato?" Mai asked. "We could have dropped them all into the lake!"

Kozato rounded towards Mai as she approached, and she thought he had growled. "No... Let them run…" He turned and watched as his prey continued to slip away, before shouting to his men. "MESSENGER SERGEANT!" The soldier in question broke from the crowd, a small hawk cage on his back. "Emergency request for transportation. I need an airship at the Boiling Rock within the day!"

On board the gondola, Azula watched as Kozato had had one of his men release a messenger hawk, and in the pit of her stomach, knew that nothing good would come of it. Soon free from the island, the group of escaping inmates and imposter guards, took the airship docked just beyond the exterior walls with little resistance from the skeleton crew running it, and set their course for the Western Air Temple.

It was nearly daybreak by the time the group of escapee's had reached the Western Air Temple. Sokka, Zuko and Azula, had plenty of time to change out of their prison garb and back into their usual clothing, and with a mild dose of precaution, Sokka sounded the airship's horn to wake everyone, as Zuko stood on the airship's handing carriage, waving to whoever might see him, which as it turned out, was The Duke, who'd gotten up to use the bathroom.

As the rest of the gang came out to find the group docking the airship on the ledge of the temple, to their complete astonishment, Azula was the first one to step off. "We're back." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"What are you doing in this thing?" Katara asked, in shock, as Zuko and Sokka came out of the airship. "What happened to the balloon?"

"Sank it in a lake." Zuko said with a shrug.

"Wow, must have been one crazy fishing trip." Aaing said, raising an eyebrow.

"And about that…" Azula started.

"They weren't actually out fishing." Connor said, as he approached from behind the gang, before embracing Azula. "You got caught, didn't you?" He asked with a small smile.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle." Azula said with a smirk.

"So what were you three doing if you didn't go fishing?" Toph asked.

Sokka shrugged, before stepping off of the airship and onto the Temple floor. "Oh you know, just, freeing a few inmates from the most secure prison in the Fire Nation." He said casually as Suki, the four other Kyoshi warriors, Chit, his girlfriend, and finally Hakoda, came out of the airship.

"Dad…" Katara said, before she rushed into her father's arms.

"Hi, Katara." Hakoda said, embracing his daughter.

Amid the tender moment, Azula was the first to break the silence, and the embrace she shared with Connor. "This is cute and all… But I would like to mention that we've got a new problem."

All eyes turned to Azula. "What kind of problem?" Haru asked.

Azula looked around to make sure she had everyone's attention before speaking. "My cousin, Kozato Masashi, has been sent to kill us…"

AN: So who guessed Kozato was going to get a full suit of armor? It is fire proof, obviously since he's hunting Azula and Zuko, and it is indeed acting as a faraday suit, an unintended, but welcome advantage... And oh, it gets so much worse, but that's a spoiler.

As for Kozato's fighting style, he practices the "tiger-dillo" firebending form. It is loosely based on Hung Gar Tiger Fist, which involves striking AND wrestling. In the story it originated in the Fire Nation colonies only 30 years ago, created by Fire bending colony criminals to beat Fire Nation guard and army fire benders in fights. The splayed and curled fingers are used to "rip" other fire bending attacks apart defensively, while the palm strikes used in the follow up offer offensive power. As such, it is the only fire bending form that focuses (at least initially) on defence. Kozato picked it up during his time in the army, and as he's found he is better at it than more traditional forms.

...

On the flip side, Connor is introducing Aang to western fighting styles, being that good old fashioned boxing. To us modern viewers, Connor's "fighting irish" stance might look odd, but this was a form of fighting from before boxing gloves, or gloves of any kind (MMA gloves) being worn during matches, and there were hardly any rules. The entire point of that old school stance was to protect the head through range, the body with the trail arm, and the hands by using mostly palm strikes, but the knuckles would still be used for body shots, or back fists. Connor has of course beat his knuckles to the point he can clock someone full in the head with them and not care.

It's a period correct stance/style, and above all, it's effective for the era it evolved in, and the situations where it's been used against east asian inspired martial arts.

As for its incorporation into bending, eh, we'll see.