Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

The warden, Lee, was hugging his legs. He was now under house arrest in one of the homes, and the earthbenders had left him to celebrate.

He had never expected this to happen to him in his life. On the day he was supposed to accomplish his greatest achievement, he had been taken down by the waterbender he had originally wanted to target.

Was the universe playing some sort of cruel joke on him?

Now that he realized the man wasn't the Avatar, he knew his efforts would have been in vain. Not only that, but he had gotten himself arrested and lost control over the prison rig. And that wasn't even the worst part.

All of his military achievements were now meaningless. He was a mere hostage.

If these stupid earthbenders thought he was of any value to the Fire Nation, they would be wrong.

His only value lay in the connections he had made with the higher-ups, and that was it.

"Sir."

Suddenly, a short man with a bad leg stood in front of him after opening the door.

It was the same man who had snitched on Haru, the man Lee had wanted to execute.

"What are you doing here?" Lee asked.

"I've come to rescue you, sir," said the snitch. "When I saw that the earthbenders had taken over, I was afraid they would turn their attention to me next. So, I figured the best course of action was to help you and free you. Hurry up, sir. It's midnight, and they're asleep."

Okay. The joke the universe was playing wasn't as cruel as Lee had initially thought.

He had a chance.

He could escape now.

But there was a catch.

The Fire Lord never accepted traitors or cowards. And he couldn't return to his nation empty-handed.

Lee's heart pounded faster and faster as he tried to make a quick decision.

Could he escape, even if he tried? There were more than a hundred earthbenders gathered, and all of them were waiting for a chance to kill him since he had been their warden.

Slipping past them might be possible.

He could even try to escape by sea, but how would he evade a waterbender?

On the other hand, they thought of him as a valuable hostage.

They couldn't kill him if he attempted to run away. And since there was a snitch around, they could take their anger out on him if they were caught.

Lee walked over to the snitch and clasped his hand.

He had already come up with a plan.

"I'll make sure to reward you handsomely. I'll give you more money than last time," Lee declared.

The plan was simple: get back to the prison rig, use the secret base's messenger pigeons, and send an emergency report to the nearest base.

He would then try his luck. At best, if he escaped or was rescued, he would be treated as a hero for sending an emergency report.

The snitch didn't smile at the mention of money.

Lee asked, "What do you want, then?"

"I want to leave as well," he said.

"I'll treat you as a citizen of the Fire Nation," Lee said with a smile. "But first, we'll have to go to the prison rig. From there, we'll take a ship."

As if they could escape a master waterbender in a small boat.

They might have a chance if they managed to drift on the water for six hours or more.

But the Fire Nation was quite far, and it would take weeks to a month to reach it.

So, the best course of action was to secretly send his report and then turn himself in.

Lee and the snitch, whose name he had never bothered to learn, made their way to the prison rig on foot.

Surprisingly, the earthbenders weren't watching over the village.

What a rookie mistake.

One couldn't expect rebels to establish an organized army on their first day of liberation.

The warden soon reached the metal bridge, and the heavy metallic scent of blood filled the air.

He felt a pang of sadness for his men who had been attacked.

He turned his head and his eyes widened.

The bodies had been gathered and covered in bags, ready to be buried. It was common sense to bury your enemies or dispose of their bodies, as rotting corpses could spread disease.

But because they hadn't done so yet, the warden felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces.

Even though half of the bodies belonged to Commander Shaw's men, they were still soldiers who had served under him. For the two decades he had been a warden, they had lived together, eaten together, and trained together. To him, these soldiers were like his own children. He couldn't help but feel a burning sensation in his eyes.

He swore in his heart to do everything in his power to take down the waterbender.

He entered the prison rig and walked to the top floor. He stood in front of a library, pulled a book, and triggered a mechanism. A secret chamber appeared.

Pigeons in cages were eating their food as usual, their cages uncleaned. Only a select few knew about this chamber, which was meant for hiding and reporting.

The warden grabbed a blank sheet of paper and began writing his report to the Fire Nation.

He explained that a waterbender from the South Pole had come here to lead a rebellion and had succeeded in taking down the prison rig.

"Also, add that the assumption that he is the Avatar is wrong," said a familiar voice. "He's also planning to execute a few while keeping the rest as hostages. He's planning to take down the rest of the bases, and we should chase him down. His name is Ryuk."

Lee's hands shook. He slowly turned his head to see the waterbender standing behind him.

His heart skipped a beat.

Then two beats.

Then three.

For ten seconds, he forgot how to breathe.

He was on the verge of a heart attack.

The waterbender had a bit of water swirling around his hand. He smiled warmly at Lee and placed his hand on Lee's chest, using a healing technique that female waterbenders were known for.

"Did I surprise you? Sorry. But don't worry. I've got you. Your heart won't skip beating for me—unless you're a girl," he said with a wide smile. "Now, continue working on the report."