I don't know what to say, but you're looking lovely ~
Lethargic amber eyes open to a dark, lavish room filled and decorated with various shades of crimson as well as gold accents, this room is located within the Fire Nation Palace, his room. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, the young Prince looks about the room, nothing really changed. Running his small, boyish hands over the red silken sheets, he allows a frown to set itself upon his lips, marring his soft features – Jet, the Freedom Fighters, those men he'd murdered, had it all been a dream?
Compelled to exit the safety of his room, Zuko drags himself out of bed and pads his way towards the door leading out into the corridor, opening the door, set out before him is a long, dark hallway that seemingly goes on forever. Nibbling on his lower lip, he takes a hesitant step out into the hall, then two, then three, more until he's a good foot away from his room, said sanctuary disappearing unbeknownst to him. Walking down the Fire Nation Palace's corridor, Zuko finds that it is as endless as it had seemed from the start of his journey, with each step that he takes, the corridor behind him would darken, it's red wallpaper fading and ripping, rubble littering the hall, dust caking the surfaces, and polished wood losing it's shine.
"Zuko ~ ."
That voice, Uncle Iroh ~ !
Picking up the pace, Zuko begins jogging in hopes he'd reach his Uncle, everything is silent and the Prince realizes that he's getting nowhere fast, his footsteps merely echoing within the darkened hall.
"Zuko!"
Stopping immediately, Zuko feels a cold wave of fear wash over him, his body tenses, he knows he shouldn't look, but he's still compelled to obey his father. Looking over his shoulder, he spies both his father and sister standing there, a dangerous aura radiating from the both of them, Zuko's eyes flicker beyond them and finally notices the corridor's poor state – his body instantly freezes when he feels the imminent threat looming within the air.
"Prince Zuko!"
Looking back down the other corridor he'd originally been walking down, Zuko sees his Uncle standing with his hands in sleeves, a warm smile on his face, there's a comfort to be found with the man, without meaning to, he takes a step towards his Uncle when he hears his father's unforgiving, snide voice thundering loud within his ears and echoing throughout the hall:
"You killed your own people, you are worse than a disgrace, you are a traitor."
"I – no!" Zuko shakes his head vigorously, turning to face his father, "It was in self defense - !"
His father's face twists in disgust, "Who told you that? The orphan child?! They were after him you fool!"
"I - ," Zuko falters, looking to the floor helplessly as he tries to recall the muddle memories.
"My Brother is right, Prince Zuko," Iroh speaks, Zuko pauses, knowing his Uncle would never say something like that when it came to a child's safety, "They were after him, you could have come home."
"But he – they – Jet's just a kid."
"Oh poor, naïve Zuzu ~ it doesn't matter." Azula finally speaks, voicing her own opinion on the matter, "He kidnapped you, a member of the Royal Family, he should be burned alive for his crimes."
"No Azula!" Zuko snaps, "I – he doesn't, no one deserves to die that young! It isn't fair!"
Azula mocks, "Life isn't fair Brother, I thought you of all people would have understood that."
Iroh interrupts their bickering, soothing the young Prince, "Come with me Zuko, we will resume your training."
"No." his father counters, "Come with us, I will send you on a task to regain your honor, your place at my side."
The voices of all three begin speaking simultaneously, their voices blurring, twisting, and contradicting one another, helpless, Zuko covers his ears and kneels on the ground, shutting his eyes and attempting to shut out their voices, he wishes for everything to stop – he wanted to go with his Uncle, Iroh being the one who cared for him, who treated him like an actual son, but his father is his father, his parent, he wants the man to be proud of him, of what he will become. And Azula – Azula always lies, always made his life harder than was necessary, she was, and still is, their father's favorite child.
"Hey Brat."
Opening his eyes, Zuko blinks in surprise when he finds a hand being held out for him, trailing his eyes up the arm, he finds that he's looking into mischievous eyes. Jet. There stood Jet of all people within a third corridor, one that hadn't been there moments before. The tanned boy was wearing a cocksure grin, one that promises that everything would be okay, one that promises safety.
"C'mon Zuko, we could use someone like you on our side."
Blinking, Zuko looks back to Jet's outstretched hand, biting his bottom lip, the young Prince is about to take the boy's offered hand when he hears his father's outraged scream, the entire area begins shaking violently, things fall from the ceiling and the walls, the world around him begins crumbling, making Zuko recoil from Jet's hand – the strong smell of burning flesh reaches his nose, when he looks around, he sees dozens, hundreds, thousands of burnt bodies littering the grounds, all Fire Nation soldiers, civilians. A hand flies to Zuko's nose and mouth to keep the wretched smell from filling his lungs, but the damage is done and the firebender feels sick regardless.
"Is this what you want?" his father snarls, "The death and murder of your own people!?"
"What – no, that's not what I want!"
"Then why are you turning your back on us, your family, your Nation, for that homeless boy!?"
"I - ,"
"Traitor!"
"Criminal!"
"Murderer!"
Ahh - !
Thump.
"Shut up!"
Shaking his head from side to side, Zuko glares in the direction the pillow had come from before sighing, sitting up, the raven-haired boy runs his hand through his hair, it was no doubt messy, he'd have to fix that tomorrow morning when he got the chance, if he could. For now, Zuko had a different set of issues at the moment, such as the racing of his heart or the insane need to see Jet for some odd reason, whatever the reason, it was strong. Sliding out from his cot, the boy tries to stay as quiet as he can, making his way towards the Freedom Fighter leader's hut, making sure not to slip – something catches Jet's attention, opening his eyes, he tunes in on the soft padding, it wasn't one of his, they knew how to be silent. Running his hands over the cot's surface, Jet grabs a hold of one of the shuang-gou's handle and prepares himself for a possible attack. The sound draws nearer and nearer, getting louder and clearer until he can practically feel the person's presence at his bedside, he waits with bated breath, until a hand smaller than an adult's touches his shoulder, followed by a soft voice too light to be adult.
"Jet?"
Zuko.
Relaxing slightly, Jet turns on his side to peer up at the younger boy, "Zuko? What are you doing here?"
"I – can I sleep with you tonight?"
Jet arches a brow, sitting up in the process, "Why?"
"I – had a nightmare." Zuko admits sheepishly, Jet can't help but laugh, "It isn't funny!"
"Okay, okay ~ ." Jet chuckles, he scoots closer to the edge, "Here, you can sleep next to the wall, just don't kick me off in your sleep, okay?"
The cot creaks as Zuko awkwardly climbs over Jet and slips underneath the thin sheet, Jet only watches as the pale boy curls up underneath the worn sheet, head buried in the straw pillow, the tanned boy snickers, earning a hit from Zuko, of course this makes Jet stifle another laugh. Once the two settle down, accommodating one another's presence, they simply lay in silence.
"Thank you." Zuko murmurs shyly, "I don't move much, so I won't kick you at anytime."
"No problem kid, you're actually not the first or the only one who's asked to stay with me, a lot of my Freedom Fighters have nightmares, it's a pretty regular thing after all they've been through."
"I – I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
"It's my father's fault that all of this is happening, that you're all having nightmares."
"Pf-ft. Yeah it is!" Jet feels Zuko flinch, he internally cringes at his brash response, "But, you're not your dad, you don't need to apologize to me or anyone else for something he did. Especially after you saved m y ass earlier today, yesterday? You're nothing like him, okay?"
Silence.
"Goodnight, Jet."
"G'night, Zuko."
oOo
Waking that morning, Jet feels something trapping him in place, looking over, he sees Zuko sleeping peacefully tucked up against his side, head bent at an awkward angle and an arm thrown over his stomach, his fingers clutching onto his shirt – it's odd to say the least, having the Prince of the Fire Nation curled up against him like some tiger-dillo cub, not to mention clinging to him. Licking his dry lips, he concentrates on getting free without waking the firebender, using a stray leaf that had fallen, he swipes it against the Prince's jaw line, the scratchy feel forcing the other to swipe at it, free, Jet slips out of bed and turns to look at the younger boy, Zuko reaches out and grabs a hold of the sheet, he pulls it close, wrapping his hand and fingers in it. Jet grins, trying his best not to laugh, who would've thought the firebender was a cuddler. Exiting the hut, Jet is greeted by the warmth of the morning sun shining through the treetops, full on grinning, Jet stretches out his stiff muscles, he feels refreshed and ready to take on the day.
"Jet!" Smellerbee shouts, her and the other Freedom Fighters running towards him.
Jet blinks, "What's wrong?"
"We – he escaped! He's not in his bed!"
"Oh, is that all ~ ?" Jet grins, waving off their alarm, "The kid had a nightmare so I let him stay with me."
"And he didn't try to kill you?" a Freedom Fighter exclaims aghast.
"Yup." Jet pats the boy on the shoulder as he passes by, "He's actually pretty tame for an Ash-Maker."
"Is – is he going to be staying with us?" a mousy boy named Shin questions shyly, no secret Jet intimidated the boy.
"That my friends is what I want to talk to all of you about," Jet begins, a swagger in his step, "Zuko will be staying with us from now on, I asked him if he wanted to join the Freedom Fighters and he agreed, we could really use someone like him, not only is he a firebender, but he's also the Prince of the Fire Nation, we'll get the drop on those bastards like nobody's business ~ ."
"Really?" Lang jeers, glaring Jet down, it was also no secret that there was no love between the two, although they did get along from time to time, or more like see eye-to-eye, "We don't need some pathetic Ash-Maker on our side, we can handle ourselves. Does he even know anything important?"
"Look, he saved my life. Killed his own people, even at the cost of going home, and considering that his home is a fucking palace, I think we can trust him."
"Let me get this straight, he saves your sorry ass once and suddenly you two are the best of friends?" Lang crosses his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing, "In case you didn't know, Jet, trust is hard to come by for the Fire Nation, if anything, I say we kill him and be done with it."
"Listen, I know you're going to have a hard time trusting him, especially after what happened to you, but - ,"
"Don't ever bring it up again." Lang snarls defensively, he's definitely angry now.
Jet holds his hands up, "I'm sorry, but, if I can trust him, so can you."
Lang's jaw tightens, a pensive look on his face, Jet thinks he's gotten through to him until the other boy shakes his head, "No! You know what; I think you've gone soft!"
"Soft?" Jet mimes before growling and stepping into the other's personal space, "Like hell! We all know the reason he was on that carriage! He was being bartered like livestock! His own family put him there!"
"You can't tell me he couldn't have just agreed - ."
"What kid wants to be married off to someone they've never met!? Let alone someone older than them!?"
This manages to remove some of Lang's anger; it's just what he needs to hear, "Fine." he levels a stern look at Jet, "Let's just say you're right. We'll just have to put him to the test: we got a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers shaking down a small village nearby, let's see what your pet Ash-Maker can do."
"Alright."
With that, everyone disperses, both Smellerbee and Longshot sharing a look with him that tells the eleven year old they'll trust the boy if Jet did, nodding, Jet turns back to the hut when he spots Zuko standing bashfully a few feet away, he looks a little embarrassed and perhaps a bit ashamed, he'd been listening in on their conversation.
"Zuko?"
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, you got nothing to apologize for." Jet smiles, the way the boy had apologized makes Jet wonder why the Prince was so anxious, but he chalked it up to aristocrat upbringings. "C'mon, let's get you ready for what's to come."
oOo
"I don't like that firebender." Lang growls, he's watching Jet and Zuko from a distance, Jet's measuring Zuko's abilities.
"W – well, Jet s –seems to trust him." Shin stammers sheepishly.
"Oh please," Lang rolls his eyes, "Jet's a moron. The kid probably batted his pretty eyes and gave him the wide-eyed innocent act, we all know Jet's got a soft spot for protecting those weaker than him."
"Wh – what are you saying?"
"What does it sound like I'm saying?" Zuko's frustrated shout captures both Freedom Fighters' attention, "All we have to do is wait, you'll see what I mean."
"I can't do it."
"C'mon Pony-Tail," Jet grins, Zuko shoots him a confused and annoyed look, "Listen, I've been trying to come up with a nickname for you since you're going to be a part of this gang, but apparently Pony-Tail is off the list. Anyway, practice makes perfect, so let's start over again."
"Azula never had to practice." Zuko grumbles under his breath.
"I don't care who Azula is, they're not you. Now c'mon, get up."
Still pouting, Zuko looks up at Jet who holds his hand out for Zuko to take, reluctantly, the ex-Prince grabs a hold of the other boy's calloused hand and is lifted to his own two feet.
"Jet!" Smellerbee calls out, capturing both boys' attention, "We're ready to go."
"Alright," Jet nods, he turns to Zuko with an encouraging grin, "Let's see what you got Fire-Bird."
Zuko scowls, but mutters out an nearly indecipherable, "Okay."
Bother Smellerbee and Jet watch Zuko walk past them, once the boy is out of sight and hearing range, the girl looks to Jet with an almost cautious expression:
"Do you really think he can do this?"
"I don't know, Bee." Jet sighs, he reaches up and toys with the stem of the wheat he'd been chewing on, "But whatever happens, I won't let Lang have his way."
I'm not very good with OCs D:
