Chapter 17: Imprisonment

AN: Here is the first chapter that is written by me! I tried my best to match Avatarfan792's writing style. I'm dedicating this chapter and the rest of the story to TheGentleBreeze and Ashley Barbosa, as they both seemed to enjoy Avatarfan792's story as much as I did. I hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Anyone who knew Katara would speak highly of her. They would praise her warm personality, and many complimented her for the empathy that she shared with others. Katara right now, however, was not the person that people would praise. Katara was upset. Flames shined in her eyes as she stared daggers at her brother, demanding an answer. "I'm not going to ask again." She pointedly growled. "What. Did. You. Do?"

Sokka was a cunning warrior. The group had learned to look up to him as the "idea" guy, and he was praised for his well thought-out plans that helped lead the Gaang to victory over the Fire Nation. Tonight, however, was not one of his brightest moments. The Water Tribe Warrior stood right back up and got face to face with his sister. "I told Aang off!" He shouted indignantly. "Are you happy?" He asked in a mocking tone of anger.

The waterbender stared dumbfoundedly back at her brother. "What made you think that making Aang leave was a good idea?" Katara exasperatedly stated, throwing her hands up in the air. "Now not only do I have to worry about our father's safety, but Aang's as well!" This seemed to strike a chord within Sokka, as he let out a sardonic laugh.

"Katara, don't you realize? The reason why we're in this situation in the first place is because of Aang!" Sokka matched Katara's frustration in his tone. He was refusing to back down from his side of the argument.

Katara's face immediately scrunched up. "How so? Because you still think it's his fault for Dad being captured?" A small amount of silence followed her challenging question. "Wake up Sokka! If Aang hadn't stepped in Dad would be dead! We should be thanking Aang." She spat out, sticking her finger right in her sibling's chest.

Sokka stared right back at her in disbelief. "What do you mean, Katara? Aang is the Avatar! It's his duty to save people and he failed to save our father. He knows how much Dad means to us, Katara!" He turned around and began to pace back and forth, both siblings ignoring the presence of Suki and Toph in the room.

"You are being ridiculous!" Katara shouted back, her anger no longer being hidden in her tone. "Congratulations for finally recognizing that Aang is the Avatar, because the rest of the world doesn't seem to notice that he's a 12 year old kid! He saved Dad's life and now you're treating him just like the politicians, focusing on his failures rather than his accomplishments. Do you really believe that Aang was content with Dad being taken away?"

Silence took over the room as Sokka pondered Katara's statement. Finally, he shook his head to signify that he agreed with his sister. "No, Aang obviously didn't mean for Dad to be in prison, but -"

"THERE'S NO BUTS ABOUT IT!" Katara finally let out her anger in a resounding yell. "If you would have just taken the time to think rationally about things, you could have recognized that maybe sending Aang out on a suicide mission is a mistake! We have allies now! We could have gotten an entire army to come help Dad out. But noooo, we just had to kick Aang out and make him feel like he doesn't belong anymore, didn't we?" She finished her statement in a mocking tone.

This shut Sokka up. He more than anybody liked to argue with his sister, but he also recognized when he was wrong, and this was one of those times. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he turned around to face his sister again. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at Aang," his face suddenly changed, and he allowed the pain to wash over him and let his emotions out. "But I'm upset, Katara! I already lost Mom, I can't lose Dad too!" He turned his face away from his sister to try to hide how upset he was in an attempt to contain his emotions.

An immediate sense of guilt began to run through Katara's mind as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother. "I'm scared too, Sokka. I'm sorry for being so upset, but I don't want to think about potentially losing Dad and Aang. I can't lose another person I love, it terrifies me."

As the two siblings made up in their embrace, Toph stepped forward. "We're going to make sure both Twinkletoes and your Dad are okay. But first, we need to make a plan." Suki nodded to show her approval. Stepping apart from their hug, the two siblings both took a deep breath as they had a new task at hand to focus on. Before they could plan anything, they were interrupted by a familiar bellow.

"Appa!" Suki shouted, and the four of them ran towards the entrance of their home to welcome back Aang. If everything had gone well, hopefully he would have brought home Katara and Sokka's Dad with them. Sokka was the first one out the door, and the joy in his voice could be heard throughout their entire neighborhood.

"Dad!" The Water Tribe Warrior screamed as he ran up to Chief Hakoda, wrapping him in a large hug. Not a moment after, he was followed by his sister, who crashed into her father with a gleeful embrace. The moment was short-lived however, as Chief Hakoda's face was full of guilt and pain. It was then that the siblings noticed that their father had come back alone.

"Dad? . . ." Katara asked, her voice growing with worry. "Where's Aang?"

The airbender thrashed around, finding his attempts to escape futile. They had chained him way better than he had initially thought they would. His arms were tightly bound together above him in metal, and they had done the same to his legs. The only way that he could possibly bend would be through his mouth, but if he did so he would be endangering himself in the process. Taking a deep breath, he tried to keep himself together. His cell was dark and mangy, and he wasn't able to see anything more than 3 feet in front of him. The only way that he could possibly get out of here was via the Avatar State, and right now he felt that was blocked because of his guilt for the imprisonment of Chief Hakoda.

Fortunately, he knew that Hakoda would be returning to his family safely. He refused to fully give himself up to Long Feng and the Dai Li until he knew that Hakoda had made it out of the prison, even making sure that he watched the Water Tribe Chief take off on Appa. Even though he was still slightly upset with Hakoda for telling him that he didn't have permission to court Katara, he didn't regret his decision to save Hakoda. He knew how much Katara and Sokka adored him, and he couldn't bear to think that he would be the reason to potentially make them orphans. Now, he just hoped that they would have enough empathy left to come save him.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted as flames shot out and lit the torches of his cell. In came Long Feng followed by a mix of firebenders and Dai Li. Aang tried to hide the small amount of fear that he had as he stared into the eyes of the leader of the Dai Li, who had a large smirk on his face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the "world's hero?" How lucky am I to be able to have your presence in my humble abode?" Long Feng began, mocking Aang's title in front of him.

Aang could only grit his teeth in his response, refusing to properly look Long Feng in the eyes. "What do you want, Long Feng?" He choked out. The airbender knew that this situation was a bit different than the one that he was in with Zhao near the start of his adventure. The war was over, and he knew that it didn't matter if he was kept alive or not.

Long Feng could only laugh in response. "Why, it's simple, Avatar. You and your friends mosied your way into my city and ruined my life. You took everything from me. Everything that I worked so hard for my entire life to build. My position of power, my control . . . and then you left like it was nothing. When I heard the rumors that you had died at the fall of Ba Sing Se, it brought me so much joy . . . only to find out that it was all LIES!" With that, he used his earthbending to send a rock straight into Aang's gut, making him cry out in pain.

The leader of the Dai Li could only laugh sardonically in response to the Avatar's pain. "So Avatar . . . I have a proposition for you. You have two choices, and I want your response immediately. You can join us. Help the Dai Li get back into a position of power, and fight alongside us. In exchange, I will let you and your little group of friends live while I banish you to another part of the world. Or . . . you can die. A slow, and painful death. Believe me, Avatar Aang. I will torture you and make you pay for every little bit of pain that you have brought upon me."

The airbender growled in response. "I will never join you Long Feng. The pain and destruction that you caused for the people of Ba Sing Se . . . not to mention the brainwashing and manipulation. You're a monster. Even if you kill me, the Dai Li will never have the power that it once did, I can promise you that."

Long Feng was not a fan of this answer. A smirk formed across his face as he stared right into the airbender's eyes. "Very well then, Avatar Aang. Don't say I didn't warn you." Turning to the guards that had accompanied him into Aang's cell, he spat out his instructions in disgust. "His friends will come looking for him eventually. Torture him, but don't kill him yet. I want him to be alive to watch his friends die in front of him."

The guards nodded with their own smirks and smiles on their faces, and they began their work. The earthbenders from the Dai Li would send rocks flying into Aang's body without notice, causing the Avatar to scream out in pain. Aang tried to keep his composure, but it was very hard to stay conscious with the amount of pain he was in. Then one of the firebenders came up to him. "This is for taking down Ozai." he sneered in the Avatar's face. Taking a flame in his hand, he slowly ran it down the right side of Aang's body, burning his flesh as his hand continued down its path.

Salty tears streamed down Aang's face as he cried out in pain. The pain was overbearing, and the airbender could feel himself lose consciousness. Another rock being sent into his side quickly brought him back to, as he yelped out in pain once again. Thankfully, one of the leaders of the entourage stepped in after that. "Long Feng wants him alive, we need to be done for the night." After murmurs of disagreement were made, they eventually filed out of his cell, leaving him alone again.

The Avatar was desperately tired. His body however was on its primal instincts, and the adrenaline of the situation was keeping him awake. It didn't help that his body was throbbing from his torture session. Aang thought of Katara and Sokka. He hoped that they were okay. He hoped that Hakoda made it back to them safely. That they would be happy. That's all Aang ever wanted, to make others happy. He had a duty to the world, and a promise to Katara. He would come back. Enjoying the newly found strength that he got from thinking of his makeshift family, he determinedly stayed awake, ready to take on whatever the Dai Li or any firebender might bring to him.

Katara only grew more worried as her father refused to look her in the eyes. She had worked so hard on forgiving him lately, and now it seemed like he was hiding something from her. "Dad, where's Aang?" She repeated again, her voice full of concern this time. Aang said in his letter that he was going to save her father, and now here he was, but Aang wasn't here. Does that mean? Tears started to well up in her eyes as she desperately needed an answer. "DAD! PLEASE! TELL ME!"

Hakoda finally gathered the courage to look at her, and tried to place a hand on her shoulder as his face filled up with shame. Letting out a heaving sigh, his gaze went towards the ground. "He traded himself in my place." Shaking his head, he continued, his voice full of anger, mostly self-directed at himself. "Because of me he's now Long Feng's prisoner and who knows what they're doing to that poor kid."

The waterbender took a couple steps back in response, almost needing to sit down. Aang meant what he said in that letter that he wrote, he truly would do anything to get her father back to them. Even if it meant turning himself in. Anxiety and worry immediately flooded her brain as she began to think about what Long Feng could possibly be doing to him. "We have to help him!" She shrieked out, desperately trying to hold back her tears. She came home wanting to be comforted by Aang, and now he could possibly be dead. Katara sat down, placing her head between her two legs trying to compose herself. Aang needs me to be strong right now.

Hakoda wasn't helping. As Sokka stood there dumbfounded trying to piece together what was going on and getting past his own guilt with how he played a part in the situation, Hakoda sat down next to Katara. "I need to apologize to you." He started, shame filling his eyes. When his daughter looked back up at him in a confused manner, he chose to continue. "I originally thought that he let me get captured and was upset with the boy . . . because he had every reason to be upset with me." Once again, Katara's face was full of confusion, and she was trying to prod her father to continue. "You see, last night before I got captured, we had a conversation. He asked me for permission to court you . . . and I said no." Hakoda stared down at the ground immediately, not wanting to see the reaction from his daughter.

An eerie silence filled the air for a brief amount of time. The fury that had filled Katara's eyes however, helped break the silence. "You said WHAT?!" she asked incredulously.

Hakoda winced as he heard his daughter's reaction, and he desperately tried to plead his case. "I was trying to protect you, Katara. He's the Avatar! Do you know how dangerous his job is?"

The waterbender glared at her father in return. "Yeah, I know how dangerous it is." She replied sarcastically. "Maybe it's because I spent the past nine months traveling with him and SAVING THE WORLD. I watched him DIE Dad. I knew exactly what dangers I was getting myself into when we left the SOUTH POLE."

The Southern Water Tribe Chief could only stare dumbfoundedly back at his daughter in response. Clearly, he really hadn't taken the time to consider this, and now he was risking the possible relationship that he had built back up with his daughter again because of his stupid decisions. Still, part of him was prideful, and he wanted to attempt one last time to convince her that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "I understand, Katara, but is this the life that you want to live for the rest of your life potentially? I can see how worried you are now that he is gone, I don't want to see you in that type of pain for the rest of your life." The Chief thought he had made a good point, but he didn't know how wrong he was.

"The reason that he is even gone right now is because of the two IDIOT men in my family!" Katara screeched in return. "I can't even begin to believe that you're continuing to talk down about Aang after he saved you, and Sokka pushed him away to go do that in the first place! Have any of you stopped to consider how maybe I feel about a relationship with Aang?"

Hakoda once again stared at the ground as he realized his daughter was right. He was too ashamed to admit this next part, especially because he didn't know what his daughter's reaction would be. Shaking his head, he let out a sigh. "No, but Aang did." When Katara gasped in surprise, he chose to continue. "He told me that the only way he would accept my decision is if I talked to you and that you agreed it wasn't a good idea. He said that he considers you his equal." As he continued to talk about the airbender who was interested in his daughter, Hakoda couldn't help but feel that he made the wrong decision to say no to the young man.

Katara stood there in shock for a few seconds, trying to take this all in. Once again, Aang was the only one who seemed to view her as a capable woman able to make her own decisions. It was very admirable, and she adored him for it. All she wanted to do was give him a hug right now, but he was out in danger. Wordlessly, she got up and started walking away from everyone, out towards the heart of Ba Sing Se.

Sokka, desperate to make up for his own wrongdoings, started sprinting after her. "Sis, where are you going?" he asked as he tried to keep up. The waterbender could only smile as she continued to head to her destination, giving a quick glance back over her shoulder to see the rest of the group following her.

"I'm going to the Jasmine Dragon, we're going to need all the help we can get to help free Aang." Katara didn't even wait for an answer as she continued to walk towards the tea shop, but she was surprised to finally feel the arm of her brother around her. Stopping momentarily, she allowed Sokka to make eye contact with her, and to her relief, his eyes were apologetic as he stared back at her.

"Please, sis. Let me help. It's the least I can do to make it up to Aang." The Water Tribe Warrior's tone was sincere, and that's all that Katara needed for her to forgive him. With a nod, the two siblings began to head to the Jasmine Dragon together, with the group of Toph, Suki, and Hakoda quickly following behind.

Finally reaching their destination, Katara didn't hesitate to knock, even though it was well into the middle of the night. Glancing up into the sky, Katara could tell that morning was coming soon, and she didn't want to think about how much time had already passed since Aang had been taken as a prisoner.

The door in front of them opened, with a tired Iroh appearing in front of them. Rubbing his eyes, he took a long and solid look at them as his face filled with confusion. "Master Katara?" he asked. "What brings you and your brother here at such an hour?"

"General Iroh, we need your help." Katara responded in a business-like manner.

The tears started to fall down Aang's face as the third group of torturers left his cell. He somehow had endured three rounds of their pain and inflictions, refusing to lose consciousness. He knew that Katara needed him. He knew that the world still needed him. He would refuse to give up because the Dai Li and a group of firebenders had decided to torture him. The airbender had definitely paid a price for his actions however. His body was full of bruises and burns, and it hurt for him to move his body at all in his chains. Aang knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. He had to find a way to get out of here, and fast.

Knowing that he probably had about a half hour until the next round of torturers came in, he desperately tried to calm himself to get into a state where he could meditate. Focusing on what was important to him, he took slow deep breaths, trying to ignore the pain that it brought to do so, and focused on his meditation. Finally, after about 10 minutes of trying, he was able to access his inner-thoughts and chakras.

He immediately found the chakra that was blocked. His Water Chakra was currently blocked, because of the guilt that he had felt for causing so much pain to Sokka and Katara. Taking a deep breath, Aang desperately worked on trying to forgive himself for being too slow to initially save Hakoda. He then focused on the fact that Hakoda was safe now, and hopefully their family was reunited. Suddenly, images of Katara filled his mind. He thought of how happy she would be to know that her father was safe, and he immediately felt some strength return to his body. Aang spent the next five minutes focusing on the positive energy, only thinking of positive things such as his companion.

Ten minutes later, the next group of torturers walked into his cell and lit the torches to begin their next session. What they weren't prepared for however, was the Avatar's tattoos were glowing. Aang had accessed the Avatar State.