I looked around at the dark room. I then spotted Smellerbee and Longshot leaving me.
"Guys! Wait for me!" I jogged after them but was soon stopped as I tripped over something and fell on the ground. I looked behind me to see what I had tripped over. Fear overcame me as I looked at my unmoving body on the ground.
X-8 Hours Before-X
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Katara hanging up posters in Ba Sing Se. "Katara?"
I watched her tense as she turned around. Her beautiful blue eyes were as cold as ice.
"I think I can help you," I told her.
She got water from the water skin she wore around her body and flung it at me.
"Katara, I've changed!
"Tell it so some other girl Jet!"
I staggered back, blocking the ice she threw with my swords. "I don't want to fight you! I'm here to help!"
I dropped my swords and pulled out the paper from my waistband as she pinned me to the wall with ice.
"Katara, wait, I can explain," I unrolled the paper I had in my hands. "I think I know where Appa is. Please. I don't have my gang anymore Katara."
"Katara, what's wrong?" Sokka asked his sister as the rest of the group and a girl I didn't recognize showed up.
"Jet's back…" Katara replied icily. "We can't trust anything Jet says."
"But we don't even know why he's here!" Sokka protested, which surprised me because I had betrayed them all.
"I don't care why he's here. Whatever the reason is, it can't be good."
"I'm here to help you find Appa," I spoke up, unrolling the poster in my hand.
"Katara, we have to give him a chance," Aang tried.
"I swear, I've changed! I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control, but I don't even have the gang now! I've put that all behind me!"
"You're lying!" Katara yelled.
The small girl walked up to me and put her hand on the wall I was pinned to.
"He's not lying," she said in a voice that was too strong for her small frame, but it automatically made her gain my respect.
"How can you tell?" Sokka asked.
"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat," the girl replied. "When people lie, there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."
"Katara," Aang spoke up, "we don't have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out."
"All right," Katara replied as she crossed her arms, then she pointed at me, "But we're not letting you out of our sight."
X-Present Time-X
Am I…dead?
"Yes," a woman's voice replied.
But I had never spoken aloud.
"It doesn't matter. Death knows no voice."
I looked away from my dead body to see a beautiful girl standing before me. Her eyes were dark and her ebony hair was glossy like a raven's feathers.
"Who are you?" I asked her.
"I am Death, and I have come to take you."
"Take me where?"
"Oblivion. The After-Life. Where else would I take you to?" She showed no sarcasm.
"I didn't know Death was a girl."
"Is that an issue?"
"No," I told her hurriedly. Her attractiveness was distracting me from the issue at hand.
"Many men feel the same about my so-called beautifulness. It makes it easier to take them from this world," Death looked at me sharply.
"But why me? Why now?"
"That is something you would have to ask my father or my mother."
"Who are they?"
"My father is Time. My mother: Fate."
"That makes sense actually."
"More than you would think. Mere humans do not understand our ways. But I think we should go now Jet; unless you would prefer to see if you could enter the Spirit World. But only a select few can. The most pure."
"Am I not then?"
"No. You are far from it. You've been plagued with too many wrongdoings in your lifetime. It's time to show you a change of not only your mind, but a change of your own heart."
"How do I do that?"
Death took my hands in hers. "Come with me. I will show you." The surroundings swirled around to a different setting as Death and I stood there looking at one another.
X-8 Hours Earlier-X
Soon, they had let me take them to the warehouse where I heard they were keeping Appa.
"This is the place I heard about," I told them.
"There's nothing here," Aang said.
"If this is a trap-" Katara started.
"Wait," Sokka bent down to the ground, "It this Appa's fur?" he fingered the white fluff.
"Oh yeah," a janitor swept up a small pile of it, "That stuff's everywhere. Can't get rid of it. Glad that beast is finally outta my hair."
"Where did they take him?" Aang asked determinedly.
"I dunno. Some place called Whale Tail Island. Can take 'em wherever so long as I care." He left us in the main room.
"Where exactly is Whale Tail Island?" Katara asked her brother.
"Far," he answered, "Very far. It would take us weeks without Appa to get there, and we may not have that much time…"
"But we have to find Appa!" Aang yelled.
"Aang, we're trying our best," Katara comforted him.
We walked outside to head back to their apartment.
"Jet?" a familiar voice asked behind us. I turned to see Smellerbee and Longshot standing there before Smellerbee hugged me forcefully.
"I thought you said you don't have your gang anymore…" Katara's sneer was audible.
"I don't…" I said, confused, and hugged Smellerbee back. We stepped apart.
"Jet, I thought the Dai Li took you?" Smellerbee furrowed her eyebrows.
"The Dai Li?" Sokka was suspicious.
"What? I've been living here peacefully in the city," I was still confused.
Toph, the earthbending girl, placed her hand on the sidewalk between us. "This is weird. They're on two different sides, but they're both telling the truth."
"What? How is that possible?" Katara asked.
I saw Aang think hard and flashback in his mind to help him. "Jet's been brainwashed…"
X-Present Time-X
"Did they find him?" I asked Death, my hands still gripping hers as I watched the last day of my life.
"Yes. Your…friend…Zuko set Appa free."
"Who is this Zuko?"
"Zuko is the man that works at the tea shop."
"Is he the one who I think he and his lazy old grandpa are firebenders?"
"It is his unlce, but yes. That is him."
"There's still more I need to see isn't there?"
Death nodded. "Yes; much more."
X-7 and a Half Hours Before-X
"I still don't believe you say I was brainwashed," I shook my head as I sat in the chair they had set out for me.
"Maybe you could try to think of one of your worst memories to see if you could regain them," Katara instructed me.
I flashed back to the day my village was raided by the Rough Rhinos, the day I lost my parents.
"No," I stopped thinking about it. "It's too painful."
"Here," Katara used her healing abilities and stuck her hands on my ears, making me remember my memories of the last few days.
"It's at a...lake..." I said.
"Didn't the Earth King say something about a lake?" Sokka asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Lake Li... Lake Laogee…"
"That's it! Lake Laogai…"
X-Present Time-X
"I don't like watching this Death…" I said to her.
I felt her squeeze my hand.
"Mere humans cannot imagine the many lives and deaths I have seen Jet. For thousands of years I have been doing this… It hurts my heart just as much as it does yours to watch your final hours…" Death replied.
"Were you a human once Death?"
"No. I was never a human."
"Would you like to be?"
"No. Most humans are greedy and selfish. I don't know how long I could stay there."
My face fell. "Oh."
"Not all can change like you Jet."
"If I've changed, then how am I not pure?"
"Changing doesn't automatically make you pure. Only the ultimate choice can."
X-7 Hours Earlier-X
We headed out to Lake Laogai, which didn't take very long because it was just outside the city of Ba Sing Se.
"So where's this secret headquarters?" Sokka asked me.
"Under the water I think," I answered him.
"There's a tunnel right there by the shore," Toph pointed to her right. She whistled while she walked and used her earthbending to pull up the tunnel.
Soon, we were inside the secret headquarters. I looked around a wall to see if the coast was clear and we all walked along the corridor.
"It's all starting to come back to me…" I trailed as we walked.
We walked past a room where a Dai Li agent was brainwashing young women into thinking they were a lady named Joo Dee.
"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead," I told the group, "I think it's through here." I opened up a door.
We all entered and the door automatically shut behind us. I looked up to see Dai Li agents hanging from the ceiling.
"Now that's something different," Sokka said.
"You have made yourselves enemies of the state," Long Feng said, suddenly appearing behind us, "Take them into custody."
X-Present Time-X
"Death?"
"Hmm?"
I looked at her to find that she was already looking at me. "I want to go now…"
"There is one more thing I have to show you…"
X-5 and a Half Hours Earlier-X
"Long Feng is escaping!" Aang yelled and ran after the man.
I chased after the both of them into another room.
"All right Avatar. You've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance…if you want your bison back," Long Feng threatened creepily.
"You do have Appa!" Aang said angrily. "Tell me where he is!"
"Agree to exit the city now, and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet."
"You're in no condition to bargain," I sneered.
"Am I not?"
"You're definitely not!" Aang glowered.
"Jet," Long Feng started seductively, "the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
I felt my brain rewire itself. "I am honored to accept his invitation." My voice sounded like monotone. My arms moved themselves and attacked Aang.
"Jet, it's me! Aang!" Aang yelled to me. I wanted to answer and stop myself, but it was like my mind had a mind of its own. He ran away. "You don't have to do this!"
"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice," I heard Long Feng say.
"Jet, I'm your friend. Look inside your heart," Aang was pleading with me, and I wanted to stop, but I couldn't.
"Do your duty Jet!" Long Feng contradicted him.
"He can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter!"
Those were the words I needed to hear the most. I straightened in shock and flashed back to everything beginning with my village being raided by the Fire Nation to right now. I returned to my normal state.
"Do it!" Long Feng yelled at me. "Do it now!"
I angrily swung my sword at Long Feng, but missed. He hit me square in the ribs with a rock and I fell to the ground.
"Foolish boy. You've chosen your own demise." He left the room.
"I'm sorry…Aang…" I said to the Avatar, struggling with my own pain.
"Don't be," he replied.
Our group walked in, shocked to see me how I was lying there on the cold hard ground.
Katara gathered water on her hands and it glowed as she moved around my chest.
"This isn't good," she told us.
"You guys go find Appa," Smellerbee told the Avatar's entourage, "we'll take care of Jet."
"We're not going to leave you," Katara protested.
"There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader," I had never heard Longshot speak, but he had made four complete sentences in my last minutes.
"He's lying…" I heard Toph whisper to Sokka as I closed my eyes for the last time.
X-Present Time-X
Death told me that I had been dead for a while before Smellerbee and Longshot left. I learned while I was dead how to be a better person, and how I should have lived my life instead of how I did.
But instead of taking the chance on spending eternity in the Spirit World, I let Death take me to Oblivion.
"Are you sure Jet?" she asked me, squeezing my hands once more.
I nodded.
She sighed, and although she was the death spirit and went through this all the time, I sensed heartbreak within her, like she wanted me to stay, and have another chance.
"Death…" I lifted her face up to mine so I could look into her dark eyes. "I don't deserve to go to the Spirit World. I've done a lot of bad things in my life, and I don't have the right to go to a place for the good people."
She gave me a small smile. "I think you do Jet."
"What do you mean?"
"You passed your test. You genuinely admitted to your wrongdoings, and you made the decision to not go."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I can do this for the rest of my life…" she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me…
OoOoOoOoo
2,258 words without the Author's Note
Yay!
I did it!
I had soooooo much fun writing this story!
I felt that Jet deserved a second chance, and so I gave him one
This is what I would think happened after Jet's death
Oh, and this is for the February contest for the forum I'm a part of
RnR!
Happy Reading!
-avatarspiriaangkorra