Façades [A Zuko x OC Story]

29 - The Great Escape

Pounding. Loud pounding. I thought it was just my head from dehydration, but once I feel fully conscious I can tell that the sound is coming from out in the hall.

I lift my head off of the cold, damp floor and try to see what's going on by looking through the small opening at the top of the door. But I'm too far away to see anything but the wall of the hallway behind the door.

Suddenly the door crashes open and I push myself to the back of my cell to avoid whoever is coming to murder me.

"Li Mei." A friendly voice says.

"Iroh?" I lean over to the front edge of the cell and peek through the bars. I can just make out his face in the darkness of the room, "What are you doing?"

"Escaping." He smiles and crouches down to unlock my chamber.

"But how?" I rub my eyes, "How did you get past all of the guards?"

"The eclipse." He manages to get the lock open and the door swings out.

"There's an eclipse?" I question, "You managed to get past all of those guards with no bending?" I gawk.

"That is correct." Iroh helps me stand on my feet.

"I don't think I've ever admired you more." I pull him into a hug, "How did you even know I was here?"

"You made quite the racket when you first got here." Iroh chuckles.

"I guess I did, didn't I?" I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Let me go!" I yell and struggle against the grips of my captors, "I'll beat you all up! Just watch me!" I try to melt my way through the cuffs covering my hands but my fire is nowhere near hot enough.

They throw me aggressively into my cell and slam the door. I slam up against the bars and my hands make them red hot.

"Argh!" I exclaim and punch the wall behind me out of anger, leaving a large crater.

"Follow me." Iroh guides me through the halls of the prison, "You must find the Avatar." He instructs as we exit the large stone building.

"Aang is here?" I ask.

"The Avatar and his friends have begun an invasion of the Palace City." He explains.

"How do you know all this?"

"Look around." I look up at his words and I can see the large plumes of smoke blowing over the city.

We continue out into the main area of the Palace City and Iroh gives my shoulder a gentle push, "You must go on your own now."

"What? Why?"

"I have other business to deal with." Iroh rests his hands on my arms and looks deeply into my eyes, "Remember what's important." He says with sincerity.

"What does that mean?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

"Now is not the time to be vague!" I call out to him as he walks away.

"One last thing." Iroh tosses a small object into the air. I reach up and grab it. I look down at the object in my palm, it's a white lotus tile like the one Pakku gave me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I ask myself as Iroh disappears around a corner. There's another loud bang that shakes the ground and I am brought back into reality. I tuck the tile into my pocket and make a run for the docks. It will be a good place to start looking for at least one familiar face.