Chapter 14: Crumble

Smellerbee woke up in the dead of night and found herself suddenly restless. She turned over and over in her bed for a while before she decided it was useless. She wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. She got up (still fully dressed and armed – she hadn't even bothered to take off her armor she had been so exhausted before) and slipped out of the hut. She looked around. Everywhere was dark and silent. She walked around the complex a little bit but didn't feel any more free than she had lying still, so she grabbed a rope and dropped down to the forest floor. She followed a well-worn animal path through the trees, scooping up a pile of acorns and pulling out her slingshot as she went.

"Oh, hi, Jet," she said quietly to herself, shooting an acorn at the knothole of a nearby tree. "I'm sorry my stupidity got your plan ruined. And I'm sorry that I can't be as pretty as your precious Katara." Animals scampered away through the bushes unseen as Smellerbee approached them. "I'm sorry that I can't figure out what's wrong with Longshot. And I'm sorry that everything's falling apart right now." She was now firing acorns off randomly and angrily, getting strange satisfaction out of the violent snapping sound that echoed when they made contact with tree trunks. "But, really," she continued. "It's not my fault – it's yours. You decided to let the Avatar and his friends stay. You wanted their help. You decided to kill the whole town. You could have just let things stay the way they've always been. But no, you had to come up with your brilliant plan and tear everything apart – and then disappear on the Freedom Fighters right when we need you the most!"

She shot her final acorn and stopped walking. She didn't want to go any farther. She wanted to curl up where she was and fall asleep to wake up back in the hut she shared with Longshot in a world where the Avatar had never visited them.

She sighed heavily. All of this wishing was wearing her down.

She turned and started heading slowly and resolutely back to the hideout. She hadn't been walking for more than five minutes when she heard something large moving ahead of her. Instantly she pulled out her dagger, put away her slingshot, and ducked behind a nearby tree. Whatever this thing was, it was moving straight towards her. There was a great rustling, as though it was pushing its way through a thick tangle of bushes, and then she heard the sounds of someone stumbling out onto the path and walking – she knew those footsteps.

"Jet?" she asked, staying behind the tree, just to be sure.

"Who's there?" Jet asked, though his voice was nearly unrecognizable due to the presence of something Smellerbee had never heard from him before – fear.

"It's me," she said, stepping out onto the path in front of him, sheathing her dagger. "It's Smellerbee."

"Oh . . . Smellerbee . . ." he said slowly, bringing his swords down, out of a fighting stance, putting them away awkwardly.

He looked terrible. His clothes were torn in new places, his hair matted with twigs and leaves, his eyes bloodshot and marked with dark circles that looked permanently etched underneath. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, which, Smellerbee realized, he might not have. He certainly hadn't been to the hideout since the previous morning.

"Jet, are you okay?" Smellerbee asked, stepping closer to him.

"I'm fine, Smellerbee," he said distractedly. "Just thinking . . ."

"Thinking what?"

"Smellerbee," he looked very distressed now, almost fidgety – he was not the Jet she was used to. She hated to see the toll the past few days had taken on him. He took hold of her shoulders, looked intently into her eyes, nearly staring through her, and asked, "What if what we're doing is wrong?"

Smellerbee stared at him. He was so lost and desperate, but so was she – she couldn't give him an answer she was still seeking herself.

"Come on, Jet," she said, putting an arm around his waist, guiding him as he walked beside her. "Let's go home."

"Yeah," he said distantly. "Home."

"Come on," she said again, keeping him moving forward along the path until they reached one of the ascent ropes. She looked at him, at his tired eyes, and decided that he was not strong enough to do this himself. "Hang on to me," she said quietly. It felt so strange to treat Jet like a frightened child, but it was stranger still to see him follow her orders. Jet stood in front of her and put his arms around her neck. She wrapped the rope around one of her arms and put her other arm around Jet's middle, holding him close and tight. She gripped the rope, braced herself as best as she could, and tugged. She felt the time pass slowly as they rose through the air to the platform. When they reached the top she let go and they both landed gracelessly on the platform, though Smellerbee managed to catch both of them before they lost their footing.

"Let's go," she said softly, pulling one of Jet's arms across her shoulders and started walking towards his hut. "Almost there." She pushed aside the cloth door and walked Jet over to his bed. "Get some sleep," she told him gently. "You need it."

Jet swayed slightly on the spot as Smellerbee let go of him.

"Thank you, Smellerbee," he said after a brief silence, hugging her. Smellerbee couldn't react for a moment. She'd never known Jet to show this type of affection.

"No problem . . . If you need anything, I'll be right here."

"I'm so glad you're a Freedom Fighter," he said, holding her at arm's length and looking at her in a way he never had before.

"Me, too."

Jet nodded, then sunk into his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

Smellerbee sat outside his hut, leaning on the wall, staring up into the sky for hours until she finally fell asleep.