Yeah I know it's been...a while! But I'm going to finish this. Still don't know how I want this all to end. Check out the poll and please be patient with me. Leave reviews and the like. Tell me you hate it or whatever.

Beyond Jaherah's little dress-up party, the palace was in full swing. Every detail from making sure the ornate rugs were straight and tidy to the morning's tea was made perfect. The sound of expensive robes ripping echoed in the Fire Lord's chambers followed by a dead silence. The maids stood horrified. In the mad rush to lay Ozai's clothes for the day and make his bed, one maid dropped his finest robes and in the process of picking them up another had stepped backwards onto the sleeve.

"Oh my!" the one holding the torn garment gasped. "We're dead! We are worse than dead!"

"It...it's going to be alright," another said, approaching the maid holding the robes. "We can fix this."

"LOOK AT THIS STITCHING!" she hissed, waving the torn sleeve in her face. "Can you do intricate work like that? I know I can't!"

"What is the meaning of all this commotion?" Ozai's voice rang from behind the frantic women. The women shrieked and quickly lined up to bow and face him. He was dressed in a loose robe and looked calm. "Well?"

The women looked between one another before the one holding the torn garment presented it. "Apologies Lord Ozai," she squeaked. "It was an accident and I." She gulped.

Ozai took the clothes from her and examined the tear. "These were my favorite robes," he said idly. The wind nearly rushed out of the room as the women stiffened, bracing for their punishment. "But they were old." Relief was slowly edging back into the women. "I'll wear something else today but these will be mended." His tone was sharp. "The prince has the tailor that made these for me making that pet of his more presentable. I'm sure he can spare some time for me."

"Yes sir!" she women cheered then split. One went to retrieve Orihara while the others reassessed Lord Ozai's dress for the day.

Jaherah sighed at the sight of the design for her new clothes. In her opinion they were too plain but she could not put up much of a fuss. Her figure would be covered save an exposed midriff and bare arms. Her long legs and curvaceous hips beneath the obscurity of a layered skirt. As master Orihara prepared the black silk, a rap came at the door before it creaked open.

"What is it?" Orihara spat at the handmaiden.

She bowed her head, hands crossed in front of her. "Lord Ozai calls upon you. A creation of your own requires mending. He would have it done immediately." She snapped back up to see the old man smiling.

"I am humbled to have our great fire lord request my services." He gathered what he would need and looked to his apprentice. "Issa, you can manage such simple clothes. I expect a great deal of progress when I return."

"Yes master," Issa squeaked and quickly dropped his head to bow, nearly cracking it on the table. Watching his master leave with the young woman he heaved a sigh and began to measure out lengths of fabric while Jaherah watched, mildly amused.

Knowing there would be no one with in ear shot she shifted to the other side of the table to sit close to Issa. The boy stiffened, catching the scent of her hair as he tried to work. Jaherah eyed the sketch before suggesting, "Make it shorter."

"Wha...I...I can't," he said, falling over his own words. "I must stick to my master's design. Deviating may get us both in trouble." He gave a firm nod and continued to work, or at the very least tried to. Jaherah would not ease away from him long enough for him to breath his own bubble of air.

Eyes sharp, she slipped behind the boy reaching her arms past his shoulders. "Not even to please your prince?" she whispered into his ear. Issa gulped feeling her breath on his neck and her chest pressing into his back. "He is young like you and I. He would not appreciate his prize being covered up." She could feel the boy trembling and took to make her move, reaching into her chest wrap.

Issa's eyes snapped open and he shouted, "ENOUGH!" Jaherah fell back, wide-eyed as the boy's back grew tall and his shoulders broad. "An order from my master is a direct order from our prince. I will not fail either of them. Now..." He was wavering again but the girl had to withdraw for now. "Please be still and quiet for your fitting." She took her place once more on the other side of the table and the boy relaxed tending to the new garments.

He had a strong sense of duty about him. Certainly admirable in anyone close to her age. Many boys joined the military or delved in a trade, much like Issa. However, few seemed to have that level dedication. "Issa," she said, so bold as to call him by name. "Does your master play pai sho?"

"Most men of his age do," he said, beginning to move about her with the fabric. Jaherah smiled.

As the day grew on and the progress of her clothes neared completion, Orihara had returned. The Fire Lord was pleased with his mending and even made a request on a new set of robes. The old man surveyed his apprentice's work and was impressed. He was growing in his art. Jaherah minded him like a hawk. She eyed the basket filled with her fabric then slid it close to her as the two carried on about where Issa could improve.

"Master Orihara," Jaherah chimed in. "Your dear Issa has lent me knowledge that you play pai sho." As the man arched a brow towards her, the basket was being pushed away. "May I interest you in a game?" She moved towards a chest at the end of the room and rummaged about for an old pai sho board. "That is if you have the time." When she held the heavy board, she flexed her back muscles, ripping the fabric. "Oh my!"

Orihara and Issa leaned back, shocked. "How did you?" Orihara stammered.

"The life of a slave is a hard one," she shrugged.

"I can fix this!" Issa shouted and leapt onto the basket. He pulled out a bolt of fabric, needles then continued to search the bag. "The thread is gone..." He held the spool in his hand, just a small strand coiled around it.

"This won't do," Orihara sighed.

"It's not a problem master. I will ask one of the servants. Should only take a moment." Before his master could protest on over staying their welcome, the boy was gone.

Jaherah set the board on the table across from Orihara and smiled. "Seems you have time now," she said. She opened the box of tiles, shuffling through them for a moment.

Giving in, he rolled up his sleeves. "I will not go easy on you."

"I didn't expect you to but I won't hold back either." She began to place a piece and held her gaze on the board. "An old man taught me how to play. Such a difficult game, but simple." As she spoke, she continued to place pieces around the board as Orihara sat back and watched, keeping careful watch of the girl. When she stopped, the lotus pattern sat before them. He glared at her, she smiled and reached under the table. She pulled up the ball of thread stolen from the spool and sat it in the middle.

"You've a very clever girl," he commented. "But you seem to be coming up short." She retrieved the pai sho piece from her chest wrap then sat it in the middle of the board. Orihara eyed the broken piece. "You are one of two."

"I am one of many and I need your help," she begged, bowing her head to him.

"I cannot offer you any assistance. The order works in strange ways but all very necessary. You were given a mission that only you could succeed in."

"But it's clear I can't do that from here!"

"You dug yourself into this hole by deviating from the plan, did you not?" Jaherah was silent as she chewed on her bottom lip. "Then you must do what you can to get out and you don't have much time." He held the girl's gave before continuing. "The eclipse approaches and it will be your only chance to get out of her on your own, alive. I can't help you beyond that."

Jaherah's future was growing dim. "Can you give me information then?"

"Depends on what you want to know."

"Something only an old man would. Who is the prisoner Shun?"

"I know many things about Shun." Orihara sat up more and began to move the pieces around the board. "He is very old and a great doctor. True to his life's work of helping every and anyone. But the previous fire lord did not sit well with him tending to prisoners, enemies of the fire nation. The only thing that kept him from being thrown into the volcano was his mind. It was rumored he could bring a man back from the edge of death. They were just rumors and it cost him his freedom when the dying lord asked his help."

Jaherah, held up her hand to stop him, staring at the board. "He's coming back, we should stop being so nice to each other."

Orihara smiled. "Impeccable hearing."

"You learn a few tricks when chained to a wall."

"Zuko." The young prince snapped to as his girlfriend called his name. "You look sick," she said, touching a hand to the cheek beneath his scar. "You've finally been asked back at his side. You should be a little more excited than this."

Zuko looked off, taking that hand in his. "I am, I'm just...nervous." Mai eyed him before taking his arm. "I've waited so long for this and now it seems overwhelming."

Mai smiled. "You'll do just fine, especially after you give that girl up to your father to prove your loyalty to him tomorrow. Everything will be perfect after that."

"Yeah..." He stared a head, feeling more unsure of himself than ever. "Perfect."

That night, as the castle prepared for the coming days and those of high-standing turned in, the prince took to the library once more to speak with the slave girl. He sat with his back to the door, staring at the floor while she rolled her fingers over the spines of many books and tugged at a few scrolls. "You seem rather quiet tonight," she stated over a book about different tea leaves. "Something weighing you down?"

Zuko tried to be forward but his words were catching in his throat. He felt cold, with a sinking pit in his stomach. "You...have to leave tonight," he said then looked to her. "I am to give you to my father tomorrow morning."

Jaherah froze, staring at Zuko. "So much for waiting until no one could blast fire at me," she said, setting the book aside. "Come with me."

"I can't, it's not that simple."

"Then I won't leave."

"HE WILL KILL YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!" he shouted, the candles jumping up with his outburst. "You're not safe here! Please, leave while you can."

"But I"

"Stop making this about me!" He shot up and advanced on her. "You can't save me so stop worrying about me and think of yourself for a change." He caressed her cheek, staring into her eyes. "Please, for your sake. Leave."

Jaherah's eyes were welling up with tears. "Then you're giving up? Just like that? Not even going to try?"

Those eyes and those tears would be the death of him. "I can't protect you if you don't want to live!"

"I do!" she squeaked.

"Then why are you here?" he badgered. "The time you wasted could have been spent finding someone better than me. You will die here and I won't be able to save you."

"You choose not to be a man!" she cried.

He slammed his fist into one of the supports for the shelves. Everything fighting within him was boiling over. "There are more things going on here than you think and I can't set things right if I'm worried about you. I can't help you if you willingly choose to put yourself in danger. So I'll tell you again." She looked away but he hooked a finger under her chin to make her look him in the eye. "Leave for your own good." She shook her head and cried, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as she shook.

Jaherah sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I'll go."

They're walk back to her cell was silent. Zuko was somewhat at ease that she would finally move on for her own safety. He gripped the key in his hand. All he had to do was drop the key after locking her away for the night, though it seemed their plans were already crumbling. Four guards with chains were waiting for Jaherah.

"Fire Lord Ozai has ordered she be held in a different cell," one said without being asked.

Zuko tried to hide his horror. "Of course," he said then turned to face Jaherah. His heart was sinking again and he could read the fear in her eyes. To run now would be suicide and possibly the death of him. She stepped forward, dropping her gaze away from him and held her wrists out to the guards. Her hands, ankles and neck were bound and she was led away. She could hear his heart pounding in his chest, the anxious shuffle of his feet and then his curse as they left the servant's floor.

The chains that held Jaherah were heavy and tight, with little slack between them. For the first time she felt and carried herself like a prisoner. The tailor was right. She had dug herself in too deep and now she was paying for it. She failed chasing after something she couldn't have. The cell they placed her in was deep within an older part of the palace and reminded her of the one where she first me the prince. The major difference was that she was alone. The bars they passed held no one. If she died or put up a fight, no one would hear her. The guards secured her to the wall and left her in the darkness.

Jaherah was left to her own for just a few short days. Not a soul to speak to or feed her. Just a lonely, sad girl and her thoughts waiting for the fire lord to do away with her. Or would he ever bother to come? He could very easily let the only other air bender rot in this hole while he set out to destroy the world. In spite of the dark thoughts that consumed her, she did have hope. Someone would come for her and save her even though she knew she deserved this.

The morning before the eclipse a group of guards came to retrieve her. She was to be brought to the fire lord. She was hurriedly cleaned and escorted across the palace grounds, each man holding a chain. They passed through the garden and to a part she had never been. The general populace of servants was thin if not nonexistent. There were few windows but many torches. One heavy door was pushed open to reveal a modest sized room, bare with just a few torches to light it. She was ushered in, mindful of the fire lord looming in the shadows. With her chains bolted to the floor, the guards left and Ozai stepped forward as the door swung closed behind him. "You're going to tell me everything you know," he stated in a cold voice.

"I'd sooner die," she hissed.

Ozai began to pace about her. "So be it."

That night sleep eluded Zuko. The meeting with the the generals had helped to give the push Zuko needed to make up his mind. His father was mad and had to be stopped and Jaherah needed to be saved. He saw her when she was moved that morning and her time was running short. He would ensure she was still alive while the city hid underground during the eclipse then confront his father. He had to move fast to find the avatar, warn him of what was coming. And then it hit him. A piercing shrill scream that disrupted the peace of the palace. He held his ears, trying to muffle the noise before dropping to his knees. It faded and left the night as silent as before and Zuko fearing the worst.

The morning of the eclipse, the streets were clearing as worried families and shop keepers hurried to the underground shelters. Their Lord had made the plan to save his people from the invading nations. Savages halting progress. If only they could accept his vision of the world then the fighting could end.

"Are you sure you young ones will not follow us to the caverns?" an elderly woman said to Ren. She was the owner of the inn. A kind woman that let them stay free of charge though the pressed to work for their room. "I promise you will all be safe there."

Ren shook his head then bowed to her. "You've already been so kind to us, but I can't risk my sister's lives," he said, motioning towards the twins doing their best to seem afraid. "If we leave now, we might just slip past them."

"Where will you go?" she asked, worried at how reckless youth could be.

"I don't know but I think it's best we keep moving." He bowed and this time all of the Jaded followed suit. "Thank you again ma'am."

"Do be careful!" she called out as they slipped further into the city.

"We search the castle, keep moving at all times. Sun and Jun, stick close to me. I want you two close when the eclipse is in full swing. We find Jaherah and blow off the mission. I'm done playing by their rules." Ren looked to the young faces behind him. They nodded and sprinted behind him to the palace. Time ticked away as the city grew quiet and still. Slipping in was far too easy with not a soul wandering through the many halls. Their feet echoed off the walls.

"Do we split up?" Kinta asked, taking in how massive the building was. "Would be faster."

"No, we need to stay together," Ren said then surveyed the hall. "I'm not loosing anyone in this place. We stay together clear each wing together. We start from the bottom and work our way up."

"And if we don't find her in time?" Kai asked with an all knowing look. "You want to us to leave without you so you can be the one to save her on your own?"

"It's not like that."

"Blah blah hero." Kai punched Ren in the shoulder and grinned. "We're in this to the end."

Ren looked to his friends and sighed. "You guys are more trouble than you're worth."

"Burning daylight fearless leader," Jun said and the twins began to walk ahead of the boys. "We can help find the servants quarters but I think that's as far down as we need to go."

"You guys know about the palace?" Ren asked as the followed behind them.

"A little. We were still small when our dad was in good standing. We do know where we're not allowed to go," Sun said. "We should start there." The small girls ran ahead of them, looking in every direction. The prettier areas were a clear no on holding someone. They ventured deep into the palace, passing the throne room and onward. Each room they passed was searched.

"This isn't working!" Kai groaned, banging his head against a pillar. "We'll be at this for hours."

"We can't stop now!" Ren huffed. "Just"

"Glass," Kinta said, kneeling.

"What?"

Kinta picked up a small shard of glass. "It's all over the floor here." He looked down the hall they came from, a few sprinklings but nothing more. Ahead was another story. "And more up this way." He pointed out more just along the walls and only along the walls.

"Maybe she left us a trail?" the twins asked.

"Doubtful but we won't know until we see what's at the end of this," Ren said and took the lead.

"Where is all of it coming from though?" Kai asked. "Fire Lord just have one last party?"

Kinta looked to the naked lanterns that were beginning to provide the only light in the area. Many were out while the few that flickered held bits of glass. "There!" He pointed high on the walls. "If she came through here, she put up a fight."

"But why down here? Why wait for them to drag her down here? There's barely any room to fight unless she was hoping they'd run around without shoes." Kai was ever the inquisitive one but now it was to protect himself from the worst. He slammed his foot into the stone floor to force a square up beneath a lantern. He used the boost up and took it down. "This should help for a while."

Ren nodded then looked to the girls. "How much time do we have?"

They looked between one another then tried to bend. "It's already started!"

"Gotta hurry!" The lantern was somewhat protected as they made down the hall, the crunch of shattered glass beneath their feet hopefully leading them to Jaherah. The darker the hall the brighter their hopes grew. Each door was thrown open and knowing no one could stop them now, they called out her name. They neared what seemed like center stage to destruction. It seemed as if a swelling pressure had bent the doors away from their hinges. The group stepped past one door-less room then stopped.

A cold chill crept through the young ones. "Jaherah?" Ren called out but received no reply. He took the lantern and held it over his head, taking one cautious step after another into the filthy room. The sound of his feet splashing in liquid made him freeze. He crouched to investigate, trying to discern what color it was in the orange light and then he heard the shallow breaths of someone very close to him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and reached out. A mass of blood and hair at his fingertips and then a face swollen.

"Is she..." the twins squeaked, holding each others hand.

Ren pulled the lantern close and nearly dropped it. She'd been beaten and tortured but to what end? A tug came at the hem of his pants and he smiled relieved. "She's alive!" he called back to them. "Kinta, help me break these chains. We have to get her to a healer and fast." Kinta slipped inside while Kai held the girls at bay. The locks where picked and the limp body of their leader was wrapped up in Ren's cloak and pulled into his arms.

"We don't have time to back track out of here," Kai said, leading the group with the girls in the center and Kinta bringing up the rear.

Ren assessed the stone walls for a moment. "Then we make our own exit. I'm sure the fire lord would appreciate a chance to renovate." He gave a nod to Kinta and the young man went straight to work.

Rushing through the palace grounds far behind them was the tragic prince hoping he was wrong. That she was alive, not disposed of or lost to him.

So? Do you want more? Leave a review, angry rant or whatever. Grammar Nazis have at it. I'm going to go back to goofing off and trying to make that time machine so I can watch Korra. Oh and yeah, gears churning on a fic for the Korra time too. Soo...yeah. Until next time!