Two Years Ago

Smellerbee sat on the bed of the tiny apartment, her hands busily gnawing at the pallet. She had so much energy pent up inside her, so much rage. Too many emotions. Longshot wasn't in, and this was one of the few times where she felt she could let herself mourn.

Jet was dead. Jet was gone and he wasn't there to take care of her, of the Freedom Fighters, anymore. Images and sound bytes ran through her head- she saw that cocky grin of his, she hear him telling her about the fresh start they were going to have. She smiled grimly. Fresh new start? Yep. Was it a good one? No way. She saw the body of her beloved leader, her brother, laying prone on the stone floor of the Dai Li's secret hide out. She saw him speaking those fated last words, saw his eyes shut just before the arrow pierced him…

Tears began to pour down her cheeks. It seemed like she had spent far too much time crying these days. Smellerbee inhaled sharply, the sound so loud in her ears. She felt weak and silly. Jet didn't cry when the others had passed. He had said… Said speeches about their courage, about how sorely they would be missed. He had taken all of their combined sorrow and turned it into something far more hopeful.

How she wished she knew how to utter those words, how to make herself feel like this wasn't the end.

She retreated once more into her memories, trying to find the happier ones. She saw all the flames of her village and heard screams and saw the blood rushing over her own legs… No, not those memories.

Smellerbee took another deep breath and remembered the time before. She saw the face of her companion, her best friend. The silent archer's mouth was set into a grim line when he had found her, so small and fragile. She knew he was thinking that she was too young for this. He had scooped her up into his arms, and if he had noticed the blood that had rubbed off onto his arms, he didn't let on.

Back then, Smellerbee hadn't been Smellerbee. She'd been someone else- a girl with a family and friends and a different identity. When Longshot had picked her up, she'd been five and a half years old.

8 and a half years ago

Longshot had taken the nameless girl to the tree houses and bathed her. She probably didn't really understand what had happened to her. He filled a basin with water and set the girl down onto the wooden platform. The blood from between her legs had since dried, but he knew it had still come off on his sleeves. He wasn't revolted- it had happened to many of the tree house's female residents. Longshot stayed calm as he left the girl and got one of those who would be able to help the her, to explain what had happened.

He'd ran across Shootup first- she was maybe two years older than him and had a lot of freckles tossed carelessly across her nose. She could tell that the grim look on the boys face meant that she was needed. Longshot led Shootup to the room where the little girl sat.

"Wait…" She'd said when Longshot turned to exit. He hadn't heard her speak before this. He stopped and turned to look at the girl. "Will you… Will you wait for me?" She was afraid. Her eyes had told him that he was the first friendly face she'd seen in a while. He nodded tightly and went to sit outside the room.

Smellerbee remembered that day with both horror and happiness. As she sat there, a smile came over her face. Aside from meeting Longshot, she had met Jet as well.

Jet had heard that there was a new girl. Longshot had told him. Normally he would wait to meet her, since they had new kids coming in every single day.

She's different, Longshot had told him in his silent language. You have to see her. She needs a name, too. Jet trusted Longshot more than he trusted anyone since they were the first- together they had created the Freedom Fighters, right after their village had been burned down. Jet hadn't ever gotten to know Longshot before the fire. They'd been the sole survivors, and they'd stuck together. So, if Longshot thought she was important, she was definitely important.

Smellerbee remembered seeing Jet for the first time, while sitting in foreign clothes on Longshot's small pallet. She'd blushed- he was so… so cute! She didn't want him to see her like this. She wanted him to see her in her fancy dresses with her hair done all nice by- No. That nameless girl had sat on the pallet that afternoon, a silent boy holding a bow and an older boy with a wheat stalk held between his lips staring down at her. She felt defiant. Everything she loved had been taken from her.

That girl had known she would have to change. She'd vowed to herself that she would throw away the girl with the dresses and dolls and the long, tamed mane of hair. There wasn't room for her, anyway. That was when the nameless girl had begun to take her first steps toward becoming Smellerbee.

The Smellerbee who sat on the pallet in Ba Sing Se smiled. That was the girl she loved- the defiant one with the resolve to completely make herself over. After five and a half years of living a life pasted over with dresses and etiquette and a limited wealth, she had decided that wasn't who she was meant to be.

The nameless girl listened as the boy with the wheat stalk spoke to her.

"So Longshot here says he found you hiding behind some trees this morning. We always send out a couple of scouts to the villages that get destroyed. We take 'em in." She'd listened raptly. Someone who was only probably about six or seven years older than her was taking in the orphaned children? Wicked. " He says you were in pretty bad shape. Shootup seems to have done well- though you don't look very comfortable. We'll get you some different clothes." The boy had looked at her, scrutinizing. He was trying to figure out what was so different about this one. He looked over her minute frame, her mane of wet hair- Spirits, was it long! That would have to change. To him, she looked like just another helpless wreck- but wait. That look in her eyes! How had he missed it? It was so… fiery, so defiant. He liked it. He looked over to Longshot and nodded. He understood. This nameless girl was a lot like he had been.

"What's your name?" The boy with the wheat stalk in his mouth asked. The nameless girl was wondering how he kept it there so effortlessly. "I'm Jet, and this is Longshot." Longshot. She committed that one immediately. She owed him.

"My name?… That… That doesn't matter anymore. I'm not her." She looked away from them. She saw that other girl buried inside her, terrified of disappearing. She squashed her more.

"Well, here, that's okay. Longshot and Jet aren't exactly common names, are they?" He smiled at her. "We need to think of a Freedom Fighter name for you, now don't we? That is, if you want to be a Freedom Fighter." Freedom Fighter? Longshot watched the girl's lips move silently, repeating the words. He saw how she looked away from them, like she was trying to think without bias.

"Yeah… I think I wanna be a Freedom Fighter." She looked back to Jet, her eyes fleetingly stopping on Longshot. "Well? What should my name be?" She looked up and saw a piece of her hair hanging in her face. She blew it out, her lips creating a buzzing noise. Buzzing… Stinging… Bees. Jet made the connection in his head, and smiled. He would teach her how to handle weaponry- everyone would. She'd find hers ,the one that was unique to her. Everyone had one. Longshot was the best archer among them, and Jet himself preferred the hooked swords he had stolen from a Fire Nation traveler a few years back.

"Well, how about Bee?" He suggested.

"Bee? Just Bee?" She thought about it… it seemed too short. Too much like her old name.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Jet asked. Longshot looked up and saw the red leaves falling down, hear a kid passing by on a zip line, shouting something to a friend. The tree bark smelled of vanilla and dirt and he thought he even caught a whiff of spices, probably coming from the kitchen. He looked down at the little girl.

"I don't know… what is that smell?" She sniffed the air. "It smells like… like curry!" She smiled, remembering the yellow curry powder that was in her old kitchen constantly, remembered how sweet it tasted with pineapples.

"I think that's what we're doing for dinner." Jet mumbled to himself. "well, we'll just call you Bee until we find something appropriate, mmkay?" Bee nodded.

present

Smellerbee smiled though the tears. She stood up from the pallet and went to the window.

where was Longshot?

She clutched her elbows- it was a cold night, even though it was the middle of the summer. Longshot had somehow gotten them out of Lake Laogai, though for the life of her, Smellerbee couldn't remember. She'd been completely distraught. Jet was gone, and Longshot was late, and Smellerbee was all alone.

She waited all night. She packed her small bag, filled with a water skin, money, her bed roll, and some nonperishable food stuffs. She walked around the small room so many times, running her fingers over everything, the dust hardly noticeable on her stained white gloves.

She sat on the bed staring at the sun setting the next day. She decided then that she couldn't risk it anymore. She had to go. The Dai Li were looking for her and Longshot, and since he was already so late… She didn't want to believe he had been captured, but her mind heart told her that he had. Waiting any longer wasn't safe- it was only a matter of time before they found the apartment. She stood, more tears pouring down her cheeks. She wiped them away.

Okay Smellerbee. You gotta be strong. He'll find you. He always does.

She left the little apartment.

%%%%%%%%%%

Longshot really wanted to punch himself in the face right now. He'd been an idiot.

A few days ago

He'd pushed Smellerbee up into that pipe, telling her that there was a ladder She'd been crying so hard… When she obeyed, he went back to Jet's body, an arrow- His arrow- still sticking out of it.

Longshot, you know you have to do it. Longshot grabbed the hooked swords besides Jet, his hand shaking. He ran back to the pipe and climbed in. When he looked up, he saw light.

"Longshot?" Smellerbee shouted down to him. He hooked the swords over the bottom rung of the ladder and clambered up. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears.

Come on, for me. You can't wait for me. And it… it hurts so bad. Just put me out of my misery. The sound of rock scraping against rock was loud and obnoxious. Longshot pulled himself out of the hole and into the faint sunshine. Smellerbee was standing there, looking out at the lake, her dagger clutched in her hand. He grabbed her and urged her to start running .They had to get away.

Take care of the Fighters, guys. Take care of each other. Stay safe. And remember… The world will always need Freedom Fighters. They had ran and ran and ran until the city loomed ahead of them again. Longshot could see the distant figures of the Avatar and his friends fighting some of the Dai Li, and he also saw that two or three of the agents were following them. Once in the city, they could get lost easily.

Smellerbee was lagging. He grabbed her wrist and tugged, his eyes begging her to hurry up.

"Shut… up." She gasped. It must have been hard to run and sob at the same time. Longshot wasn't letting himself feel the pain. Not yet. They had to live first.

Finally, finally, they reached the stupid city. They ran around, hooking a few corners and then hopped onto the nearest roof top. They laid down and waited for hours.

Finally, they hopped down. The sun was setting- it would be easier to get around now.

Longshot grabbed her by the shoulders. Go back, pack, get ready. I'll be back soon.

"Alright… but you better come back." She couldn't handle losing him, too. She looked at his eyes, telling her everything she ever needed to know. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

I promise.

Present

Sitting in his cell now, Longshot hated himself. So much time had passed… and he'd broken his promise. His bow was gone, and so were Jet's swords. He'd risked his freedom for those swords ,and they'd bitten him in the blubber. The Dai Li had been waiting for him to come back for them. Fate was a bitter woman, indeed.

It was several days into his imprisonment when the world began to collapse around him. Literally.

The Dai Li officers ran through the halls, ripping at the support beams angrily. Someone had found them out.

The officer Feng was looking at the prisoners with sorrow… They didn't need to die here, without even a shot at escape. It wasn't right. He knew he'd done some bad things for the Dai Li, but this was a little too much.

When all the other officers had passed by, leaving him to take out the remaining beams, sighed. If anyone found out what he was about to do, he'd be in so much trouble. He hesitated, then blasted the hinges off of the doors, one by one. He came to the last one and saw a boy with a straw hat, watching him. He was so young… Feng blasted the entire cell wall clear off. This young boy deserved to live. He couldn't even recall what he did to get put in here.

Longshot and the man looked at each other for a moment before Longshot ran off. He found an abandoned room at the end of the hallway, and inside hung the weapons of the prisoners. The door was in a heap at the back.

He found his bow and quiver and those hooked swords… Oh spirits. How was he going to get out of this mess? He ran in the direction that the Dai Li had gone, looking around desperately for some sort of escape. In the distance, he could hear boulders colliding, tunnels caving in. He was running out of time, that much was sure.

Longshot threw himself around a corner and saw the ladder. It had to lead somewhere, right? He hooked the twin blades to his quiver and began to ascend the rungs, finally reaching the top. He pushed up, his leg hooked over the top most rung. Damned earth benders…

Finally the stone cork budged, and water started to trickle in. Longshot nearly swore. He would either have to swim to the surface from who knows how many feet deep, or he would be right at the lapping shore. Either way, he knew this was a definite way out. Longshot wished he had another one, though. Below him, he could see puddles beginning to form, green light glimmering off their surfaces. He took a deep breath and exhaled, then pushed again. Water flooded in, but he held tight. He waited a moment and let the pressure of the water gushing past him decrease, then pushed off.

Longshot counted himself lucky. From his push off, he only had to swim about ten feet to the surface. The water tried to suck him down into the hole a couple of times, but he was a strong swimmer. He had to have been- Jet had made sure that every Freedom Fighter could swim at a proficient level.

He surfaced, gratefully sucking in air. On the shore he saw Dai Li agents running around, shouting at one another, counting. Making sure they were all there. Longshot tread the water until long after they had left, just to be sure. He didn't want to make mistakes anymore. Plus, he had an advantage. The Dai Li thought he was dead, and Smellerbee had gotten away. Nobody would be looking for him, anyway.

When he reached the shore, he was grateful for the sun's heat. It dried his clothes much faster than any fire could. Longshot grasped behind him and felt the cold steel of the swords as well as his quiver. It didn't matter if all the arrows had floated away- he could easily carve more. His bow was still clutched in his hand.

Longshot allowed himself to smile briefly. He had escaped death- again- and he thought Smellerbee would be waiting for him. He was wrong, but that wasn't any surprise.

He sat in the cold house, looking around. It wasn't disturbed, except for a few things missing. He saw his blanket folded on the bed and a ration of food was in the cupboard. He sat down at the circular table and felt around the bottom- Bee would have left him a sign that she had in fact left and not been captured. She always left him signs.

His fingers found an unnatural texture in the wood, and he flipped the thing over. An arrow was drawn pointing southwest, along with a circle with two stripes on either side. That was her signature- not many Fighters were literate. She'd also drawn a bow shape and two lines- she'd waited nearly two days for him. The message told him to follow her southwest, and he had to hurry. Knowing Smellerbee, she'd be clear to the Fire Nation by now. Longshot grabbed his satchel off of the peg behind the door and put his blanket and bed pad and food inside, along with one of the knives they kept in the drawer. He would need to be able to carve new arrows. He flipped the table over and put everything back into it's original place. The next person to live here would belong more than they ever had.

%%%%%%%%%%

Smellerbee was snoozing on her be roll beneath a bush. The sun was shining in, but she knew she would fare better traveling at night. Her dreams were of Longshot wandering in those endless catacombs, shouting her name vainly.

"here…" She whispered in her sleep. It was a near silent sound, but her dream changed because of it. Longshot had finally found her, and they were sitting in those familiar red treetops, watching the clouds roll by lazily. She rolled over in her sleep.

Longshot was close, he knew that much. He walked in the forest alongside the trail that most travelers followed- Smellerbee would never do that. She was too smart. He'd already seen remnants of miniscule camp fires, and every once in a while, a small circle with two lines on either side would appear in the dirt or carved into a tree. She was leaving him clues that only he could decipher.