The Tea Shop-(Zuko x Reader)

The Escape Plan

My feet are calloused and bruised from the sharp stone floor. My muscles ache as I continue practicing my form. Wide stance of equally distributed weight, fingers and arms bent in anticipation of motion. My knowledge is limited, of course, I can't exactly remember everything my father did when I was a child, but I don't need much knowledge of bending for my escape plan.

There is a short window of time every day where the guards both take their lunch break. It's only about fifteen minutes, but it's enough for me to progress and get better as time goes on. When I started, all I could do was lift about an inch of water, but now if I concentrate I can make a small sphere of water float in the air, Just like my fathers fishing technique. Even when the guards are back, I continue to practice subtly with my fingers, curving and snapping the joints here and there, watching and making note of the shapes my movements make.

I watch the door and listen for footsteps as I practice bending large orbs of water. Instead of slow gentle movements, I quickly curve the joints of my fingers until the sphere becomes a flat disk, hopefully sharp enough to break me out of the thick cell door. Before I even have a chance to test the logistics of my escape plan, I drop the disk onto the puddle of water on my cell floor.

"Damn it!" I yell, my words echo throughout the cell. Quick footsteps make their way through the prison towards my cell. They never like when we get loud.

"Quiet down before I make you shut up!" One of the guards snaps at me through the steel cell door. I wonder how tough he would act if I was free, blades of water at my side as I force everyone out of my way. But that could only be a dream, for now, I have to quietly force my way through the doors while the guards are on their break.

I submit to the guards' demands and huddle against one of the cell walls, cold and damp on my almost exposed back. I used to see the puddles of rain and leaky cracks in my cell walls as another problem, but now I see them as my greatest allies. I close my eyes to drift into a cold, aching, dreamless sleep, ready to try again tomorrow. I fall out of consciousness, sleeping heavily, when I'm suddenly awoken by guards yelling incoherently. I quickly shuffle to the small slit in the door to try and see what's going on, but all I can see is a large muscular figure sprinting past my door, shoving guards to the side as he goes. Out of sudden shock and fear I fall back, wondering if I should go back to my corner, or if I should try my luck at escaping.

My heart pounds as my head races, feeling my heartbeat from my core to my feet, I stand and ready my stance, wide and equally distributed, elbows and fingers flowing like water. I channel my chi, dragging the puddles on the floor and every drop of dew on the wall, until a sphere of water is presented in front of me. If I didn't know I was ready before, I know I'm ready now. My joints snap into position as the sphere flattens out. I drag my foot across the floor, and with all my energy I slam it into the steel door, knocking it off the hinges, rendering my cage completely defenseless.

My eyes go wide at the sight of morning light. Not like from my cell window, where I could only assume the time of day, but the real light of morning. I slowly drag my feet across the gagged floor, readying myself for an attack. Thoughts of guards surrounding my cell before I can even step out swarm my head as I struggle to keep myself moving. Maybe this was a nicer cell, if I try to escape where will they put me? More importantly, What will they do with me? My doubts and fears all come to me at once, making me fight myself to take another step. Finally, while I battle myself, my foot steps out of my cell, and so follows my other. The feeling of freedom rushes through me as I sprint down the long jail halls, trying to find any indication of a way out. My fingers stay flexed and ready as a blade of water follows quickly behind. Would this actually protect me if I did find any guards? Probably not. Which is why I feel myself start to become more frantic as I continue to rush through the repeating hallways.

My head continues to swarm and adrenaline continues to pump when I slam my face against a hard chest in my panic. I slam down, back hitting against the stone floor and my head taking almost all of the impact as I struggle to understand what just happened. I'm quickly swung over someone's shoulder while I try to regain the breath that had just been knocked out of me. I flex my fingers and rapidly swing my arms in desperation to take out my attacker, but it's no use. My chi is depleted and my vision is starting to fade.

I watch the ground in front of me drift away as I fall out of consciousness. I was so close.