It's dark, but it's always dark down here when Ido is gone. I can feel the moon though, outside, so I know that it's night.

Sara is awake; that means she can feel it too. He never comes on nights like this, so there is hope... hope that I will die tonight. Perhaps my body will give out; maybe if I don't eat the food the guards bring, I'll just waste away in my sleep.

Oh, to die. I want nothing so much as I want that.

I do not know how long I've been here. I do not know how long I'll be here.

All I know is that I want to die.

When the shaking starts, I almost don't notice. I almost ignore it, almost drift into the embrace of darkness as sleep beckons me closer.

But Heka sits straight up in her cell. She used to be a Kyoshi Warrior, or so she says. She says that warriors are powerful and respected and strong.

Heka is none of those things, but none of us are, here in Icegate.

Her fingers grip the bars of her cell, and her brown eyes are wide as she looks up at me. "Katara." I push myself up on my hands so I can see her better. When she uses my name, I know she is serious. She is going to say something that I need to remember--not that it matters, since I'm going to die soon.

All the same, I respect Heka. She has always been kind to me. So I watch and I listen.

She looks away from me, to the cage that hangs across from mine. Sara is watching us; her tangled white hair is so wild that it almost covers her pale blue eyes--eyes that are tinged with an insanity and fear that all of us know all too well.

"Sara." Heka says, and Sara sits up straighter.

At the sound of that, even Phena sits up a little, and her constant moaning ceases.

Heka looks at each of us, something dangerous in her brown eyes. "A quake is coming, can you feel it? Let's get out of here!"

I feel something stir inside me, there's a jolt in my chest. Out? Is it possible?

Can I dare to hope... to see the sky again?

No. No I can't. That's insane, more insane than anything that happens down here. There is no escape. Ido has told us that countless times, over and over, a mantra repeated again and again.

A song to the tune of his whip sticking flesh.

There is no escaping Icegate Prison.

This is where they send the people who are waiting to die.

There is no escape.

There will never be an escape, except death.

Death is the only way out.

I shake my head and curl into a ball, turning away from them. All that I want is to die. That is all I want.

Just let me die. Someone. Anyone.

Please.

I just want to die now.

"Katara! Don't you give up on me, girl! You've got a lot of life left to live, you hear me? Don't you give up!" Heka's words hold no meaning.

I know that there is no escape.

But the shaking grows stronger, the ground rattles and my cage swings back and forth, making me dizzy. I don't bother to hold on to the bars--maybe it will shake me to death. Maybe I will crash against the side and break my neck.

Maybe I will die tonight.

I wake with a gasp, still feeling the dizzying motion of the cage, swinging back and forth, shaking with the earthquake that freed us from Icegate.

I breathe deeply, trying to shake off the dregs of the nightmare. I don't want to remember those days. I don't want to think about the people I have lost.

It takes me a moment to realize that it was the sudden sounding of an alarm that woke me. What's going on? I stand and move to my cell door, trying to see out the small slit. A couple guards run past--shouting about an escape.

Was someone actually stupid enough to try to escape from the Boiling Rock? Don't they know what the Warden will do to them? I frown at that thought, because it sounds like I'm afraid. I'm not. The Warden blows a lot of steam, but he needs others to do his dirty work. The only thing to worry about with him is that he has no conscience, at least not when it comes to us prisoners.

I hear more shouting and the ringing of bells from somewhere above me, but I know I won't find out anything more tonight. So I put it from my mind and return to my cot, even though I don't want to sleep now. If I sleep I'll keep dreaming, and those are memories that I want to keep buried.

I stare at the ceiling, thinking about what I will say to the girl who claims to be a Kyoshi Warrior. If she's lying, I'll make her pay. I'm not about to let anyone disrespect Heka's people like that.

And if she really is a Kyoshi Warrior... I wonder what she's doing here? Heka said that Kyoshi Island was going to try their best to keep out of the war. But of course, that was a long time ago. Heka herself has been dead for four years now, and she was in Icegate for... I don't know how long. I was only there for two years before we escaped, and after that... we never talked about it.

It was almost a forbidden subject.

So why am I thinking about it now? Is it the dreams?

Or maybe I'm just feeling suffocated. Maybe it really is time to get out of this place.

Though, I don't know what I'll do on the outside. I don't have any desire to become the Painted Lady again, nor do I want to return to Senlin Village or the place where I was born.

So where would I go? What would I do with myself?

No, better to stay here, where things are simple. That, at least, is what I tell myself.

I sigh and turn over, staring at the wall. I truly am in a strange mood tonight.

****

Another hour passes, then two. Still I'm staring at the wall, but now I'm wondering why they haven't let us out yet. It's past breakfast time. Although it would make sense for the Warden to put us in Lockdown, after an attempted escape.

It's still irritating.

At least I feel like myself again, what with the dreams having worn off.

Mostly.

From the cell next to mine, I hear voices. They put a prisoner in there a while ago--I'd heard there was a new bunch arriving today. Bored and irritated at being out of the loop, I twirl my fingers in the air. Water formulates, following my fingers' path. It becomes a small funnel, which I flick across the room to press against the metal wall. The water amplifies the sounds from next door, allowing me to listen to the conversation--a handy trick that I picked up during my years as a bandit in the Fire Nation.

"Where's everyone else from the invasion?"

"The others are being held at a prison near the Fire Nation palace. They singled me out as their leader and sent me here." I perk up, my curiosity flaring. Invasion? And who is talking? They never put two prisoners in the same cell.

"But before I left I met some young women who said they knew you. The... Oshinama Fighters?"

"You mean the Kyoshi Warriors?" I suppress a gasp at that, and move closer to the wall. The Kyoshi Warriors are involved? Does this have something to do with the girl from earlier, and the attempted escape? Just what is going on here? For the first time in months, I feel a stirring of interest inside me. A sense that maybe there are a few things in this world that can still hold my attention.

"That's right."

"Their leader Suki is here. And she's gonna escape with us." So that girl is with the Kyoshi Warriors--their leader no less! And whoever is in the next cell is friends with her. Slowly but surely, I can feel my apathy lifting.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get."

"And you know Prince Zuko?" The banished prince? Or is he the Crown Prince again? I can't keep track of that stupid family.

"The son of the Firelord? I don't know him but I know of him."

"Well, he's here too."

"Sounds like a major problem." Agreed. If I run into him, he's a dead man. Stupid Fire Nation Royals, they're all the same. Idiots.

Selfish idiots who only care about themselves.

"Actually, he's on our side now." Eh? Come again? "I know, I had the same reaction. After all he's done it was hard to trust him. But he's really proven himself and I never would've found you without his help." Interesting. So the Fire Prince has gone rogue now? And if what I'm hearing is correct, then the two men in the next cell are not only friends with the Kyoshi Warriors, but with the Avatar as well, if they're on a side opposite the Firelord.

Excitement washes over me--this could be my chance! My chance to get out of this place, and REALLY do some good. My chance to do what I promised, and get revenge on the Fire Nation--by ending this war.

If I still want to. Do I?

Wasn't I just thinking how pointless all of that was?

And how things are simpler here?

But... maybe...

"So, do you have a plan?"

"We had one, but some of the other prisoners got involved and ruined it. I don't know if there's another way off this island."

"Sokka, there's no prison in the world that can hold two Water Tribe geniuses." My blue eyes go wide, and something in my chest freezes. Ice washes over me, shock settles in the pit of my stomach--or maybe it's dread. Did he say...

No, that's crazy. That's insane, impossible.

But what if... if it is...

But if I'm right... if I'm right, then my... can I even think it? Do I remember the words?

I feel those unfamiliar tears on my face again, but this time I don't know why I'm crying. If I'm right... no. I can't get my hopes up. I can't let myself believe... I can't. And even if I could, why should I be hopeful? Why should I expect that they... that they remember me?

No.

I can't. I don't.

It doesn't matter.

Wiping the tears away, I tune back into the conversation next door, as their plan unfolds between them. The important thing is getting out of here.

I can decide what to do about these rebels, and their possible identities, later.

For now, I really just need... a change of pace.

A new beginning.

Or maybe... an old one. I feel a dark smile overtake my face as an idea comes to me, one that is both absurd and wicked, one that is sure to make me feel better... and could possibly destroy the lives of the people next door.

But really, who cares about them?

I don't.

I grin.