They could hear their mother crying from the other side of their cabin, the house in the woods that had long been considered "home" even before they were born.

She sounded like a lost little moose-lion cub shivering in the cold of those woods. It always happened when Jet looked at her a certain way. The way that proclaimed this was meant to be: the subtle, almost transparent mist… finding home in the charismatic dark woods… and the two of them feeling a little less lonely together.

The worst part was that this came in episodes, usually in the late evenings, when the overwhelming reality of her place in these trees would envelope her with happiness, sadness, and perhaps frustration that she wasn't raised for this kind of life.

Mai – for all she had kept hidden from the world for a long time – could never hide this from him.

Perhaps Jet hadn't considered the clarity of sonic waves that came from a house made of redwood, but nevertheless, he was ready to face the boys. It was a dad's instinct, anyway, that made Jet take the beautiful-but-torn young woman into his tight arms, silently telling her 'I'll be back shortly' in order to head to the boy's room.

As much as it pained him, seeing the fresh tears streaming the mascara down her cheeks like the torn geisha she would never claim to be… Jet couldn't help but love her more this way. Seeing her pull through emotionally with things he had yet to understand. Things she couldn't yet put into words… but at the same time, knowing that she wanted to tell him.

Ten years had passed since Praying Mantis. He had seen her climb trees with her bare hands, watching the once-delicate fingers endure blisters and callouses that would remain there forever. He had been there to witness her courageous heart say to her frigid-looking parents just exactly how she felt about this boy, despite how he didn't come from money. He had taught her how to tame a wild ostrich-horse in the forest, watching her slowly learn to saddle the animal and ride it with a terrified smile on her face… eventually forgetting about those fancy carriages she was entitled to.

He remembered that beautiful glimmer of her eyes, lying naked with her one summer evening in the woods... their clothes spread out under them like a blanket… when she told him she wanted to start a family with him.

Looking back, Jet could only muse how he hadn't even proposed marriage to her at that point, and yet it didn't matter. In her mind, Mai said, that was what they had been experiencing all along… and she didn't care much for jewelry or fancy ceremonies, anyway.

Mai had never cried for anyone else, not even for the young Fire Lord Zuko, as she had once told Jet through another one of these episodes. Jet remembered that, too, and it had lightened his spirit – not the fact that he had won her over, but the mere fact she had chosen to open up to him. And these moments of her tears, however precious they were in Jet's eyes, were made to be a huge responsibility.

One that he was no longer solely entitled to, as he made his way to the boys' room in the quiet night.

"Tek. Ling. You kids okay?" was Jet's slight whisper of an entrance after a knock on their door.

In the faint, flickering light of their fire-fly lamp, Tek and Ling may have been indistinguishable, save for the fact that Ling still had his Earth Scout helmet on, pretending to be the underground spy he always boasted about during the dinner table. Ling's eyes, however, glimmered with that childish fear of uncertainty, and Jet noticed he had crept out of his top bunk to wearily listen in on the wall with his older brother.

Tek had inherited his mother's judgmental look, how he wore that sense of fearlessness, but actually hesitated on the inside. His ear was slowly coming away from the wall as Jet approached the two of them in that fatherly warmth.

"W—what happened to Mom?" came Tek's voice, not exactly that of a child's, but quivering so.

"Is she crying because I didn't eat my cabbage?" Ling's little voice squeaked in without an introduction, and Jet sat himself on the bottom bunk, taking the younger boy closer to his frame.

"Guys, listen, this is not something you did," Jet hugged Ling tightly with one arm as he playfully shook Tek's shaggy mop of brown hair.

"But I yelled at her!" Tek shook his dad's playful hand off, almost ready to shed tears himself. "I… she wanted me to clean my room, but I said I wanted to play at Jion's house… and she said not until I clean… and I…said I don't want to!"

"Tek," Jet cuddled with Ling in his arms as he looked at his firstborn in the eye, "I know you give your mother a hard time, sometimes, but this has nothing to do with you. Okay?"

Ling had already lost interest in the serious tone Jet's voice, letting his little hands wander and make shadows along the wall from lamplight. Jet kissed Ling's head for attention, and the little boy scrunched his face in disgust as he looked back up at his father.

"Guys, your mother loves you," Jet began to say in the crispness of words. "There is nothing in this world that you could say or do to make her cry… except when she's proud of you."

A small laugh came from Tek, and Jet felt much better about that.

"You just need to understand something," Jet kept his eyes on the older boy, "your mother didn't grow up the same way you boys did."

"She never talks about it," Tek noted out loud.

"You're right," Jet responded, "but for a good reason."

"But why?" Ling's squeaky voice jumped in again, looking over at the firelight lamp. Even as his childish attention seemed to wander elsewhere, it amazed Jet how this little one stayed just as in tune with the conversation.

Slowly, Jet let his voice get quieter and more serious.

"Your mother… wasn't allowed to feel anything."

It hurt Jet somewhere in the pit of his stomach just to say that, but he continued.

"Can you imagine what that would be like as a kid? Not being able to get angry at anybody, or cry… or even laugh?"

"She couldn't laugh?" Ling blurted out almost skeptically. "But that's hor-rible!"

"I know," Jet said in reply, searching for Tek's guilt-ridden eyes before he spoke again. "And all those feelings were bottled up inside your mother for a long time. There comes a point where you can't keep it in any longer, and all those feelings just… explode."

"Mom's gonna explode!" the little boy's eyes suddenly popped open, terrified. Tek scoffed at him.

Jet snickered a bit from Ling's question, "No, kiddo. It means that Mom just gets very emotional sometimes, and she starts to cry. But it's not your fault. It's just what happens."

Tek nodded sadly, looking over at the dimly-lit wall as he enveloped those thoughts about his sobbing mother. The sounds had faded by that moment, but nevertheless, Jet narrowed his eyes a bit toward the boy… and decided to add something else.

"Listen, guys. Now that you know this, I need you two to promise me something."

Ling seemed curious once again, trying to break out of his father's hug to look him face-to-face.

"Tek?"

There was a heavy glimmer in the boy's eyes that reminded Jet why these next few words would be important, at least, should the unthinkable occur.

"I want you to promise me that you will do things to make your mother laugh. Okay? You've seen her smile – it's beautiful – so we need to keep that alive and strong for as long as we can help it."

Ling chuckled in his excited squeak. "I'll do it! I'll make her laugh!"

Jet grabbed him tightly again as a thank you, and he glanced over at the other boy, his heart beaming as he noticed his son smile and nod bravely.

"Wonderful," Jet then pulled Ling playfully from the bottom bunk and carried him. "Now that that's settled… Time. For. Bed!"

The earth-dweller boosted Ling into his proper top bunk, laughing the whole time, and Tek managed to tuck himself in his bedcovers. As Jet opened their window to set the fire-flies free from the night lamp, Tek's voice came up.

"Dad?"

It was funny, how that simple word could make a man wince and bring a secret smile on his face.

Jet looked over at his older boy. "What's up."

"Could you tell Mom I'm sorry I yelled at her?" was what Tek seemed to weave around mountains to say. "I didn't mean to."

He didn't, as Jet could see in his face. "Oh I know," he chuckled and went over to kiss Tek goodnight on the forehead. As he stood up to do the same for Ling, the little boy's face scrunched up again playfully and Jet managed to kiss his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, kiddos."

And Jet closed the door, letting that sense of accomplishment wash over him as he walked back to tend to his wife. She may have fallen asleep by then, but when he got to the bedroom, it didn't surprise him that she was still sitting up in the covers, the bedside candle playing against her skin beautifully as she waited for him to return.

Her face was free from tears, but her eyes were splotched and inevitably puffy.

His smile came first as he got back into bed with her, then came the kiss on the cheek. Mai smiled.

"You told them about it, didn't you," her raspy voice asked.

Jet nodded. "I figured they should know so they can take care of you in case… oh… something should happen to me."

"Look who's being the pessimist, all of a sudden," Mai brought in her sarcasm, but with an edge of delight. Jet couldn't help but hold her right then and there.

"I'm just preparing myself for the worst case scenario, Sharpy," the man muzzled his voice into the fabric of her nightgown, at the shoulder. Mai laughed, letting one of her hands put out the candle before pulling the blankets and hide with him under the covers.

"He said he was sorry, too," Jet added, cuddling her at the waist.

"Tek?" her voice jumped raspy in disbelief.

"Yep," he pulled some hair out of her face. "I almost thought I was hearing things."

"Ugh, that boy," Mai grunted slightly, "I swear, he's going to make me snap one day."

Jet laughed, kissing her forehead. "He gets it from those stupid kids; he'll be alright."

Mai looked over at him, trying to see Jet's face in spite of the darkness. She could almost see him smile, she thought, and her eyes then fixed themselves to his.

He could feel her wanting to say something.

"You okay, Sharpy?"

"I'm glad you told them," she said as they embraced each other like playmates. "Maybe it will help me get better, since… I can't just rely on you, you know?"

Jet was beginning to caress her face, "I didn't think I meant so much to you."

"Shut up," Mai smiled, kissing his nose and his cheeks before finally settling to his lips. His mouth.

A/N - Okay, I'll admit it, I have a problem. MaiJet is totally off of being canon at this point, but I don't care, because the idea of this relationship is just too good for words in my eyes. I thought writing something post-Avatar High between them would be interesting, especially since Mai would probably be the one struggling emotionally with it. I might do more chapters, not sure yet.