My stomach churned as we waited in the dark. "Now?" I whispered, receiving a grunt in reply. "Now?" Another grunt. Growing more impatient and frustrated, I urged, clenching the keys in my fist, "Now?"

"Be patient," Iroh mumbled, his eyes gazing up at the small hole that we were expected to consider a window. A small rectangle of sunlight brightened his face, his expression reminded me of a marble statue. "It will happen soon."

"Okay," I said slowly, "but you still haven't told me what it is? What are we waiting for? What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"The moon will block the sun very soon," he explained without looking at me. "When it comes close enough to where it must be, that is when we will take action." He needn't explain any further. During a solar eclipse, firebenders are unable to withdraw power from the sun, leaving them nearly powerless for only a few minutes. A few minutes was all we would need. I had been waiting for this day for ages. Reading my mind as always, Iroh advised, "Do not waste time seeking revenge, Saki. When we are free, we must hurry. She will not be able to bend, but she will toy with you until she can again." I gave an annoyed hmph and watched the old man attentively. The window was in his cell, so I could only wait. And wait. And wait.

After what may have been an hour, Iroh looked to me and nodded.

It was finally time.

I stood and unlocked my cell, but left it closed. After tying the rope of Iroh's robe around my waist, I slid the keyring around my ponytail and began shouting in a panic. "Help! Please, help! The prince is in here, and his uncle has attacked him!" I continued to emit blood curdling screams until Jeng came crashing in. Iroh had arranged his blanket and mine to look like a body, and it was clearly convincing. As Jeng fumbled to find his keys, I pushed the cell door ever so slightly and slid between the opening. I swung my arm, whacking Jeng in the jaw with my forearm. He whirled around, thrusting his fist forward to firebend...

Only to release a tiny puff of smoke.

"Aw," I poked out my bottom in lip in mock sympathy, "looks like someone's all burned out." Sokka would be so proud of me, I thought to myself. I kicked him in the torso before he could shout for reinforcements, quickly untying the rope from around my waist and coiling it around Jeng's neck. I pushed my foot against his back and pulled on the rope, using my free hand to unlock Iroh's cell. Jeng thrashed around as he fought for air, trying to disarm me in the process. His wrist connected with my mouth and left the salty taste of blood in its wake.

I'd had enough. Enough being pushed around. Enough being meek and insecure and afraid. I'd had enough with the ogling and the disrespect and the overall disgusting feeling that this palace had given me throughout my life. I'd had enough of being nothing more than Zuko's little sidekick. Above all else, I'd had enough of this war.

I yanked on the rope and swung Jeng into my vacant cell, pushing the door shut as he tumbled to the floor and gasped for breath. The keys were no longer in my hair, but now were encasing their previous owner.

"You won't get away with this," Jeng said, gripping the bars as I had.

Cocky in my triumph, I strode to the bars, grabbing the man by his jaw as he did to me nights prior when we'd kissed. "Oh, but, darling," I purred, tightening my grip. "I believe we already have." I pulled him and made his head collide with the metal just enough to render him unconscious.

"Saki," Iroh said authoritatively. With that single word, I followed his lead out of the prison.

We sprinted through the halls, which were uncomfortably empty. I could only assume this was due to the eclipse, and, knowing my friends, the Avatar and others had most likely chosen this day for them to strike. The only sounds were our footsteps pattering through the corridors. That is, until more sets of footsteps came flooding in. "Secure the prisoners!" A voice commanded. Iroh and I exchanged glances, and nodded in agreement. We'd discussed it time and time again, and now it was time. We separated, and would meet at a small pub on the outskirts of the kingdom. I sprinted down a long hallway, then came to a halt. More shouting could be heard at the end of the corridor. "They've escaped!" Another voice bellowed. I turned to find a new route and found myself in quite the dilemma. I was blocked in, and they were closing in very quickly. I'd no source of water to get me out of the situation. Spirits, if only I could bend earth like Toph — or even had Sokka's beloved boomerang would suffice!

By that moment, it was only a matter of seconds before the two herds of soldiers had spotted me and were beginning their pursuit. Out of sheer desperation, I had begun to channel my inner Ty Lee. I grasped the flag hanging on the wall and pulled myself up to the ceiling, wrapping myself like a aerial silk dancer as I hung above them. I held my breath as the two groups met below me, expressing a shared confusion as to how the old man and little girl had escaped. I growled inwardly, I'm not a little girl. I unhinged the flag and let myself fall to the floor, breaking my fall with two of the soldiers.

For a moment, everyone was intensely silent as we waited for someone to make the first move. It was one of the newer recruits to lunge forward, bending nothing more than a fizzling flame. The corner of my mouth twitched upward at his astonished face, and the battle quickly erupted. I held nothing back, and used the flag to my advantage. I coiled it around three of the guards and swung them around to knock them into others. I collided helmets into one another. The newer recruit that had failed to firebend jabbed his his spear at me while I was distracted, piercing my side. I hissed to refrain from screaming, and kicked his head into the wall. I looked around at the guards, now unconscious at my feet. My hand subconsciously clasped my side, but the touch only made the wound sting more. I pulled my hand away to see crimson glistening against my fingers. Focus, I scolded myself and gritted my teeth. Heal yourself later. Focus. I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. Reflexively, I grabbed the wrist with my bloodied hand and whirled myself and the stranger around, pinning the wrist to its owner's back.

"Bao?" I gawked, looking down at my victim. He groaned an Mhm before I released him, frantically apologizing. In the few occasions that I got with Bao, he seemed to always revert me back to the girl he'd ambushed with a kiss. "You can't just sneak up on me like that!"

"What is this?" He asked, gesturing to the disheveled guards on the ground. "This isn't what you promised m— Are you bleeding? Monkeyfeathers, you're bleeding!" He tore the fabric of his uniform and tied it so tightly around my waist that I was sure I'd lose circulation. "Who did this? Was it Akio?" He pointed to the recruit.

"I'm fine, Bao," I offered lamely. "As you can see, I took care of myself."

"This isn't what you promised me," he said again. "You promised me you'd behave until I could figure something out!"

"That's the thing about me," I replied. "I don't 'behave', and I have never in my life just sat around and waited for someone to fix my problems." I .looked over my shoulder as more shouting became audible behind me. I looked at Bao again, and decided it was time for payback. I cupped his face with my hands— even the bloody one— and kissed him, just as he'd done on the ship so long ago. When I pulled away, he looked aghast. "I like you, Bao," I said. "A lot. But I have to go now." Without another word, I sprinted away, leaving Bao with a red hand print on his left cheek and a loss for words.

I reached the edge of the kingdom soon after, but each step was growing more and more difficult. Once Iroh had come into view, I was seeing blurry duplicates of him and every step drained me of more and more energy. The old man caught sight of me, and caught me when I fell.

The last thing I saw was a look of mortification on his face just before every went black.