A/N. Had very busy few days, so the chapter won't begin very well, because I wrote some parts after a workday of more then 12 hours… But the last part, the important part, is alright!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender

It was disturbing actually… Watching Aang and Jet side by side, and… comparing? The airbender was standing tall next to the freedom fighter. Katara realized how tall actually. Aang was easily as tall as Jet, and that meant… He was now taller than her.

But seeing them next to each other, she also compared their characters. Jet was charming, a born leader, and caring about his friends. But under that surface of good traits lay traitorous, selfish attributes. And when she looked at Aang, she knew that that was the difference between the two guys. The airbender was caring and loving, without an agenda. It was just his nature to care for the world and everyone in it.

But she had also seen the dark look the airbender was giving the Freedom Fighter. And that was worrisome. As much as she hated to see Jet again, if he really had information capable of helping them find Appa… Well, she would put up with the idiot long enough. But after that she didn't want to see him ever again.

When they reached the gate, with Toph and Sokka already waiting for them, she saw her brother's eyes flare with anger. Yeah. That, she understood.

"What is… he doing here?" Sokka asked through gritted teeth.

"Who is he?" Toph just asked, but her eyebrows were furrowed together, as if she was concentrating very hard.

"Jet. Someone we met on the road before you. Apparently, he has information about Appa…" Katara muttered.

"I can really help!" The Freedom Fighter interjected, "I don't have the gang anymore, and just want to help you find Appa."

"That is a load of crap." Her brother grumbled, and Katara's heart sang out hearing her own doubts voiced by him.

"Well, he isn't lying…" Toph said, and with that, they let Jet lead the way towards another part of town. Katara walked next to Toph, Sokka made up the rear and Aang walked in front with the Freedom Fighter.

"I don't know who that guy is, but Twinkletoes really hates him." The blind girl whispered.

"Spirits…" Katara had thought about it. She had not suspected Aang would be the jealous type…

"Each time that guy says something to him, his heartbeat accelerates and reaches… well, hate level." Toph continued, still making her voice low and soft, so that no one else would hear it.

Katara worried. In the Cave of the Two Lovers, Aang had asked her about Jet. And the waterbender had answered truthfully that nothing had happened. The Freedom Fighter had tried to kiss her, but she had turned her cheek, not sure if she had really wanted to. Jet had whispered things in her ear in that treehouse, of what they could do together, but Katara had not answered.

Aang had nothing to worry about… So why was he acting like this. As much as she … Loved? The airbender, she didn't like the fact he was acting like this.

"This is the place I heard about!" Jet announced, opening a big barn in a shady part of the Lower Ring. As Katara stepped inside, the first thing that hit her was the smell. It smelled… like something had died in here

Please don't let that be the case…

She sighed in relieve when she saw the empty room. Thank the Spirits, at least her worst fear wasn't real… But there was also no Appa.

"If this is a trap…" She already uncorked her water pouch. But Jet turned and smiled his dashing grin to her.

"I work nearby! Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had here. And with the search flyer, I put two and two together…"

As Katara watched the Freedom Fighter, she heard Aang mutter something. The waterbender didn't hear the words, but she figured it was not really nice whatever he had said.

"Hey! I believe he was here!" Toph shouted suddenly, holding something white in her hand. The airbender nearly flew to the blind girl, and grabbed the fur in her hand. As Katara walked over, she saw the look of pure disappointment as he was caressing the fur.

"We missed him…"

"They took that thing yesterday." A voice in the dark corner muttered. As Katara squinted, she managed to see a man with a broom in his hands, cleaning the floor.

"Shipped him to some island! Finally, I've been cleaning fur and shit all day."

"Where?" Aang sounded so hopeful.

Please let it be close…

"Whaletail island. For some sort of zoo, or maybe meat. I don't know." The man walked away, still sweeping the floor.

Dear Spirits, not meat. That would be a cruel joke. A vegetarian eaten up as meat…

"Before you ask Aang. It is far… very far…" Sokka sighed, holding one of his maps in his hand.

As Katara looked, her heart sank. It was really far… It was nearly touching the South Pole… All their travels to get to the same place as the beginning.

"Well… It will take several weeks to get there on foot… and then to take a boat…" She began, but Aang quickly interjected.

"Our first priority must be Appa!"

He was right, of course.

"Yeah, we will go look for him, then come back and try to convince the Earth King." She put an arm around the airbender and saw the flash of a smile on his face. Ah, there he was.

"Alright! Let's move," Sokka commanded, and began to walk towards the door, but was stopped by Jet.

"I'm coming too!"

Oh no, everything but that… Just an hour had been difficult. But whole weeks of seeing that face? No! And certainly not with Aang… She and the airbender had this… sleeping arrangement, that she was already puzzling out how to apply while camping, and Jet didn't need to be there.

"We don't need your help." She shouted, stomping her foot on the ground. He just reacted by grinning.

"Why won't you trust me….Katara?" He drew her name out, and she hated how in made her recall the things he had said… There, in that treehouse.

"I wonder why." She muttered.

"Oh! He was your boyfriend!" Toph suddenly whispered next to the waterbender.

"What! No!" No, Jet had been a crush. A boyfriend would be… well, different.

"You're lying." The blind girl smirked, as they emerged on the street, following Aang, Sokka and Jet, who were discussing travel routes.

"It was just a stupid crush." Katara explained quietly.

"Seriously? You had Mister Developing Muscles Avatar Nice Boy over there, and went for… That?" Toph looked disgusted.

"Not one of my proudest moments." Katara answered, flustered. Indeed, it had not been. As she thought back at it, it was after their encounter with the Freedom Fighters that Aang had started to behave… differently. More open towards her, making her that flower necklace… And he had known what necklaces meant for her people. So, there was no mistaking the change of behaviour from that moment on…

"Jet!" a voice called from an alley. Two persons emerged from the shadow, and Katara recognized them as part of the Freedom Fighters.

"You said you didn't have your gang!" She knew it! Of course, that bastard had been lying!

"I don't!" Well, what are those then? Complete strangers who knew his name and hugged him? Yeah, of course.

"How did you get away from the Dai Li?" The girl asked, and Katara felt as if she had been slapped. What was this?

"Dai Li!" She managed to utter. Oh spirits… Not this.

"Yeah, he got arrested by the Dai Li… like, two weeks ago?" the girl looked at the archer next to her, who nodded.

"I've been living peacefully in the city!" Jet sounded… unsure. As if he was not really convinced. But then… His eyes glazed over and became neutral… and Katara had already seen that. Looking at her brother, he nodded. He had seen the same thing.

"Huh… That's weird… They are both telling the truth…" Toph said, totally surprised.

"Alright, that's it. Jet has been brainwashed by the Dai Li. Have one of you a room or a house nearby?" Sokka asked the Freedom Fighters. The girl and the archer took them to a small apartment near the wall of the Lower Ring, and they sat Jet down at the table. Momo jumped off the airbender's shoulder and immediately began to search through the cupboards, in search of food.

"The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us. And that janitor too." Katara had understood on the way here. Long Feng had talked about Appa, without knowing about him. The Dai Li had known they were searching for the bison. And Jet had been arrested. So, they probably thought she and the others would trust him. Unluckily for them, they had captured to least trustworthy of all their acquaintances. Jet.

"Maybe they are keeping Appa at the same place as they took Jet?" The airbender turned to the Freedom Fighter.

"I don't know! They didn't take me anywhere!"

"We need something to trigger his memories…" Aang muttered, and from the corner of her eye, she saw her brother smirk.

"Maybe Katara could kiss him." He laughed, and she felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. She had never kissed Jet! Why was Sokka thinking she had?

"Maybe you should kiss him!" She answered, angrily.

"Hey, just an idea…"

After that, silence.

"Yeah. A bad one." The silence was broken by the voice of the airbender, who was clearly not liking the idea at all. Katara could feel her blush intensify.

"Do you have a better idea?" Her brother asked, oblivious to the awkwardness. Thank the Spirits. Luckily, the heavy silence was broken by the girl, who proposed to stir his memories by thinking about what happened to Jet's village.

That didn't work, only to make him sweat. But Katara got an idea. It seemed to disturb him, thinking about these events. But if she could calm him down… Maybe? Just maybe?

Each time she cured Aang, he said how the water was soothing and relaxing. So… why not try? She put her hands on either side of the Freedom Fighter's head.

"A lake… Some guy in long green robes with a moustache… They… Took me to some headquarters… Under a lake."

"Lake Laogai." Katara was sure. Jo Dee had talked about it… And it was the only great mass of water here in the city. It had to be it.

"Well, let's just sleep now, for the moment. Then, tomorrow, we'll go check it out." Her brother suggested to which the others nodded.

Oh… What now? Sleeping with everyone here would be… a challenge. The room was small, and only had a small balcony.

The waterbender saw that Jet and Aang were again talking, and that the older guy was grinning, while Aang's lips were pursed.

"I'll sleep on the balcony." Aang muttered, and quickly disappeared. As the others made themselves as comfortable as possible, Katara moved to the small door through which the airbender had disappeared.

"Stupid bastard. Talking… talking about her… Like that." She heard his voice grumble from the other side.

"Aang?" Katara opened the balcony door, and saw that indeed, it was quite small. There was just the place for two people to sit.

"Oh! Hey!" The airbender flashed her his usual smile and warm gaze, and nothing suggested he had been angry just two minutes ago.

"Are you alright?" She sat down next to where Aang had been crouching, holding his staff against his forehead.

"Yes! Of course, I am! There is a chance of finding Appa!" The hopeful look in those grey eyes nearly made her forget what she had heard him say to himself just before.

"Even if it is thanks to Jet?" Katara knew she had to turn the conversation towards that subject, even if she didn't really want to. At the mention of the Freedom Fighter, the warm gaze disappeared, just for an instance. But she had seen the look he sported during that one second before. When the airbender had looked at the sandbenders.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter who helps. As long as we find him again!" Aang spoke, and she saw how his cheerful look didn't quite reach his eyes. And how he averted them, looking over the vast expanse of tiled roofs beneath them.

"Why are you angry with him?" Katara knew she had also been irritated with the Freedom Fighter, but he had not betrayed the airbender's trust, or at least, not like he had hers…

"Oh, I'm just a bit… Distrustful. That's all. Normal, after the way he behaved." Aang answered, almost mechanically. And that was the thing. Katara knew the airbender always trusted people. However badly they behaved or had treated him. Aang was always prepared to give people a second, a third, a fourth chance. Never had he used the word distrustful.

"Aang… Toph told me you don't like him. Each time Jet talks to you, your heart apparently gives off hate" She spoke softly, so that their conversation could not be overheard from the other side of the flimsy door.

"I don't hate Jet… I hate what he says." Aang whispered back, nearly spitting out the words. The change in the tone made the waterbender nearly raise her eyebrows. So, there was jealousy…

"What has he said?" She asked, still trying to sound gentle.

"It's not important… Just something that I personally don't like." Aang whispered back, now much quieter, and calmer.

"It is important to me."

She saw his eyes meet hers, and what she saw in that gaze made her heart swell. Katara knew that often, Aang's feelings would be overlooked by people. Only his friends thought about those. And she tried to always think of them.

"He… Jet made some insinuations… to what happened at their camp when we travelled through it." The airbender finally spoke, softly, "Since we met up with him earlier… Each time I am alone with him… He talks about… He…"

His voice became quieter, and she only heard a mumble after that. But Katara understood the meaning, even if the words weren't clear. Jet had been talking to Aang, lying about what she and the Freedom Fighter had been doing all those months back.

"Aang… He and I… we never…" the waterbender didn't finish her sentence.

"I know… You told me. But he… He said things about you… It isn't the lying about… About that… That makes me angry with him. It is the things he is saying about you now…" The airbender looked at the wooden planks that formed the floor of the balcony, not meeting her eyes.

"What has he been saying about me?" Now, it was her turn to be angry with the Freedom Fighter.

"Do you want to know?" Aang whispered back, still looking at the floor.

"Is it bad?"

"Yeah…"

"In that case, I want to know." Katara took Aang's hand in hers, knowing it would maybe calm him enough. To show it was him she trusted, not the words that would leave his mouth.

"He… made crude remarks about your… Well, your attributes…" The airbender gestured vaguely towards her body. She knew exactly what that meant. She had heard enough men make dirty jokes to know that Jet had talked about her breasts or her rear, or something in that sense.

"And?"

"He… Said how nice it had been to… well… you know… Be with you… in that sense…" Aang spoke hesitantly. Katara suspected that the Freedom Fighter had not used the same words as the airbender just had.

"Well, let's just ignore this crap. You should not listen to what he is saying… It is not true. You know what I really feel… And for whom." Katara spoke softly, trying not to slap her hand in front of her mouth when she said those words. It was as much confirmation as she had ever given of their situation. Yeah, there was something between them. Normal friends didn't sleep in the same bed. Didn't kiss… Spirits, without even trying, they had fallen in some sort of routine that was more appropriate for a couple… And that, without even speaking for their feelings. Or at least, speaking about without all the turning around the subject, as they had done.

Aang looked up again.

"Katara…" His voice sounded so soft and warm.

"Aang…" She whispered back. At once, the same atmosphere as all those nights ago, after the Earth King's party, was back. How, by some unnatural force, they were pulled towards each other. Their shoulders were touching, and Katara didn't even hesitant, turning her face towards the airbender, who did the same… And how, inch by inch, their lips were getting closer.

And again… Fate did whatever it wanted. The door of the balcony flew open, and there stood Jet.

"Oh there you are! We are getting something to eat. What do you two want?" The Freedom Fighter dashed that handsome smile to her, but it didn't affect her. He had gone just a step too far.

"I'm not hungry." Aang grumbled, standing up and walking past the young men, joining Toph. Katara saw, just before Jet blocked her view, that the blind girl padded Aang's shoulder in sympathy.

"And you Katara?" The way he said her name was way too disturbing. The tone was probably meant to be flirtatious, but Katara didn't like it one bit.

"Alright. You listen to me. I don't care what you think about me or my ass. But if you ever again say those things, especially to him, I'll plant an ice spear so far up your butt that you will shit ice cubes for the rest of your life. Understood?"

Not even waiting for a response, the waterbender walked past the stunned boy and joined the others. Standing next to Aang, she quietly whispered in his ear.

"I know there is no way to stay together tonight. But after all this is done, you and I are talking. Without anyone capable of interrupting us… Alright?"

The airbender didn't move. But his eyes, fixed on her seemed to go through a whole panoply of emotions, before settling on content.

And Aang nodded.

Answers :

Gabriela N. Gonzalez : You see, they didn't tolerate it! Aang tried to ignore it, but he hated it, and well, Katara was very clear about it in the end lol. But the next chapter will be really nice I think…

CoyoteLemon : THe punching will be for Katara, don't worry!

Ashely Barbosa : I don't know any fans of Jet, but yeah, I just wanted to be sure lol!