Ayame followed Sokka down the steps. They were on guard duty, watching the prisoners clean up. Zuko and Suki were mopping the floors.
"Good," Sokka said, "You two know each other."
"We do?" Zuko asked without looking up.
"Yeah. You burned down my village," Suki recalled.
"He's done a lot of that," Ayame said with a teasing smile. Zuko ignored her.
"I'm sorry," he told Suki. "Nice to see you again, anyway."
"No offense or anything," Suki said as she came around, "Who exactly are you, anyway?"
"Me?" Ayame asked. "Oh. I'm Sokka's sister."
"You don't look like Katara to me."
"His other sister," she interjected.
"Long story," Sokka said when Suki scrunched up her boss in confusion. "I'll explain later."
Sokka had a brilliant plan. He'd explained it to Ayame about the cooler and the insulation system, but she listened intently as he informed Zuko and Suki. Everything went well until they realized that they hadn't been the only ones listening.
"I want in on this plan you're hatching," Chit Sang stood before us.
Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but Ayame cut him off. "If you say, 'The only thing we're hatching is an egg', I will kill you right here." His mouth snapped shut.
"You can't be in on something that doesn't exist," Zuko tried, but Chit Sang rolled his eyes.
"Save it. I'm in, or I'm telling the warden," he said.
"Fine. I guess we have no choice," Suki muttered.
"Now what do we do?" Ayame asked.
"We need a distraction." Sokka handed Zuko a wrench, which he hid under his shirt.
"Distraction? That's my middle name," Chit Sang grinned. And then the plan rolled into action.
Zuko stood up, walking towards the middle of the floor. Chit stood next to him, and then Zuko pushed him. "Hey, get out of the way!"
"Why don't you get out of the way?" Chit Sang pushed him back. This went on a couple of times, until Zuko punched him in the face. Now, he just had to firebend.
But then Ayame came through. Zuko's jaw dropped. Why the hell was she dressed as a prisoner? Her loose clothing hung around her, and her hair dropped over her shoulders.
"Why don't you both get out of the way?" And then she rotated her hands, thrusting out with her palms. A fire ball nearly singed the hair off of Zuko's head. The shock on Sokka and Suki's faces were clear; they had no idea what she was up to.
"What are you doing?" Zuko mouthed, furious. She would never be able to last the harsh temperatures of the cooler.
"I'm a waterbender," she hissed. "I can handle it."
"Hey! No firebending. Take her to the cooler," the guard pointed at Sokka. Sokka walked over to Ayame, pulling her arms behind her back. Zuko saw him lean in and whisper something in her ear, and then she was taken.
Damn it, damn it, Ayame. You are so stupid.
Zuko waited in his cell for hours. By now, she would've frozen to death. Ayame did stuff without thinking. She was just so . . .
"Zuko!" Sokka hissed through the little gap in the metal door.
"Yeah?" Zuko got to his feet quickly. "How's she?"
