It seems Suki has met Zuko before. The three of us are mopping near a flight of stairs, and I keep my gaze and conversation to myself. The only reason I'm here is because Zuko promised me a way out. And I can see Aang. And Iroh is somewhere out there in the world. Those are the only things that give me hope, and Zuko is the only one with access to them.
Sokka comes down the stairs, seeing us mopping, saying, "Oh good, you guys have met. And you found Zia!"
"Actually, we met a long time ago," Suki says, head down.
"And Suki and I are friends," I say.
"You are? We did?" Zuko asks, incredulous at the situation.
"Well, misery likes company," I mutter.
"Yeah, you kind of burned down my village," Suki says, somewhat angry.
Zuko stops mopping to say, "Oh, sorry about that. Nice to see you again."
"It's a big happy reunion for everyone," I say. But at least I'm not the only one that hates Zuko.
Suki grabs my arm and moves me behind the stairs, where we all crouch around Sokka. I never took him as a master planner, but it seems like he's taking control here. Good, Zuko's plans were never thought through.
"So, listen, I think I have an escape plan. I checked out the coolers again, and the point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?" Sokka isn't doing a good job at keeping his voice low.
The coolers are where they put unruly firebenders. They are constantly blasted with cold air to make firebender near impossible. They're stationed near solitary confinement for the nonbenders.
Zuko is skeptical. He says, "Yeah. . ."
"So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well, to keep the cold in, it also has to keep the heat out, right?"
"So they can be used as a boat across the volcano lake!" I say, sensing Sokka's train of thought.
"Exactly! I knew I liked you!"
"Actually, you were very apprehensive when we first met."
"Whatever. Anyway, it is a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water."
"The cooler as a boat?" Zuko asks, exchanging a glance with Suki. "Are you sure?"
"I'm telling you, it'll work. I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. It'll take us straight across. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice. And bing-bang-boom, we're home free!"
"But where do we land the boat? The whole island is basically a big volcanic crater? How do we exit? Unless one of you can earthbend and I never knew," I say. I got a good look out the gondola window. There didn't seem to be any coves or rivers flowing into the lake.
"That, and how are you gonna get the cooler out?" Suki asks.
A voice above us repeats the question, "Yeah, how are you gonna get the cooler out?" He jumps down and lands in front of us.
I recognize it as Chit Sang, a bully amongst the prisoners. He has a big build and a goatee; his face seems to permanently scowl.
Sokka is really bad at improvising it seems, because he starts babbling, "What? We didn't - we didn't say that!"
"Yeah, you heard wrong," Zuko says. He looks ready to fight.
"I heard you hatching an escape plan, and I want in," Chit Sang says.
"There's nothing to get in on."
"Yeah, the only thing we're hatching is . . .an egg?" Sokka tries. Still not very convincing, and Chit Sang sees this. Zuko sighs and leans against the staircase.
"Okay, well, I come with you or the warden hears about this egg, too," Chit Sang says.
"I guess we have no choice," Suki mutters.
"Okay, you're in," Sokka says. He takes a lot less convincing than he did of Zuko's goodness back in Ba Sing Se. He passes a wrench to Zuko. "Now first we need someone to unbolt the cooler from the inside."
"Oh, I can get you inside," Chit Sang says.
I stand up from the crouching position. My knees ache, but I say, "Actually, I'd rather do that." I glare at Zuko, but I see Suki's grin from the corner of my eye. I smile at her.
Zuko looks really apprehensive, especially toward my shared grin with Suki. Zuko starts to mop and I place myself so that my back is to him. He bumps into me, shoving the mop handle hard into my side.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" I yell, raising my voice to grab the attention of the other prisoners that are cleaning up this floor. I proceed to shove him, and he drops the mop. I think briefly about snapping the head off the mop to use it as a makeshift bo, but I don't want for both of us to be put away.
Just Zuko.
"Hey, you watch who you're shoving!" Zuko yells back at me, shoving me right back.
"You traitorous bastard!" I say. I can feel my face warm at the anger and all of the emotions I've repressed about Zuko.
Aang may be alive, but I'm still here, and Iroh is spirits knows where, and Zuko still broke my heart.
So everything I say to Zuko in the next five minutes is completely deserved.
Zuko and I are no strangers to scrimmaging with one another. He mastered the circling method that I taught him, but it seems his time at the Fire Nation Capital made him rusty, while the Boiling Rock has done nothing but harden me.
Zuko rushes at me, and I catch his hands with mine. We are equally matched for a moment, but I take the opportunity to take Zuko's forward energy and use it against him. I throw him over my shoulder, and he lands hard on his back. I can see his grimace, and his face is red. His hair has gotten much longer, and it keeps falling across his face.
Does anyone here recognize Zuko as the prince?
A guard shouts, "I need backup over here!" It's Sokka, setting us up for Zuko to go to the cooler.
"You never cared about me! Just what I could do for you! Aang! Learning how to fight him! A distraction in Ba Sing Se! I meant nothing to you!"
I get close to Zuko, and I put more force in my fist than I did earlier when I punched him. He dodges it, spins out of my way, and throws a punch of fire at me. I roll away from him, the fire hot against my back.
"No firebending. Into the cooler!" a guard says to Zuko. They dogpile on Zuko and drag him away. They spare me no look, but Suki puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Zia, are you okay?" she whispers, guiding me away. "That was a lot."
"Well, I was just - expressing my feelings." I shrug.
"Pretty deep. I can understand why you don't like him."
"Doesn't beat him beating your village down."
"We rebuilt the village."
"I can't rebuild my feelings for him."
Suki pauses and holds my hand. She smiles at me, very gentle like. "No, but time can help heal them. Trust me."
Less than six hours later, Sokka escorts us out of the main prison and onto the earth shelf that sits between it and the boiling lake. We wait near where the coolers are located, waiting on Sokka to return with Zuko. Nobody really talks, but Chit Sang has brought more people than just himself, so Suki and I have quietly been sulking against the hill.
The sound of the metal tube of the cooler grating against the rock lets us know that they are on their way down. Suki, Chit Sang, and I rush to meet them, putting our weight against the rolling monstrosity that was the cooler.
Chit Sang says, "Took you guys long enough. This here's my girl and my best buddy, they're coming too." Chit Sang nods down to his girlfriend and friend, neither of which I have any desire of speaking to.
Sokka looks angry; his brows are furrowed and his teeth are clenched. Something happened.
"Fine. Everyone in the cooler. Let's go!" We push the cooler over, with the entrance facing up for everyone to sit in. We push it partly into the water. Meanwhile, Sokka lifts a rock and grabs his Water Tribe outfit.
Chit Sang and his friends climb into the cooler, but Suki and Zuko stay back to talk to Sokka. I don't want to be alone with those three, so I stand near Suki. Zuko says, "Are you sure you wanna go? You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself. Redeem your honor. Rescuing your dad is your chance."
"Your dad?" Suki asks, moving closer.
"If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail," Sokka says. He looks so sad.
"No, it's not. Look, Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out," Zuko says. I snort.
"That supposed to make me feel better?" Sokka asks.
"I think what Zuko's trying to say," I start, hugging my arms and looking out at the water, "is that if you never try because you're afraid you might fail, you'll never get anywhere."
"You have to try every time." Zuko looks at me, and I see a small smile on his lips. I look back at Suki. "You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."
Chit Sang says, "Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?" The cooler is mostly in the water, and his two companions are already in the boat.
"No, I'm staying. You guys go," Sokka says. He looks dejected, but he is no longer sad. He turns to Suki and I. "You two have been here long enough."
"I'm not leaving without you, Sokka," Suki says.
"And I have nowhere else to go," I say, avoiding Zuko's gaze.
If Aang is alive, I need to see for myself.
"I'm staying, too," Zuko says.
"Not me, I'm out. Let's roll, baby!" Chit Sang says, pushing the cooler into the lake and jumping in.
"We gave up our only chance of escaping. I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake." Sokka watches as the boat disappears into the fog.
I put my hand on his shoulder, saying, "Well, fate has a mysterious way of working. We'll find another way out."