Author's note:

My second avatar fic! woot-woot! And here I thought I'd be writing a zutara one to please the masses. Not that I'm against the ship or anything, I like it. But with so many here in it can be a little bit overwhelming. Poor Zuzu and Katara. The world loves to see their anguished love. Anyway I've decided to delve into Jet's story. Jet was an interesting character who I felt was not represented enough in the canon story. There has to be so much more to the rogue freedom fighter then meets the eye.

So heres my take on it.

Sorry if it seems short to you all but its only the prologue. Its suppose to be short.

Once again read, review, and enjoy. I'll be happy to answer any concern you might have.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Freedom's Prodigal Son

Prologue: Breaking the news

Has it always been this small? Smellerbee looked around nostalgically. The familiar furniture and small trinkets that lay around the huge tree house all triggered various emotions and memories within her. She didn't know where to begin.

Its been this long... She bent over to pick up one wooden toy sword, now covered in cobwebs and dust. She remembered this sword had been fondly played with back then. She remembered the laughter and the smiling faces that held the tiny hilt she now had in her hand.

"..." A silent lean young man walked up from behind her and placed a strong hand on her shoulder; under his protection she always felt delicate.

"Yeah I know Longshot... Its still home..." Placing a hand over his she felt comforted.

"Hey you guys made it!" A small boy who wore a helmet bigger then he could support jumped in from one of the various windows and startled Smellerbee, who was quick to break away from Longshot's hand.

"The Duke! Don't surprise us like that!" she sneered.

The silent archer adjusted his straw hat as he hid a small smile. Smellerbee could be so awkward sometimes. Yet if she wanted to keep the nature of their relationship secret it was fine by him.

The small young warrior ran up to his friends and gave Longshot a big hug, then turned his attention to Smellerbee, who winced in the embarrassment when the kid hugged her.

"Yeah, yeah... I miss ya too. Now let go before I start to lose it," Smellerbee growled, reluctantly hugging the little guy back.

The Duke grinned before finally obliging to Smellerbee's request. "C'mon... The rest of the gang are back there," he urged on his former comrades as he led the way.

Smellerbee was anxious to see all her old friends, but upon arriving at their destination they only spotted the colossal form of a smiling Pipsqueek, who seemed even larger as he stood up from one of the chair stumps. The gigantic fellow quickly scooped up the two in his thick strong arms as he gave them a hug that could only be matched by a bear.

"Haha! Good to see both of you! Smellerbee! Longshot!"

"Uh... good... to... see... you... too... Pipsqueek." Smellerbee had forgotten how strong their friend was as she struggled to get the words out.

"..." Longshot couldn't have agreed more.

"You're... hurting us... big guy..." She grunted out.

"Oh! Sorry."

Pipsqueek gently let the two go from his vice-like grip and gave them a pat on the back instead. The former freedom fighters couldn't stop from grinning as they barely contained their nostalgia. The four of them were together again. It was a feeling that they all sorely missed. No words were needed to be said as they enjoyed the moment together.

"Is it just the two of you?" Smellerbee asked. "Where are the rest of the Freedom Fighters?" She had thought long and hard about their unspoken promise. It had already been a year since Jet left and disbanded the Freedom Fighters. Being orphans of war, they really had no where else to go. So they made a pact. Whatever happens with the war, they would all meet back here in year's time. "No one else came?" She tried to keep her voice from breaking.

She had hoped to find more then just the Duke and Pipsqueek.

To answer her question the Duke and Pipsqueek grinned. "Man you've been away for awhile now Smellerbee," The Duke pointed out.

"This is our home. Who knows it better then the Freedom fighters themselves?" Pipsqueek smiled, as he placed two fingers inside his mouth and gave a long loud whistle that would have woken up the entire forest.

In fact, the entire forest did seem to wake around them. At the sound of his signal, figures from all around leapt and gave a joyous cry. A whirl storm of bodies and leaves flew around. Some swung in by the tree fort's extensive pulleys,some through the hidden trap doors. Soon the tree house Smellerbee had felt was so empty was brimming, full to the bursting with young, familiar faces, most covered in dirt, but all grinning brightly. These were the Freedom Fighters she'd returned to meet.

Like a million spider-ants that moved as one, it was quite a sight to see.

"Longshot and Smellerbee's back!!"

"Woo-hoo! The Freedom fighters are back together again!"

Countless voices began to greet the two of them and Smellerbee had never felt so overwhelmed in her life. She almost forgotten how huge their rag tag rebel army was.

Pipsqueek whistled out loud once more, and surprisingly silenced followed.

"That got their attention," the big fellow smirked.

All eyes were on them now. Longshot gave Smellerbee a gentle nudge on the side, urging her to go on.

The blade wielding freedom fighter grudgingly looked at his direction. She knew what she had to do, but public speaking was never one of her strong points. A sad thought briefly went by in her mind.

Thats where Jet always came in.

She coughed a bit, as if to throw the nervousness out of her system. "I... uh..."

"The war's finally over!" The Duke was the first to speak up giving her a look that said, Hey you're not alone. Lets do this together.

A loud chorus of cheers followed after his announcement.

"All our hardships... all our sacrifices... all of them were for this day alone!" Pipsqueek added in his booming voice; again the cheers came.

"But where's Jet?"

That single question from the crowd brought them all to a halt. They had barely just begun their speech and already they faced the heart of the matter. Or rather the loss of heart.

"Yeah. I thought for sure Jet would be here!" another voiced joined the first.

Smellerbee did not have the courage nor the heart to look her fellow orphans of war in the eyes. What was there to say? How does one accept death so commonly? She lowered her head. "Jet's... Jet's..."

A hand shot out in front of her, indicating her to stop. Longshot briefly looked at her before glancing back at everyone else. "Jet is gone," he said solemnly, causing immediate silence from the Fighters - most had never heard him speak before. "He died. Fighting in Ba Sing Se. Fighting for what he believed in."

Their faces fell. Smellerbee could almost smell their confusion. It had to be a joke. Some kind of sick twisted joke that came from a mute young man. Only somebody like Jet could appreciate the humor in that! Everyone expected the charismatic rogue to come tumbling in with that trademark grin of his as he chewed on a leaf stem, laughing at them loudly before saying "Gotcha."

But there was no Jet, and there never would be again.

Seeing that his words weren't sinking in, Longshot reached for a piece of cloth wrapped around his back, near his quiver, and he began to unfold its contents. Slowly, he gently took out what the cloth had hidden. A gleaming pair of twin Tiger Hook swords. Yet without their wielder they seemed lifeless and dull. That was all that was needed to be seen.

It was true then, horrible as it was. Jet had left this world.

Smellerbee noticed The Duke didn't seemed as surprised as the rest. She had no way of knowing The Duke and Pipsqueek had learned of Jet's grim fate ahead of time, as they had fought alongside the Avatar in the day of black sun, and the final battle. That did not mean it hurt any less, as the two could barely suppress their sorrow. Pipsqueek's expression was as grim as any she had ever seen.

Then the band of orphans were all seized in an uproar and wailing cries. Partly cause of the fact that their silent archer spoke, partly due to the grim message he had given them, but mostly from the sight of the lonely weapons they knew their beloved leader would never abandon while he still had breath within him.

"J-J-Jet's gone? Why?! How?!"

"Well what do we do now?! How are we going to survive?!"

"It was stupid to disband in the first place! We never should have left the forest!"

"I shouldn't have joined. I knew this was going to happen! I-"

"You knew this was going to happen?! You were the one so eager to leave Chan!!"

"Oh yeah well-"

Orphan bickered with fellow orphan. Brother fought against brother. Comrade turned on comrade. It was a diplomatic nightmare.

The four senior members could only look with surprising awe and guilt as the warriors words battled to top each other, meshing together into a cacophony of chaos. See how lost your boys are without you Jet? Smellerbee's eyes were filled with both sorrow and rage. "How could he leave us like that?" she whispered.

"He hasn't." Apparently she didn't whisper quietly enough, as Longshot replied with a determined face.

Her normally quiet companion gave Pipsqueek a solemn nod. The giant man seemed to understand Longshot's wordless request, and he breathed in deeply before shouting out a thunderous cry. "QUIET!!"

All at once the fighting had stopped. No one dared to oppose Pipsqueek whenever he used that commanding voice. All eyes were upon them again. Somewhere in the distance, Smellerbee heard a cricketfrog croak.

"Freedom Fighters... why are you here?" Longshot raised his voice; for one who did not speak at all he possessed a commanding presence, though his voice was course and quiet from lack of use.

The question hung in the air. No one replied.

"That was not a rhetorical question," he glared.

"Cause... we have no where else to go?" one answered back timidly.

"Because we all though Jet would come back," another joined.

More and more of the crowd of orphans gave them their answer, all of which seemed to connect to one brown-haired, care-free fighter.

"We came back... because of Jet..."

"Jet always had the answers..."

Longshot seized the opportunity there and then. "Maybe he still does."

At his puzzling statement everyone was caught off-guard.

"Jet is our leader... but more then that. He was... is my friend. My best friend," the archer continued. Smellerbee silently slipped her hand into his, and felt his close around hers, but not seeking support, as she had thought he would. Longshot seemed focused and determined, like he did when his bow was taught. "No one in here believed more in him and his ideals then me. He would not have wanted us to be like this. Far from it. Jet believed in one thing the most in this entire world." The former mute archer paused, his eyes steeling as he remembered his friend's words.

"Life is full of struggles. But it is because of these struggles that we earn our freedom. This was his life...

...this is his story..."