Chapter 4

A few days after Jet's accident, he was up and moving again, despite my hesitancy. I didn't want him to reinjure his wound, and even though Janya told me that she thought Jet was ready, I was very unwilling to believe that. However, I did go along with Janya and Jet, who insisted he was ready to be out and about. I just stayed on Jet for most of the time and watched him.

"How's your shoulder?" I asked Jet as we walked towards his room.

"Its fine, Katomi. No pain at all," Jet replied easily, though I could hear a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"You would tell me if it hurt, right?"

He stopped and turned to face me. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Katomi, stop worrying about me. I am fine. My shoulders healing and it rarely hurts now. If it was still hurting, I would tell you and I would still be in bed. But I am fine, and I want you to stop worrying. It's not healthy, ok?"

I nodded my head, "Ok, I'll stop worrying about your shoulder."

"Thank you," he replied, slinging his good arm around my shoulders and resumed walking towards his room.

We walked into his room, and I sat down on the tree stump in the middle of the room, while he sat down in his hammock. "What's the plan for the next raid?"

"I'm not sure yet," Jet replied. "I had Smellerbee and Longshot go out and survey if there are any new Fire Nation camps out there."

I nodded. "Well, don't go raid anything until Janya tells you that you can! I don't want you to reinjure your shoulder."

"I know Katomi; I'm going to be fine."

"I know you are," I replied, smiling at him, to show that I wasn't going to start lecturing him again. "I hope they find a camp soon though."

"Me too," Jet sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"I would really like to rid this entire forest of the Fire Nation and save Gaipan from them, once and for all. We would be saving so many people, Katomi. Innocent people shouldn't die at the hands of ruthless firebenders. The Fire Nation isn't going to stop until they conquer everything. But we won't let that happen, right?" Jet looked at me.

"Right," I agreed, meeting Jets eyes. "We're going to stop them."

"We are," Jet nodded. "One day, parents will know what it's like to have their children taken from them, and children will know what it's like to lose their parents. They will know what we feel every day. What we've felt since our parents were taken from us."

I haven't seen Jet this worked up in weeks. I think his shoulder wound is making him become stir-crazy, since he hasn't left the tree house since it happened. He hasn't had a way to get his aggression out. Jet has always been passionate about his hatred for the Fire Nation, but I've noticed over the past few weeks he's been a lot…saner. He hasn't ranted about the Fire Nation like this in a while, and it scares me when he gets like this. He lashes out to people, even when they want to help him.

"Katomi are you listening?" Jet demanded, looking at me. I realized that he had kept on talking while I was thinking.

"Ye—yeah," I replied, fake smiling.

"Are you ok?" Jet asked, suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "…I just haven't seen you like this in a while."

"Like what?" He demanded, looking angry.

"So…angry," I answered.

"Of course I'm angry Katomi. Those Fire Nation pigs took our parents from us. Aren't you angry?"

"Of course I'm angry, Jet," I replied, standing up and walking over to him. I placed my hand on his good shoulder. "But it's not good to be this angry, Jet. Some day you have to leave this anger behind."

"I'm never going to let go of my anger, Katomi. You should know that by now," Jet said, his eyes showing the hurt that I know he feels every day; the same hurt that I feel. "I'm going for a walk."

Jet walked out of the room and I sighed and sat down on his hammock and put my head in my hands. I hate making Jet angry, but I wish he wouldn't be like this. That anger is going to get him into trouble one day, and I worry about that happening. I don't think I could live without Jet being by my side, which could be problematic. Jet can be so incredibly loyal, but he can also turn on you with little warning. I've seen it happen to people in the past.

A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw Hideko standing there. She was a young girl, about eleven, who was separated from her parents and found us a few months ago. She had the most beautiful black hair and the bluest eyes.

"Hey sweetie," I said. "What's up?"

"Why are you in Jet's room?" She asked, stepping gingerly inside.

"I was just talking to him," I replied.

"Why'd he storm out looking angry then?"

I sighed. Hideko was always more observant then the average eleven year old typically is, and much more inquisitive. "We just had a small argument, that's all. Did you need him?"

"No, I just wanted to see you," she said, smiling.

"In that case, let's go back to my room," I replied, standing up, and taking her hand. "It smells like boy in here anyways."

Hideko giggled as we walked out of Jet's room and towards my own. We walked in and we sat on my bed.

"Will you do my hair?"

"Sure!" I exclaimed, and Hideko sat down in front of me on the bed, and I started to braid her hair into two braids and fastened the bottom with two pieces of string. When I finished, she smiled at me.

"Thank you so much, Katomi! You're like a big sister I never had," She told me.

I smiled back at her. "Thank you, sweetie. You're just like a little sister to me, too."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," I told her, lying down across my bed.

"Are you in love with Jet?"

"Wh—what are you talking about?"

"I've seen the two of you together. It reminds me of how my mom and dad acted when I was still with them."

"It's…complicated," I finally said after a few moments. "We've been friends for as long as I can remember."

"Well I think he likes you," Hideko expressed.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said.

The next morning, Jet woke me up early. He looked tired, and like he hadn't slept all night. I sat up and saw that it was still dark outside. Jet's eyes were bloodshot and puffy from lack of sleep.

"What's going on?" I asked, quietly.

"I'm sorry for blowing up earlier," Jet said. "I was just…frustrated, I guess."

"Its fine Jet," I smiled at him. "I don't blame you."

"Do you really think I'm too angry?"

"No, I don't," I answered after a few minutes. "I think you're the passionate boy that I've always known. You care for people who are exploited or loyal to you. I think that you're Jet, the boy that I grew up with and I can't imagine my life without you."

Jet wrapped his arms around me, and we lied down on my bed. Jet stayed quiet for a while, and I realized that he fell asleep. I closed my eyes and focused on Jet's rhythmic breathing. I quickly fell asleep too.

About a week later, Janya gave Jet the go ahead to raid camps again. Smellerbee and Longshot had found a camp to raid, and they planned on going very early like usual to stake it out and wait for an opportune moment. I was going to stay behind, because I didn't trust myself to not freak out every time Jet did something. Jet had offered to let me go, which I appreciated, but I was glad to stay at the camp and help Jun out with cooking.

The day went by quickly, and soon the others had returned. They got home a lot earlier than usual, so I went to meet them. I was standing on the platform, watching as Jet surfaced with a…girl on his arm? Who is that? And why is she with Jet? The girl had brown hair in a braid and was wearing Water Nation clothes. I noticed two other guys I didn't recognize, one was bald and the other had Water Nation clothes and a ponytail.

I watched as Jet made his way, slowly across the bridge, stopping to talk to the girl on the way. My eyes narrowed, as I watched them. They were talking quietly and looking at the ground so I couldn't make out what they were saying. The others walked past me, and looked at me as they passed.

When Jet and that…girl made their way across the bridge, Jet looked at me. "Hey Katomi, this is Katara."

"It's nice to meet you!" the girl…Katara said.

"You too," I replied. "I need to go to the kitchen to help finish cooking."

"Katara, why don't you go with Katomi?" Jet suggested. "I have stuff I need to do, but I'm sure you guys could use an extra hand, right?" He asked me.

"Yeah," I said grudgingly. "We could always use extra help."

Katara followed me to the kitchen. Jun was cutting up vegetables and when she saw me and Katara walk in, she looked up. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw Katara, and she looked confused.

"Jun, this is Katara," I told her.

"Hello!" Jun said sounding friendly.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Katara smiled. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"You too," She said. "Are you from the Water Nation?"

"Yes, me and my brother, Sokka. He's somewhere around here, with our friend, Aang."

Jun nodded. "Are you here to help?"

"Jet suggested that I help, so here I am!" She said, smiling.

"That's great, we can always use more help. Could you go look at the meat on the fire and turn it until it looks ready?"

"Sure," she said, and went to do that.

Dinner was finished earlier than usual, thanks to Katara. I could tell that I didn't like her already, but I don't exactly know why. We made our way out to the table and people got their food and sat down. Jet was going to give a speech during dinner tonight. It was dark out, so we lit all the lanterns we had hung up for light. I sat down at my usual spot next to Jet at the head of the table. Smellerbee sat diagonal from me and Sokka, Katara, and Aang sat diagonal from Jet.

When Jet finished eating, he stood up on the table as he frequently does. "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Everyone cheered "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when the duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild Hog-Monkey." The duke got up and did a lap to the cheering of everyone else. Jet continued speaking. "Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right." People started booing. "Or maybe," Jet paused slightly for effect. "They're dead wrong." The Freedom Fighters started cheering again.

Jet's speech was finished, and he went and sat in between Sokka and Katara instead of sitting back down next to me. I felt shocked and hurt.

"Hey Jet," Katara's annoying voice said. "Nice speech."

"Thanks," Jet replied. "By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today."

"Well he's great. He's the Avatar," Katara answered. I felt annoyed by her stupid modesty. "I could use some more training." She freaking blushed.

"Avatar, huh? Very nice," Jet told them.

"Thanks, Jet!" Aang exclaimed.

"So, I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle," Jet told them. Interesting…do go on, Jet.

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight," Sokka said, standing up and starting to walk away.

"Sokka, you're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow," Jet told him.

Sokka stopped. "What mission?" He asked, turning around.

"It's a stake out mission. I think that the Fire Nation is going to send some spies in the woods tomorrow; I need your help to catch them in the act. Will you help me?"

"Fine, we'll stay. But just one more day."

"Excellent," Jet said, smiling. He got up and came back over to me. "So, Katomi, I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" I asked him, looking at him.

"Convince Sokka to stay for a while," Jet told me.

"What? How?"

"You're a girl, figure it out," He said. "I think Katara and Aang may be very…useful to me in my plan to rid Gaipan of the Fire Nation," Jet told me quietly so nobody overheard me.

"You want me to seduce Sokka? Really?"

"Not seduce him, befriend him," Jet replied, quickly. He looked like he didn't like the idea of me seducing someone.

"I'll get on it tomorrow," I told him.

"And remember, I just want you to befriend him, nothing else."

I nodded. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Good, I knew I could count on you," he said, leaning in and kissing my cheek. "I can always count on you."

"Yes, you can," I said, smiling at him. I could feel eyes on us, and saw Katara watching us. Jet looked over at her, and smiled at her. My eyes narrowed and I didn't like it. "I'm gonna go talk to Jun, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, looking distracted. He got up and went back over by Katara, who was now alone.

I walked over to Jun and we walked to my room to talk. I sat down on the bed and Jun did the same.

"I don't like Katara."

"Why not?" Jun asked. "She seems really nice."

"I don't know…" I replied. "Something about her makes me so angry, Jun."

"Could it be that Jet's paying attention to her?"

"What? Of course not," I said quickly. "Well…maybe."

"Let's face it, Katomi. You like Jet."

"He's my best friend," I answered.

"Katomi, you like the boy. There's no denying it. I swear everybody knows but you two."

"Jun…you're right. I like Jet."

AN: Thank you guys for the amazing reviews! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I hope you all like this chapter. I'm sure you recognize some of the dialogue from the episode 'Jet'. I obviously don't own that. And I know that there is a lot of Katara bashing in this chapter, and I do not feel that way about her. It's just Katomi's jealousy talking. If anybody has any ideas or things they would like to see, definitely let me know and I'll try to include it in the story. Katomi has finally realized that she likes Jet…big shocker, right?