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The Boiling Rock Part Two

"Line them up for the Warden!"

The warden walked down the row of prisoners. "Welcome to the Boiling Rock. I'm sure you've heard the horrible rumors about our little island. Well, I just want to tell you that they don't have to be true if you do everything I say." He stopped in front of Meelo, who was picking at his fingernails. "Look at me in the eye when I talk to you."

"Nope."

"Oh, so you'd rather look at my shoes? Well take a look!" He pulled Meelo's handcuffs to the floor, forcing him into a kneeling position. Rohan raised to attack but Jinora grabbed his arm. "I know exactly who you are, Meelo of the Air Nomads. So strong willed. But don't worry. We'll get rid of that in time. Now, look at me in the eye."

"I think I'll stick with your shoes. At least they look nice." He tilted his handcuffs slightly and the warden lost his balance.

Two guards rushed over to help the warden up. "Are you ok, sir?"

Meelo rose to his feet and snickered.

---

Mai looked ahead as the Boiling Rock came into view. "I'm starting to get tired of these reunions."

"I'm not," Azula said. "Hopefully this'll be the last one, and then I can finally feed my brother's charred corpse to the turtleducks."

Ty Lee winced. "I'm glad I'm not Zuko!"

"So am I." The two shared a quick kiss, but Ty Lee secretly waited for it to be over.

I can't let you do this, Azula. I'm sorry.

---

Meelo whistled idly as Sokka opened the door. "Are you alright?"

Meelo exhaled and the gust of air slammed Sokka against the ceiling. "Pretty."

"Meelo, it's me!"

"Sokka? How's Seling? Is he alright? What about Malu?"

"They're ok. Ish. As ok as you can be in these circumstances. What about you?"

"Some things are worth fighting over, like the look on the warden's face. What about you, Sokka? You need to be more careful. I was about to strangle you."

"Yeah, I ran into that problem earlier."

---

"Are you comfortable, Chit Sang?"

Chit Sang snarled at the warden, his arms straining against the metal that bound him to the chair. "If you're trying to get me to talk, forget it. I'm not a squealer."

"Chit Sang, I only asked you if you're comfortable."

"Well, yeah actual-" The warden kicked the back of the chair, flipping Chit Sang over.

"Are you still comfortable?"

"No."

"I know you and your cronies aren't smart enough to come up with that escape plan. So tell me, who was it?"

---

"Where's everyone else?" Sokka asked.

"They took the waterbenders and earthbenders to different prisons. I haven't seen Narure and Nenzahn since. The nonbenders are being held in a prison near the Fire Nation capital. Us four airbenders were sent here."

"Zuko and Suki, my Kyoshi Warrior sort-of girlfriend, are here too."

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get. Do you have a plan?"

"Nope. We had a plan, but then some other prisoners got involved and ruined it. I don't know if there's another way off this island."

"Hey, you can keep firebenders from heat, earthbenders from earth, and waterbenders from weapons, but you can't keep airbenders from air, you and your sort-of girlfriend from your brains, or Zuko from...spite."