"So...have you gone mad?" Sokka asked.
"Honestly, I'm not sure if I ever wasn't," Harry admitted as he stared at them through the bars of his prison door.
Apparently, the Northern Water Tribe had prepared a prison for 'when' they would capture him. Harry couldn't help but snort at that, the only reason they had even been able to catch him was that he had let them catch him. Harry's prison had been inside of a building that, much like the other buildings was made of ice, though his cell was definitely different. The cell was made entirely of metal, it was covered in frost and had two vents that helped keep it cold, the only way for him to see the outside world was the small hole with bars on the door.
"Hmm, I don't know how but somehow they've managed to get their hands on the designs and copy the coolers from the Fire Nation," Harry said, recognising the design. "Either that or they just thought of the same thing, either way, pretty cool."
"Did you just make a joke?" Sokka blinked.
"Unintentionally, yeah." Harry nodded. "So...I'm in prison now, any chance any of you could pass me a shank? I might end up needing it, they took my stuff."
"I don't know what that is, and what the hell is wrong with you?!" Katara blurted out. "You purposefully let them catch you?! Why?!"
"Yeah, well, just practise for the future I suppose." Harry shrugged.
"What are you talking about?" Aang asked.
"Guys," Harry said with a humourless chuckle. "your hopes for a happy ending is honestly quite endearing, but unfortunately reality is often disappointing. Where exactly do you guys think I will be at the end of this bloody war? Huh?"
"What...what do you mean?" Katara asked slowly, looking at the other two for support, but they seemed to be just as lost as she was.
"Guys, realistically, I'll either be dead or in a prison just like this." Harry shrugged.
"Don't say that!" Katara hissed, sounding like she believed that simply mentioning the possibility of it happening could make it a reality.
"Katara, I'm just being realistic," Harry sighed. "I'm not the Avatar, I'm not a beacon of hope or anything like that. I'm the guy who everyone wants to have on their side or dead."
"We won't let that happen," Aang said in a firm voice. "without you I don't know if we can even win this war. I promise you, we're going to do our best to make sure you live a long and healthy life."
"Hmm, I suppose we'll see, won't we?" Harry replied, the tone of his voice made it clear that he was very doubtful. "Anyway, Aang, I need you to focus on getting your waterbending skills up to the mark. Katara, you're not trained either, but you're still pretty good, do your best to help him out. Got it?"
"Got it." Katara blushed a little at his comment.
"Good," Harry nodded to her before turning to face her brother. "Sokka, I want you to go and interact with the other waterbenders. Learn what you can, try and find out whatever knowledge they have on the war, anything could be helpful."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay in there?" Sokka asked, staring at Harry's cell.
"Aw, are you concerned, Ponytail?" Harry teased.
"Yeah, Katara wouldn't shut up if something happened to you," Sokka smirked, earning a slap on the arm from his sister. "Ow!"
"Guys, do your best to help them out as well," Harry spoke after a brief chuckle. "tell them about what we've experienced, let them know what we're dealing with. Because, the way I see it, they're not prepared for a full-scale Fire Nation attack. Not yet anyway."
"Right, anything else?" Aang asked.
"Just focus on your waterbending," Harry told him. "that's your biggest priority. No matter what happens, focus on your waterbending. That's crucial, got it?"
"Got it." Aang nodded, a determined look on his face. "We'll do our best to convince them to release you, I promise we..."
"Focus on your training," Harry cut him off. "a lot of people are depending on you. Do your best, and remember to take breaks so you don't overexert yourself."
"Is there anything else we can do for you?" Katara spoke up, looking at him questioningly. Harry hummed thoughtfully, he looked around at his cell before he answered.
"I wouldn't say no to a cup of tea."
"Nice people," Harry said to himself once Aang, Katara and Sokka had left. "naive, but nice."
"And easily manipulatable," A voice replied, causing Harry to pause. Harry looked through the bars and saw a girl standing in front of his cell, he recognised her as the Water Tribe girl he had threatened earlier. "isn't that right?"
"I...I know who you are, um..." Harry scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember her name. "...your name was...K...Koi...Ka...Kar...Koi-fish...um..."
"My name is Kia," She said through gritted teeth as she glared at him.
"Right, Kia, sorry. I'm not that good with names," He said apologetically. "anyway, it's awfully nice of you to visit little old me. How are you doing?"
"I heard your entire conversation," She said, crossing her arms and staring at him with an unimpressed look.
"Congratulations, would you like a cookie?" Harry snorted, sending an unimpressed look right back at her. "I would give you one, but I don't have any in here with me. Anyway, what does it matter to me if you heard my conversation? I didn't say anything that I don't mind your entire village knowing about. Heck, if you want, then I'll even tell you some more stuff about the Fire Nation, did you know that we love to eat fish? Most popular food in the entire empire."
"What's your play?" She asked, staring at him like he was a particularly difficult puzzle. "What do you get if the Avatar gets more powerful? How do you benefit from it?"
"Have you not been paying attention?" Harry rolled his eyes. "Allow me to explain it with short words for you. Avatar gets strong, then Avatar help defeats Fire Nation, then I get happy. Is that clear enough?"
"Perfectly asshole, except I don't see any reason for why you would help fight against the Fire Nation."
"I don't see why I should have to explain myself to you," Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. "if your chief has questions for me then tell him to come and ask them himself."
"The chief didn't send me here, I came for myself, to get answers!" She spat out. "And I'm not leaving until I get those answers."
"Is this about that brother of yours?" Harry let out a deep sigh. "Look, I'm going to surprise you right now and say that I am deeply sorry that you've lost your brother."
"You're sorry?!" She blurted out. "Weren't you the one that killed him?! Weren't you the one that said you'd do it again?!" She snarled, staring at him hatefully.
"Oh yeah," Harry nodded. "yes to both, I did kill him. And if you put me in the exact same situation, then I would do it again. At this point, I'm probably strong enough to stop him without killing him, but back then I wasn't. I was a seven-year-old boy on a ship that was getting attacked by a bunch of men."
"I don't know where you're going with his but..."
"You would know exactly where I was going if you let me finish," Harry cut her off. "as I said, I was only a seven-year-old boy on a ship that was getting attacked. Your waterbenders killed nearly everybody on the ship, I woke up from my sleep to find a guy, the guy who had served me food that day, on the floor in front of my room with his throat slit. You better believe that I wasn't going to let that same thing happen to me. Those same waterbenders were trying to kidnap a six-year-old girl."
"She was a Fire Nation princess," Kia reminded him.
"She IS a Fire Nation princess, she's still alive, remember? Thanks to me. Either way, that's not a good enough reason." Harry glared at her.
"Sure it is, she's the daughter of the leader of the enemy army and if we had caught her then we could have used her as a bargaining tool to help end the war."
"If you think that Fire Lord Ozai would be willing to sacrifice this war for his daughter then you clearly haven't learnt enough about him!" Harry said angrily. "He's an evil bastard that is willing to destroy and sacrifice everything if it means getting himself the power he desires! And that is still not a good reason!"
"Yes, it is." Kia insisted. Harry's glare intensified for a few moments before it died down.
"Then you won't mind if I kidnap your princess then?" Harry asked, a smirk now on his face.
"What?!"
"Your Princess, by your flawed logic, I still work for the Fire Nation, and if that was the case then I could catch your princess for the Fire Nation and it would be fine because she's an enemy's daughter, right?"
"What?!" Kia shrieked. "No! That's not..."
"According to your logic, it's perfectly fine. Or is it just one of those things where it's fine only when a member of the Water tribe can do it?" Harry raised an eyebrow questioningly, he took a deep breath and glared at Kia. Kia couldn't help but take a step back as she looked at Harry, if asked later, she would swear that his eyes were glowing. "You see, it's incredibly easy to judge when you are the one sitting high up like you are, but me, I live in the real world, and I hate it. I hate it," Harry growled. "you know what I've seen? I've come in contact with men that do things that I wouldn't ever dream of doing and I've seen those very men go free because they had a lot of money or high political standing. I've seen men that break into homes at night and kill families, I've met monsters, I fought against creatures that force you to live through your worse memories, I've been tortured, hunted, I've seen good men and women hurt and killed, and you sure as hell aren't the only person here who has lost people you care about. My life has been one bloody war after another! I have seen things you wouldn't believe and I have lost things you will never understand!" Harry hissed. "Take your hypocritical judgement and fuck off!"
Kia stared at him for several seconds before she gulped and took a step back. She stared at Harry for several seconds, neither of them said anything, allowing the room to fall into silence.
"I don't care what you say," Kia spoke up after a short. "you might have suffered, but you've also caused plenty of suffering for others. You're a monster, and don't think you'll ever convince me or anyone in this tribe otherwise." With that being said, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Harry alone to reflect on what had just happened and how he had just blown up at her.
"Maybe I'm not as emotionally healthy as I thought I was." Harry hummed.