His last hope. (Zuko)

Part 11: Imprisoned and back to the Fire Prince.

The sun was high in the sky and the small group of children was under the trees near a small earth kingdom village. The forest was huge and covered them well to hide from anyone who might want to sneak up on them. Azelea was sitting on an old tree stump that stuck out of the ground. She was busy fixing her brothers clothes, as he ripped one of his shirts again. The small stream that flowed from the rock made a small water fall. Making it sound peaceful for a time. Katara was folding blankets and Ang was laying on an old tree. Sokka was trying to catch some fish, but if he going to catch one was the big question. Azelea tosses the clothes on Ang's head as she stands up from her sitting spot. Sokka came back with a blue bag in his hand. Azelea stood with her back to them. Her hands held behind her back as she feels the wind blow softly though her hair. "Great, your back. What's for dinner?" Ang ask as he jumps from his spot to sit next to his friends. "We've got a few options." Sokka states as he looks into the bag. He puts his hand in the bag and pulls out a oval shaped nut. "First some round nuts and some oval shaped nuts and some rock shape nuts that might just be rocks. Dig in" He says as the group looks at him unimpressed Ang and Katara both look at each other. Azelea only stares in front of her. IT was like she was waiting for something to happen.

"Seriously, what else have you got?" Katara ask holding a nut between two fingers. Momo tires to bite one of the rock Shaped ones almost breaking his teeth. Sokka looks into his bag like he missed something but that was it. "Azelea you want some nuts?" Ang ask his sister snapping her from her daze. "Huh? Oh, no thank you." She says turning to sit with them. "You ok? You seem off." Sokka says as he eats a nut. "I'm fine." She says rubbing Momo's head as he jumps into her lap for comfort. In the distance they heard a loud bang. "What was that?" Azelea and Sokka ask as the all got up and fallowed the sound. "Its coming from over their." Ang says as he points. They all run to the direction of the sound. Their they saw a boy. About the same age as Azelea and Sokka, maybe a year younger. He was earthbending. He wasn't a master, but he knew what he was doing. "Why is he earthbending all the way out here?" Azelea whispers as she puts a her thumb to her bottom lip in wonder. "An earthbender." Katara mumbles. "Lets go meet him." Ang says in his cheery voice. "He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously." Sokka says as they exit from behind their hiding spot. "Hello, my names Katara! Whats your name?" Katara ask.

Once the boy spotted them he ran. "Nice to meet you!" Ang yells as he walks towards Katara. "Their must be a village nearby, he must live their." Azelea says as she stands next to Sokka. "I just wanted to say hi." Katara says disappointed. Azelea only shakes her head. "Lets find the village. Maybe we can find something other to eat then just nuts." She says as she walks towards where the boy ran. She swiftly jumped over the rocks and fallowed his foot prints. The rest fallowed behind her. "Azelea is a great tracker. She once found a whole heard of wild bison just by one pawprint." Ang says in aww at his sister. They reach the village and try to find the boy. "Their he is." Azelea says as he enters a shop. They go in behind him. "Hi. your that kid. Why did you run away before?" Katara ask as she enters the shop. Azelea stood behind her. The boy looked scared. He didn't know what to do. He was caught. "You must have me confused with some other kid." The boy says. The boys join them. "No, she doesn't. We saw you earthbending." Ang says as he steps closer to the pair. "They saw you do what?" His mother ask with her eyes wide with fear. She closed all the blinds and the door instantly. "Their Crazy mom. I mean look at how their dressed." He points to their clothes. "That doesn't make us crazy buddy." Azelea says walking towards him. "I will whip your ass for calling us that." Azelea says looking up at the boy. "You know how dangerous that is." His mother says looking at him. "You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending." She says when their is a sudden knock on the door. "Open up!" A male voice calls.

Sokka peaks through the blinds and spots fire nation men on the other side of the door. "Fire nation! Act Natural." He says as Haru's mom opens the door. Azelea was the only one who knows how to act around fire nation people. Everyone else looked out of place. She wanted to smack them. The man enters the room and looks around. "What do you want? We already paid this weak." The women says glaring at the man. "The tax just doubled." The man says. Azelea clutches her fist behind the counter. She wanted to smack the man. Blow hot air in his face an chase him out of the shop. The women hands him the coins and he leaves. Azelea tuned the others out. She needed to calm down. "You ok?" Ang ask but Azelea didn't answer him. She walked out of the shop and went to find Appa and momo.

"My mom said you could sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning." Haru says as he leads the four to a barn. Ang smiles at him. "Thanks, I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." Ang says motioning to Appa who was eating. Katara and Haru walks out of the barn. "What do you think they are talking about?" Ang ask his sister as he watches Katara leave. Azelea looks at the pair. "I don't know, but in all honesty. I think it will do them both some good to talk to someone." Azelea says patting her brother on the back. Azelea had her own battels to deal with. She needed to think of how she felt for the fire prince. "Was he only a friend or something more?" She thinks to herself. She fell asleep before sundown, but the piece of sleep wasn't for her that night.

Fire nation neared the house of Haru and his mother. They knock on the door and Haru opens the door. They took him away. "That's him! He's an earthbender." The old man Haru and Katara saved screams pointing to Haru. Azelea woke up from the commotion. "What is going on?" She ask as she walks out of the barn. "Stay out of it miss." The solider says but takes his words once he sees the tattoos. Azelea went into a fighting stance but it was to late. They captured them both. "Why are they taking you?" Haru ask and Azelea glares at them. "Because I'm an Airbender." She mumbles softly and his eyes widen. They took them to a prison. Their Haru was reunited with his father and many of the men from their village. "You think your brother will come for you?" Haru ask and Azelea nods her head slightly. "I know they will. And I know they will find a way to free us all." She whispers as she eats the rice that is in her bowl.

The alarm sounds and the new prisoners walk into the courtyard. Azelea's eyes widen. "Katara!" She whisper, yells as her eyes lock with Katara's blue ones. "Katara. What are you doing here?" Haru says as he turns around and spots her. "Haru! Azelea! Its my fault you were captured. I came to rescue you." She says and Haru looks at her. Azelea gives her a small smile. "I could have gotten out but fine." Azelea says with a smile. "So you got yourself arrested?" Haru ask in shock. "It was the only way to find you." She explains. Azelea shakes her head lightly. "You've got guts Katara. I'll give you that. Come on their someone I want you to meat." Haru says as the three of them walk towards his father. Haru introduced them and they all sat down. It was dinner time and it was already served. "Their hope is gone, the fire nation broke them." Azelea says once she and Katara was alone. "We can still find a way for us all to escape this place." Katara says. Azelea looks up at the sky. "Once you find a way, let me know." She says as she walks back to her cell.

***

It was a few days before the big escape. All of them escaped except Azelea. She was captured and locked in a cell rigth before the escape. "Let me go!" She screams at the guards. "Now, that is no way for you to talk." She snaps her head to his voice. "What do you want?" She sneers as Zuko walks closer to her. "I came to get you out of this cell." He says as he motions the guards to let Azelea go. "Are you sure Prince Zuko?" one ask and Azelea smirks. "Come on, let me go and you will see just how I can hurt you." Zuko steps closer to her. Grabbing her by the waist. Their faces inches from each other. Azelea's cheeks go red. "Good." Zuko says as his hands melt the chains. He takes her by the hand and leads her to his ship. On his way their he spots Katara's necklace. Azeleas eyes widen and she looks at him. "What are you going to do with that?" Their was no answer to her question but they both starred into the sun set.