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."
"Sokka, that's great."
"Yeah, and we're escaping today, on the gondola."
"Thanks Spirits," Kida sighs. "So, what's the plan?"
"My dad and I came up with the plan together. We're gonna commandeer the gondola and we're gonna take a hostage with us so they won't cut the lines."
"We're gonna need a distraction."
Sokka nods. "That's what my dad said, but we came up with a plan. We're gonna start a prison riot."
"Sounds like a good distraction," Kida says. "But the hostage....the warden, right? That way, there's no way they'll cut the lines if we have him."
"Exactly." Sokka smiles. Before he can say anything else, a noise outside causes Sokka to stand up. "I have to go. I'll find you before we start the riot."
"Right. This is gonna work." It has to work, Kida pleads silently.
Sokka pauses before leaving. "Wait." He kisses Kida. "I'll see you soon."
»»---------------------►
ONCE THE PRISONERS ARE LET OUT INTO THE YARD, KIDA JOINS UP WITH SOKKA AND THE OTHERS. Kida notices that Zuko is the only one who isn't there, but Kida doesn't really care enough to point that out. Unfortunately, any attempt at a riot doesn't work.
"Hey you!" Chit Sang spots Sokka from the other side of the yard and marches over "You're lucky I didn't rat you out, but my generosity comes with a price. I know you're planning another escape attempt, and I want in."
Sokka tilts his head. "Actually, we're trying to escape right now, but we need a riot. You wouldn't happen to know how to start one, would you?"
"A prison riot? Please!" Chit Sang grabs the nearest prisoner, lifts him in the air and bounces him up and down. "Riot!"
Immediately, a riot begins; prisoners fight and yell, and several blasts of fire go off.
Hakoda looks shocked for a moment, but then says: "Impressive."
In the chaos of the riot, Zuko finally appears.
"Zuko! Good, we're all here," Sokka announces. "Now, all we need to do is grab the warden, and get to the gondolas."
"How are we gonna do that?"
As they go over the possibilities, and Zuko reprimands Sokka for not thinking the plan through, Kida looks up from the chaos towards the guard tower, where the warden is - and she makes eye contact with Suki, a mutual plan forming in their minds. They run towards the tower in tandem; each of them takes down each guard: a few quick jabs, dodges, and fire blasts later, and they've successfully climbed to the top. Kida grabs the warden, while Suki ties his hands together and uses his headband as a gag.
Kida slams the warden against the wall, when the rest of the team arrives. Kida smirks. "Sorry warden, you're our prisoner now."
»»---------------------►
ONCE THE GROUP MAKES IT TO THE GONDOLAS, ANOTHER OBSTACLE APPEARS. And it's one Kida dreads.
"What the fuck is she doing here?" Kida stares out at Azula standing at the bottom of the gondola station. As Azula grabs a pair of handcuffs and rushes towards the gondola, with her friend Ty Lee joining her, Kida turns sharply towards Zuko. "I swear, if you had anything to do with this -"
"I didn't," Zuko asserts.
"Whatever," Kida grumbles. "I guess it's time for a rematch."
Kida climbs to the top of the gondola to meet Azula and Ty Lee, Zuko and Sokka following behind.
"Running away with the Water Tribe peasant. I wouldn't expect anything less from you, cousin."
Kida feels her palms heat up. She feels an ache in her abdomen, where Azula stabbed her during the invasion. She assumes a battle position. Beside her, Zuko and Sokka get ready for a fight as well. It's all a blur of trying to win the fight while not falling off the gondola to her death - Kida is almost pushed towards the edge by Ty Lee, but Suki comes to her rescue. At one point, Kida notices that Sokka has lost grip of his sword, but Koa sweeps in just in time for anything bad to happen.
All of a sudden, Kida hears someone say that they're about to cut the line.
Azula smirks. "Then it's time to leave!" And with that, she blasts herself up and Ty Lee backflips onto the other gondola.
Once everyone's back in the gondola, there's nothing to do but wait.
"Let's hope this thing floats," Hakoda says solemnly.
Before the line's actually cut, a commotion from the gondola station puts a stop to it.
"Who's that?" Sokka asks.
"It's Mai," Zuko replies.
And the gondola keeps moving, bringing them closer and closer to freedom.
»»---------------------►
IT WAS ZUKO'S IDEA TO USE AZULA'S AIRSHIP AS THEIR ESCAPE. Even Kida has to admit that was a good idea.
By the time they get to the Western Air Temple, where the team has been staying since the invasion, it's nightfall. Sokka and Zuko exit first, walking towards Katara, Aang, and Toph who are there to greet them. Kida immediately smiles and feels relief to see them all here, safe and happy. She only hears the tail end of their conversation.
"Did you at least get any good meat?" Toph asks.
"Yes we did," Sokka sighs happily. "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood."
"I think I speak for all of us," Kida interrupts when she finally stands beside Sokka. "When I say that we'd prefer not being referred to as meat."
"Kida? Kida!" Aang rushes towards Kida and brings her into a hug. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, kid," Kida replies. Beside her, Sokka, Katara, and Hakoda are having their own little reunion, while Chit Sang, Suki and Koa greet everyone else.
"Seriously? You didn't get any meat?" Toph groans.
Kida laughs, allowing herself to be happy, if even for this moment. "It's good to be back."
»»---------------------►
author's note!
idk how i feel about this chapter - it feels a bit rushed? but im excited for the next chapter!!
please check my bio for links to resources and action items for important issues.
thank you for reading!