Author's Note: I didn't quite expect to cry so much while writing this chapter. But these stupid boys sure know how to pull it out of me. Reviews are much appreciated.
The group stayed at the Western Air Temple for a long time, Jet trying to adjust to all the changes around him. It was hard for him, learning to love Zuko, after being so angry with him, but he tried, just like he promised.
Sometimes, he woke up and wanted to spend all day with Zuko, to lie on the beach with him and listen to stories about his childhood. It made it so much easier to accept Zuko when he talked about his mom, or his uncle. But once his father or sister came into the story, Jet would tense up and they'd separate for a few hours.
Jet liked telling Zuko stories from his past too, although most of them were about the Freedom Fighters. He told them the funny stories, like the times Smellerbee was sparring with Longshot on a branch and they both tumbled into one of their bait nets.
Other mornings, Jet woke up and watched Zuko and Aang train, and it was really hard to think of Zuko as a good person when he had to watch fire burn from his fists. It made Jet even angrier at himself that he couldn't grow up and get over the fact that he wanted to love a firebender.
And the best mornings, Jet woke up pressed to Zuko, the sheets tangled at their feet, naked bodies still stuck together with the sweat of the previous night. Those were Jet's favorite mornings. Because they didn't need to speak, didn't need to be Jet or Zuko, Earth or Fire, just two people, kissing and connecting. If every morning could be like that, Jet wouldn't have a problem falling back in love with Zuko.
Jet spent a lot of time with The Duke to get his mind off things. It had been a little over six months since he saw him, but he still lived in the forest with the other Freedom Fighters. It was easy to be with The Duke, it was easy for him to pretend that things were okay.
Zuko helped Jet get back in fighting shape by sparring with him every morning. The kids suspected something was going on with them, but the two never confirmed or denied it. Zuko didn't ask too much of Jet and Jet did the same for Zuko. They both tried to be themselves, and tried to love each other again.
When Zuko's sister attacked the Air Temple, Jet wanted to be the one to kill her, but Zuko pushed him back and ran towards the ship. He jumped and landed on the air ship, Jet running after him.
Sokka caught his arm and pulled him back, "There's no way you can help him, we just need to find a way to get out of here!"
The gang decided to split up and Katara helped Jet on Appa, flying through the ambush. Jet noticed Zuko and Azula fighting on the top of the airship, and panic struck him to the core. There was a big explosion and then both of them flew off the airship, plummeting to the ground.
Jet yelled, no words coming out, just a panicked cry and he all but dove over Appa, until Sokka grabbed him by the arm again. "We have to get him!"
Aang steered Appa towards Zuko, who used his firebending to rocket towards the cliff side, but his arm had never healed quite right, and he couldn't get the best grip. He slammed into the rocks and started tumbling down them, trying to grasp anything he could reach, but he kept falling.
Aang got Appa as close as he could, but it wasn't close enough. Jet acted on impulse, he locked his hook onto the handle in Appa's saddle and jumped. Sokka and Katara put their hands on the sword, keeping it locked in place. Jet slammed his feet into the cliff side and waited, just as Zuko fell to them and slammed into Jet, almost knocking them both down.
Zuko didn't look good. Tumbling against the rocks had cut him up pretty bad and he laid limp in Jet's arm. Jet used his footing to hoist him up towards Sokka, then jumped onto Appa, unhooking his sword. Sokka had lied Zuko down on Appa, and man, he didn't look good. His face and arms were cut up to pieces and his shirt was torn, exposing scraps and bruises on his chest.
Katara pulled her water out and started healing him, starting with the larger wounds first. Jet knelt next to them, running his fingers through Zuko's hair. Zuko groaned in pain as Katara moved to a different wound.
Within the chaos, Jet managed to look after them, to see Azula safely on her airship. She instructed them to turn around and stop following the Avatar. Jet focused back on Zuko, he was looking at Jet.
"Did she make it?" He croaked.
Jet nodded.
"Of course she did," Jet laughed at that, still running his fingers through his hair, smiling at him. Zuko smiled back, his face a little busted up still, Katara's hands healing against his cheek now. There was a feeling in Jet's stomach that he couldn't quite place. It almost felt like... relief. Jet felt happy that Zuko made it, felt this feeling in his chest, like some of the pressure was coming off of it. The feeling made Jet laugh a little.
"You're going to be okay."
Katara was able to heal Zuko most way, just a view bruises on his ribcage and one or two cuts on his face.
He instructed the kids to head towards Ember Island, that he had a house there where everyone could hide out until the comet came. When they landed, Jet helped Zuko down from Appa, and then he noticed the house.
It wasn't as big as Jet expected it to be, for the royal family. Jet made the comment and Zuko shrugged, "My mom was never royal, she liked simple things. The was the one place we could go that we weren't the royal family. No servants, no prince and princess', just our family being a family. We never came back once my mom was gone."
Jet looked at the house again, seeing it completely different. He saw Zuko as a kid with a faceless mother, playing in the sand. He saw the princess as just a baby. Jet had spent his entire life hating these people, hating this nation, and now he was walking the Prince inside his family house. Everything was changing.
When Jet got him inside, Zuko led him to his old room, and told the others there were four more to chose from. Zuko sat down on the bed and sighed, his room was littered with things from his adolences. There was a family photo on the wall, and Jet smiled at it. "Your mom was beautiful."
Zuko smiled, "Yeah. She really was." Jet looked around the room for more stuff and Zuko cleared his throat. "There's only five rooms here, so uh, if you wanna bunk with me, that's, um, alright."
Jet froze up a little, then slowly nodded. "Yeah, that'd be...okay."
After finding nothing, Jet sat down on the bed with Zuko. "You okay? Hurting anywhere?"
"You don't have to baby me, Katara healed me perfectly."
"You took quite the tumble, though," Jet reminded, turning to look at him. There was a scratch below his good eye. He ran his thumb along it, and Zuko didn't even flinch. He must be fine. Zuko had never been a good liar. Even in Ba Sing Se, when he was lying about his entire identity, Zuko couldn't hide how he was feeling.
Jet leaned in and kissed Zuko, slowly piecing their lips together. Zuko didn't kiss Jet first anymore, didn't want to push him over the edge, so he always let Jet make the first move.
They kissed slowly, languidly, Jet's hands tracing patterns on Zuko's forearms.
Zuko's fingers followed a path from Jet's hip to lower back, up his spine, to the back of his neck, playing with the loose hairs, and gently rubbing the small scar Jet had from Azula shooting him. Zuko realized for the first time ever, they could take their time.
They weren't hiding away, weren't rushing to get to somewhere, weren't pressing together in back alleys. They were here, in Zuko's house, in Zuko's room, the kids seemed a million miles away. There was nothing to rush towards. Zuko and Jet had all the time in the world. Everything was slow and tender, and Zuko took it all in, enjoying the fact that he had the time to appreciate every gasp that came from Jet, the texture on his neck being different from his jawline, he had all night to map out the patterns of Jet's skin.
They fell onto the bed together, Jet lying half on Zuko, and just took their time to kiss, explore each corner of their mouths. Jet carefully unclasped the snap on Zuko's collar, trailing his fingers around his collarbones, shoulders, the top of his spine, finding a few scars here and there. Once the shirt was off, Jet sat up, moving to straddle Zuko and just took in the sight.
Zuko, laid out below him, the pale expanse of his chest moving up and down, quicker than usual. His hair was dishelved, from the fight and from Jet's fingers, and pressed into the pillow. His golden eyes were lidded, and he was smiling lazily at Jet.
After a few moments of staring, Zuko slowly reached up and ran his fingers along the hem of Jet's shirt, concentrating on his reaction. Jet seemed to take a deep breath and gave a slight nod. Zuko's hand went under the shirt, feeling the warm hardness of Jet's stomach and chest. His hands rose, little by little, until the shirt came off. Jet's body was littered with scars, much more than Zuko's, and Zuko took the time to trace every one of them with his fingers.
Jet shuddered when he traced a scar on his hipbone, and leaned down to kiss him again, enjoying the reaction from Zuko. Jet was a raw person and he was slipping back into it, biting and Zuko's mouth, grinding against him. Although Zuko loved it, he wanted to take his time. This house, this island, everything felt so much calmer. He wanted to love Jet, not just fuck him.
So Zuko slowly rolled them, until Jet was under him, and he could tell it was a jarring thing. Jet took another deep breath, and then brought Zuko down for another kiss. Zuko rocked against him, but slower than Jet had, baiting him, taking his time, measuring every reaction; how if he cocked his hips a little to the right, Jet gasped, but jerking them up on the grind had Jet gripping the sheats.
"Quit being such a tease!" Jet gasped, and Zuko laughed into his shoulder, kissing all around it, moving up to his neck. He wanted to kiss every inch of Jet, to see what places tasted different than the rest.
"Just be patient. I wanna take my time with this," Zuko whispered against his ear, loving the way Jet shuddered. Jet raked his fingernails down Zuko's back, forgetting that he still had a few cuts there. Zuko didn't comment, just hissed in Jet's ear.
"I'm sorry," Jet whispered, kissing Zuko's mouth once.
Zuko smiled in response and went back to kissing Jet's collarbones, inhaling the scent and savoring the taste. His fingers trailed down Jet's stomach, dipping into the ridges of his muscles, running his hands along his sides.
"You're driving me fucking crazy, just fucking touch me," Jet gasped, rocking his hips upwards, looking for Zuko's hand.
"Can we just, for once, take our time? We're always rushing," Zuko raised his head up, making eye contact with Jet, who's hair was stuck to his sweaty face.
"We can take our time when I'm the one teasing you, just fucking do something, anything."
"Anything?" Zuko whispered, the thought creeping into his mind before he had time to stop it.
Jet heard him, though, and his face went blank. All the eagerness seemed to subside. "Oh, um."
"We don't have to. Nevermind, I'm sorry." Zuko shook his head, then leaned back down to kiss Jet's neck, but Jet stopped him.
"No, I mean... if you want, we can... we can try," Jet whispered, a sense of fear creeping into his body.
Zuko was surprised. "Al- alright. We can, um, let me just-" He leaned back, sitting on his heels and started undoing his pants, keeping in mind that Jet was watching him. Jet seemed frozen for a moment, watching Zuko free himself from his pants. It's not like they've never seen each other naked before, but everything felt really different.
Once Zuko's pants were discarded on the floor, he reached for Jet's, looking up at him and cocking an eyebrow. Jet nodded and lifted his hips, letting Zuko slide his pants out from under him.
They both looked at each, then met eyes. Zuko could see how much this meant to Jet, the fear just poking behind his eyes. Zuko caressed his cheak. "You've never bottomed before?" He whispered.
"I have," Jet's voice was barely audible. He swallowed. "Just never with... never by a firebener."
The realization hit Zuko and he nodded, "Okay. Look, I know this isn't easy for you. If you wanna stop any time at all, just let me know, okay?"
Jet nodded. He wanted to make a snappy comment, something like, I'm not some fucking virgin, just get on with it, but he couldn't find the voice to say it. Because Jet really was terrified. He had bottomed before, yes, many times, actually, this was a firebender, this was supposed to be his enemy. He was letting his enemy take all of him, letting him in places that he never would have guessed. His heart was swelling in his chest. This is Zuko, he kept reminding himself.
He laughed a little, because he was acting like some fourteen year old virgin. And it really shouldn't be this hard for him, they've already fucked. But when Jet was the one doing the fucking, he felt more in control. He'd never let a firebender have such total control of him before. Zuko was perfectly patient while Jet went through these things, just silently stroking his cheek with his thumb, smiling whenever they met eyes. Finally, Jet nodded to himself, and grabbed Zuko's hand. He pulled it to his mouth and took his finger in, sucking on it.
Zuko's teeth clenched and the warmth of Jet's mouth went straight to his dick. He reminded himself to be patient, that this was hard for Jet. He grunted to himself and pulled his finger out of Jet's mouth, rubbing it along his lips. His body clenched up, he was so hard it hurt, but he was gonna be patient. "Just- wait- I-" Zuko stuttered out. He reached over Jet in the dressed that was next to the bed, searching.
When he came back with a little jar of oil, Jet snickered. "Lonely kid, huh?"
Zuko smiled. "I guess."
Concentrating again, Zuko unscrewed the lid and dipped three of his fingers in the jar. He met eyes with Jet, who was biting his lip. There was no arousal problem for Jet, his cock was hard and flushed against his stomach. Jet wanted Zuko to throw any patience out the window and fuck him through the bed, but his mind just wouldn't shut up.
Zuko kissed Jet slowly, and then pulled back, watching his reaction as Zuko slid a finger inside Jet. He tensed out of instinct, then relaxed, one hand gripping Zuko's shoulder, the other twisting in the bed sheets.
Working it in and out, Zuko kept kissing Jet, reminding him that everything was okay. When Jet's breathing went back to normal, Zuko pulled his finger out and slid two back in, the fit a little more tight. Jet nodded at Zuko and he started rocking those ones in and out, keeping the rhythm slow, eyes on Jet's face.
When he added the third, he made sure to curl them, and Jet gasped, hips bucking up. Zuko was losing his mind watching Jet fall apart so slowly under him, because of him.
"Just... just fucking do it," Jet gasped, eyes shutting.
Zuko removed his fingers, dipping them back in the oil and coating his dick. He aligned himself with Jet's entrance, and as he entered, he leaned down to brush the hair from Jet's forehead. "Jet," he whispered, pushing in slowly. "Jet, look at me."
Jet bit his lip, teeth clenching, and he slowly opened his eyes. Zuko was face to face with him, their foreheads almost touching. Zuko fully entered Jet and they both sighed.
"You okay?" Zuko whispered.
Again, Jet wanted to make a comment, tell Zuko to stop worrying and just fuck him already, but his throat was closed. He nodded, grabbing Zuko's shoulder blades. He took a deep breathe, once, and bucked his hips. Zuko got the hint and started rocking his hips forward.
Every time Jet and Zuko were together, it was primal, it was raw, hard, sweating. Even before Jet knew the truth, they always fucked like they hated each other. It was in both their natures to be passionate and rough.
But this time was so much different. Jet was lying back, clutching Zuko like his entire life depended on it, and Zuko rocked into him so, so, slowly. He was pacing himself, moving gently, kissing every inch of Jet's skin that he could reach.
Jet had never been fucked like this. He was gasping and panting, but he could feel so much tenderness coming from Zuko. It was so slow, and Jet thought it should be agonizing, teasing, torturing, but it felt so amazing. No one had ever taken care of Jet before. He didn't try to rock up into Zuko, didn't try to take control. He let Zuko take care of him, trying to forget that he was made of fire.
With a ragged breath, Jet realized that Zuko was making love to him.
Jet's eyes pricked and his whole body filled up with this feeling of tender, and care and just something so different from what he's ever felt. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away from Zuko. He was not going to cry because Zuko was making love to him. No way in hell.
Zuko felt everything come over him, the love and adortion he had for Jet, the feeling of him slowly clenching around him, being able to savor what he felt like, going inch by inch inside of him. His pace started to pick up, and he brought a shakey hand to Jet's cock, stroking it a little faster than his thrusts. His lips stayed on Jet's skin, caressing him.
Jet came with a small cry, just panting against Zuko's ear, little white spurts cascading over his tanned stomach.
Seeing Jet fall apart, coming undone under him, Zuko shuddered and came, thinking better of it only after the act was done, and pulled out of Jet. He didn't think Jet was ready to be that claimed by a firebender.
Zuko lifted his body off of Jet's, holding himself up with his hands. Jet's head was turned into the pillow, his arm was thrown over the side of his face. He was... he was hiding from Zuko.
With a deep breath, Zuko stood up, pulling his pants on. He found a cloth in his old dresser and pulled his out, wiping the come off of Jet's stomach, trailing up to wipe the sweat off his neck, kissing every place after. When Jet looked cleaned enough, he fumbled getting Jet's pants back on, but he didn't want Jet to feel any more vulnerable than he always was.
He sat back on the bed, kneeling over Jet, who hadn't moved an inch, except the shuddering in his chest. Zuko tenderly grabbed Jet's wrist, trying to pull it away from his face. "Jet..." he whispered.
"Never let a firebender see you cry, I drilled that into all my Freedom Fighters," Jet whispered, so low that Zuko wasn't sure if that's what he really said. His chest shuddered again and Zuko realized that he was crying.
Zuko didn't know what to do, so he let Jet's hand cover his face, and lied down next to him, gently stroking his hand. Jet took a couple deep breaths, settled himself down, and finally turned to face Zuko.
There were a few tears sprinkled on his face, but it looked like Jet was trying to fight more. Zuko immediatley wrapped his arms around Jet and pulled him in.
Jet fucking lost it.
He clung to Zuko like he was the only thing keeping him on this Earth, and just sobbed into his chest. Zuko stroked his hair, "I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over. "We shouldn't have done this, I'm so sorry."
"No," Jet choked out. "It's not- I just- I've never had anyone take so much care of me. I've never had someone love me like that before."
Zuko kissed his hair. "I do love you, I do."
"I know," Jet cried, "And I want to love you back so much, but I can't, I don't know how."
"I'm not asking you to. Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere."
That made Jet cry more. No one had ever promised to stay, because no one ever did stay. Despite the Freedom Fighters, despite the friends he's made, ever since his parents died, Jet has been all alone. He had never had anybody, until now. Jet had Zuko, and Zuko wasn't going anywhere. Jet wanted to love him so much. The only person who ever loved him was supposed to be his enemy. Jet just couldn't handle it anymore.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here," Zuko whispered into Jet's hair, over and over, stroking his back.
And he didn't. Zuko held Jet until the crying subsided, he held Jet until his breathing evened out, and he held Jet until they both fell asleep.
