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.
-
Large airships soar over my head and drop large explosives a little too close for comfort. I duck in and behind buildings to avoid being blown off the map.
Voices scream and yell from all directions and I can't tell who is on what side, there are just sounds of pure terror. Out of all the screams I make out the sound of voices. Just regular speaking voices. I run along the large ledges of rock in hopes that the people these voices belong to will not have any aspiration to murder me on the spot.
I round one last rock platform and I spot my saviours. Aang and his friends have all gathered on the back of Appa and seem to be preparing to take off. I sprint with all of my strength - which is not much due to the amount of time spent in one house and small amounts of food I have been eating.
"Aang!" I cry out as I draw closer. I see his head along with many others snap in my direction. A larger smile spreads across my face as I reach the sky bison full of people.
"Li Mei!?" Sokka exclaims with minor confusion as he reaches his hand down to me. I pull myself onto Appa's back and quickly wrap my arms around Sokka in an embrace. He hugs me back tightly, "You're alright." He says with shock, still holding on to me.
"Okay... I need to breathe." I gently push him off of me and smile. He looks so much older than the last time I saw him. His hair has grown in on the sides but he still rocks his ponytail in the back.
I feel Appa lift off of the ground and everyone starts to wave at the people standing on the ledge below us. I notice one man that shares a strong resemblance with the two water tribe siblings.
I lean my back against the edge of the saddle and just relax into the wind whipping around me. Sokka leans against the saddle next to me, "Where have you been?"
"I've been a prisoner within the Palace City. The Fire Lord was attempting to convert me to his side... I guess he believes my strengths could be useful. Even though he constantly calls me weak."
"You've been a prisoner all this time?"
"Since Ba Sing Se, yes... It wasn't horrible all the time... I got to go on vacation." I smirk.
"You went on vacation... As a prisoner?" He cocks a brow.
"That's right." I reply, "It kinda sucked though... Besides watching the prince and princess destroy some random guy's house." I chuckle to myself, "That was pretty funny."
"And when you say the prince, you mean-"
"Prince Zuko, yeah."
"That's a bit formal for you, isn't it? What happened to being all chummy with him?"
"You're starting to sound like Katara." I laugh, "When someone brings you back to your least favourite place in the world, as a prisoner... You're not usually friends with them anymore." I smile sarcastically.
"Right..." Sokka fiddles with his fingers.
"So... How have you three- I mean four been?" I correct myself, remembering the small, blind girl I met briefly in Ba Sing Se.
"We've been travelling throughout the Fire Nation in disguise since leaving the Earth Kingdom."
"You guys as Fire Nation civilians." I scoff, "I would love to see that."
"It was better than when you tried to be a member of the Southern Water Tribe." He jokes.
"Hey!" I cry, "I was a great Fire Nation spy!"
"Except everyone saw through your disguise right away." He shrugs. I elbow him in the ribs, "What was your name again... Wotah?" He grins like an idiot.
"I was under pressure!" I gesture with my arms dramatically.
"Sure..." Sokka nods his head slowly.
"If you think my made-up name is so stupid. What was yours?"
"Wang Fire." He mumbles.
"Wang Fire!?" I burst into laughter.
"It's no better than Wotah!" He retorts before joining me in laughter.
"I haven't felt like this in a long time." I smile sadly.
"Like what?"
"Happy." I flash him a big smile. I notice Aang and Katara have moved into the saddle and they make their way over to me. I pull the two of them into a bone-crushing hug.
"We've missed you," Katara says when we pull apart.
"You better have." I push her shoulder, "I missed you guys too."
"Awww. Team Avatar is back." Sokka says, wiping fake tears from his eyes and he brings all four of us into a hug.
"I thought we already had our sentimental moment," I say to him.
"Shhhh." He puts a finger over my lips and I succumb to the group hug.
Out of the corner of my eye, I make out a small Fire Nation airship trailing us.