𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑶𝑵, 𝒂: 𝒕𝒍𝒂

➳ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮

OUT OF ALL THE SCENARIOS KIDA PICTURED OF ESCAPING THE BOILING ROCK, THIS WAS THE LEAST LIKELY. Here, standing on the shore with the person she arguably loves the most, the person she arguably loathes the most, her would be ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend's would be ex-boyfriend - thankfully there isn't much of an opportunity for an awkward reunion - and a couple of prisoners, the possibility of escape is closer than ever.

That is, until Kida overhears a conversation between Zuko and Sokka.

"Wait. Sokka, is that true?" Kida asks, stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Your dad —"

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

"No, it's not," Zuko interrupts. "Look, Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."

Sokka scoffs. He continues collecting his clothes and sword that he had hidden under a rock, preparing to leave. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again...."

"Seriously, not helping." Sokka keeps walking towards the cooler, obviously trying to ignore what Zuko has to say.

"You have to try every time," Zuko declares. "You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."

"I hate to say it, but Fire Boy here has a point," Kida adds. "Sokka, you came here to find your dad, right? We can't just leave now when there's a chance you can see him again."

"Hey, if you're all done cuddling, can we get a move on?" One of the other prisoners, Chit Sang, grumbles.

"No. I'm staying." Sokka turns back to Kida and the others. He places a hand on Kida's shoulder. "You go. You've been here long enough."

"You're fucking joking, right?" Kida scoffs. Realizing her response was harsh, she moves to place her hand on top of Sokka's. "I'm not leaving here without you."

"I'm staying, too," Zuko adds. Kida tries to hide her disappointment.

Next to her, Suki smiles reassuringly. "Same here."

"If it means being reunited with another member of the Southern Water Tribe, I'm in," Koa says. "Chief Hakoda was like a father to me, too."

"We're not staying.." Chit Sang declares as he, his girlfriend, and his friend are already in the cooler. "Let's roll."

As they kick off from the shore, Sokka stares after them longingly. "We just gave up our only chance of escaping. I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."

»»---------------------►

THE NEXT MORNING, THERE'S A LOCKDOWN AND ALL THE PRISONERS ARE PUT BACK INTO THEIR CELLS. The plan didn't work, and the warden found out that some prisoners were trying to escape.

Kida is patiently waiting to see if they had indeed made a huge mistake, but it seems that either way, they would have been stuck at the Boiling Rock.

When Kida hears the door to her cell open, she's immediately on high alert. Once she sees that it's Sokka, she can exhale.

"So, what's going on?"

"I don't have much time," Sokka explains. "If I'm seen with you, the guards might think something's up." He quickly looks outside through the small window on the door, before sitting down with his back against the door. Kida walks over to join him. "I just talked to my dad."