They hadn't seen each other in forever but they hit a rhythm, slotting back into their old habits and jokes with each other like no time had passed. It felt like it was only yesterday when Zuko was up north, squabbling with Sokka, helping Aang as best he could, and loving Katara so much.
Zuko hadn't let go of her hand since the alley. He found himself just looking down at her and smiling softly. It felt like a smile that went all the way inside him. She wasn't mad at him at all. She still wanted him to be her boyfriend. They could pick up where they left off, but without the whole one-of-us-is-a-prisoner-of-war-and-perpetually-worried-about-execution thing, which was a huge plus.
Aang was a little more stilted and formal with him, which struck Zuko as strange at first. But then he remembered that Aang had lost Appa. Sokka said Aang had been pretending to be unemotional since it happened, so it made sense that he'd be a little more abrupt and distant. Zuko knew that getting Appa back would cheer the little guy up immensely. Zuko was so happy that all the bloody work he had been doing had a point (for once). He hadn't been wasting his time.
Toph was a new addition. He had to figure out how friendship was going to work with her. Toph seemed like she'd be the result of what would happen if Smellerbee and Sokka had a baby, and that baby only wanted to smash things and annoy him. The first thing Toph said to him was, "So tell me, who is the better kisser: Sokka or Katara?"
Sokka spluttered at her about life-saving techniques and drowning.
"You kissed Sokka as well!" Jet yelled over the top of Sokka's spluttering from behind them. "You've kissed a brother and sister! At the same time? You big slut!"
Sadly, Jet was still with them. There was no escaping the arsehole. Zuko reacted as he normally did when the bastard spoke. There was some disgruntled wrestling and name calling, which evolved into full on fighting. Sokka tried to intervene, and the fighting devolved into inelegant struggling. Now they were just a messy pile of boys. Toph was laughing her arse off.
"Aww, Jet's just sad because even though Lee is a slut, he's still never going to fuck Jet," she said, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Then she practically curled up with mirth, like she'd just made the most hilarious joke ever.
Zuko did not find this hilarious. Neither did Jet. They stopped fighting immediately to shout at her in unison. For one brief, terrible moment, Zuko found himself in agreement with Jet.
They agreed that Toph was so rude.
Zuko didn't want to live in a world where Jet was right about anything.
They went to the zoo as one big group. The others had already figured out the Dai Li couldn't listen to them there. Zuko had never been to the zoo, because it had been restricted to Upper Ring citizens, but Aang got them all waved through for free.
"Second zoo trip in one day," Smellerbee remarked. "We are so fancy now, Longshot!"
Those two were still here as well. But they were okay. They were much less annoying than Jet at least.
Zuko pulled out the map he'd been working on from his pocket. He'd taken to carrying everything important on him, because you never knew what was going to happen in a day. He'd stolen this one from a headquarters in the 22nd District. It had most of the locations on it. Zuko laid it flat and showed everyone. You could see the whole city on this map.
"What are these lines?" Katara asked, sitting close to him, almost in his lap, but not quite.
They were keeping as much distance as Zuko could stand. It was tricky, because he didn't want to do anything else but just be with Katara. Holding her hand wasn't quite enough because he just wanted more. But everyone else was making it so weird. Everyone was looking at them all the time.
Jet would just stare at them in a way that Zuko found more than a little creepy and lecherous. Mostly because Zuko remembered what Smellerbee had said about Jet's fantasy threesomes. He was probably visualising the three of them spanking each other.
Gross!
Aang would just glare at them and not say anything. He was in such a bad mood, and you could tell it was because he was so worried about Appa. The way Katara had whispered "I'm so glad I have you back" in Zuko's ear when she thought no one was watching had really seemed to rub the salt in for Aang. He probably didn't like seeing them so happy at being reunited when he still hadn't found Appa.
Sokka said things like, "Keep daylight between you two. Don't make me get my water bucket to splash you with!" in a warning tone.
Toph was acting like she had front row tickets to the most dramatic, hilarious and romantic pantomime ever. She was chewing on snacks and kept making comments about how they should give into their urges. Her constant comments were actually killing Zuko's urges ... and his desire to live.
Zuko looked back at the map and the lines Katara was tracing with her fingertips.
"I was trying to figure out a way up to you guys," he explained. "These are all the places where I could jump the walls and the different routes through the city. I couldn't get any higher than the 15th District, though, because it starts to get fancier there. It's less crowded. The buildings are lower and more spaced out and farther away from the dividing walls."
It had made him sad that night when he went around the perimeter of the 15th District and realised how impossible it was. He'd felt like it was the end of the world. He'd be stuck living in the same city as Katara with no way of ever finding her. He'd been trying so hard to get back to her. It had just taken a little longer than he'd expected.
He looked in her eyes, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say and how sorry he was that it had taken so long. Katara explained in a low voice about going into the Lower Rings nearly every day to look for him. She understood. She'd been searching for him too. They held each other's gaze for a long moment. Zuko had forgotten how much he'd like doing this with her. Looking at her so closely meant that he could see all the different shades of blue in her eyes.
"Now kiss!" Toph commanded before she threw popcorn at them.
"Toph! Will you stop throwing snacks and asking us to kiss in front of you!" Katara scolded, as Zuko turned away blushing furiously. "It's weird! And it's making us both feel really uncomfortable!"
"Let's get back to finding Appa," Aang snapped.
He'd been a bit on edge since they'd started really planning this rescue mission. Zuko cut to the chase and pointed out all the different prison locations in the districts.
"Could Appa be up here in one of these?" Sokka asked, pointing at the part of the map that detailed the Upper Rings – the ones Zuko hadn't been able to get to.
"Possible, but unlikely. These are the rich people rings. The Dai Li don't use these locations as prisons as far as I can tell. None of the documents I've pinched mention 're-processing' happening at those places. Also, the Dai Li know about Toph's earthy-whatsy-sensey-power, and I don't think they'd keep him underground anywhere close to where you guys would have gone regularly, because she might have sensed him."
Sokka nodded and looked a little impressed.
"We hit these ones together when we were looking for Jet and Appa, and no dice," Smellerbee said, pointing at the ones they'd crossed off. "Lake Laogai is the last large facility we haven't checked. He's got to be there somewhere."
It kind of annoyed Zuko that she had taken credit for his ideas. He'd told her that the other day! Now she was acting like it was her idea.
"You were looking for me, you big slut?" Jet said, sounding surprised as he stared at Zuko.
"No! I was looking for the bison, assface!"
"We were looking for you, Jet!" Smellerbee said encouragingly. "Lee was helping us."
"No! I was just letting you two tag along because you threatened to follow me everywhere and ruin all my spying if I didn't!"
"We would have ruined your thieving too," Smellerbee reminded him with a wide, friendly smile. "Don't forget about that."
"Aw, you threatened Lee for me?" Jet said happily at Smellerbee. "You were going to stalk him for me? There's my girl."
"Can you guys not bond over threatening me! And don't talk about me like I'm not here!"
"I just gotta ask," Smellerbee said to Jet, completely ignoring Zuko, "how super embarrassed are you feeling right now? Now that it's obvious Lee's not a firebender."
"I'm not going to lie. It's pretty embarrassing. I can't believe I was so obsessed with that big slut now when he can't even climb the city walls in the 15th District. Some ninja there. And his hair is stupid. It's always so messy. You can see he doesn't even give a shit about how it looks, 'cause it always looks like he just rolled out of bed. I don't think I've ever seen him brush it and I've been following him for weeks. I'd need someone with some personal grooming standards." Jet ran a hand through his own overly-styled hair proudly.
"Once again, I am sitting right here!" Zuko protested, though Jet was kinda right. Zuko didn't give a shit about his hair. "Maybe I didn't spend two hours every morning 'artfully dishevelling' my hair because I had other priorities. Priorities like finding Appa and my friends, taking care of my uncle, and not being a wanker."
"You know, I kept telling you that they screen us all for firebending during processing," Smellerbee said, still ignoring Zuko. "Any firebenders caught trying to get into the city would have been crushed to death by the home guard already."
Uncle's Flower Friends had warned them about that and told them how to evade the test, but Jet didn't need to know that.
"Man, I love watching a crushing," Jet stated, before looking Zuko up and down. "I can't believe I wasted all that time on you, you big whore, and you don't even have the decency to be a real firebender and give us a crushing show."
Zuko was going to kill him. Jet was the fucking worst person Zuko had ever met. He was actually worse than Azula, if that was even possible. Screw hitting him with a pineapple. Zuko was going to strangle him with his bare hands! He should do everyone's collective sanity a favour. The world would be a better place, crops would flourish, children would sing their joy.
Suddenly, Zuko felt Katara squeezing his thigh and Sokka's hand on his shoulder.
"Jet, shut the hell up about the Fire Nation, firebenders, and anything fire related!" Sokka cut in firmly. He turned to the rest of the group. "I propose a group-wide ban on Jet mentioning the word fire. If he says it, whoever is closest to him has permission to slap him until he stops being the worst."
While Jet protested, everyone else agreed wholeheartedly. The ban remained in place. Toph gave Jet a very mischievous smile, obviously wanting to be the first who got to slap him. She sidled up close to him and sat down, saying, "Hi friend" with an unnecessary amount of delighted menace. Jet swallowed and scooted away from her.
"Now, we really should get back to the plan," Sokka said, changing the subject. "We should have codenames!"
"No, Sokka," Zuko said shortly. "No. Not again."
"It's a great idea. Calling you Lee is obviously not going to work! There's too many Lees."
"But it's my ... it's my name. Why shouldn't we use my name?" Zuko said, feeling weird for insisting on this when they both knew Lee was not actually his real name.
This situation was absurd. Damnit, if Jet and Smellerbee and Longshot weren't here, they could all just call him Zuko and he wouldn't have to pretend to be someone else anymore.
"Observe." Sokka lifted his head up out of their huddle and shouted, "Oi, Lee!"
At least thirteen people nearby looked up in response.
"Sorry, just checking something!" Sokka shouted at the real Lees. He looked back at Zuko smugly.
"Point taken," Zuko muttered.
"So, I'll be Sea Eagle One," Sokka announced. "You can be Platypus Bear Two."
"What was wrong with our first codenames: Blue Penguin and Red Rabbaroo?"
"You hated Red Rabbaroo. You bitched at me for ages about how we didn't need stupid codenames."
"I still think we don't need stupid codenames!"
"To think I was trying to give you a more badass animal," Sokka lamented.
"Well, a more badass animal would be like a tigerdillo or a mooselion or a dragon or something," Zuko suggested.
"You can be a platypus bear or a rabbaroo. Take it or leave it."
"Is it weird if I want to be a rabbaroo? At least they're fast. Platypus bears are kinda slow and big and stupid."
"See, that's why I chose it for you," Sokka replied, clearing finding himself very hilarious.
"Fuck you sideways, Sokka!"
Sokka stuck his tongue out in response and seemed really pleased with himself. "So, I'm Sea Eagle one. You're now the Grumpy Bear, Lee. Deal with it." He shrugged.
"I'll deal with you later!"
Sokka ignored this. "Aang can be The Fancy Dancer. Katara is The Splasher. Toph can be The Smasher. Longshot is The Silent Assassin." Sokka pointed at them all in turn, then looked at Smellerbee for a quick moment. "Smellerbee is We-Really-Could-Have-Been-Friends-if-You-Hadn't-Tried-to-Flood-a-Town. And Jet is the Creepy, Fuckface Stalker."
"OI!" Jet sounded irate.
"Okay, Jet can be the Human Garbage Fire."
Jet was even more unhappy with his codename than Zuko, but Sokka refused to change it.
"See, Grumpy Bear doesn't look so bad now, does it?" Sokka said as he threw an arm over Zuko's shoulder affectionately.
"I can't believe I even missed you," Zuko grumbled.
"You know you love me."
Zuko didn't deny it, but he wasn't going to give Sokka the satisfaction of agreeing. He settled for giving him a big shove instead. "Get off me, you stupid Sea Eagle."
"You said my thing!" Sokka was delighted.
"Guys! Stop mucking around!" Aang snapped (and with some hypocrisy). The Aang who Zuko remembered had loved nothing more than mucking around. "Codenames don't matter. Appa is what matters! Let's get back to the plan!"
-o-
"Grumpy Bear, Splasher, can I talk to you guys for a sec," Sokka whispered as they were walking towards Lake Laogai in Toph's tunnel.
"I hate this. How can we get him to stop?" Zuko grumbled in her ear.
They'd been walking at the back, holding hands and trying to get away from Toph's steady stream of inappropriate suggestions. Toph was at the front, making the tunnel. Sokka had made his way to the back to join them.
"I think we just have to go with it for now," Katara whispered, but Sokka was right there and clearly heard her. "If you complain, you get given a worse codename. I told him I thought The Splasher was a stupid codename, and he told me I could be known as Mrs Bear instead."
"Mrs Bear is hilarious," Sokka said. "I'm saving that one for after you guys get married."
"Seriously, Sokka! Can you stop?" Zuko hissed. "Just be serious for once. We're under the Dai Li tunnels!"
"I am being serious," Sokka said quietly.
Katara gave him a look.
"Not about you guys getting married. We all know that's never going to happen," Sokka said dismissively, and Katara felt a huge wave of confusion and irritation.
Oi, they could get married!
Obviously not now, because they were too young and they'd only just found each other again. And they had some stuff to figure out, and Zuko hadn't asked ... and also because of the massive war between their countries. But still!
Who was Sokka to act like it was impossible!
"I need to talk to you guys seriously about the plan," Sokka said, and gestured them even closer. "Look, low-key, Jet could still be unknowingly leading us into a trap. We don't know much about his brainwashing. He was way too keen to get us to Lake Laogai after Whaletail Island was a bust. He changed his tune too quickly for my liking. He thinks we've got one plan, but I think we need to change it, keep him on his toes just in case."
"Element of surprise," Zuko said. "Makes sense."
Sokka nodded. "You got it in one, Grumpy Bear."
Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Look, I think it's a good idea if you two split off and look for Appa in the eastern section," Sokka continued. "The map had big caverns over that side too. And the plus is everyone will just assume you're shirking your duty on the Appa hunt and sneaking off to make-out, so it won't even be that hard to cover for you."
Katara and Zuko both got a bit indignant at the idea that anyone would think they were the sort of people to shirk their duty.
"Settle your kettles. I know you're not actually duty-shirkers. But it's a good cover story, and Zuko can use his bending if Creepy, Fuckface Stalker isn't around."
Zuko was very pleased at this prospect. Whether he was happier about being able to use his bending after having to hide it for so long or just not having to put up with Jet was anyone's guess.
"Give it about five minutes before you peel off and watch each other's backs. Tap your feet to the tune of The Annoying Song if you find anything. Toph will be able to tell through her tremor sense and she'll bring us to you."
Sokka moved to make his way back up to the front, but Zuko grabbed his arm quickly.
"Sokka, are you really okay with this?" he asked, gesturing vaguely between himself and Katara.
"You want to have this conversation now? Really? I thought we had to be serious because we are under the Dai Li tunnels."
"I'm always serious."
"True." Sokka ran a hand through his wolf tail and took a moment. "Jeez, I dunno, you guys. All jokes aside, it's going to be really hard for you two because of the war. People might not understand and be against you two being together—"
Katara felt crushed and crestfallen.
"—but I'll never be one of them." Sokka gave them both a warm, fond look.
"You won't?" Zuko said, looking hopeful.
"Nah. I'm cool with you two together. Honestly, Katara was so miserable and difficult to live with when you weren't around, like you have no idea. But she's happy now. You seem happy too. It's a fucked up, crazy world, but I'm glad you guys make each other happy in it."
Katara hugged him, so glad of his simple support and totally unsure of what to say. She held her idiot big brother for a long time. Zuko loitered awkwardly at the side, and she pulled him into the hug as well so it became a big group cuddle.
"Do we have to make this an awkward group hug?' he whispered into the huddle, wriggling like a dysfunctional cat.
"Yes! Being with me means also being included in group hugs," Katara whispered back.
"Okay," Zuko said, and stopped wriggling, "I can live with that ... as long as there's not too many."
Sokka made an aww noise, and then caught himself. "Bugger this. You two aren't making me go soft, talk about feelings, and have group hugs anymore!"
He strode away to the front and they split off at the next tunnel. They made their way silently through the labyrinth that was Lake Laogai prison. Katara still remembered all the things Zuko taught her up North, like how to walk silently and blend into the shadows. They made good time. When they were checking the seventh cell, they finally found Appa. The bison recognised them right away and made a very loud, excited, rumbling noise. They both ran to him and tried to pat him and soothe him.
"You gotta be quiet there, Appa, if we're going to get you out of here," Zuko whispered and stroked the bison's fur in greeting.
Katara had always wondered how much Appa understood when they spoke. He clearly understood Zuko then and the need for secrecy, because he rumbled again, but much more quietly, and tried to nuzzle him.
"I'm glad to see you too," Zuko said softly in response.
They both tapped their feet awkwardly to the tune of The Annoying Song, and it looked like they were both doing a weird little dance together. Aang was going to be so happy to see Appa again. Katara didn't want to leave him waiting any longer. Katara started looking at the chains around Appa's legs. They'd been fastened so tightly and had been chafing Appa's fur. There were big sores under the manacles. Poor Appa. She felt furious.
Zuko didn't have his swords with him because he'd come straight from the market place. He was still wearing his tea-serving uniform and everything. That was a giant shame because swords would have cut through these quickly. The manacles were too tight for her water whips. The metal was way too close to his skin. She'd need to whip it too many times to break it. She'd hit Appa with each pass. It would sting and hurt him. She didn't want to hurt him.
"Firebending would do it quickly. This is crappy steel. It will break with one blast," Zuko offered quietly as he touched the one of the manacles. He seemed hesitant to suggest it. He stood back, away from the chains, and looked thoughtful. He didn't move to do it.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"All animals are scared of fire," Zuko explained. "I don't want to freak him out."
"Appa knows you. He's not going to be scared of you. He'll know you're just helping to set him free."
"Okay."
Zuko aimed two blasts at the chains. The chains popped off instantly, but Appa reared back in fright from the fire blasts. The bison made the most terrible noise she'd ever heard come from him. He scrambled backwards from Zuko until the chains that were still attached to his hindlegs clinked and yanked him hard onto his side.
"I'm sorry, Appa!" Zuko cried, and Appa roared at him in distressed response.
Zuko looked wretchedly at the other chains. They still had to break more, but Appa was clearly terrified.
"Just do it as quick as you can," Katara said, touching Zuko's shoulder. "I'll distract him while you break them off."
Zuko nodded but looked just as miserable and scared as the bison. She patted Appa's face and reassured him that they were here to set him free and that everything was going to be okay. He just had to be a good, quiet boy for them.
She heard the sound of firebending. Appa reared back again and started struggling. There were another two fire blasts and the last of the manacles were broken. Because all the chains had been broken, Apppa sailed into the air. He was trying to get away from the fire and hit the roof with a thud. He landed and crawled into the corner away from Zuko.
"Appa. I had to do it. I'm sorry." Zuko tried to reach out to pat the bison again, but Appa growled and cowered from him, trying to fit his large body even tighter to his corner.
"Something is wrong," Katara said evenly.
"Everything is wrong. Appa hates me now," Zuko wailed dramatically.
"He doesn't hate you. He's just scared. But I actually meant something has happened to the others. We tapped for the others to come ages ago and they still haven't arrived."
"What do you think we should do? We can wait a little longer for them or try get Appa out and then come back to search for them."
"Let's get Appa out first, then try and find the others."
"I agree."
They both looked up at the metal grating above them that separated Appa's cell from the sky.
"Could firebending break that?" Katara asked, pointing at the ceiling.
"I think Appa's going to be really unhappy with me if I start throwing even more fire around. I don't think that's a good idea. Can you do it with waterbending?"
"I can try."
Her water whips took a bit of time, but she was able to break a large section of the ceiling grate off. They both had to duck as it fell. It landed with a clang. They both winced at the sound, expecting the Dai Li to suddenly burst in, but nothing happened. They let out an enormous sigh of relief in unison.
Katara got up and dusted herself off and walked back over to Zuko. She took his hand and surveyed their situation. It was a good thing that Appa was still curled in on himself defensively in the far corner. He was free, but he seemed completely oblivious to it. Appa was just growling softly at Zuko, keeping his eyes focused on Zuko's hands – like he was afraid more fire was going to come out.
Zuko looked at the bison forlornly before he turned to her. "I think you should fly Appa out of here and I'll check what has happened to the others."
"No, I'm not leaving you down here on your own. It's dangerous."
"You have to."
"No! I'm not going without you. We're meant to have each other's backs. You promised me no more stupid shit, Grumpy Bear."
"This isn't stupid. I'm obviously not Appa's favourite person right now." Zuko pointed at the cowering bison. "He's not going to want me anywhere near him. But he'll go with you. And Appa's been hurt by the chains. Look at his legs. You can heal him, Splasher. I'm a fast runner and a good ninja. I can search for the others much quicker than anyone else."
Katara hated this. She hated it so much. She had only just got Zuko back. She wasn't leaving him! Not again.
"It'll take me twenty minutes to find the others and get them out – tops!" he insisted.
"Fine! Twenty minutes." She could give him that. Then she grabbed his face and kissed him soundly. "I'll take Appa out. But if you're not above ground with the others in twenty minutes, I'm coming back down here with all the water from that lake and I'm slapping every Dai Li agent I find with all of it!"
"Okay." Zuko smiled at her. Then he gave her a little kiss on her forehead and whispered that he'd see her soon before he turned and ran back down the passageway.
-0-
Jet had been putting on a brave face and telling them that he would be fine. It was just a scratch. Toph knew he was lying through his teeth. Smellerbee started crying, and Longshot had told them all to go. Jet was their leader. They'd take care of him. Jet had been lying there and trying to sacrifice himself tragically and dramatically when Zuko turned up. He told Aang that he and Katara had found Appa, and it was time to get the hell out of this place.
"Just leave me here," Jet announced again. "I'll be fine."
"What's up with Jet?" Zuko asked.
"It's all my fault. He got hit with this big rock…"
Aang explained what had happened with Long Feng and the Dai Li.
"Let me see."
Zuko knelt next to Jet. He started lifting Jet's shirt up. Jet squawked indignantly and went on about how this was a perverted invasion of his privacy. He called Zuko a couple of names. Zuko ignored him and seemed to be examining something on Jet's chest, tsking like an old lady.
"Jerkface, shut the fuck up. I think I know what this is. Are you feeling really, really thirsty, like you're in the desert and you haven't had water in days thirsty?"
"Actually ... yeah. I am. How did you know that, numbnuts?"
"I think you've just got a little bit of internal bleeding. Feeling thirsty like that is a symptom. You really will be fine, you dramatic hedgehog-fucker. We just need to get you to Katara."
"You're not a doctor, asshole!" Jet argued. "You're just making shit up now! Internal bleeding? What is that? Isn't the blood supposed to be on the inside?"
Zuko ignored him. He turned to Smellerbee, who was still a bit beside herself. "I can carry him, Smellerbee. It's going to be okay. He's only a bit fatter than Sokka, and I can lift Sokka easily."
There were two very offended noises from both Sokka and Jet.
"Fuck you, Lee! I'm not getting a piggyback from you," Jet said indignantly.
"Look, it's either be carried by me or sit here and wait for the Dai Lee to finish you off!"
"Hold on, I'm thinking which would be worse."
Zuko muttered under his breath. Toph could clearly make out the words "ungrateful shithead". Then he bent down and scooped Jet up, hauling the other boy onto his shoulder with a grunt.
"Oi! Stop it! Put me down, you asshole!"
At the same time Jet ranted, Smellerbee was crying extravagantly, "Thank you so much, Lee. You don't know how much he means to me."
Zuko was strong enough to lift Jet on his own. Sokka claimed that he could have also lifted Jet. He was strong too. It would have been his next idea. Everyone knew that was a lie and made a variety of judgemental and disbelieving faces at him. Sokka protested at their unspoken doubt in his ability to lift Jet. Zuko flatly said Sokka had insufficient core muscles to lift another person.
Sokka said he had great upper body strength, though, and that counted for something. Zuko stated that you had to lift from your legs and core, and Sokka was going to do himself an injury if he tried lifting another person without the correct stance. Zuko readjusted his Jet-shaped-cargo so he was carrying the other boy in a disgruntled, belligerent piggyback.
It looked like Sokka and Zuko were about to start squabbling about which muscle groups were better for lifting things or fighting or whatever right in the middle of the Dai Li tunnels. Meanwhile, a horrendously injured Jet slumped against Zuko's back, resigned to his fate, and rolled his eyes and occasionally said things like, "Giddy up, my new ostrich horse" just to annoy Zuko. Jet seemed like he had made peace with his being-carried-out-of-here-by-Zuko fate and now realised he could use his position to annoy the other boy.
Idiots!
"Follow me!" Toph said, interrupting their conversation and leading them on the quickest route to the surface.
Jet was moaning and complaining the whole way. He wailed dramatically that everything really hurt and he was dying. Surely, a quick death was better. He wasn't lying about that. Toph felt a little bad for him. Sure, the guy was a dick, but he was in so much pain.
"It's just a little internal bleeding, you big baby," Zuko scolded with absolutely zero sympathy. "I've had internal bleeding. It's not that bad. Stop milking it for the attention."
Dang, that was stone-cold. But Jet's reaction was hilarious!
Toph was liking Zuko more and more.
-0-
Katara had ridden Appa into battle, wielding a ridiculously large amount of lake water, after seeing where the Dai Li had tried to corner everyone. She started water slapping Dai Li agents like it was what she had been born to do. She loved fighting! She was so good at it. She'd beaten up the Dai Li, saved her friends, and made sure Appa got the satisfaction of biting Long Feng on the leg.
Aang had been so happy it was like he was going to burst out of his skin. He cried huge, joyful tears as he hugged Appa close. Just being both above ground and reunited with Aang really seemed to calm Appa down. He didn't flinch from Zuko when the firebender got on. Katara was so grateful for small things. She'd given Aang the reigns and he'd flown Appa to a more peaceful part of the lake.
So Katara was amazing at the storming in and saving the day and delivering water slaps part of the mission.
Healing, not so much.
Sure, technically she could do it, but she wasn't confident about it. She'd never really had enough training with some of the techniques. Just half an hour here or there hadn't really been enough. She really should have valued her time with Yugoda more. She'd acted like being forced to learn healing was such a punishment when she was up North.
This medical emergency was really beyond her skill set. The rock had really mangled up Jet's insides. There was a lot of blood where it wasn't supposed to be. She didn't know where to start. Zuko was sitting next to her and he really thought she could do it, and that made Katara want to try at least.
"What did Yugoda do when you had it again?"
"She did compartmentalising barriers, then bridging technique, then water gauze."
At least Zuko had always been listening to Yugoda.
"Okay," Katara said, trying to sound confident. "I'll try that."
"Oh, hell no! Neither of you two are doctors. Do you even know what you're doing?" Jet said as he looked up at them both judgementally.
No, Katara thought. But Zuko seemed sure that it would work. Katara lay her healing water on Jet. Compartmentalising barriers first. She could do that. She tried to concentrate. It was kind of hard because Jet kept wriggling and complaining.
"This is it. This is how I die. The last face I see will be Lee's ugly mug making a bitchface at me. The last sound I hear will be Katara scolding me to lie still. The last..."
"Hey, we are actually trying to help you!" she snapped. "Now be still!"
Jet was mercifully silent as she kept working on him. After a very long time, he turned to Lee and said, "You really should have just left me down there to die."
"I wouldn't even leave my worst enemy down there."
"I'm not your worst enemy?" Jet said, sounding a little surprised.
"Not even close."
Jet absorbed that and was silent again for a long moment. "Still, at least if you had left me with the Dai Li, they would have killed me on purpose – not through medical incompetence. He winked at Katara, obviously trying to be flirtatious. "It would have been quicker."
Katara hesitated, her concentration broken. This was hard and Jet's constant flirty criticism wasn't helping.
"Oi, Katara is trying her best, and she's amazing at this, and you should be grateful and shut the fuck up!" Zuko put his arm around her in a supporting fashion. "You're doing great," he added quietly.
She nodded and continued.
It took about twenty minutes to get everything back where it was roughly meant to be inside Jet.
"I'm done," she said, withdrawing her hands.
Jet's eyes widened. He ran his fingers over his torso and looked at her in astonishment. "It worked?" he said with this kind of begrudging respect as he poked his stomach gingerly.
"You're all set. It's healed. You can probably sit up now."
Jet sat up with a huge, extravagant groan. Smellerbee hugged him. Longshot too. They had a little group hug. It was kind of sweet. She'd done the right thing, even though Jet's personality was making it very hard to feel good about it.
Take your medical incompetence and shove it up your butt, she thought proudly to herself.
Jet gave her a little rueful smile over the top of Smellerbee's head and mouthed "thank you". That was probably as close as he was ever going to come to saying sorry.
They took a little time to collect themselves after that. Smellerbee needed some time to make sure Jet was okay. Aang needed some time to cuddle Appa closely. And Katara really needed some alone time with her boyfriend.
They'd been surrounded by other people and a buttload of drama since she had found him again. Katara just wanted to kiss him properly without an audience. What happened between her and Zuko was private. It was just for them – not for Toph to get some kind of weird jollies.
She took Zuko's hand and led him a bit farther away from the group, behind some rocks, and got … reacquainted with him. By the time they wandered back, Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot were getting ready to leave.
"What will you guys do now?" Katara asked as she sat down.
"We can't go back to the city," Smellerbee explained. "Jet's a wanted felon. We don't want the Dai Li to get him again. We just need to find somewhere else that is safe from the bloody Fire Nation."
"The Northern Air Temple could be good," Katara offered. "It's full of refugees making a new start. It's high in the mountains, so you'd need to climb heaps."
"We're good climbers," Jet said proudly.
"I know."
"Thanks, Katara." Jet flashed her his 'charming' smile. "You want to come with us?"
Katara looked over at Zuko before turning back to Jet. "No. I'm good here, thanks."
"You know, it's an open-ended offer. When you dump this arsehole, just come and find me."
"Oi, don't flirt with my girlfriend, fuckface," Zuko said, chucking a pebble at him. His aim was sloppy, and Jet dodged it.
"Technically, she was my girlfriend first," Jet informed Zuko primly.
Zuko looked incensed and started coughing loudly in disbelief.
"She was! We shared so many moments in that treehouse, you know. You remember, don't you, baby?" Jet winked at Katara.
"I'm not your baby!" Katara retorted.
Toph and Sokka were sharing Toph's bag of snacks and watching the scene in front of them unfold with fascination, but Sokka took this moment to interject, throwing the popcorn at Jet. "That's what you get! She doesn't want you anymore!"
Toph also threw some popcorn at Jet and started booing him enthusiastically.
"Stop that!" Jet told them, then turned to Zuko, who was still coughing. "And will you stop that, Lee! Stop doing that 'disbelieving cough.' I get it already! You think I'm full of shit. Just shut up!"
"Hey! Don't you dare tell him to shut up!" Katara said, feeling protective over Zuko. "He just carried your arse out of a Dai Li prison and saved your life!"
"Yeah, but that coughing noise puts me on edge. It reminds me of the Dai Li prison and..." Jet trailed off here. His eyes widened and he declared suddenly, "Oh no. I really am an arsehole!"
"You're only just figuring that out now?" Sokka said cheekily, reaching for more popcorn.
"Lee, have you ever been to Omashu or put a pentapus on your face?" Jet asked, turning to Zuko.
"We have!" Aang said cheerfully, strolling over from a good, long, soothing Appa cuddle and sitting down with them for the first time.
"Hey, same!" Smellerbee said, pointing at her and Longshot. "They felt so tickly, but they're so cute!"
Everyone gave her a weird look. She wasn't a warm and cuddly person. She had never described anything as cute as far as Katara could tell.
"What?" she huffed. "So I like Pentapi! It's no big deal."
Zuko suppressed his coughing and gave everyone in the group a very judgemental face. "You're all nuts. Why would I put a pentapus on my face?"
"Well, they did recommend it to all refugees coming into the city, if you actually read the instructions book they gave us," Smellerbee said primly.
"Why?" Toph asked.
"Cause it prevents Omashu fever. Refugees from Omashu brought it with them as a little present for the rest of us. From Omashu with love, eh? They weren't getting sick, but it floored everyone else. It's an epidemic in District 30 and it's just, like, flattened that whole place. The officials were super worried about it spreading. So now they give every refugee instructions to go do it and a coupon for a free pentapus session when they enter."
"Oh no, not written instructions!" Sokka teased Zuko, and gave him a poke in the shoulder. "Lee's one true weakness!"
Zuko flipped him the bird.
"It's not my fault you never read instructions!" Sokka protested.
"The Dai Li had some prisoners with the Omashu fever when I got taken down," Jet said. "It spread though prison so fast. They just let it. It weeded out the weak, that's for sure. But apparently putting a pentapus on your face gives you immunity. When I was in prison, I was surrounded by sick people and Dai Li agents with pentapuses on their faces to protect them from the disease..." He shuddered here.
"Pentapi," Smellerbee corrected. "That's the plural."
"Whatever. The pentapi face masks definitely added a nightmarish, surreal quality to the Dai Li prison experience."
Jet seemed lost in some bleak memory for a moment. He stared silently at nothing until Smellerbee put her hand on his shoulder in a way that was oddly gentle for such a gruff girl. Jet seemed to snap out of it and looked at Zuko again.
"Anyway, I may still be, like, a little bit contagious..." Jet confessed. "And I think you've got it now, Lee. You've just carried me for ages. You've got no immunity. It comes on sudden, like one moment your completely fine, and the next you'll be flat on your arse. The first symptom is that coughing just like you're doing now, so ... yeah. I think that's what's happening." Jet sounded almost apologetic.
"You've made me sick? You literally make me sick! You are the worst person I have ever met in my entire life!" Zuko yelled before another coughing fit came over him.
Katara's heart sank. She just wanted to have some proper, quality, alone time with him. Not stolen moments down alleyways and behind rocks. She had been hoping that tonight, when they got back to the city, they could ... maybe ... go on a date. That was well off the cards now. Jet had infected her Zuko, even after Zuko had done a kind and good thing for that jerk, because that was just the sort of luck Zuko had.
It wasn't fair.
Katara started rubbing his back, alarmed at how much thinner he was. She could feel his whole chest heaving when he coughed, and she could feel his bones through his shirt from months of not eating well. Well, Katara was going to make sure he ate right from now on! She was going to soothe his aches and cool his fever. She was going to take such good care of him. She brushed his hair off his forehead tenderly and planted a little kiss there, alarmed at how hot he felt already.
"Careful, Katara," Jet warned. "I wouldn't touch him now. I'm not joking. It is really contagious."
"I'll risk it," Katara said darkly, glaring at Jet. "What happens now?"
"I don't know. I'm not pretending to be a doctor." Jet shrugged. "He'll get dizzy as fuck and have the worst fever for like ... ages. But if he hasn't passed out by now, maybe it won't be as bad for him?" he supplied quickly with false optimism.
"I'm going to pass out?" Zuko looked up, sounding horrified.
"Well you haven't yet," Jet responded, "so quit complaining. Don't be such a big baby. It's no big deal. Don't go milking it for sympathy."
"I hate you. I hate you so much." Zuko put his head between his knees. "And here's the dizziness."
"Damn, I feel kinda bad." Jet actually sounded sincere.
"I can guarantee you, I feel worse right now," Zuko said, keeping his head between his knees.
"Do you want a prize again?" Smellerbee offered kindly.
"No!" Zuko harrumphed. "Keep your air."
"Fuck it, Lee. I actually do feel bad!" Jet insisted.
Zuko didn't look up but made an incredibly rude series of hand gestures in Jet's general direction.
"So rude!" Jet said, sounding put out. "Can you not be a massive dick and listen? I actually got something to say to you!"
"No, don't say anything else to me!" Zuko made a shooing motion with his hand. "Just go to the Northern Air Temple already. Leave me alone."
"No, I really need to say this to you. I feel really bad."
"So do I, so thanks for sharing your gross germs with me."
"Look, I really am sorry for making you sick ... and stalking you ... and trying to get you arrested by the Dai Li ... and hitting you with sausages ... and stealing your spark rocks ... and attacking your uncle. I'm, like, really sorry. For real."
"If I accept your apology, will you go away?" Zuko sighed in a long-suffering fashion.
"Yes."
"Fine. Apology accepted."
Jet stood there, adjusting his weight from one foot to the other.
Zuko looked up blearily. "You're still here." he observed, unimpressed.
"I just wanted to say Omashupox is fucking brutal, you know, and I hope you feel better soon." Jet seemed a bit embarrassed. His cheeks were bright red. "And I'm glad was wrong about you, Lee. I can't believe I ever thought you were a firebender. We all know they never get sick, cause they're not even human. They're just garbage fires and fits of rage pretending to be people..."
"Will you just fuck off already?" Zuko yelled, while Toph and Smellerbee both tried to slap Jet at once for mentioning firebenders.
Jet protested. They reminded him that those were the rules of the no-fire talk ban. Toph wanted to keep slapping him for what Jet considered an unreasonable amount of time, but none of the group made a move to stop her.
Jet seemed to take the eighteenth slap as his queue to leave. He quickly turned around and said, "Well, I'm outta here. Bye, everyone."
Katara wasn't sorry to see him leave. Naturally, Jet made her considerable anger towards him worse. He looked at her, winking and saying, "Bye Katara" in a smarmy tone of voice. She glared coldly with all the ice from the frozen poles behind her eyes. She looked at him like she was stabbing him in her mind. Jet seemed chastised. He blushed, turned abruptly, and walked off rather quickly.
"We should probably go too," Smellerbee announced, getting up with Longshot.
Longshot nodded his farewell at them. Smellerbee gave them all a quick hug, except for Zuko.
"Sorry, Lee. I would hug you too, but you're really sick right now. Like, you're all sweaty and starting to look kinda gross."
"Just go!" Zuko huffed.
Smellerbee came over and gingerly tapped him on the shoulder. She couldn't bring herself to hug him, but she gave his shoulder a couple of pokes. "But … ah … thanks for everything, Lee. Getting us jobs, teaching us to ninja, putting up with Jet. You did us a solid, and I won't forget it."
They watched the three figures slowly walk off towards the horizon.
"Off they go to cause more havoc, explode more dams and flood more towns," Sokka said, once they were a fair distance away.
"There's no dams near the Northern Air Temple," Aang reminded him.
"Well, I'm sure they'll find something to explode."
"Do you think they'll ever figure out that Zuko's really a firebender?" Toph asked, sounding excited at the prospect.
"Agni, I hope not," Zuko groaned, head still between his knees.
"But it would be so hilarious! Can you imagine: if Jet finds out you're a firebender now, his brain is just going to boil in his head and explode out his eyeballs."
Zuko lifted his head and seemed to be thinking. He started trying to stand unsteadily.
"Where are you going?" Katara asked, getting up too and holding his elbow.
"I'm going to tell Jet I'm a firebender so I can watch his brain boil and explode," Zuko said flatly. He took a step and stumbled a little.
"Yeah, that's a no to that plan right there, buddy." Sokka grinned as he put his popcorn aside and stood up. He went to go stand next to Zuko, who was swaying on his feet now.
"Shit. I really don't feel right."
Zuko turned to Sokka just a fraction of a second before his eyes rolled back in his head, his knees buckled, and he passed out cold. He would have fallen in a heap if Sokka hadn't reached out and caught him quickly.
"He really does have the worst luck," Sokka observed. "It's not even funny at this stage."
"I dunno. It's kinda funny to me."
"Toph!"
-0-
Notes:
Enormous thanks to Boogum for her fantastic beta-skills. She's a gem and she makes everything I write better.
Thanks to everyone who leaves feedback, comments and reviews. I love reading these! They make my day.
This chapter was quite long, so I'll only write short notes today. Jet is negging Katara (a flirting technique where part A will put party B down in a way that is meant to be flirty.) I think negging would just plain annoy Katara. Zuko is the "you're doing amazing, sweetie," gif level of supportive.
Omashu Fever. Well, Zuko had to get some weird illness, and this is what I came up with. I mentioned in previous chapters that over-crowding in the lower ring was leading to an epidemic. Let's say there was an illness that could be helped by putting a pentapus on your face - Well, all the refugees from Omashu, and the Gaang would be immune. But it would spread quickly through a refugee population. The authorities would try to increase the immunity of newly arrived refugees by giving them the only known treatment - pentapus face! But poor Zuko never did well with instructions.
So there have been many metas about Zuko going through a kundalini in his sickness. I do not know enough about Kundalini journeys. It's all, to quote Toph, "blah-blah-blah, spiritual mumbo-jumbo, something about space," to me. So I didn't go that route. In Kimberly T's phenomenal "Promises to Keep", Zuko is more susceptible to Earth Kingdom illness. Being from the Fire Nation means he had very little natural immunity to some local diseases. He contracts one while living in the cramped conditions of the lower ring. I feel this idea makes more sense, so I rejigged it to work in this scenario. So full credit to her for the idea.
Jet and Smellerbee and Longshot live! You know, the Northern Air Temple might help Jet develop some skills he didn't even know he had. Jet thinks firebenders are inhuman, and can't visualise them getting sick - which is why Zuko getting sick has such a big effect on him. Jet is now completely sure "Lee" never was a firebender. Jet thinks Zuko is just who is he was pretending to be - a random, sexy ninja dude who just wanted to make tea with his Uncle… But if I ever get around to writing Airbender Jet and book 4, there will be an explosion of drama when the boys meet again.
Next Chapter - Zuko's going to be sick, Katara's going to be worried, Aang's going to be jealous, and Toph is going to dispense advice. Til then, my lovelies.
