Later that same night, Zuko shakes Rezalia awake and the two make their way to Appa. The air bison hardly reacts, remaining docile when Zuko scratches his head, and the two of them climb into the saddle and settle down again. Rezalia curls into Zuko's side and allows his warmth and the steady rise and fall of his chest to lull her back to sleep as he wraps his arms around her.
It doesn't take long for Sokka to make his way to Appa as well, attempting to steal away in the night. "Not up to anything, huh?" Zuko murmurs, the vibrations of his chest stirring Rezalia from her sleep. Sokka's eyes flicker between the two of them, eyes dropping down to Zuko's thumb tracing light circles on Rezalia's waist, and scowls.
"Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"
Zuko blinks at him. "I'm never happy." Rezalia snorts, sitting up a bit but not removing Zuko's hold on her.
"You're melodramatic, is what you are," she tells him. Zuko's lips quirk up.
Muttering something about stupid firebenders, Sokka gathers his things from where he'd dropped them and stands. "Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko. Lia, you're not even awake so I don't think you could."
"I could beat you with my arms tied behind my back," Rezalia replies, tone light as Zuko shifts away from her in order to stand and join Sokka on the ground.
"You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."
Rezalia knew she was included in his words and leaned forward to look Sokka in the eye. "Helping stupid boys regain their honor is kinda what I do."
Zuko chuckles. Sokka was not so amused. "No. I have to do this alone."
"Now where have I heard that before," the girl mutters, mostly to herself although Zuko heard her and shot her a look.
The firebender turns to the other boy. "How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares. We'll take my war balloon."
Sokka sighs and gestures for Zuko to lead the way. Extending a hand to Rezalia, he helps her down from the saddle and with a hand on the small of her back, guides her to where he'd left the war ballon. "You two are nauseating," Sokka grumbles. The pair only exchange confused looks in response.
"Okay," Zuko says once they'd arrived, far enough from the others that he allows his voice to come out at a normal decible. "Zali, do you have the note?"
Wordlessly, the girl presses the paper she'd written up last night into Zuko's hand and curls up on the floor of the balloon. Zuko rolls his eyes fondly and puts the note in front of a sleeping Momo, holding a finger to his lips when his big eyes open. Momo rolls over and goes back to sleep, much like Rezalia.
Moments later, the three of them were in the sky. Neither of the boys seemed to know how to talk to one another. Rezalia, uninterested in their weird discussion about clouds, pulls a long sleeve shirt out of her satchel and pulls it on before falling asleep. It wasn't until the phrase "my first girlfriend turned into the moon" left Sokka's lips that she properly woke up, staring at him blankly.
Zuko seemed unsure how to react as well. Shifting and avoiding eyecontact, he eventually settles on, "That's rough, buddy." Rezalia cackles, gaining a dirty look from Zuko before he falters. "Is...that my shirt?"
She looks down at it. "Uh, yeah." She catches the red in his cheeks even as he turns away to hide it.
~*~
It takes a while for them to arrive at Boiling Rock. Sokka had fallen asleep and Zuko was resting as well while Rezalia kept them airborne. "We're here!" she calls, rousing Sokka from his sleep. Zuko stands, looking out at the island in the center of the boiling lake. "Get your vigilante faces on, boys. This outta be a hall of a ride."
As the words escape her mouth, the ballon begins to lose altitude quickly. With a yelp, Rezalia pours more fire into the tank. "We're going down!" Zuko shouts, quite unecessarily in Rezalia's opinion.
"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside so we can't fly!" Sokka replies.
Cursing, Rezalia forces her flame brighter, hotter and manages to shakily drop them on the shore of the island. They crash into the ground, the base of the balloon tipping them out while the jagged rocks rip a hole in the material. Flinging her hair from her face, Rezalia sits back and stares at the ruined war balloon. Zuko rubs his hands over his face. "How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?"
Sokka shrugs, standing and wiping himself off. "We'll figure something out! I suspected it might be a one-way ticket."
Both firebenders turn to gape at him. "You knew this was gonna happen?" Rezalia demands.
"And you still wanted to come?" Zuko adds.
"My dad might be here! I had to come and see!" the water tribe boy replies defensively.
Zuko blows his bangs out of his face. "Uncle always said I never thought things through. But this ... this is just crazy!"
"Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place!" Sokka scoffs as he shoves the balloon into the boiling water. "And for the record, I always think things through! But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time, I'm playing it by ear. So there."
"So what? You were just gonna run off and potentially be stuck here and not tell anyone?"
Sokka just looks away. Rezalia presses her lips into a thin line and looks to Zuko. The taller boy nods at her slightly. "I hope you know what you're doing," he tells Sokka. "Because there's no going back now."
The three manage to sneak into the building fairly easily. Because of the lake, there wasn't a whole lot of reason to keep super tight security so it was easy to get in. They practically walked through the front door. If the prison had a front door, that is. By the time they were in, the sun had begun to rise it.
Unfortunately, this brought on a whole new round of problems. The first of which being the guard who caught sight of Rezalia. The boys were luckily behind the corner, so they weren't in the guard's line of vision. "What are you doing here?!" the guard demands, raising his fists.
Rezalia raises an eyebrow, slipping into what Sokka and Toph referred to as 'General Mode'. Her hands calmly slid behind her back, one hand grasping her opposite wrist to show that she wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "What does the warden not tell you anything? Makes sense, you're hardly important."
"You're a fugitive."
The girl laughs once, the sound cold as she channeled Azula. "Not anymore, unfortunately for you. Ozai brought me in to locate his wayward son, I'm only here to cover all my bases. Who knows what you people have let in here."
"Am I supposed to believe that?"
"I suppose you don't have to," Rezlia replies, tilting her head a bit. "We could always send a message to the Fire Lord. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking time out of his very busy schedule to clear up a little misunderstanding. I have a pencil on me, do you happen to have paper?"
The guard falters, eyes growing wide. "No! I mean, no. It's fine. I'll bring you to the warden."
Rezalia offers a cold smile in return, crossing her fingers behind her. Go.
The warden was a strange looking man. His age was difficult to place and his face was angular though not in the same way Zuko's was. His cheeks seemed to be almost sunken, as though he was eating the same thing the prisoners were. He starts when he sees Rezalia walking toward him, perfectly calm with her arms swinging lightly at her sides.
"Guards!"
Rezalia holds up a hand and everyone freezes instinctivly. "That won't be necessary. I'm here on behalf of the Fire Lord."
"I wasn't informed of your arrival," the warden replies dubiously.
"I fail to see how your incompatence is any of my concern. I'm here to find the prince, not listen to your shortcomings."
The warden's eyebrows furrow. "Why would the Fire Lord send you to find the runaway brat."
"It will do you well to remember to watch your mouth," Rezalia snarls. "He is still the prince. And he trusts me. I can get close to him. Would you like to ask anymore stupid questions or am I free to conduct my search?"
"How long will you be here?"
"I will take as much time as I need."
The warden accepts this as an answer and gives the young soldier free reign of the prison, instructing the guard who brought her here to tell the others of her prescence.