rebuilding the world

Part 14

Chit Sang came to the warden's office a few minutes later, he and Zuko hugged each other and laughed, reminiscing on their last time there together. Chit Sang then led Zuko and Katara to the dining room, where some of the prisoners were already gathering at, Azula among them. She wore the orange coverall all prisoners wore; her hands were cuffed to prevent her from bending lighting at her brother again.

"well, if it isn't my brother, fire lord Zuzu, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" her tongue was still as sharp as ever. Zuko ignored her and turned to all the rebelling prisoners.

"I know you are all following Azula and are in the middle of planning a jail break. Let me assure you that none of you will get out of here before your sentence is over. The ones who try will get boiled alive by the water below, or burnt alive by the firebending guards in the premises. I am here to make sure all those who are part of the planning of this rebellion will receive the worst punishment possible in this prison, the cooler" a murmur of fear spread around the prisoners, but Azula still had her smile wide.

"really? That's the worst you can offer?" she laughed. Katara did waterbending motions, a few seconds later boiling water flowed through the open windows and circled around Azula.

"I can also trap you in the boiling water until you drop this ridiculous rebellion, they are very painful, and WILL leave a scar if you touch them" Azula's smile disappeared. The prisoners started to riot, each trying to be the first to admit Azula is the one responsible for the rebellion.

"quiet!" Chit Sang yelled. The prisoners all quieted down.

"we shall do this quietly, please raise your hand if you had something to do with planning the rebellion, any small idea" a few prisoners raised their hands, the guards on the floor grabbed them and dragged them away.

"now, I assume the leader is my sister" Zuko added, all remaining prisoners pointed at Azula, who growled in anger but stayed put, afraid of being burnt by the water.

"warden, put my sister in isolation, make sure she has no way of bending her way out of it, call for Ty-Lee in Kyoshi island to block her chi if you have to, or the avatar to take away her bending for good" Zuko looked at his sister one last time before leaving the dining hall. Katara took the water from Azula as the guards approached to take her away to isolation. She yelled and screamed as she was carried away to an isolated cell. Katara and Chit Sang followed Zuko out of the dining room as the other guards cleared the dining room and took the rest of the prisoners back to their cells.

"that was easy" Katara said after she had caught up with Zuko.

"Azula will try to get away again, we need waterbending guards there, the boiling water seems to be the one thing that actually scares her" Zuko said, Katara could not read the expression in his voice, but she could tell it wasn't a good one.

"I will send a request for the chief of the northern tribe when we get back to the palace" Katara nodded her head, Zuko stopped and turned to her.

"we need to get there ourselves" he grabbed her shoulders.

"but Sokka has Appa, and Toph hates the ice, we can't take them with us and we can't leave them here" Katara tried to reason with him, but his eyes told her it was useless.

"do you have access to those submarines Sokka designed for the invasion? The ones powered by waterbending?"

"I do, but it's too far for me to bend us all the way there in one go, and the sub itself is too big for me to move by myself" Zuko sighed and let her go, she took his hand before he walked out of range for her to reach him.

"Zuko, Azula is trapped, and she can't use her bending in that freezing cell. We have time to go back to seashell island and tell Padma that we made it before we take Appa to the northern tribe" Zuko turned to her and took her free hand. He thanked Chit Sang for all his help and pulled Katara to the cable car again. After the doors closed and they started to move up on their way from the prison Zuko leaned on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it's just so hard to see her again. Every time I see her face, I remember her shooting that lightning bolt at you, and then me" Katara smiled, then helped him sit down and sat next to him, his forehead still on her shoulder.

"Zuko, it's over. You are now the fire lord, and she is rotting in the worst prison in the fire nation. There is absolutely no need for her to still haunt you" Katara raised his head, their eyes met and they leaned in for a kiss when the car stopped. They both stood up and looked around them, the car was stuck in the middle of the cable halfway through the boiling lake.

"I am very sorry, my lord, it seems the cables are not yet perfectly fixed since the last time you were here!" the warden yelled to Zuko, who barely heard due to the distance between them. Katara sighed and bent the boiling water to lift the car up and carry it to the station on the other side. The doors opened and Zuko went out first, then the car moved back to the lake, with Katara in it. The last thing she saw was Zuko's terrified look as he realized that the car was moving back with her still inside. She froze the water and used it to create a ladder, she climbed up into the other side, where Appa had just landed. She could see Zuko's face as he sat near the end and leaned in to see her climb up. she arrived at a shelf in the mountain when the water melted. Toph used her bending to lift Katara up to her.

"you scared us" Sokka called to her as he hugged his sister, she saw Zuko look at her and get up. Sokka let her go and climbed back on Appa.

"where's Zuko, we should get going" he said as Zuko came into his view as he hugged Katara.

"next time, let's just wait for the cable to be fixed, or pulled, okay?" Zuko asked as he let her go, she agreed silently with a shy smile. Her mind wondered away as she and Zuko climbed on Appa and flew back to seashell island. Zuko was so close to kiss her, and she remembered how kind his eyes seemed, his shy small smile as his face closed in on hers. She wanted him to kiss her, she has been wishing for it since the day they defeated Azula, during his coronation, on that day in the jasmine dragon. She held a hand to her heart, it was beating loudly and quickly, she loved Zuko.