A/N: WARNING! This one's gonna hurt! Beware of the final paragraph. Considering the shattered state of my heart after writing this, I'd defintely say THE FINAL PARAGRAPH NEEDS TO BE RATED "M". It's... ugh ó.Ò.

So... hold on a sec NOW

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and brace yourselves, okay?

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OK?!

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Seriously.

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I mean it.

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Ok.

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Here we go... ó.Ò

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- 13 -

FREE AT LAST

Pain. The first thing that got through to her was the sensation of all-consuming, dull pain. It was throbbing in her head and burning in her stomach. Only the thought of opening her eyes, let alone moving her arms or legs, was enough to make her groan in agony. Trying to catch her breath, Sureen limited herself to sorting out the chaos in her mind.
What had happened to her? The last thing she knew was… she had stood in front of the palace, trying to made herself heard. And then… holy shit, they'd knocked her out! By the time she noticed those boulders flying towards her, it already was too late. Those bastards! Instead of simply arresting her, they had knocked her cold! But that meant now she had to be the same place they had taken… JET!

Her eyes shot open. She didn't care about the attendant. But it was… dark? She was lying on the floor, surrounded by pitch black emptiness! The air felt wet and smelled moldy, but she couldn't see a thing. Sureen shifted her elbows back to be able to push her head and her shoulders off the ground. She tried to ignore the sharp pain spreading through her body and pushed herself to a sitting position. Feeling around with her hands, she soon discovered a rocky wall behind her. She shifted herself backwards and leaned against it, shaking from exhaustion. Breathing heavily, she waited for the pain to subside.

All of a sudden, the door to her darkness opened with a creak and two figures with a torch stepped inside. Before she knew what was going on, the girl was forced to her feet and dragged out of her cell. No one cared that she was hardly able to stand, let alone follow the men along the tunnels. Mercilessly, they crossed her arms behind her back and forced her to move forward. Sureen's vision blurred. She could hardly make out where they were taking her.

Finally, they let her sit down again. The girl tried to catch her breath and regain her composure as quickly as possible. As her dizziness faded, she found herself chained to a chair in a large cave. In front of her, there was a burning lantern. A bit farther away, covered by darkness, she could vaguely discern the silhouette of another Dai Li agent. Suddenly, the lantern started moving in a large circle. For some reason it held the girl's full attention. She couldn't help but focus on its dim light and movement.

But a second later, she felt someone approaching from behind, swiftly unchaining her hands. Zuko! There he was, coming for her, according to their plan! When the girl whirled around, she saw… WHAT? The Blue Spirit?! The figure standing behind her looked exactly the way the legends had described the creature! So it was true? The Blue Spirit really existed?

"Follow me! Run! NOW!" The figure's voice sounded all too familiar, though. But Sureen didn't have time to wonder. The Blue Spirit grabbed her by the wrist and made her run out of the cave with him. Together they disappeared in the tunnels, a number of Dai Li agents close on their heels. Swiftly, the Blue Spirit soon left the main corridor and took the small, labyrinthine side tunnels. He seemed to know exactly where he was going and how to shake of their pursuers. Eventually, they made it. The Dai Li lost track of them. Short of breath, they both leaned against the tunnel walls.

Now without the rush of adrenaline, Sureen doubled over, as the pain in her stomach and the throbbing in her head kicked in again.

"Sureen… you all right?" the familiar voice behind the mask asked.

"Could be worse. Don't worry, ZUKO," the girl replied, lifting her head to look straight at his "face" while calling his name. Even with the mask, she could see him flinch. But oh well. This was not the right time to find out why ZUKO, of all people, seemed to be the legendary Blue Spirit. Right now, there was a much more important issue.

"So… where's Jet? Where did they take him? Did you find and free him?"

The Blue Spirit slowly shook his head. "I did find him, but… it's... complicated. That lantern in the cave back there. It seems to be some kind of tool to delete people's memory. The Dai Li use it to- to make their prisoners forget who they were before. They turn them into their slaves. They destroy the prisoners' willpower and replace it with whatever they want. And Jet… I'm afraid the Jet you know doesn't exist anymore."

"But… that's impossible! He would never forget… he could never - "

"It IS possible. I saw him. They brought him to a room where he received his orders from the chief Dai Li agent. He obeyed like everyone else. And so… I couldn't free him, 'cause he wasn't even aware that, in fact, he was a prisoner. I'm sorry." The Blue Spirit hung his head.

"I See. So… is he still there? In that room?"

"Hm? Well, he was still in there when I left - "

"Okay. Take me there."

"WHAT?! Are you crazy? This whole place is full of Dai Li agents and they're AFTER US, in case you haven't noticed!"

Sureen pushed herself away from the wall and stepped closer to the Blue Spirit. "Oh, really. Just for your information: JET is here, right around the corner, and I'm NOT gonna leave this place without him, in case YOU haven't noticed!" She stood in front of him, arms akimbo, her eyes flaring furiously. Just as she had stood in front of the Earth King's Palace the other night. Apparently, Zuko didn't have much of a choice.

"You have to be nimble and swift. Use the cave walls as your cover. Cling to them as tightly as possible. Hide in the shadows. Become invisible and soundless." His instructions were short and determined. "Don't you DARE give us away by being clumsy. Got it?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. Then follow me."

-x-x-x-

"Jet! It's me! I told you I'd find you!"

No. Agni, please NO. She was NOT seriously doing that right now, was she? So much for 'Don't give us away.' Aaaaarrrggh! Facepalm! Damn, THAT GIRL! Zuko couldn't believe it. His body tensed up and he clenched his fists, desperately trying to suppress a furious growl. HE at least needed to stay undiscovered. Carefully, he drew back from the open door a little further, pressing himself even more tightly against the wall.
Oh, well. All eyes were on Sureen now, anyway. The prince frowned under his mask.

When they'd arrived back at the cavern in which Zuko had found Jet, the chief Dai Li agent had just finished giving him his orders. Two other Dai Li had just been about to usher him out. And Sureen... Great, apparently the first idea that had come to her was run in there, towards her, umm... boyfriend? And to stop right in front of him.

For a second, everyone was too taken aback to react. Worriedly, Sureen noticed the blank look in Jet's eyes. Obviously, her appearance didn't have a familiar ring...!?

"C'mon... don't tell me you forgot everything! Like... when we met on the ferry. Don't tell me you forgot what happened there. And back when we were kids... That night, the Fire Nation soldiers, our burning village..." She saw Jet's eyes growing wide, beads of sweat forming on his forehead... as though he were fighting mentally, trying hard to grasp something. The girl swallowed. "Don't tell me you can't remember what happened back then, in that prison... What they did to our people... What they did to yo-"

"STOP IT!" Hearing those words, Jet dropped to his knees, pressing his palms against the sides of his head, breathing heavily. When he looked up a second later - right at Sureen's face, his eyes shimmering with the pain of his returning memories - she knew he was himself again.
Another second later, the boy turned around, knocking the two Dai Li off their feet with a combination of kicks and punches.

Instantly, Sureen and Jet were surrounded by Dai Li agents. The two fought back-to-back, not needing to see each other to act as one. They dodged the rocks shooting towards them and simultaneously defended against the approaching Dai Li in hand-to-hand combat.

But in the long run, they were outnumbered, that was beyond question. Hiding next to the door and watching the scene, Zuko knew they didn't have a chance. He sighed. Apparently, it was time for the Blue Spirit to go into action.
Just as he was about to enter the room, the door suddenly slammed in his face. It was locked. There was no way to reopen it. He couldn't get in! Shit! WHY was EVERYTHING going wrong with this plan? WHY?!

-x-x-x-

"Stop attacking! Retreat!"

The chief Dai Li agent's assertive voice echoed through the cave. Instantly, all the boulders that were on the way to Jet and Sureen stopped moving and crashed to the ground. The agents disappeared immediately, digging corridors into the walls and closing them after they left.

"I have a better plan," the long-haired man with the braid and the distinctive beard added. "I'm sure your, well, friend over here won't have any difficulties contending with you on his own, young lady." Smirking at Sureen calculatingly, the man folded his arms. "Jet, The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

Looking over to her brainwashed companion, the girl noticed the instant change in his expression. As though the chief Dai Li had spoken some kind of spell, Jet's eyes immediately turned dull and his pupils dilated.

"I am honored to accept his invitation," he answered tonelessly.

All of a sudden, the boy whirled around, using his hook-swords to make a brutal double-slash at Sureen's neck while he turned. She dodged his stroke by the skin of her teeth, almost too startled to react. Unflinchingly, Jet kept attacking the girl, who leaped aside. Reeling backwards, Sureen struggled to avoid his flourishes and, at the same time, keep her balance. She didn't want to fight back, didn't want to attack the man she loved with all her heart... although that man didn't seem to be present anymore. But that couldn't be true, he still had to be there, somewhere behind those inky eyes.

"Jet! Stop it! PLEASE! It's ME! You don't have to do this," Sureen pleaded, panting heavily.

"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice," the chief Dai Li agent replied for the boy. "Do your duty, Jet," the man added determinedly.

"He can't make you do this! He can't make you forget who you are!" Desperately, Sureen defended Jet's next sword-slash by blocking his wrist with her forearm, approaching the boy as closely as possible.

"He can't make you forget THAT I LOVE YOU," she yelled in his face, rising on her toes and planting a kiss on her assailant's lips.

A second later, she heard two swords dropping to the floor. Then two shaking arms pulled her close in a tight embrace. She felt Jet warily stroking her hair and carefully kissing her forehead.

It felt awfully terrifying for the boy, though, to hold Sureen close - because it was too tight, she was just too close, people getting that close to him was dangerous, they'd... augh- ! But still, he didn't want to step back or loosen his embrace since he felt that the girl had just pulled him out of his trance. And now their embrace was the only thing that kept him here, his only connection to reality. So he tried hard to stop second-guess himself and to bite back his rising panic... this was Sureen, SUREEN, she wouldn't hurt him, she'd never-

"Hey, easy... it's alright. No, I won't. It's okay, hun... you're safe..." Her gentle voice was hardly more than a whisper, but it was enough to put Jet's browbeaten mind at ease. "And he can't get to you. That jerk over there can't use you for his sick plans. 'Cause you're not listening anymore. He doesn't have the power to make you obey this shit," she hissed.

Jet took a deep breath and lifted his head. Right. He wouldn't fall for that idiot's orders again.

"Jet! Do it. Now!" The chief Dai Li's furious voice resounded throughout the cavern. But it couldn't reach Jet's mind anymore. The boy was safe in Sureen's arms. The spell was broken. And now it was time to turn the tables.

With a snarl of rage, Jet suddenly let go of the girl and grabbed one of his hook-swords again. He whipped around, ran towards the older man and hurled his weapon at him. Using his earthbending skills, the Dai Li could defend the attack at the very last second. The spike of Jet's sword embedded itself in the stone wall the man had hurriedly formed right next to him.

By moving his hands towards each other, the Dai Li agent created two further massive stone walls that inexorably hurtled towards the boy from opposite directions. Sureen could literally feel his bones break and his ribcage being smashed as the walls collided, crushing Jet's body between them. Oh no, please, no! She couldn't take it. Her knees buckled and she sunk to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Foolish boy. You've chosen your own demise." The chief Dai Li agent threw one last contemptuous glance at the two stone walls holding his assailant captive. By earthbending a tunnel into the cave wall behind him, the man retreated, abandoning Jet to his fate.

-x-x-x-

The dust cloud hanging over the cavern obscured Sureen's vision, and it was difficult for her to see anything apart from the giant walls moving away from each other at an agonizingly slow pace. As they drifted farther apart, the smoke finally cleared until she could distinctly make out the crumpled form of her friend.

Jet's body spasmed violently on the cave floor. Chest heaving, mouth stained red from the blood beginning to leak from his parted lips, he rolled himself onto his side before allowing gravity to push him onto his back. It was all he could do to keep himself conscious. The last of his strength appeared to have left him.

Sureen bit back a strangled sob. Her legs felt like heavy weights, restraining her as she struggled to her feet and began to walk towards his fallen form. She felt as though she was about to collapse with every step. She felt numb. This wasn't true. This couldn't be real…

But it WAS real. And each step that brought her closer to Jet's crippled body, only made her feel the reality of his situation all the more clearly. What had been a dull misgiving, hidden by those slowly retreating walls, now became a steadily growing mental agony while she inched towards her friend. It was as though she was trying to move forward through hot water whose temperature was increasing with each step... Until the heat became almost unbearable.

Knowing that this feeling was nothing but a reflection of the agony Jet was going through right now, Sureen felt her heart constrict. She wanted to scream, to desperately yell at that ocean of raging pain to let go of her friend… but it wouldn't help. There was nothing she could do. Feeling her world begin to crumble around her, Sureen lowered herself to the ground beside him. His breathing was short and ragged; labored, as though he had just run a mile. The girl gently lifted his head to rest in her lap. The small movement elicited a sharp gasp from Jet, and Sureen bit her lip helplessly.

She was well aware that the source of the unbearable pain he was in was his completely smashed torso. She could feel it. Even with her eyes averted, she knew there wasn't one bone of his ribcage left intact. But she didn't have the heart to lift her head. She didn't want to see it, didn't want to know that his injuries were real - as though they weren't really there as long as she refused to look at them. Desperately, Sureen's eyes riveted on Jet's face, on the beads of sweat on his forehead… on whatever they could. C'mon, fix your gaze on something, anything, no matter what, she frantically instructed herself. Just don't look at it, don't look at it, don't look at it, DON'T LOOK AT IT. Instead, she tried to lift Jet's upper body as carefully as she could, hoping to make him rest against her side and breathe a little more easily.

Jet couldn't help but groan with pain when his shoulders were lifted from the ground. Since those walls had closed in on him, his world had turned into a nightmare of burning torture. Seized by panic, he realized that both his legs had turned numb. He couldn't even be sure that they were still there! But, with the state of agony that the rest of his body was in, Jet counted it as a blessing to not be able to feel any more pain than he had to.
Every part of him felt as though it were on fire. Desperately trying to provide his body with more oxygen, his lungs seized and convulsed in his chest, sending fiery shocks of pain through his torso. But t was of no avail. Jet was fighting against the overwhelming feeling of suffocation. He felt as though he were drowning in a sea of his own blood - a thought that made him want to vomit if he could've mustered the energy. He knew he wouldn't last much longer. He was going to die down here. Another wave of pain tore through his body and left him unable to think straight.

But, on the very edge of consciousness, he could sense something soft grasping his shoulder, pulling him close and holding his head as though it was something to be treasured. Carefully, the stabilizing arms shifted his upper body to a half-sitting position, supporting him gently but firmly... and the feeling of suffocation eased a tiny bit.
Despite his agony, he recognized the soft voice that babbled comforting nonsense in his ear. She was here... at least she was with him. He wasn't alone in this. She kept him in her embrace and didn't let him go. Yet again, she was the one who kept him sane... who reached him even in the deepest depths of hell. She was the one who held his heart. She was the love of his life.

He tried to relax in her arms for a while - feeling the warmth of her body, the way she gently rubbed his shoulder - regaining his composure enough to find his voice again.

"Su-...reen... listen-"

"Shhh... don't speak." Softly, she cupped his face with her hand.

"No.. I neeto-... tellya. Please." He closed his eyes for a second, taking another rattling breath."Ever since... b-back then... I sought only revenge. There was only hatred... nothing else-... n-nothing else existed for me. But... then I met you again... on that ferry... and-and-... everything changed. I didn't... dare admit it to myself, but I fell in love with you... like I no longer believed I could."

"S-so did I," Sureen whispered, her voice cracking, her eyes brimming with tears.

"That's the most beautiful thing... you could ever have given me."

Somehow he managed to grab her neck and pull her close. An instant later, their lips met. Everything - all the strength, all the passion left inside him - was thrown into their kiss, while Jet held the girl as tight as he could. There was no anxiety. No demons from the past could stand between them. In that very moment, they were together. They were lovers. They were one. And nothing else existed anymore.

Sureen didn't want to let go. Silently, she pleaded for time to stand still. She didn't want to be anywhere else ever again. In that moment, all she wished for was to stay in his arms forever.

But time moved on.

Weakly, Jet's body fell limp against her side, arms dropping to the ground beside him. His breathing became labored, straining now - as he had used up the last of his energy to give Sureen a proper goodbye. His mind became fuzzy, tinting black around the edges, and his chest rose and fell frantically in the panicked state to which he was reduced. No air! Please, God, why was there no air?!

But again, there was the girl's gentle embrace. He couldn't see the tears streaming down her face, but he heard her reassuring voice, felt her arms surrounding him, sensed her presence even in his mind... and for the first time, it didn't disturb him. Someone was with him, as close as humanly possible, sharing his thoughts, sharing his pain... and that was all that mattered. He knew Sureen would never leave him, even now, in his darkest hour. He felt... at peace. If he could still feel anything besides the waves of burning agony, it was fulfillment and gratitude.

With a final effort, one last time, he fought back the drowsiness that enveloped him. "See?" A faint smile crossed Jet's pale face. "They- they were right. Every..thing will be okay... in the en-"

And again, his body tensed up and convulsed violently. Sureen clasped his hand in her own and held the boy as close as she possibly could.

Then it was over.

Jet's hand let go of hers and his contorted features eventually relaxed. His lifeless body became limp, free at last. The leader of the Freedom Fighters had found his freedom the moment he had given up fighting.

... ...

And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all

And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl

... ...

And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye

Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

[A GREAT BIG WORLD & CHRISTINA AGUILERA - SAY SOMETHING]

-x-x-x-

A/N: OMG guys, I'm sorry... I swear I'm so sorry *sobs*... I'm sorry! Man, I swear I was a teared up little heap behind my laptop, writing that final paragraph... that bit broke my heart so bad! I didn't mean to... seriously... I mean... I'm sorry. I swear I am. :../

Um... okay... but still, there's some background info I don't want to keep back from you... so... umm... wait, first I need a tissue, though :P... ugh... gimme a sec...

K *takes deep breath*. Right. Ahem. So. That final dialogue is actually taken from "V for Vendetta"... it's V's death scene. That bit totally killed me when I watched the movie, it made me cry sooooo hard... plus V's words were SO freakin' suitable for Jet and his feelings for Sureen... so I just HAD to do it. But... yeah. Just to let you know - that dialogue wasn't really my creation.

And pretty much the entire last bit was NOT written by myself alone. I'm too much of a wimp to write torturic stuff like that on my own :P, so guess who kinda pushed me over the edge and made me do it... yup, right, my personal expert for extreme story-lines and heart-attack-causing graphic descriptions - xxTigerAvatarxx - is to blame for this :3!
So, yeah... apparently, I wasn't alone in this, either. (Um... not to mention that this chapter, for the most part, kind of is ALL YOURS, hun, anyway. Like, with all that brainwash-prison-stuff... like, I mean... oh well, anyway, you know what I mean ó.Ò...!) Even in the deepest depths of my writing "skills" :P, someone was with me, too... as close a humanly possible, sharing my thoughts and blah... like, see according paragraph above ;). And NO, I'm NOT gonna repeat all that shit now, I'm not gonna make this author's note sound THAT cheesy :D. But anyway, you get my point, right :P? LUV YA HUN! Triple-M-to-hell-and-back ftw! :'D *hugs*

Yup. So much for that. Oh but just in case I haven't mentioned it yet - I'm so, so sorry guys. Seriously! ó.Ò

Well and now I better SHUT IT ;)... otherwise this A/N will get longer than the actual chapter :P! Man, I didn't know I could get that emotional over A CHAPTER, I mean, jeez o.O! But ok, seriously, that's it. I'm gone now. And you'll leave me some reviews until I'll get back, ok? ;)