Morality Chain
I AM BAD AT UPDATING
I think this is gonna be a long one. Let's go.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Update: I revised the last few sections just a tiny bit.
Azula,
This is kinda hard for me to write, to tell you the truth. I'm not usually the kind who sits and thinks deeply about my place and my relationships. But I guess you'd already know that, wouldn't you?
But I guess that's also why I'm doing it like this. I don't really know how to say this to you. In person, I mean. Even if I prepared some grand speech and rehearsed everything you'd still probably ask me questions and then I'd lose my train of thought and then I wouldn't know what to say.
I never know what to say when you start questioning me.
Sorry, I got distracted again. But I guess this kinda shows that this is pretty hard for me.
It's about my leaving to join the circus all those years ago.
If we were talking this would be the part where you shake your head and tell me that it's in the past, it doesn't matter any more, and that I should just let it go. But that's the thing, Azula. I can see it in your eyes. Whenever you get reminded, you get the look in your eyes. The same look when you first heard the news.
You haven't been able to let it go any more than I have.
I know you don't think I pay that much attention to a lot of things. I guess that's kinda true. But when something's important to me, I do. I really do.
You were important to me, Azula. You still are.
And that's why I know how much it hurt you.
I wasn't lying when I said I left for my own sake. It was stifling, being a part of so many identical siblings. I kept feeling like no one in my family ever saw me. They just saw us, as a set.
I wanted to be an individual. I wanted people to notice me, Ty Lee. So that's why I left.
I did it for me. But it didn't just affect me. I guess that's one of the things about relationships. Everything you do will affect those close to you.
I don't know if you'll believe me or if this even means anything to you, but I always wished there was a way to follow my dream without having to leave you. In the end, I stayed as long as I did because of you.
You paid attention to me, Azula. You came to me and talked to me and made me your friend. I'm still not really sure why you thought I was worthy of your attention, but it made me happy. It made me happy that someone saw me as an individual.
I think you knew that all along, to be honest. You saw someone who'd latch onto you easily once you just gave them a little bit of time and you enjoyed it. But I still get the feeling that you really did enjoy the time we spent together. Me, you, and Mai. Even if it was for a kinda selfish reason, it was still real. That's what I want to believe, anyway.
I hope that makes sense.
And I think that's part of why it hurt so much. By leaving I was indirectly saying that it wasn't enough any more. That your approval, your friendship wasn't enough.
And yeah, I know that at the end of the day, I was being a bad friend. Maybe it would have been an easier decision to make if Zuko and Mai were still there and you wouldn't have been left all alone. For the longest time, all I could think about was how lost and lonely you looked when you realized I really was leaving for good.
Because our friendship not being 'enough' was just one reason, after all. There was another, bigger reason. I was leaving you alone. I was the only friend you had left in the palace and I'd had to have been blind to not realize you were leaning more and more on me. Right now I can picture you with a huff and telling me not to be ridiculous, but it's true, Azula. You know it is. I was the only real support you had left in there.
Leaving you was selfish of me. I was... well, up to that point I admit I was feeling a little tired. If I'd stayed there it would have been for someone else's sake. I wanted to do something for my own.
In a better world, I wouldn't have had to make that choice. But I did, and things are the way they are now.
When I saw you again, after three years, I really was so happy, Azula! But there was also always this small part of me that was worried. Worried about what you would say. But you didn't even bring it up. For a while I thought it really was because you'd left it behind. But when I watched you more I realized you were just trying to keep it hidden. Because you wanted to focus on the mission? Because you were trying to be kind to me even though you still hadn't quite forgiven me yet? No, that's not like you, is it, Azula?
In some ways that just made it worse than if you'd been open about it.
Spirits, this is even harder to write than I thought it would be. My thoughts are kinda all over the place about this.
But I guess if I cut away all the guesses and excuses and everything, this is what it boils down to.
I want to make it up to you. I really do. That's really why I even agreed to join you for the whole Avatar-hunting quest in the first place.
But this isn't working. It can't keep going on like this.
(X)
For one brief, endless moment, everything was completely still as all parties present tried to absorb the current situation and to figure out something to do about it.
The moment passed and three things happened at exactly the same instant.
The boy swung a sword at her. Even in the brief glimpse she had of the weapon as she side-stepped the hasty attack, she could tell that it was extremely well-crafted and made out of some strange black metal.
Zuko stepped forward, a blaze of flame shooting from his outstretched arm and searing towards the two of them. The peasant's eyes widened in surprise and the angle of his sword shifted, enough to block the blow and prevent it from striking it directly. However, that meant that he was forced to break off his offensive.
And from around the corner, five prison guards appeared, clearly intent on pursuit. Of them or the water tribe boy and Suki, Azula couldn't say, but at that moment the distinction appeared to be academic.
Azula quickly considered her options. She could stay and make a fight of it; this lot wasn't going to be anything she couldn't handle. But that would take time, and would attract more attention. Plus the water peasant and the girl were still right there and Azula didn't want to take the chance that they could pull a fast one while she was distracted.
No, the best option right now was to evade any pursuers, and find someplace where they could catch their breath and come up with a new plan.
"This way!" judging from Zuko's yell, he had apparently gotten the same idea, and pivoting on her heel Azula hurried to join him. Mai and Ty Lee followed, the former pausing briefly to fling a knife at the oncoming guards before hurrying after them.
As they headed down the corridor and prepared to turn the corner, Azula took a final glance back at the peasant and Suki as the two ran off in a different direction. Shaking her head once, she cast them out of her mind and continued running.
(X)
Zuko pressed himself against the wall, watching closely as the pair of guards walked by.
After a long moment, he nodded, certain that they hadn't spotted him as they carried out their patrol.
Truth be told, he was still a little surprised that he had managed to evade discovery or capture for as long as he had. After all the guards would know the layout of the place better than any of them, and would presumably be acquainted with the nooks and crannies of the Boiling Rock.
Not to mention that with the alert sent, all prisoners were supposed to leave the buildings and assemble in the courtyard for inspection while the guards searched the place. And in that case it would only be a matter of time before they found their hiding spot.
Which meant they would have to do something, and soon. Backing up several steps he turned and retreated to the hiding place they had chosen for themselves.
"We need a plan," he said as he turned back to face the rest of the gang. As he did so, he shifted his gaze over to the spot they had chosen to hide out in: The Warden's office.
It was an absurd choice for a hiding place and so of course it had worked out perfectly; news of suspicious going-ons on the Boiling Rock would have forced the Warden out of his room in order to figure out just what was going on, and no one would suspect of people attempting to break out of heading to the offices of the man in charge.
No, the first major sweeps would be focused in the living areas of the prisoners, which meant that they had bought themselves some precious time with which to figure out what to do next.
"We have to assume they've impounded our airship," Azula said without turning around, her arms crossed. She had been staring at the wall with a ferocious intensity ever since they had entered the room and Zuko didn't need to be her brother to know she had been mentally kicking herself for forgetting about hiding the airship.
Such carelessness was really unlike her and that probably made it sting all the more.
"So... that means we don't have a way off the island?" Ty Lee glanced back and forth.
"Not unless there are ships scheduled to be doing a supply run," Mai said as she turned over a couple of papers on the warden's desk. "And even in that case it'll be difficult to sneak on board those things without being spotted. And if the alert's sent out there'll probably be other ships in the area that can intercept us."
"No," Azula said after a moment of silence. "There's another airship. Or at least there'll be one."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ty Lee's face was etched into a frown, but Zuko's own eyes had widened.
"Tomorrow... that guard said that tomorrow morning they're getting a huge batch of prisoners from the Day of Black Sun invasion."
"And the only way for them to have moved so many prisoners from the capital to here in two days is by airship," Azula nodded. "So, if we can make our way on board that we can grab that ship for ourselves. And airships are still new enough that that'll probably be the only one for miles around, so we won't run into enemy ships after that."
"That still means we need to remain hidden for a day while the entire prison is in lockdown." Mai's voice was mild. "Not to mention that with people running loose they may decide to delay transporting the new prisoners in."
"Fine. So, let's assume they're not stupid and they won't bring in a potential escape route as long as they believe we're on the loose. Where does that leave us?"
"Far up North and without a star to guide us," Zuko said under his breath. One of Uncle's sayings, he half-remembered, and one appropriate to the situation.
"There is always the brute force method," Azula said as she pretended she hadn't heard Zuko, "Find someone who can pull the strings – like your Uncle – and make him let us go. A healthy application of self-interest should help with that."
"I wish," Mai shook her head. "But my Uncle's always made a big deal about how he'd rather jump into the lake than let a single prisoner escape from the island – at least, he did that during our reunion feasts. I don't think that's changed."
"Vice-warden then," Azula said without missing a beat.
"Do they even have a Vice-Warden?"
"Well, we may need to find out. The more time we leave them to react, the more time it gives for them to inform others that we're here."
"Well, the more time we spend stuck here the more likely we are to be discovered and caught."
Zuko paused, head bowed in thought. Then, after a long moment, he spoke.
"Right now... right now they're all convinced that they're in search of a group of people breaking in. That's not something that happens everyday, but it's something they've been trained about. Something they expect. They'll know the standard steps they're supposed to take for situations like this."
Azula raised an eyebrow. "There's a 'but,' isn't there?"
"But. What if the situation became even more chaotic? What if everything, and I mean everything, was too messed up for the situation to still work normally?"
"What, like we go and start blowing stuff up?"
"No, no. If anything, they'll understand an attack and how to respond. Like, for example, if one of us pretended to surrender and offered to lead them to the others while the others run around and play keep-away or something."
"So you're hoping we can just confuse them enough to let us go?" Mai raised an eyebrow in open scepticism, but Azula's brow was furrowed in thought.
"No, I think Zuko might be on the right track. If anything, he didn't go far enough with it," Azula's face was knotted with concentration. "We need to disorient them enough so that they don't know what's going on. Enough so that all their standard drills and trainings won't apply. Once they're all unsure of what to do next, we'll be able to find a crack we can take advantage of."
"Well, okay!" Ty Lee nodded and jumped up, already stretching in anticipation of a workout. "So what should we do?"
"We could give one of ourselves up first and -" before Zuko could continue, there was a crackling sound and the four of them tensed up.
The loudspeaker in the corner of the room fizzed again slightly before a voice began speaking through it. "Attention, attention. We have located one of the intruders in the vicinity of Block D. Individual is believed to be a male Water Tribesman. All available hands, proceed to secure his capture."
"... Or we could let the other intruders go through the trouble for us." Azula tapped her chin thoughtfully. "They're in trouble and obviously their own plans haven't gone as well as they liked. If we can take advantage of them..."
"You mean, help them or make them get captured?"
"I don't think getting them captured will help us much," Azula shrugged. "But you never know. It'd probably be more useful to try to find out just what they're up to. We should probably go scout them out and see just what their situation is before we act, though. So... we split up."
"Then... Mai, we'll go look for the boy," Zuko looked over to her, who lowered her head in acknowledgement.
"All right then, Ty Lee. You're with me."
"Okay!"
With a nod to each other, the four of them prepared to leave the room. If nothing else, at least they now had a plan.
(X)
Sokka recalled with fondness the time when things had been going somewhat according to plan.
After all, the plan had been simple. And, ignoring the obvious point that a simple plan was usually a plan which did not properly account for the myriad ways that things could go horribly wrong, Sokka liked plans that were simple.
After rescuing Suki from the Fire Nation Capital (and while Sokka hated that it had been a diversionary tactic that ensured they wouldn't find the Fire Lord in time, he was still glad that they had chosen Suki to be the bait), he had at one point mentioned his anger at being unable to save his dad, or any of the other Water Tribesmen.
Well, not so much 'mentioned' as 'went on a long, bitter tirade about it,' but that came to the same thing in the end. At least, insofar that it had convinced Suki to mention to him later that there was a top-security Fire Nation prison where lots of high-profile prisoners of war were also being kept.
It also hadn't been his wisest move to blurt out "High-profile? So what were you doing there, then?" That had earned him a frosty glare from Suki, but Sokka had managed to mollify her by pointing out that it wasn't a slight against her capabilities, merely a simple statement that the Kyoshi Warriors were not high on the Fire Nation priority list.
Skipping past that, Suki's mentioning of this so-called 'Boiling Rock' had piqued Sokka's interest. If that was a place where high-profile prisoners were kept... well, chief of the Southern Water Tribes was as high-profile as it got, wasn't it?
Of course, that had been the first wrinkle in the plan – Sokka had planned on sneaking off alone.
It had been an hour since night had fallen. Sokka lay still, listening to the sound of deep, regular breathing all around him.
Now.
Slowly, gingerly, he folded back his blanket. Sitting up, he took a quick glance over to his room-mate. Aang was sleeping like a baby. As always.
Nodding with satisfaction, Sokka slipped the note he'd written beforehand onto the bedside table and headed out into the courtyard.
The bundle of supplies he'd packed was still hidden in the alcove he'd shoved it earlier. Retrieving it hastily, he quickly tiptoed over to where Appa was sleeping. Or, well, was supposed to be sleeping. Appa was awake, if a little groggy. Before Sokka could really ponder the cause behind that, though...
"What took you so long?" the voice, spoken in a casual whisper from above him, nearly made Sokka jump out of his skin.
"WAUGH!"
"Quiet, stupid. They'll hear you," Suki leaned over the edge of Appa's saddle and offered Sokka a hand to help him climb on board. "And hurry up."
"Suki? What – how – but..." he stared at her with a stupefied expression on his face even as he instinctively grabbed her hand and allowed himself to be hauled on board. "What are you doing here?"
"Coming with you, of course," Suki raised an eyebrow. "What, you really thought you'd pulled the web-wool over our eyes or something? I could read it all over your face, Sokka. After I told you about the Boiling Rock and the words 'war prisoners' this crazy idea was already planted in your head."
"Yeah, but this is – this is something I have to do alone," Sokka swallowed. "My dad – all the prisoners during the Black Sun invasion came because I made a bad call. I'm the one who has to fix this."
"And you're going to do this 'alone' by taking Appa," Suki raised an eyebrow.
"... Okay, fine. But that doesn't mean I'm letting you come along, Suki," Sokka's face hardened as he looked at her. "If I screw up, you'll end up becoming their prisoner again. We only just rescued you, you know."
"I know. That place was hell on earth," Suki gazed back at him, her expression just as determined. "And that's exactly why I'm coming. I know what it's like to suffer in there, and if I can help save just one more person from it, I'm willing to risk it all."
Sokka sat there in silence for a long moment before uttering a single, "Huh."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Nothing, I just..." Sokka shook his head once. "I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you."
Suki reached over and swatted him in the side of the head, "Hurry up and let's get going. If we hurry we'll still be able to reach that place under cover of darkness."
Still, even in the gloom of night, Sokka didn't miss the blush on her cheeks as she turned away.
A smile on his face, he clambered over and tugged at Appa's reins. "Yip yip, Appa. Let's go!"
And things had gone to plan for a while after that. They had made it to the Boiling Rock with time to spare, was able to land and find a shaded outcropping where Appa could rest until they came back to retrieve him.
And then they had managed to sneak onto the island, and the next step would be to find out more about new prisoners or any news about the fallout from the Black Sun invasion.
And then things had gone rather spectacularly wrong. Sokka had decided the best way to sneak around would be to get guard uniforms to blend in with the rest of the Boiling Rock's guards, but upon making their way to a storeroom they were met with a pair of angry guardsmen discussing the fact that someone had just stolen several sets of guard uniforms.
So that was plan A shot. And before Sokka had time to sit and think about what it meant that someone else had stolen uniforms too, an alarm had sounded through the building, and several more guards had rounded the corner, clearly intent on carrying out a search.
And then things started to go really wrong. For one, in their bid to escape they had accidentally run into the Fire Princess and her... travelling companions? Maidservants? Sokka wasn't sure, but that was academic, really. For once Azula hadn't appeared too interested in hunting him down, which didn't make much sense but Sokka wasn't one to look a gift horse-seal in the mouth.
And then, he'd been separated from Suki. Sokka honestly didn't know how that had happened. One moment both of them had been ducking and weaving through the halls to escape, the next moment he'd glanced over his shoulder and Suki was just gone. He hadn't heard any of the guards yelling about her so it didn't seem as if she'd been captured, but that still left him in the dark about her whereabouts.
And then he'd ended up cornering himself in what appeared to be a dead end room with a single exit. One that, from his current hiding spot, he could see was currently very well guarded. And moving to another hiding spot was going to be difficult too from the looks of things, given there was a guard standing just outside his current spot.
"Now what?" while Sokka didn't like to flaunt it (much), he liked to think of himself as an Ideas Guy. But right now, he was out of ideas. Maybe if he knew a little more about the layout of the place... but it was going to be difficult enough to evade capture by the guards, never mind doing that and figuring out the inner workings of the compound at the same time.
"Hey," a voice jerked Sokka out of his thoughts and he belatedly noticed that the guard standing nearby had moved closer. "What are you doing here?"
The question was unexpected enough that Sokka merely blinked in response instead of answering, and he looked up into the face of the guard as the guard removed the mask covering his face – and Sokka blanched.
Does the universe REALLY have it out for me or something? Sokka thought as he gazed into the scarred face of the Fire Nation prince.
(X)
Pressing against the wall, Suki risked a quick glance around the corner to ascertain there were no guards there before quickly ducking into the alcove.
This wasn't good. Based on the announcement, Sokka was now in trouble, and she needed to find a way to get over there and help him.
Block D, however, was nearly halfway across the compound. And the guards were all on high alert, which complicated matters even further.
Suki resisted the urge to sigh. Getting separated from Sokka had been bad enough, but Suki couldn't even place where exactly it had happened. A wrong turn somewhere? But it also wasn't as if she could have turned back to look for him at any point.
At least now she had a general idea of his location. That was something to go on, something she could focus on right now.
There was still the bigger problem of how they were going to find Sokka's dad, but things could be taken one step at a time.
As she neared the next corner, her lips pursed in annoyance. She had managed to shake off direct pursuit by the guards, but they had also become more methodical in their attempts to corral and capture the intruders. Guards were now stationed at junctions all through the complex, making it nearly impossible for people to move through undetected.
The keyword being 'nearly', of course.
She gave a quick scan of the wall in front of her, noting the imperfections and grooves in the haphazardly placed metal sheets. She briefly recalled old tales of how the first inmates to the Boiling Rock had been the ones to build the complex up. Well, it certainly showed.
And if nothing else, she could be grateful for it now.
Taking one quick glance to ensure she didn't have any pursuers, she leaped upwards, grasping onto a metal bar. Swinging herself up onto this makeshift perch, she then shuffled along until she was closer to the building across her – and almost above one oblivious guard standing watch.
Nodding, Suki then threw herself forward into a graceful leap, hands reaching out to grasp onto the wall. Her arm muscles tensed, arresting the momentum of her forward swing as much as possible to prevent her kicking too hard against the metal sheets and making any noise.
So far so good. Shimmying across the wall, Suki paused to align herself as much as possible with her next jumping target and leapt towards it. Her hands closed around another metal bar and -
SKKRREAAAKKK!
With the screech of tortured metal, the far end of the bar gave way, sending Suki scrabbling uselessly as she tried to gather enough momentum to jump to another foothold. As startled shouts sounded from the guards below her, for some reason Suki felt unreasonably upset that a maximum security prison like the Boiling Rock had construction shoddy enough to come apart from the weight of single athletic body.
Well, there were more important things to worry about a the moment, like the guards raising the alarm, and finding a way to escape pursuit once more. And finding Sokka, of course, if she could scrape up the time to fit that into the schedule for her day.
Kicking against the wall (no sense in worrying about making noise now), Suki managed to swing over to a higher level of the building's outer corridor and pulled herself over it, leaving her on solid ground again. Any comfort she took in this fact was somewhat ruined by there being two of the prison guard rushing her, one on each side.
As the first neared and swung at her with his baton, she ducked under it, one hand swinging up to divert the momentum of her charge into the wall beside him. Unable to stop himself, he smashed temple first into the wall, his helmet making a lovely clanging noise as he did so. He fell to the ground and did not move.
The second was slightly more skilled, and if Suki had to guess, he'd seen action before on the frontlines of the war. She dodged the first two of his strikes, hopping backwards nimbly and as he closed for a third attack she rammed a fist into his midsection. A terminated yell of pain was her reward, but she had already turned away, eyes scanning the nearby area for a way out.
She considered scaling the walls once more – but there were already soldiers running up and from the looks of things they were preparing to hurl fire at her, and she decided she wasn't quite comfortable enough with the situation to attempt evading them in broad daylight.
Well, there was a doorway directly to her left...
Pausing for one last quick glance around her, Suki ducked into the doorway, closing her eyes for a brief second as she left the brightness outside into the gloomy halls of the prison.
Suddenly she felt the shift in the air and realized she was in danger. Instinctively she dodged to the right – not quite fast enough. She felt a dull impact in her shoulder and suddenly she realized that her right arm wasn't responding.
Her eyes snapped open and she saw yet another of the guards charging her and swinging his baton. Suki didn't know if there had been specific orders that she and Sokka were to be brought in alive, but based on his movements she doubted that her opponent cared if he accidentally smashed her head in with one of his wild swings.
She weaved to the side, narrowly avoiding another strike. His momentum carried him forward, leaving him in a perfect position to be counterattacked – except that he was on the side of her bad arm and she didn't feel confident enough in twisting around to strike him with her left instead.
All of a sudden a blur descended from the ceiling – Suki had the brief impression of something pink – landing hard on the back of the Fire Nation guard. He let out a muffled yell of protest even as he collapsed, and the blur quickly sharpened into the image of a young girl – one that Suki recognized.
"You...?" was all she managed in a bewildered tone.
"Hey! I'm glad to see you're still doing well!" Ty Lee smiled and nodded. "You looked like you could have used some help though, so I decided to step in."
"Yes, and there'll be more of them on the way," another voice came from the shadows and Suki had to fight to keep her expression composed as the princess of the Fire Nation came into view. "And that looks like a nasty bruise on your shoulder, so unless you want to be left fending off Agni-knows how many guards while wounded..."
She paused and Suki could swear that her smile grew just a very little bit wider.
"You'll come along with us."
(X)
Night had fallen on the Boiling Rock.
Guards still stood on guard and went on patrol, but now there was a general sense of unease. They had found the intruders during the afternoon, but then, somehow, they had lost them again.
Matters were not helped by the fact that they still had trouble agreeing on just how many intruders there were. Reports varied from two to six and any number in between.
And of course, there was the fact that finding them was only half of the battle. Reports had agreed that the intruders, whoever they might be, were extremely skilled in combat, and most of the squads unlucky enough to encounter any of them were usually found unconscious and lying in a heap by their colleagues. Their ability to simply outfight anyone they ran into was in fact the major issue with setting up a sweep off the place and slowly cornering them.
And of course time was slowly ticking for them – the prisoners from the eclipse invasion were due to arrive in the morning, and it was unlikely they'd respond kindly to being told the Boiling Rock was on lockdown.
So basically, things are going about as well as we could hope for, Zuko thought to himself as he peered up at the imposing structure of the prison from behind a boulder. Well, it was easier to hide here in the rocky shore of the lake than within the compound itself, not to mention harder for the guards to conduct effective searches.
"And I still don't know why you think doing this isn't just going to make them clamp down on the place like, even more." Zuko then became aware that the Water Tribesman was finally winding up his long rant and turned around to look at him. As he did so, he caught a glance of Mai out of the corner of his eye, and while he would never claim something like telepathy, he could tell that she was seriously considering chucking him into the lake below them and being done with it.
"Maybe it will," Zuko said, and that statement apparently surprised the boy into being silent – at least for the moment. "But right now, we're just trying to put as much pressure on them as possible to try and make them slip up."
"Oh sure, that's a plan," at this point, Zuko was starting to wonder if anything that wasn't sarcastic ever came out of the Water Tribesman's mouth. "Sure, might as well go with it then."
"Do you have any better ideas?" In the back of his mind he realized that them provoking each other probably wasn't a good idea at all but hang it all, he was pretty annoyed right now.
"What, you're asking your prisoner to give you plans?"
"I told you, you're not a prisoner; this is a just a truce until we can get off this stupid rock!"
"Sure thing." the boy folded his arms and leaned back against a one of the less jagged rocks in the area. "Because, and offence intended, I trust you to keep your word about as much as I myself to give up on eating meat."
"... You know, handing you over to the prison guards is still a totally viable option we have yet to explore."
"If you two are quite finished," Mai inclined her head to the side slightly. "Azula's just made it here."
Zuko turned to see three dark shapes moving slowly but surely towards their hiding spot – the third shape staying a noticeable distance away from the first two. He also didn't fail to notice the Water boy's breaking into a smile of relief as he noted their approach.
"Suki!" he said in a shouting whisper once he was certain they were in hearing distance, and upon hearing this the new girl's – Suki, Zuko supposed – head snapped up.
"Sokka!" suddenly heedless of Azula and Ty Lee, the girl quickened her pace, practically launching herself into the boy's arms.
For his own part, Zuko offered a smile to his sister. "You made it."
"Was there ever any doubt?" the smile was returned.
"How'd you know where to find us, anyway?"
"Truthfully? I didn't. But I suppose we both realized it'd be easier to hide out here in the rocks than anywhere in the compound. And I see we both decided to bring the other set of intruders along."
"Don't remind me." Zuko glanced over his shoulder at Sokka. "Do you have any idea how long it took to convince him I wasn't here to catch him and throw him in jail?"
"Is that why you have a cut on your sleeve and he has a burn mark on his tunic?"
"I prefer not to think about it right now."
At that moment he heard a hiss of pain from the girl and they both turned to see her wincing as Sokka started fussing over her.
"Suki? What happened? Are you okay? Did they... did they do this to you?"
"No, it's okay. They..." Suki paused. "I got injured, and they helped me."
"They did? Why?"
"Because," Azula said as she walked over. "I want to get off this island. And so do you."
"Ok, yeah, that's the part that's not making much sense, because last I checked, this prison was Fire Nation, and so are you."
Azula fixed him with a withering glare and while Sokka looked visibly nervous – he was, after all, outnumbered and outmatched – he stood his ground and fixed her with his own hostile gaze.
After a moment of silence, Azula sighed and nodded once. "So I am. But that doesn't change the fact that I want off this Agni-forsaken rock."
"You're really -" Sokka glanced over in the direction of building, at the searchlights still visible in the distance. "You're really not with the rest of them anymore? What, the country decided your nastiness, evil, and general unpleasantness was too much for even them and-"
"Stop it!" Ty Lee whirled to face him, her fists clenched tightly.
"No, it's fine," Azula shook her head once. "I don't care what backwater peasants like him think of me."
A long, tense silence settled between the two of them as they glared at each. Zuko wasn't sure how long it would have lasted if he hadn't intervened, but he stepped forward with a cough.
"Look, the point is, we both want the same thing. That's why we're even talking to you at all."
"If we'd wanted you captured, that would have happened a long time ago."
Sokka's surly glance around at the four Fire Nation members standing in a loose circle around them showed that he was unhappily aware that acting too belligerent was not going to turn out well for him in this situation.
After another pause, Sokka sighed and rubbed his head. "So what exactly do you want?"
Azula smirked as she took a step back and sat herself on a relatively flat rock, "Well, some information might be a good start. For example, how did you make it onto this rock in the first place?"
Sokka and Suki exchanged quick glances.
"We... are kind of low on options right now," Suki finally said softly. That was as close to an admission of defeat that they would make. "But, Sokka? What about your-"
Sokka's shoulders slumped and he shook his head. Obviously he didn't want whatever it was the two of them were talking about to be shared with the others.
"We flew Appa – our Sky Bison – out here."
"Is that so?" Azula tapped her chin once and nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, things should be simple."
(X)
The next morning found the inhabitants of the Boiling Rock tense and unhappy. The mysterious intruders still had yet to be found, despite the guards spending the night going through the compound with a fine-tooth comb. The security staff was therefore on edge.
The prisoners were also unhappy with the situation. With the prison on lockdown, they had been confined to their cramped cells for the better part of the day, wondering what was going on and when they'd be allowed into the courtyard again.
Yells could be heard from the Warden's office, and if one cared to listen closely, they could make out long furious rants that he wasn't about to let this be the first time he had people escape the island and that the guards weren't being paid to stand around and look dumb.
Therefore, as the assigned guards made one more sweep of the premises, it might be appreciated that no one was feeling particularly good as the sun slowly began to peek up over the horizon.
And then a shout came from the lookout towers. "Intruder spotted!"
As the security staff whirled and gaped in the direction the guard was frantically pointing at, they could indeed see a shape silhouetted against the rising sun, swooping through the air. It was hazy and indistinct in the early light of dawn, but still unmistakeable.
"What in the world is that? Some kind of... flying cow?"
"That's the Avatar's bison! I heard about it from the lads in South Shores!"
"Those must be the people who attacked the prison!"
"Shoot it down! Shoot it down!"
The place immediately became a flurried rush of activity, guards scrambling for crossbows or other ranged weapons to try to bring the beast down. It was too late, of course. By the time they had spotted the flying monster it was already far out of their effective range.
Making sure to keep a tight grip on the reins, Sokka looked over his shoulder at the tiny figures scurrying about.
"I still can't believe I'm doing this," he said to the no one in particular. Well, he was currently the only one on the Bison, after all.
Briefly, he considered throwing all caution to the wind and flying back to find the others and get help against Zuko and his gang of girl friends, but that thought was blasted away even more quickly by the fact that if he knew what would happen to Suki if he took too long at his own task.
"What do you mean, you're keeping her hostage?" Sokka had only just remembered at the last possible instant that they were still on the run from the prison guards and so he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper instead of an indignant yell.
"Exactly what it sounds like," Azula kept her expression calm as she stared Sokka in the eye. "I'm not an idiot, I know you despise us. So, I need some way to make sure you don't turn tail on me once you're on the pet bison of yours."
"And how do I make sure YOU don't hurt Suki as soon as I'm in the sky?" he shot back.
"You don-" Azula opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Zuko stepping forward.
"Because I'm giving you my word," Zuko said softly. "I promise you she won't be harmed."
"... The crazy part is that you think your word counts for anything to me."
"Sokka, it's okay," Suki broke into the conversation. "I trust you. And I can take care of myself, you know."
"Suki? But -"
"This is our best – well, it's pretty much our only plan we have at getting out of this place. "Especially since... well, we need their help if we're going to call Appa here in the first place without being spotted."
His thoughts brought back to the present, Sokka shook his head once more, his lips pursed in anger.
He hated feeling like he was being used. Almost as much as he hated the fact that he couldn't see any other way out of this other than trusting Zuko to keep his word.
That, and the forlorn hope that doing this would allow him to see his father again.
(X)
Peering up at the sky through his stolen guard's helmet, Zuko gave a single nod of satisfaction.
"All right, he's gone," he said.
Next to him, Azula nodded once as well. "Well, that's step one done without a hitch."
"I still can't believe this plan hinges so much on having that Sky Bison available."
"All right, we'll need you to call that bison of yours over here," Azula said. "And then we can-"
"Uh, Azula?" Ty Lee glanced around. "How is he supposed to call Appa? Isn't he... you know, on the outside part of the island?"
There was an expectant pause as five people's heads swivelled over to look at Sokka. He sighed.
"Bison whistle. But," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Appa can't land near here. The air itself is too hot. And we can't risk going further into the island because the guards would spot him if we get too close."
"I can -" Zuko glanced over at Azula. "We can handle that. The hot air, I mean. We can channel the heat away enough for him to land."
"True. Airships are nice and all, but having living, flying creatures at our beck and call would be immensely useful in their own way too," her face hidden by her helmet, Azula tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder..."
"Wonder what?"
"No, never mind," Azula shook her head and glanced over her shoulder. "We need to make sure that we're ready once Mai and Ty Lee do their jobs. Come on, Zuko."
"Right behind you, Az."
(X)
"So," Ty Lee peered down from their hiding position. "Remind me why we couldn't all just have piled on the bison together and then taken off? I know you're iffy about us going together and everything, but you could have just dropped us off somewhere once we got safely out of the way."
"It wasn't my choice," Suki said, without raising her eyes from the three guards milling about aimlessly. "The whole reason we came here in the first place was to save Sokka's dad."
"But that's kinda... uh, well, a long shot, isn't it?"
"Maybe it is," Suki said softly. "But we had to try."
Silently, she pondered why she was being so open with the Fire Nation girl. Even if they were working together, she was, even if only on a technicality, their hostage and prisoner. And she'd been taught her whole life that the Fire Nation was... well, the enemy.
And, well, most of the others hadn't done much to change her opinion of them, their recent estranged group from the Fire Nation being included in that number. Zuko appeared to be perpetually grouchy, to say nothing of the time he had torched her village. Mai was quiet – way too quiet for Suki's liking, and as far as she could tell the girl hated or didn't care for anything.
And Azula... well, Azula scared her. Not that Suki would ever admit it out loud. She had a sort of ruthless energy and intensity about her that could lead her to making alliances with you or crushing you at the drop of her hat. Add to that one of the few times Suki could remember seeing genuine malice and cruelty in someone's eyes and...
She shook her head. It didn't bear thinking about.
But Ty Lee was different. She wasn't stupid, not really, but she had a sort of innocence and guilelessness about her that made her easy to trust. The sort of worldview that would lead her to trying to make friends with someone they'd just met and had been their enemy an hour ago.
"Besides," she said to Ty Lee, more to break the silence than anything. "If you think this is such a bad idea, why are you helping with it?"
Ty Lee scratched the back of her head. "Well, it's kinda still the only real shot we have at getting out of here. Besides, Azula okayed the plan, didn't she?"
"She just knew there was no way you guys could get out if we weren't cooperating, so she has to play nice for now. And you, do you just follow what it is Azula says?"
Ty Lee grew quiet for a long moment.
"Yeah... maybe," she finally said. "Maybe."
Any other words they were about to say was lost as the distant rumble of shouts and cries reached them.
"I guess they've spotted Sokka," Suki murmured.
"Guess that's our cue," slipping on her guard helmet, Ty Lee gestured for Suki to do the same and they dropped down lightly, heading for the control room.
(X)
"Dammit!" the guard at the control panel pounded his fist. "I can't believe nobody spotted that damn mutt until it was too late!"
"Technically, I think it was a bison, not a mutt," Suki said as she stepped into the room.
"Who cares? It's a big dumb animal either way," the guard swivelled around. "And what're you two doing in here?"
"The Warden sent us," Ty Lee said as she stepped forward. "Told us to tell you to call in the airship carrying the latest batch of prisoners."
"What, are you crazy? The prison's in a lockdown!"
"Because of the intruder. The one that just escaped anyway," Suki said as she pointed out the window. "And these aren't just any prisoners. These are supposed to be the bigwigs from the recent invasion, right? He wants them processed as soon as possible."
The man frowned and Suki sighed. "Look, if you don't want to, that's fine. I'll just tell the Warden, and then he'll have to come all the way down here to confirm it himself. I'm sure he'll be fine with that; it's not like the prison currently has a lot of problems for him to deal with or anything."
The guard swallowed and shook his head. "Yeah... no... th -there's no need for that."
Turning in his chair, he tapped a couple of buttons and picked up the transceiver, "This is control. Do you read me? Yeah, send the signal that Black One is cleared to bring in the prisoners. What? Yes, that's the... eargh... sorry, that's... Warden's orders. Yeah, just do it,"
"You okay?" Suki asked as the guard hung up the phone, looking noticeably greener than he had a moment ago.
"Yeah, yeah, just... upset stomach... I guess."
Suki and Ty Lee exchanged knowing glances with each other before Suki reached for the lever that she knew controlled the doors to the cells – at least, for the current block.
(X)
"All right, since I guess we have to stick around long enough to attempt a rescue on the peasant's father-"
"His name is Hakoda."
"I don't care. Since that's the plan, that'll also be our escape route. When the cable car bringing them in comes up, that's when we'll need to strike."
"There'll be a lot of guards around, though. Even if we're planning to make them think that we've already flown the coop with the bison, they'll definitely still be on alert. Having to fight our way through such a huge number of them won't be easy."
"No, I suppose not," Azula folded her arms. "But if we don't have any better ideas -"
"Actually," Suki stepped forward. "I... might have a way to help with disabling a large number of the guards."
"Oh? Do tell."
"Look, I – you all know I was a prisoner here once," the fact that it was because of Zuko and Azula was left unsaid although Zuko didn't miss the tightening of the expression on Sokka's face. "And I – I didn't plan on just hanging out here until the end of the war. I spent time – looking. Observing.
The guards have a schedule. Including mealtimes. First one half of the troops here eat their breakfast, then they move to their new post as the other half does. So if we want to take out a large number of the guards at once -"
"The food vats," Azula nodded. "But with what?"
"Well, after I realized that Sokka planned on breaking in here to rescue his father, I took the time to make a... well, let's say it's a drug. It's pretty nasty stuff too," she held up a pouch that had been dangling from her belt since earlier. "Any of the guards take this, they'll be out of commission for at least half a day."
"You didn't use it earlier?"
"After we ran into you we didn't exactly get a lot of time to sit down and plan out how we were going to try to make a getaway."
"Fair enough," Zuko said. "So, now we'll need people to sneak this into the kitchen -"
"I can do that," both Suki and Ty Lee said at the same time.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko could tell that Azula had just suppressed a brief chuckle.
(X)
"He got away."
"... Yes, sir. We... the intruders timed their getaway with the rising sun so we couldn't get a good look at them-"
"You let them get away," the Warden hadn't bothered to look up.
"... Yes, sir. Our ranged weaponry – it isn't designed for dealing with flying - "
"You let them get away! Do you know what that means? It means the Boiling Rock isn't impregnable anymore," the Warden stood slowly. "Do you have any idea how many years I've worked to build up this prison's reputation? How many riots I've had to quell? How many ill-conceived escape attempts I've had to stamp out? The Boiling Rock's reputation is my reputation and now you pack of imbeciles have blown it all away because you didn't spot a flying cow in time!"
This time, the guard decided to keep silent.
"I'm going to be ruined! Ruined!"
"Actually, Uncle, I think that's the least of your worries right now."
Knives flew through the air, pinning three of the four guards to the wall. The fourth one was just able to draw his weapon and charge the dark shape that had appeared in the doorway of the office.
Mai sidestepped him quickly, whirled, and pinned his arm to the wall with a dagger.
"Mai? What's the meaning of this?" the Warden had shot up from his seat. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Pretty much what it looks like. I'll need you to come with me, Uncle," from her robes, Mai withdrew several more knives. "And I'm not taking no for an answer."
(X)
There was confused muttering amongst the gathered guards as the cable car slowly pulled into the station. It was understandable, after all. They had just found out that someone had escaped, and now they were being asked to receive a new batch of prisoners?
Still, procedure was procedure, and the head guard just thanked his lucky stars he had been able to find enough men on short notice to make a presentable display as the prisoners were brought out.
The faces safely obscured by the helmets, Azula and Zuko stood silently in formation as they awaited the arrival of the water tribe.
"So... how are we supposed to find out who this 'Hakoda' is, anyway?" Zuko said just barely loud enough for her to hear.
"He's supposed to be that peasant's father, correct? Just look for the one with a family resemblance."
"Meaning?"
"Someone who looks dopey and not very bright."
...Did my sister just make a joke? Zuko wasn't able to ponder this for long as the car pulled to a stop and the prisoners now slowly began to file out.
And as hard as he looked, Zuko couldn't particularly pick out anyone who resembled the Water tribe boy – at least, moreso than the one next to him. He sighed. Okay, probably a bit of an oversight to not have Sokka here to identify the person he was looking for in the first place. Still though...
He was interrupted by the guard next to him doubling over and retching horribly. Zuko grimaced. He'd been told earlier by Suki about what the drug would do to people who'd eaten it, but it still wasn't pleasant to watch up close.
"Hey!" the head guard bellowed as he strode up. "What was that? Stand up straight, you maggot-worms! Didn't they teach you any discipline in training?"
It was no use though. Around them, more and more of the guards were collapsing. All told, Zuko estimated around three-quarters of them had been taken out – the others probably hadn't eaten breakfast yet, or not enough for it to affect them that badly. As for the officers like they head guard – well, they probably ate in a different mess hall so Suki hadn't managed to drug them.
He shared a quick glance at Azula and both of them jumped into action, Zuko launching a volley of fireballs that knocked most of the remaining guards off their feet, Azula charging ahead to disable the head guard with a couple of well-placed kicks.
Most of the prisoners were still rooted to the ground in shock, staring at the chaos around them. Zuko scanned their faces one more time. Still nope. Well, nothing for it then...
"Which one of you is Hakoda?" he called out to the assembled crowd.
No response. Zuko frowned. He supposed it made sense that Hakoda didn't want his identity revealed if there was no reason for it, but still they were running low on time as is...
"Look, you need to tell me who you are because that name is all Sokka gave me to go on!"
There! That one had reacted with visible alarm at the sound of Sokka's name being called. Nodding to himself, Zuko rushed over.
"Are you Hakoda?"
"Who wants to know?" the bearded man stared back evenly.
Zuko hesitated a brief moment, and then pulled the helmet off his face. "I'm... his partner. For now, anyway. We're here to make sure you get off the island."
Hakoda gave a quick glance around the chaos as several of the water tribesmen appeared to rouse themselves enough to decide that if there was going to be beatings delivered to Fire Nation soldiers, they wanted to join in. Soon enough, the entire platform was a mess of writhing bodies and yells.
"... Well, this definitely does look like something my son would pull," he said after a long moment.
"Come on then," Azula had removed her own helmet by now and was glancing out over the chaos for signs of their friends. "We don't have all day."
(X)
"So, that's the plan as a whole," Azula said as she sat back. "The peasant will serve as a distraction to make them think we're escaping. Ty Lee, you and the girl will poison the food to make sure that most of the guards are incapacitated for when we DO make our break. Mai... you'll snag the Warden as an extra hostage. I know he's said that he'd sooner die than let people escape, but the rank and file still won't be willing to have him killed just like that. Once this plan kicks into high gear there'll be no way to keep this quiet, so the less people we can get trying to kill us, the better."
"And we'll be at the platform itself to find this Hakoda guy and make him come with us," Zuko finished with a nod.
"I don't like being out of the action for most of the actual event," he could hear Sokka grumble.
"Well, feel free to loop back and pick us up once you're sure you're not being chased," Azula said dismissively. "The rest of you, any questions?"
There were none.
"All right then. Let's go prove there's no prison that can't be broken out of."
(X)
As they stepped back into the sunlight, Ty Lee barely had time to get her eyes used to the glare before she noticed a guard lurching towards the two of them. Almost instinctively, she moved into a fighting stance, but even as she did so she realized there was no need.
The guard stumbled forward, one hand reaching up to clutch his stomach. As the two girls watched, he proceeded to stumble forward and retch, throwing up rather messily all over a nearby wall..
"Wow," Ty Lee mumbled as they dashed through the compound. "Are they... are these guys gonna die?"
"Hm? No," Suki shook her head. "Might wish they were dead before this is all over though."
All around them, guards were collapsing and vomiting violently. Most were too weak to stand any longer, although a few made feeble attempts to stop Suki and Ty Lee's mad dash for the platform. They were quickly rebuffed.
The prisoners who had noticed the open doors were now taking full advantage of the confusion to beat up the guards who were too weak to fight back, leaving the healthier ones with their hands full as they attempted to hold back the tide of berserk prisoners.
As such they were able to make good time towards the landing platform where the cable car was waiting, along with Azula and -
"Hey, it's Mai!" Ty Lee spotted her friend dashing through the melee, slowed down by the Warden she was dragging along by the arm. "Mai! Over here!"
"Ty Lee? Perfect timing," Mai looked over at her. "Mind taking down his knee or something? Uncle's struggling too much for my tastes."
A few quick jabs and a short run later, Ty Lee broke into a smile as she spotted the cable car waiting for them – along with Azula, standing on the platform.
"There you are," she nodded as she caught sight of them. "Hurry up and get in before anything has the chance to go wrong."
They had just about reached the cable car itself when more shouts came from behind, and Ty Lee whirled to see men decked in the armour of royal Firebenders chasing after them.
"Where did they -?"
"Get in the car," Azula said as she moved to stand between them and the Firebenders. "I'll join you later."
(X)
There was, of course, one huge risk in choosing to take the cable cars as an escape route; they were dependant on the controls allowing them to safely traverse the entire length of the lake. Obviously, this could be fixed by setting the controls to 'go' and them jamming it to ensure it couldn't be changed.
The secondary problem was that if even one guard was available he'd be able to remove whatever it was that was jamming the gears and then reverse it, and then the whole plan would be sunk.
Which was, of course, why disabling most of the guards had been a vital step of the plan. And then to make sure what few remaining guards on the platform were in no fit shape to stop anything.
There were four Firebenders currently standing in front of Azula. She could hear the cable car starting to move behind her. She estimated she had ten seconds – fifteen, maximum – before it was too far for her to jump for it.
She pursed her lips. Could she defeat four Firebenders in that time? No, she had to. That was all.
She launched herself into a blaze of fire and wind, overwhelming two of them quickly with sheer force. The third tried to charge her – she spun and kicked him into the railing, and he fell to the ground and lay still.
The fourth backed up slightly and Azula snarled. He knew – or thought he knew – that if he kept far back Azula would have to waste time she could not afford to chase after him – but if she ignored him and ran he could go for the controls the instant she was no longer on the platform.
A pity. She hadn't really wanted to kill him, but he had left her no real options.
The lightning bolt screamed from her fingertips, blasting into the fourth guard and sending him careening back, a smoking hole in the armour on his chest. Azula watched him for a moment.
He might have survived.
But probably not.
With a shake of her head, she turned and jumped, boosting her leap with Firebending as much as she could to jump after the moving car. It wasn't until her feet had landed on the roof with a clanging sound that she released the breath she had subconsciously been holding.
(X)
Zuko stared at the Warden, who was obviously on the verge of bolting for the window and ordering the ropes holding them up cut.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He didn't bother to raise his voice.
"What?" He glowered. "You think I'm scared, boy? You think just because you and your sister are on board I won't order the lot of you killed? You're traitors! The lot of you! You're not fit to be part of the Fire Nation!"
"Lately I've been taking that as a good thing," Zuko said, not rising to the bait. "But that's not my point. You know Mai's on the car too."
The Warden made no reply.
"You could still order the ropes cut, of course. And I'm sure you're glad you'll be dead along with us if that happens, because you won't have to face your sister about it."
"... You miserable, low-life -" Zuko tuned out the rest of the Warden's rant; he could already see in the man's eyes that he had just reconsidered his final order to let them all sink. He turned away and he could see Mai staring at him curiously.
"What?"
"I think Azula's starting to rub off on you."
A brief smile made its way onto his face, "Should I take that as a compliment?"
At the side of the cable car Ty Lee wriggled out of her seat and clambered over to the window.
"Ty Lee? What's the matter?"
"Something's wrong," the cheerful girl had a frown on her face as she craned her neck to stare up into the sky as much as she was able. "I'm going to check it out."
And before Zuko or Mai could stop her, she had slid lithely out the window and climbed up onto the roof.
(X)
Azula stood on the roof of the car, breathing heavily.
They'd succeeded... right? They had escaped – the remaining guards were too busy or too sick to stop them, and anyway they wouldn't just cut the ropes down with the Warden on board.
Yes, they'd covered all the bases – so why this sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach?
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared over Azula, sweeping towards the prison – and she realized that everything had gone wrong.
Airship escorts. Of course there would be airship escorts! After all, hadn't the current transfer been the highest profile prisoners after the invasion? How could she have missed that?
And so Azula could only watch helplessly as they hovered over the landing platform, several soldiers lowering ropes and beginning to rappel down. Once they reached the platform, it would only be a matter of time before they undid the jamming and reversed the machines.
Everything... all that hard work... all for nothing. Because of one damned oversight. If only -
"Azula." Ty Lee's voice came from behind her and she whirled to see her friend standing behind her on the car.
"Ty Lee? What are you -"
Her friend bore an unusually sombre expression as she tracked the path of the airships. Her fingers flexed and clenched, as if she were making up her mind about something.
For a brief, timeless moment, the two of them were silent.
And then Ty Lee looked at her, and smiled.
"Thank you. For everything, I mean. Make sure you get away safely, okay?"
And before Azula could stop her, Ty Lee had jumped nimbly onto the ropeway. Running across it as if it were solid ground, Ty Lee began her ascent back towards the viewing platform, and Azula felt her blood turn cold.
She couldn't – she wouldn't!
"GET BACK HERE!"
Ty Lee didn't even pause. They both knew every second counted.
If someone could stay to hold back the soldiers, then the others could escape. Of course that someone would be captured in the end – or worse.
And only Ty Lee had the agility to make it back to the platform, so that was the best choice.
The only choice
Because Azula had made a mistake. Because Azula had failed to consider all the possibilities. Because Azula's plan hadn't been good enough.
"DON'T YOU DARE! COME BACK THIS INSTANT! THAT'S AN ORDER!"
As she was carried further and further away, Azula could only scream in helpless, frustrated rage.
Ty Lee had left her again.
(X)
How do you make something like this better?
I really really want to. I want to go back to the way things were before.
But I guess life isn't that simple, huh? Now that I think about it, growing up means you pick up more things. Both the good and bad.
I guess from now on there's always going to be the understanding that we hurt each other and we'll have to deal with it.
But can we really do that? I'm not sure.
I guess the first step is getting all this out into the open. That's why I wrote this letter, after all.
But now that I read it, I'm not sure I have the nerve to give this to you.
I'm going to have to try though. After all, we're friends, Azula. And I don't want to give up that friendship so easily.
So I'm going to do everything I can to help mend this. I hope that's enough.
Sincerely,
Ty Lee
Chapter End