The Ruka Wild ↠ Book 3 > A:TLA

25

Ruka (3)

I met Sokka at the cooler just like we had planned. When I reached his side, he furrowed his brows. "Where were you?"

I shake my head. "Doesn't matter. I have to talk to you and Zuko - open this up."

Sokka slides open the doors to the cooler, revealing a balled up Zuko. He crosses his arms and looks down at him. "I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson."

Zuko breathes out a puff of fire before smirking, "Yes, I have," He opens up his shirt to show us all of the bolts from the cooler. "Completely."

Sokka leans into the cooler and whispers, "I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago. They'll be waiting for us at the shore."

"Someone's coming!" Zuko grabs onto both Sokka and I and pulls us into the cooler, closing the door. I was extremely close to Zuko - practically on his lap - which made the both of us blush. "Erm, sorry."

He cleared his throat." Uh, don't worry."

Once the footsteps were no longer heard and we knew we were alone again, I turn my head to the other two and whisper. "I was poking my head around and listening in for any new information. Supposedly tomorrow at dawn, there's going to be new people arriving, including war prisoners."

Sokka's eyes slightly widen.

"It could be dad, Sokka." I said.

He slightly frowns, "I know."

"Well? What should we do?" Zuko asks. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

My brother shakes his head. "I don't know! Is it right for me to risk our freedom?" He then turns his head to me. "Your freedom? On the slim chance that our dad is gonna show up?"

"It's your call, Sokka." Zuko said.

I looked down at the floor in thought. It's mine too.

>>>

Awhile after the sun went down, we met up with the others at the shore with the cooler. Carefully, we rolled it down the hill.

When Chit Sang and Suki caught eye of us, they joined us on the hill and helped out.

"Took you guys long enough." Chit Sang frowned. "This here's my girl and my best buddy. They're coming too."

"Fine. Everybody in the cooler, let's go." Sokka said.

Once we reached the bottom, I stepped away. "Wait. I'm staying."

"Ruka-" Sokka groaned, but I cut him off. I shook my head, "No. I waited years to finally see dad and the minute I got him back, he was taken from me. I'm not letting that happen again."

"Your dad?" Suki asked, confused.

We all brushed her off, not wanting to explain the whole situation at the moment. There wasn't any time.

I shake my head. "We came for dad. From the beginning, we risked it all for dad. What's stopping us now?"

"If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail, Ruka." Sokka said.

I sighed. "What if it was me, Sokka? You wouldn't just quit, I know you." I stepped toward him and grabbed his hand. "Maybe sometimes it's better to fail before you call it quits. At least we'll know we really tried then."

"Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?" Chit Sang interrupted.

Sokka furrowed his brows. "No, I'm staying." He turned around at Suki and Zuko. "You guys go."

He stepped closer to Suki and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You've been here long enough."

"I'm not leaving without you, Sokka."

Zuko then stepped over to me. "And I'm not leaving without you."

I felt myself smile before nodding. "Okay then, it's settled. We're all staying."

"Not me, I'm out." Chit sang said before hopping into the cooler. "Let's roll, baby."

"We gave up our only chance of escaping. I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake." Sokka frowned, watching the cooler float away.

I shrugged. "Well, we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

Sokka nodded. "We should get to the gondola and wait for the new arrivals." Him and Suki began to make their way to the trail, but before Zuko could join them, I grabbed onto his wrist to stop him.

He turned around, his brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Just... thank you."

Zuko sighed. "When I said I'd never leave you again, I meant it." He turned around and began to follow the others.

I followed after, replaying Hiko's words the whole way.

Let him put you back together.

>>>

It's been hours since Chit Sang and his friends left. There still wasn't a sign of them being caught, so I'm sure they're in the clear.

We were walking with our backs against the building on the ledge. We were getting closer to the gondola as it was almost dawn. My nerves were beginning to creep up and I was growing impatient.

"What are you thinking about?" Zuko asked me softly.

I glanced at him before sighing. "I'm the one that convinced Sokka to stay. If my dad doesn't get off that gondola, I'll be reason why we're screwed."

He shook his head quickly. "What if we had left and he did show up? What then? You'd regret not taking the risk and staying."

I took in his words. I nodded slowly. "Yeah... you're right."

Seconds later, a loud roar echoed throughout the walls of the island. I stopped suddenly, making the others do the same.

I furrowed my brows as I turned to them. "Did you hear that?"

As if on cue, the bell to the prison starts to ring. We all look up and watch Guards running back and forth. "Secure the perimeter!"

"The plan failed!" Sokka said. "They're caught!"

Even faster, we continue to walk on the ledge.

Once we reached the drop off, the gondola was just arriving. We watched it stop once it reached the bottom and waited for the doors to open.

"This is it." Sokka said, grabbing onto my hand. I gave it a squeeze, letting him know I'm just as nervous.

"If my dad's not there, we risked everything for nothing." My brother frowned. Before I could feel guilty, Suki reassured the both of us. "We had to."

"Come on, come on."

We watched the first man step out. He was definitely not our dad, but he looked like the pirate I heard about earlier.

"Is that him?" Zuko asked. Sokka furrowed his brows, slightly offended. "Our dad doesn't have nose ring!"

We watched all the prisoners walk off one by one and my heart raced faster after the next. But none of them were him.

"Where is he?" Sokka pleaded. I squeezed his hand once more.

When it looked like the last person walked off, I slumped my shoulders down. "I'm so sorry guys..."

"That's it? That can't be it."

I leaned against my brother and he wrapped his arm around me. I felt a hand on my arm and I knew it was Zuko. His touch was comforting and I didn't want him to pull away.

"Hey, you!" We heard a guard yell from up top. We all looked up, slightly confused. "Get off the gondola!"

I gasped. "There's another person!"

Sokka tightened himself around me as we waited for the prisoner. The moment he stepped off, tears were brought to my eyes.

"Dad." "Dad."