![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A Voluntary Prisoner: Chapter Two - Following Through
Title: A Voluntary Prisoner
Rating: T/PG-13
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Chapters: Four, plus an epilogue
Characters: Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, minor appearances by The Duke, Teo, and Haru
Summary: What if the Gaang had accepted Zuko's offer to become their prisoner?
As Zuko followed the young airbender through the halls of the temple, he felt a sense of relief that he had survived this meeting, even if things hadn't worked out like he had expected them to. He was fairly certain that Aang wouldn't have killed him, but he wouldn't have put it past the Water Tribe siblings—Katara and Sokka, he reminded himself. If I'm going to have any hope of gaining their trust, I've got to start referring to them by name—to try to kill him and he didn't know enough about the little earthbender Toph to be able to guess what she might have been willing to do. Absorbed in his thoughts, he almost failed to notice that Aang had stopped by an open door and was barely able to keep himself from running into the boy.
"Here we are," Aang said proudly.
"Let me take a look," Sokka said, stepping around Zuko and Aang to enter the room. After a minute or two, Sokka came out of the room and took a look at the door. "Not bad," he told Aang. "Like you said, there's no lock on the door, but you've already figured out how to deal with that."
Turning to Zuko, Sokka grabbed the prince by the arm and shoved him into the room. Stumbling, Zuko tried to regain his balance before he fell on his face. It was made harder by the fact that he couldn't use his arms to help, but he finally managed to get both of his feet firmly underneath him. Walking to the back of the room, he turned to face the doorway and sat down against the wall.
Standing in the doorway, Sokka asked, "How'd you find us, anyway?"
Surprised by the unexpected question, Zuko looked up at the younger boy. "Huh?" he said.
Sighing, Sokka repeated the question. "How did you find us? It's a long way from the Fire Nation capital to here, and we were flying on Appa for most of the way. How did you get here?"
"I followed you in a war balloon," Zuko said.
"Where's the war balloon now?" Sokka asked.
"I landed it in a small clearing back a little ways in the forest on top of the cliff," Zuko answered.
"Aang," Sokka said, turning to the young airbender, "I want you to take Appa and go check it out. Make sure it's not too obvious from the air and bring back any food or other items that you find there. If anyone does come across it, I don't want them to be able to tell that someone was staying there recently."
"Sure," Aang said before darting into the room and over to Zuko.
As Aang reached out to untie Zuko's hands, Sokka asked, "Aang, what do you think you're doing?"
Looking up at Sokka, Aang answered, "I'm getting my belt back."
"You're also untying the hands of a strong firebender who has been our enemy nearly every time we've met him before," Sokka pointed out.
Zuko sighed. "I told you, I've changed," he said. "I'm not going to do anything."
"Come on, Sokka," Aang said. "I need my belt back. If you're really so worried, you can go find some rope or something."
"All right," Sokka said, sighing in resignation. "Go ahead and untie his hands."
Pinning Zuko with a death glare, he added sternly, "But if I find out that you've used firebending for any reason at all, I'll make you regret the day you were born."
Meeting the other boy's eyes levelly, Zuko said, "I understand."
"Thanks, Sokka," Aang chirped, quickly untying the belt from Zuko's hands and retying it around his own waist before leaving the room.
Sokka's gaze followed the young airbender out of the room before he turned back to Zuko. "We'll bring you something to eat later," he told the prince. Turning, he walked out of the room and said, "Okay, Toph, you can seal the doorway now. Just make sure to leave a hole for air to get in and out. I don't think Aang would like it if we let Prince Jerk die."
Zuko didn't hear any response, but Toph obviously did something, since the doorway quickly disappeared except for a gap a few inches high at the top.
In the dim light that came in through the gap, Zuko looked around the room. It was a small room, about six feet wide and six feet deep. Well, the airbender had said it was a meditation cell. Sighing, Zuko removed his robe and folded it neatly before placing it on the floor. Since there was nothing else to do in here, he might as well get some rest.
:-:-:-:-:
Later that evening, the four friends, along with Haru, Teo, and The Duke, gathered around a fire at the back of the terrace for dinner. They were quietly listening to Teo and The Duke describe what they had found during their exploration of the temple earlier in the day when Haru noticed Zuko's swords propped against the wall beside the bag holding the other things that Zuko had brought with him. "Where'd the dao swords come from?" he asked, pointing at them.
Looking up from his food, Sokka's gaze followed Haru's finger to the swords. "Oh yeah," Sokka said. "We probably should've told you sooner, but we've got a prisoner shut up in one of the meditation cells."
"A prisoner?" Haru echoed. "Did something happen while we were exploring today?"
"Yeah," Sokka said, "something did. Prince Zuko showed up saying that he'd changed and wanted to join us. None of us really believed him, but when he offered himself as a prisoner, Aang decided that he'd rather have Prince Jerk in the temple as our prisoner than have him somewhere outside the temple, roaming free."
"The Firelord's son showed up?" Teo said.
"Yep," Toph said. "He did."
"How'd he find us?" Haru asked.
"I asked him the same thing," Sokka said. "He says that he followed us in a war balloon. Anyway, to answer your original question, after we closed him up in one of the meditation cells, I sent Aang up to Prince Jerk's campsite to make sure it wasn't too visible and had him bring back whatever he found there."
"We were planning on examining his things after dinner," Katara added. "Toph thinks that looking at what he brought with him might help us figure out if he's really changed."
"Actually," Toph said, "I think it will help them realize that he really has changed. I already know it."
"What makes you so certain of that?" Haru asked.
"I can sense if someone is lying," Toph said, "and Zuko was being honest and sincere the entire time he was talking to us."
"Speaking of Zuko," Aang said, "someone ought to go bring him some dinner."
"Not you, Aang," Katara said quickly.
"I'll do it," Sokka said. "Toph, will you come to open the door for me?"
"Sure thing, Snoozles," Toph said.
"Here," Katara said, handing Sokka a bowl of rice. "Wait for him to finish and bring the bowl back when he's done."
:-:-:-:-:
Zuko was lying on his back, head pillowed by his robe, when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sitting up, he pressed his back to the wall opposite the gap that was all that was left of the doorway and waited. Shortly, the gap expanded back into a full doorway again, revealing Toph and Sokka standing in the hall. Sokka was holding a bowl of rice in one hand.
"Here," Sokka said, holding the bowl out toward Zuko. "Dinner."
Slowly and carefully, Zuko got to his feet and walked forward to take the bowl from Sokka's hand. "Thank you," he said, retreating to the far wall and sitting back down before starting to eat. He was about halfway done with his meal when he realized that the other two were still there. Glaring at the younger boy, Zuko asked, "Is there a reason you're watching me eat or are you just amusing yourself?"
Toph snorted with laughter. "Sweetness told Snoozles to stay until you finished so he can bring the bowl back."
"Sweetness? Snoozles?" Zuko echoed, an amused grin working its way onto his face.
"Don't even think about it," Sokka said flatly, giving Zuko a death glare to match the one from earlier in the day. "Toph's the only one who gets to call us those names."
"I wasn't," Zuko said before he continued eating. When he had finished, he put the bowl down on the floor and shoved it toward Sokka.
Sokka picked up the bowl and turned toward the doorway before pausing. "We're going to take a look at your stuff tonight," he told Zuko. "Someone will bring it to you tomorrow after we've removed anything dangerous."
"My swords are the only things I brought that I'd consider dangerous," Zuko replied.
"We'll see," Sokka said. With that, he left the room.
Toph walked into the hall and then stopped. Turning toward Zuko, she said, "Don't worry, Firecracker. They'll come around soon." As she finished speaking, the doorway began to shrink until it was just the small gap that had been there earlier.
Zuko sighed and stretched out, lying on his back again with his head cushioned by his robe. At least one of them believes me, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
:-:-:-:-:
After Toph and Sokka returned with the bowl that had held Zuko's dinner, Aang got up and brought the bag containing Zuko's things over to the fire. As everyone gathered closer around the fire, Sokka opened the bag and said, "Okay, who wants to be the first one to reach into Zuko's Bag of Mystery?"
"I do!" Toph said, sitting forward excitedly.
"Very well then," Sokka said, holding the mouth of the bag toward the little earthbender.
Toph reached into the bag and grabbed the first thing she touched. Pulling it out of the bag, she asked, "What is it? It feels like a thin board, but Zuko doesn't seems like the type to bring along something so useless."
"It's a picture of his uncle," Katara said.
"First point toward proving that Zuko really has changed," Toph said. "We know Zuko's uncle is on our side, since he helped Katara get away with Aang after Azula shot Aang in Ba Sing Se. Given that Zuko sided against his uncle in Ba Sing Se, I'd say that it's indicative of a change of heart for him to have considered a picture of his uncle important enough to bring along when he left."
"Or maybe he just feels guilty about that," Katara said. "If he'd really changed, he would have freed his uncle before he left, but I don't see his uncle anywhere around here."
"What's to say he didn't and they simply decided to split up?" Toph countered.
"What reason would they have to split up?" Katara asked hotly. "Zuko knows that we know that his uncle is on our side, so wouldn't he want his uncle here to vouch for the fact that he's really changed?"
"Okay," Sokka said, interrupting the exchange before it could turn into a fight, "someone can ask him about his uncle tomorrow. Who wants to reach in next?"
They all took turns reaching into the bag, revealing some food and several items that didn't contribute to either side of the argument over whether or not Zuko had really changed. Finally, from the very bottom of the bag, Aang pulled out a cloth-wrapped object that was about as big around as the palm of his hand and twice that in height.
"What is it?" asked Katara.
"I don't know," Aang said as he carefully unwrapped the object, "but I've got a strange feeling about it." As he finished saying this, he pulled back the last layer of cloth to reveal a Fire Nation hair piece. "Ohh," Aang breathed when he saw what he was holding, a reverent expression on his face.
"Aang?" Katara asked anxiously. "Are you all right?"
"Huh?" Aang said, shaking his head to clear it. "Oh, I'm fine, Katara," he continued. "But I definitely need to talk to Zuko tomorrow. I need to talk to him alone."
"Why?" Teo asked.
"I need to know how he got this and I need to find out if he knows exactly what this is," Aang said.
"What is it?" Katara asked. "What about this hair piece is so important that you need to ask Zuko about it privately?"
"This is the hair piece that Sozin gave to Roku right before Roku left the Fire Nation to master the other elements," Aang said.
Chapter Three
Rating: T/PG-13
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Chapters: Four, plus an epilogue
Characters: Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, minor appearances by The Duke, Teo, and Haru
Summary: What if the Gaang had accepted Zuko's offer to become their prisoner?
As Zuko followed the young airbender through the halls of the temple, he felt a sense of relief that he had survived this meeting, even if things hadn't worked out like he had expected them to. He was fairly certain that Aang wouldn't have killed him, but he wouldn't have put it past the Water Tribe siblings—Katara and Sokka, he reminded himself. If I'm going to have any hope of gaining their trust, I've got to start referring to them by name—to try to kill him and he didn't know enough about the little earthbender Toph to be able to guess what she might have been willing to do. Absorbed in his thoughts, he almost failed to notice that Aang had stopped by an open door and was barely able to keep himself from running into the boy.
"Here we are," Aang said proudly.
"Let me take a look," Sokka said, stepping around Zuko and Aang to enter the room. After a minute or two, Sokka came out of the room and took a look at the door. "Not bad," he told Aang. "Like you said, there's no lock on the door, but you've already figured out how to deal with that."
Turning to Zuko, Sokka grabbed the prince by the arm and shoved him into the room. Stumbling, Zuko tried to regain his balance before he fell on his face. It was made harder by the fact that he couldn't use his arms to help, but he finally managed to get both of his feet firmly underneath him. Walking to the back of the room, he turned to face the doorway and sat down against the wall.
Standing in the doorway, Sokka asked, "How'd you find us, anyway?"
Surprised by the unexpected question, Zuko looked up at the younger boy. "Huh?" he said.
Sighing, Sokka repeated the question. "How did you find us? It's a long way from the Fire Nation capital to here, and we were flying on Appa for most of the way. How did you get here?"
"I followed you in a war balloon," Zuko said.
"Where's the war balloon now?" Sokka asked.
"I landed it in a small clearing back a little ways in the forest on top of the cliff," Zuko answered.
"Aang," Sokka said, turning to the young airbender, "I want you to take Appa and go check it out. Make sure it's not too obvious from the air and bring back any food or other items that you find there. If anyone does come across it, I don't want them to be able to tell that someone was staying there recently."
"Sure," Aang said before darting into the room and over to Zuko.
As Aang reached out to untie Zuko's hands, Sokka asked, "Aang, what do you think you're doing?"
Looking up at Sokka, Aang answered, "I'm getting my belt back."
"You're also untying the hands of a strong firebender who has been our enemy nearly every time we've met him before," Sokka pointed out.
Zuko sighed. "I told you, I've changed," he said. "I'm not going to do anything."
"Come on, Sokka," Aang said. "I need my belt back. If you're really so worried, you can go find some rope or something."
"All right," Sokka said, sighing in resignation. "Go ahead and untie his hands."
Pinning Zuko with a death glare, he added sternly, "But if I find out that you've used firebending for any reason at all, I'll make you regret the day you were born."
Meeting the other boy's eyes levelly, Zuko said, "I understand."
"Thanks, Sokka," Aang chirped, quickly untying the belt from Zuko's hands and retying it around his own waist before leaving the room.
Sokka's gaze followed the young airbender out of the room before he turned back to Zuko. "We'll bring you something to eat later," he told the prince. Turning, he walked out of the room and said, "Okay, Toph, you can seal the doorway now. Just make sure to leave a hole for air to get in and out. I don't think Aang would like it if we let Prince Jerk die."
Zuko didn't hear any response, but Toph obviously did something, since the doorway quickly disappeared except for a gap a few inches high at the top.
In the dim light that came in through the gap, Zuko looked around the room. It was a small room, about six feet wide and six feet deep. Well, the airbender had said it was a meditation cell. Sighing, Zuko removed his robe and folded it neatly before placing it on the floor. Since there was nothing else to do in here, he might as well get some rest.
:-:-:-:-:
Later that evening, the four friends, along with Haru, Teo, and The Duke, gathered around a fire at the back of the terrace for dinner. They were quietly listening to Teo and The Duke describe what they had found during their exploration of the temple earlier in the day when Haru noticed Zuko's swords propped against the wall beside the bag holding the other things that Zuko had brought with him. "Where'd the dao swords come from?" he asked, pointing at them.
Looking up from his food, Sokka's gaze followed Haru's finger to the swords. "Oh yeah," Sokka said. "We probably should've told you sooner, but we've got a prisoner shut up in one of the meditation cells."
"A prisoner?" Haru echoed. "Did something happen while we were exploring today?"
"Yeah," Sokka said, "something did. Prince Zuko showed up saying that he'd changed and wanted to join us. None of us really believed him, but when he offered himself as a prisoner, Aang decided that he'd rather have Prince Jerk in the temple as our prisoner than have him somewhere outside the temple, roaming free."
"The Firelord's son showed up?" Teo said.
"Yep," Toph said. "He did."
"How'd he find us?" Haru asked.
"I asked him the same thing," Sokka said. "He says that he followed us in a war balloon. Anyway, to answer your original question, after we closed him up in one of the meditation cells, I sent Aang up to Prince Jerk's campsite to make sure it wasn't too visible and had him bring back whatever he found there."
"We were planning on examining his things after dinner," Katara added. "Toph thinks that looking at what he brought with him might help us figure out if he's really changed."
"Actually," Toph said, "I think it will help them realize that he really has changed. I already know it."
"What makes you so certain of that?" Haru asked.
"I can sense if someone is lying," Toph said, "and Zuko was being honest and sincere the entire time he was talking to us."
"Speaking of Zuko," Aang said, "someone ought to go bring him some dinner."
"Not you, Aang," Katara said quickly.
"I'll do it," Sokka said. "Toph, will you come to open the door for me?"
"Sure thing, Snoozles," Toph said.
"Here," Katara said, handing Sokka a bowl of rice. "Wait for him to finish and bring the bowl back when he's done."
:-:-:-:-:
Zuko was lying on his back, head pillowed by his robe, when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sitting up, he pressed his back to the wall opposite the gap that was all that was left of the doorway and waited. Shortly, the gap expanded back into a full doorway again, revealing Toph and Sokka standing in the hall. Sokka was holding a bowl of rice in one hand.
"Here," Sokka said, holding the bowl out toward Zuko. "Dinner."
Slowly and carefully, Zuko got to his feet and walked forward to take the bowl from Sokka's hand. "Thank you," he said, retreating to the far wall and sitting back down before starting to eat. He was about halfway done with his meal when he realized that the other two were still there. Glaring at the younger boy, Zuko asked, "Is there a reason you're watching me eat or are you just amusing yourself?"
Toph snorted with laughter. "Sweetness told Snoozles to stay until you finished so he can bring the bowl back."
"Sweetness? Snoozles?" Zuko echoed, an amused grin working its way onto his face.
"Don't even think about it," Sokka said flatly, giving Zuko a death glare to match the one from earlier in the day. "Toph's the only one who gets to call us those names."
"I wasn't," Zuko said before he continued eating. When he had finished, he put the bowl down on the floor and shoved it toward Sokka.
Sokka picked up the bowl and turned toward the doorway before pausing. "We're going to take a look at your stuff tonight," he told Zuko. "Someone will bring it to you tomorrow after we've removed anything dangerous."
"My swords are the only things I brought that I'd consider dangerous," Zuko replied.
"We'll see," Sokka said. With that, he left the room.
Toph walked into the hall and then stopped. Turning toward Zuko, she said, "Don't worry, Firecracker. They'll come around soon." As she finished speaking, the doorway began to shrink until it was just the small gap that had been there earlier.
Zuko sighed and stretched out, lying on his back again with his head cushioned by his robe. At least one of them believes me, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
:-:-:-:-:
After Toph and Sokka returned with the bowl that had held Zuko's dinner, Aang got up and brought the bag containing Zuko's things over to the fire. As everyone gathered closer around the fire, Sokka opened the bag and said, "Okay, who wants to be the first one to reach into Zuko's Bag of Mystery?"
"I do!" Toph said, sitting forward excitedly.
"Very well then," Sokka said, holding the mouth of the bag toward the little earthbender.
Toph reached into the bag and grabbed the first thing she touched. Pulling it out of the bag, she asked, "What is it? It feels like a thin board, but Zuko doesn't seems like the type to bring along something so useless."
"It's a picture of his uncle," Katara said.
"First point toward proving that Zuko really has changed," Toph said. "We know Zuko's uncle is on our side, since he helped Katara get away with Aang after Azula shot Aang in Ba Sing Se. Given that Zuko sided against his uncle in Ba Sing Se, I'd say that it's indicative of a change of heart for him to have considered a picture of his uncle important enough to bring along when he left."
"Or maybe he just feels guilty about that," Katara said. "If he'd really changed, he would have freed his uncle before he left, but I don't see his uncle anywhere around here."
"What's to say he didn't and they simply decided to split up?" Toph countered.
"What reason would they have to split up?" Katara asked hotly. "Zuko knows that we know that his uncle is on our side, so wouldn't he want his uncle here to vouch for the fact that he's really changed?"
"Okay," Sokka said, interrupting the exchange before it could turn into a fight, "someone can ask him about his uncle tomorrow. Who wants to reach in next?"
They all took turns reaching into the bag, revealing some food and several items that didn't contribute to either side of the argument over whether or not Zuko had really changed. Finally, from the very bottom of the bag, Aang pulled out a cloth-wrapped object that was about as big around as the palm of his hand and twice that in height.
"What is it?" asked Katara.
"I don't know," Aang said as he carefully unwrapped the object, "but I've got a strange feeling about it." As he finished saying this, he pulled back the last layer of cloth to reveal a Fire Nation hair piece. "Ohh," Aang breathed when he saw what he was holding, a reverent expression on his face.
"Aang?" Katara asked anxiously. "Are you all right?"
"Huh?" Aang said, shaking his head to clear it. "Oh, I'm fine, Katara," he continued. "But I definitely need to talk to Zuko tomorrow. I need to talk to him alone."
"Why?" Teo asked.
"I need to know how he got this and I need to find out if he knows exactly what this is," Aang said.
"What is it?" Katara asked. "What about this hair piece is so important that you need to ask Zuko about it privately?"
"This is the hair piece that Sozin gave to Roku right before Roku left the Fire Nation to master the other elements," Aang said.
Chapter Three