A/N: This is my response to "InspiredByFyre" week. The "What if Iroh didn't like tea" idea. While this really wouldn't affect him all that much, it would certainly affect the people around him. This story starts where the idea would change the plot, during The Drill.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the other show that inspired this story.
Sick of Tea
"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?" Jet asked Zuko.
Before Zuko could respond, a merchant pushing a cart passed in front of him. "Get your hot tea here, finest tea in Ba Sing Se!"
Iroh was about to raise his hand to get the merchants attention, but decided not to. While the trip from the ferry had left him thirsty, he wasn't thirsty enough to drink tea. Now if the merchant knew how to make Iroh unique beverage, things would be different. But that was impossible, since only Iroh knew how to brew coffee.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Jet asked once the merchant had passed. He got up from his seat and led Zuko away for some privacy. "You and I have a much better chance of making it in this city if we stick together. You want to join the Freedom Fighters?"
"Thanks, but I don't think you want me in your gang" Zuko said.
"Come on, we made a great team looting that captain's food" Jet said. "Just think of the good we can do for these refugees."
"I said no" Zuko said and turned away.
"Have it your way" Jet said.
Knowing a lost cause when he saw one, Jet let Zuko return to his uncle. Even though Zuko had refused to join the gang, Jet still thought of him as a friend. Deciding to mind his own business, Jet found Smellerbee and Longshot and boarded the next train to Ba Sing Se.
OOOOOOOOOO
One week later…
During his lunch break at his new job, Zuko stepped outside the small teashop. It was boring working there, especially when Iroh had a different job at a nearby bakery. The only exiting thing to happen at the teashop was Zuko's date with a customer, but despite having a good time Zuko knew that relationship wasn't going to work.
Suddenly a piece of paper fell out of the sky, and Zuko caught it just before it would have hit his face. Looking at the paper, Zuko saw a drawing of the Avatar's bison on it along with contact information in case of a sighting. In an instant, Zuko realized that he still had a chance to regain his honor. But without a ship or crew, Zuko knew he was going to need new help.
When Zuko's shift was over, he started looking through the streets of the lower ring. It took an hour of searching, but he finally spotted the short girl Smellerbee walking into a shop. Following her inside Zuko found that it was a weapon store, and he saw Jet trying to sell a longsword to a city guard.
"Jet" Zuko said, immediately getting his attention.
"Here try it out while I handle something else" Jet said to the city guard, handing over the longsword. Walking over to Zuko he said "Hey Lee, good to see you."
"Have you seen one of these?" Zuko asked, handing over the paper with Appa on it.
"No I haven't" Jet said, looking it over. "Don't tell me you know where it is?"
"Not yet, but I know how to find out" Zuko said. "But I'll need help."
"All you had to do was ask" Jet said. "Longshot's out back testing the new bows. We should be ready to leave work in an hour."
"Good, meet me behind the apartments after dark" Zuko said.
OOOOOOOOOO
In the middle of the night, one unsuspecting Dai Li agent was patrolling the streets of the Lower Ring. He was taken by surprise when someone ran into him from behind, shoving him out of the way. The agent caught a glimpse of the mask the stranger was wearing, that of a blue oni.
"Out of my way skinny" The Blue Spirit demanded.
Immediately the agent followed, chasing The Blue Spirit into an alley. The agent was about to fire his rock gloves at him, but was interrupted when a small girl jumped off a nearby roof and landed on him. As the agent collapsed under the weight, he saw another pair of masked boys walk up to him, and the one with hookswords kicked him in the gut, causing him to pass out.
"Good work everyone" Zuko said, still wearing the blue oni mask.
"Do we really need to wear these?" Jet asked, adjusting the mask on his face. His mask resembled the front of a helmet, with except that the face had an open jaw filled with sharp teeth. The frame of the mask was a light gold while the face was a deep blue.
"At least yours looks cool" Smellerbee said. She was wearing a white harlequin mask, with its expression a permanent smirk.
Longshot just stood there, nodding in agreement with Smellerbee. He was only wearing half a mask to leave his eyes unobstructed and maintain peripheral vision. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask resembling a metal faceplate reaching up to his nose.
"We'd better get him to a secure place for questioning" Zuko said.
Smellerbee and Longshot dragged the Dai Li agent to a nearby shack. It didn't take long for them to make him reveal where the Dai Li would keep a ten ton bison. Lake Laogai was just outside the Inner Wall, and it only took them a few hours to reach it.
"How are we going to get inside?" Smellerbee asked when they arrived. "None of us are earthbenders."
"We wait for the right moment" Zuko said.
It wasn't long before another unsuspecting agent wandered by, heading for the base beneath Lake Laogai. Zuko and the others waited for him to earthbend the entrance to the base out of the water, forming a pier with a hatch at the end. Once the path was open all four teens rushed the agent, quickly overwhelming him and throwing him into the lake.
"We'd better hurry" Jet said once the agent was defeated.
"Everyone into the hole" Zuko ordered as he opened the hatch and revealed the ladder.
Smellerbee was the first to climb down the ladder, followed immediately by Jet. Longshot followed while Zuko closed the hatch behind them. Inside the base everyone quietly walked through its hallways, avoiding more Dai Li wherever they could. It quickly became clear that the base was huge and it would take forever to search it for Appa.
"We should split up, cover more ground" Jet suggested.
"Okay, Smellerbee and Longshot will go that way, Jet and I will go this way" Zuko ordered. "We'll meet back here either in an hour or when the alarm goes off."
"Got it" Smellerbee said, then ran down another hallway with Longshot.
Searching through the base, Jet and Zuko found one empty room after another. Most of them were too small to hold a sky bison, but every dozen or so rooms they found one big enough. After half an hour, they finally found Appa. They found him in a room with a high ceiling, and Appa was chained down to the floor.
"You're mine now" Zuko muttered.
"How are we going to get him out of here?" Jet asked.
Looking up, Zuko saw how the ceiling was very high above them. "I think they got him in here by earthbending the roof. It looks like it might reach the surface of the lake."
"And how does that help us?" Jet asked.
"We can just cut the bison loose, and it can ram through the roof and escape" Zuko said.
"And then what?" Jet asked.
"I don't know yet" Zuko admitted. "I'll figure something out."
Instead of trying to pick the locks on Appa's chains or remove them from Appa's legs, Zuko and Jet simply hacked away at the stone holding the chains to the floor. Using Zuko's Dao swords and Jet's hook-swords they chipped away at the rock, and almost had Appa free in half an hour.
Suddenly an alarm rang throughout the base. "Not good, the others must have been spotted" Zuko guessed.
"We're all gonna die, aren't we" Jet asked.
"Shut up Jet, we aren't dead yet" Zuko said. "Go find the others, I'll finish up here."
"Don't take too long" Jet said before turning to leave the room. But as he was about to leave he bumped into Iroh, who had been following Zuko all night.
"Uncle?" Zuko muttered, wondering why Iroh was here.
Looking at Jet, Iroh said "Go help your other friends, we'll be right behind you."
Wasting no time, Jet ran through the hallways of the base, searching for Longshot and Smellerbee. But at each turn were a pair of Dai Li agents looking for more intruders, blocking Jet's path. Despite trying to find another route, he had no choice but to fight his way through a pair of agents blocking his path.
At first each agent launched their rock gloves at Jet, which he blocked by smashing them with his hook swords. Jet ran towards the agents, then dropped to the floor and slid between them. Catching their legs with the curve of his swords, Jet brought both agents to the ground. Then he struck both agents in the head with the dull side of the swords to knock them out.
Suddenly Jet was struck from behind with an earthbended boulder. More agents had arrived while Jet had fought the first two, and saw an opportunity to bring down the intruder. Despite pain in his back, Jet got up to fight the new agents. The agents bended a larger boulder from the ground and threw it at Jet. Stepping to the side Jet caught the boulder in the hooks of his sword, spun with its momentum and threw it back at the agents. The Dai Li shattered the boulder with earthbending, but the leftover dust gave Jet enough cover to rush in and strike the agents before they could respond.
As the dust settled, Jet was the only person still standing. Exhausted and in pain, he pulled back his mask to breathe more easily. Jet knew that he couldn't keep this up, and that he had to find his friends before he would pass out.
Resuming his search and avoiding more agents, Jet found his way into a larger room. Inside were dozens of agents slowly recovering from arrow and dagger wounds. The agents were in no condition to fight, and Jet smiled at Longshot and Smellerbee's handiwork. But that smile faded when Jet saw his friends tied up at the other end of the room.
"Jet! Look Out!" Smellerbee yelled.
Despite the warning, Jet was still caught by a rock glove fired from across the room. As it carried Jet towards the wall he found the agent that was controlling the rock glove. Jet threw one of his hook swords at the agent, surprising him and striking the agent in the chest. Without the will of an earthbender, the rock glove lost its force and Jet fell to the ground, sliding into the wall instead of slamming into it.
Getting back up with only one hook sword, Jet could see his vision fading around the edges. Refusing to pass out, Jet stumbled his way towards his friends. But another pair of agents dropped down from above, and earthbended the ground beneath Jet's feet. The ground rose upward, catapulting Jet towards the agents ready to bind him with their rock gloves. As he fell Jet kept his hook sword in front of him, and impaled one of the agents hard enough to get the hook sword stuck in the ground. The other agent was in shock just long enough for Jet to sweep his leg and trip the agent. As the agent dropped to the floor Jet punched him in the face, slamming the agent's head into the floor.
Trying to stand up, Jet could feel his body shutting down. Override! Jet commanded his body, since if he passed out now all of his efforts would be for nothing. Jet pressed forward, refusing to give up. But as he moved he could hear someone new walk into the room, casually getting between Jet and his friends. Just by looking at him Jet could tell this was the leader of the Dai Li.
"Long Feng" Jet said, having heard stories about him in the Lower Ring.
"My ears are burning, yes" Long Feng replied, drawing out the last word. "It's… Jet? Isn't It? Let's see, where are we now? I still have the Avatar's bison, your colleagues are my prisoners, and the only remaining obstacle between me and covering up this entire mess is yourself."
Brining up his fists for a fight, Jet tried to appear threatening. But with his legs about to give out on him at any second, it was obvious that Jet was in no condition to fight.
"Exhausted, injured beyond recovery, defeated " Long Feng continued.
"Not just yet" Jet said. He was about to attack, but Long Feng earthbended the ground around Longshot and Smellerbee, creating slabs of rock that threatened to crush them at any moment.
"One more step, and it's raining bits of freedom fighters, yes" Long Feng threatened.
Taking a mere second to glance at his surroundings, Jet looked for anything to use as a weapon. The only hook sword close enough for him to reach was stuck in the ground and useless. He could see one of Smellerbee's daggers on the floor, but it was too far away for him to reach. But between Jet and Long Feng was Longshot's bow, the string broken.
Jet leaped forward, grabbing Longshot's bow and rolled towards Long Feng. Swinging the bow like a longsword, Jet attacked as hard as he could manage. Surprised by the attack, Long Feng was hit in the chest, bruising him but leaving no permanent damage. In retaliation Long Feng bended some stone around his fist and punched Jet's chest, tossing him aside.
"Really Jet? A stick? Against an earthbender?" Long Feng questioned. "I think not."
On his back, Jet was having difficulty breathing. Every feeling in his body was telling him to quit, but Jet refused to let Long Feng win. Jet forced himself to get up, the bow still in his hand. Despite his vision fading, he saw that the last attack had thrown him towards Smellerbee's dagger.
"Face it Jet, you're meaningless, irrelevant" Long Feng said. "What can you possibly do?"
"Improvise" Jet said.
Jet grabbed Smellerbee's dagger and forced the blade into Longshot's bow, creating a makeshift club of wood and metal. With the last of his strength Jet leaped towards Long Feng and swung the club, slamming the metal handle of the dagger into Long Feng's chest. Having nothing left to fight with, Jet fell onto his back while Long Feng stumbled backwards.
Losing his patience, Long Feng decided to stop toying with Jet and finish him. But as he prepared to crush Jet with earthbending, Long Feng was interrupted by a pair of fireblasts aimed straight for him. He blocked the flames with a stone wall, and then looked at the interlopers, Zuko and Iroh.
Still feeling pain from the single, weakened, nonbender, Long Feng decided not to risk fighting two, fully capable firebenders. Swallowing his pride, Long Feng earthbended the ground beneath himself, moving it and himself quickly out of the room. As Long Feng left, Zuko ran up to Jet's side while Iroh freed Smellerbee and Longshot.
Once Iroh was finished, all four people gathered around Jet. No one wanted to say it, but they all knew that Jet was dying.
"There's got to be something we can do?" Smellerbee asked.
"He's too far gone" Iroh stated.
"Well fought my friend, you saved the bison" Zuko said. "You may have saved the lives of those who need him, and of those that are still to come."
"Then there is nothing to regret" Jet said. With barely anything left, Jet just had one last thing to say. "Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds, along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence…"
As Jet stopped breathing, no one said a word. Smellerbee closed Jet's eyes in respect for the dead.
"He lived a warrior, and died a hero" Longshot spoke, and immediately everyone stared at him in surprise. "Let his soul join with the spirit world, the greatest of Earth."
OOOOOOOOOO
Three months later…
Zuko was sitting between Katara and Aang in the theatre on Ember Island. The second act of "The Boy in the Iceberg" was playing on the stage, and every second was either embarrassing or infuriating. But as the play told the part about the Drill Zuko realized which events were about to come next. He knew that if the play inevitably ruined those memories there would be no stopping him from killing the playwright.
Instead Zuko stood up from his seat and walked out of the theatre. Saying nothing, Zuko let everyone else assume that he was simply sick of the play. He didn't bother to notice Aang taking his seat next to Katara or Sokka asking him to get a snack from the lobby. Just as Zuko walked out the door the next scene played, which suddenly explained Zuko's behavior.
"Did Jet just die?" Suki asked when the scene was over.
Immediately Katara stood up and walked away, refusing to believe that the events portrayed had even happened. Jet can't be dead Katara thought over and over. As she walked into the lobby, Katara saw Zuko standing in a corner, looking even more grim than usual.
"What really happened?" Katara demanded.
Saying nothing, Zuko reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small glass vial on a string. He placed it on a nearby table for Katara to take. Refusing to look her in the eyes, Zuko simply said "We cremated his body."
Katara's eyes widened when she realized that the glass vial had to contain Jet's ashes, and that he really was gone. She regretted the anger she had for Jet when she last saw him, stuck to that tree by the ice she had bended.
"How did he…" Katara asked, unable to finish the question.
Zuko took a seat next to the table, and Katara sat opposite of him. He started with how he met Jet aboard that ferry to Ba Sing Se, and told her everything that happened between them. Everything Jet did right, and everything Jet did wrong, respecting Jet's final wishes to not sugarcoat his live. The tale lasted throughout the night, and they completely forgot about the play.
Despite being brought to tears by the end, Katara was grateful that Zuko remembered Jet.
A/N: Yes I ripped lines directly from the Beast Wars episode Code of Hero. I've been wanting to do that for quite some time now, but didn't have a story where that would fit. Jet deserved a much more awesome death than what he got in the show, and I hope that I succeeded by channeling my inner Dinobot.