"Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful." -Lao Tzu

The morning came too early. But if the almost sleepless night had taught Jet anything, it was that he didn't mind Zuko only being a mere few tree lengths away. It was almost comforting, in a way. Almost.

When a sound had come to both of their attentions, someone or something slinking about in the dark the night before, the two had both shot from their tents to investigate; Unhesitating to defend. Upon not discovering the source, the sound having retreated back into the darkness, they both went back to their beds without a word. An unspoken agreement had been made that moment; That either one of them would protect the other from creatures of the dark. Or, in the very least, alert the other to the dangers of the night. Two sets of ears and two sets of swords was simply just more practical. And it was nothing more than that.

Little did they know, that this danger was much more earthly than some stalking, nightmarish creature. It was simply Toph. Which honestly, should scare them more - but no matter. She hadn't expected to feel two bodies laid up in camp when she went to extend an olive branch of sorts to Zuko. And frankly, she wasn't touching that one with a ten-foot pole. She left before her curiosities began to wander, and definitely before they had a chance to be answered. She returned to the gang and said not a word. Her lips were sealed. She'd find out who it was eventually anyway. If it were important, she'd know by now. Oh, but what a surprise it was going to be. Nothing better than the anticipation knowing you have a present but can't open it. Not yet. It was at least something to look forward to in this boring temple.

Zuko learned that morning that Jet had quite the knack for climbing trees. He knew that because he was currently in one. And he was also tossing pecans at him and narrowly missing. Zuko wanted to turn to address it, but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction. He sipped his tea and pretended to be unbothered by such childish antics.

Until one landed in his cup.

He turned around, snarling, and Jet just laughed that infuriatingly velvety laugh; the one that was so sickeningly smooth and didn't try to hide the fact that it was mocking.

"Stop," he tried to say as level headed as possible. He was still upset from getting doused by Katara, and all Jet could do was prod.

"Oh, come on. You know that was a good shot," Jet defended, almost with a childlike innocence.

Zuko sighed and plucked the invading object from his tea. If he let Jet get under his skin, he'd never stop.

Another pecan landed, this time on his head.

"I'm serious!" he spat with as much venom his voice could produce at such a unworthy situation.

Jet laughed, quick but still mocking. "I know you're serious."

Zuko was sure his head would explode. He shot around, snarling, until he saw something peculiar.

Tikka was on the ground, laid lazily in the shade atop her furs, and not on Jet's chest per usual. He didn't know why he'd expected that he'd climb a tree with her. He supposed it was more that he hadn't expected Jet to leave her closer to him than he had himself. Or maybe it was that he was just such a ridiculous human being that he would do something like climb a tree with an infant.

And how ridiculous he was. Zuko wasn't even sure such a person was real. His stupid little blade of grass hanging from his lips at every moment. His stupid, remedial remarks. But there was something strange about Jet, he noticed. The intent behind his words was always seemingly more than what his ear could distinguish. Or perhaps he was just an idiot, and Zuko was looking much too far into it. Giving him more credit than deserved. In reality, or at least on the surface, everything he did was some creative, not so feeble attempt at pissing him off. And it was much easier to see him as just that. A man with a no intent other than to be a childish pesterer. And what a pesterer he made.

He found himself arbitrarily looking to the pesterer, his body twisted around. Jet was only half paying the world any attention as he scooped pecans from their respective branches. He looked at home in the tree, Zuko thought. Like it was his natural setting and the ground was the foreign place.

And no matter how slender he may be, Jet seemed to take up a lot of space amongst the leaves. He could nimbly slip in and out of limbs, yet somehow the surety of his feet padding from one to the other was thunderous. His movements were loud even in their silence, even in their fluidity. There was a swashy way his shoulders rolled back after dipping under branches, then locked into place with what Zuko was starting not to consider misplaced confidence. And it made him feel larger than life. Unreal almost.

He descended from the height of the limbs with such grace that Zuko was convinced that he, in fact, did not have a death wish as he'd previously thought. That rather he was so self-assured his feet would touch bottom that he wasn't even worried about it. He hit the ground, catlike, feet first, crinkling the leaves underneath him. The hem of his shirt was tucked into his teeth, and a little hammock of fresh picked pecans hung over his belly.

He even carried things ridiculously, Zuko thought. Why not shove them into his pockets like a normal person would? Why walk around, bare bellied in the cold, just to collect pecans? Unless, he wanted… unless he was wanting Zuko to look. He shook the cheek flushing thought from his head. Surely, that wasn't it.

"Afraid I'd fall?" Jet asked, now holding the hammock with his hand as opposed to his teeth. That is the moment Zuko realized he may have been looking to him a moment too long.

"I wish you would have," Zuko answered.

Jet laughed, as if seeing right through his feeble attempt. "That hurts Zuko. Even from you."

"How are you this happy?" he found himself asking, unsure of why he was asking it. He supposed it was because Jet had seemed so disheartened at the news of his gang that it seemed impossible he had turned around overnight. He himself was still disheartened from the day before.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jet asked, a hopefulness in his voice that Zuko was jealous of. "I'll find 'em sooner or later," he said, as if he'd completely understood Zuko's vague question without a second thought. He sauntered towards the camp, belly still out as he observed his nature's loot.

Zuko wasn't sure if he should tell him the reality. To say anything the opposite would surely burst this bubble of denial Jet had formed around himself, probably as a defense mechanism. Perhaps he should just let him be hopeful. What harm could it really do?

"So-" Jet said. "Figured out how you're gonna' convince the avatar to let us join?" He positioned himself opposite the campfire, that way his eyes could be trained on Tikka as she slept the morning away.

"Us?" Zuko questioned.

"Well, I guess I should just say you, cause I already figured out what I'm gonna' do," Jet said, lazily folding his legs underneath him as he plucked the pecans from his pouch.

Zuko hated that he did that. Hated that he left his sentences on such vague terms that it warranted a response. Like he was milking the conversation out of him. Getting him just curious enough to continue instead of letting him sulk.

"And what's that?" he asked.

Jet smirked a bit, as if he'd been waiting on the question. It was infuriating.

"Oh, you know-" Jet said, still smiling to himself as he cracked open a pecan nauseatingly slowly. "Just gotta' make out with Katara a coupla' more times and I'm sure I'll be welcomed back."

"More times?" Zuko asked quickly and despite himself. The surprise in his voice sounded foreign to him, and he was worried that Jet would take it as jealousy. Which it definitely was not.

"You didn't know?" Jet asked, that tiny little smile pulling his stupid lips. "Me and Katara used to be a thing."

"Liar," Zuko said. Katara seemed smarter than that. As far as he could tell.

"Why would I lie?" Jet asked, a fake tinge of hurt in his tone.

Zuko had to think for a moment. Why would he? What purpose would it have?

"That's not gonna' work," Zuko said.

"Why not?" Jet asked, and Zuko knew he wasn't this stupid.

"She's with the avatar," Zuko answered. "I think."

"Ah," Jet said, unsurprised and unwounded by the information. "You seem to know a lot about her," he said curiously.

Zuko couldn't help but feel he was trying to extract some sort of information out of him, but for the life of him he didn't know what.

"Not really," he found himself saying. "We were together in prison, but that's the only time I've ever really talked to her."

"So, you've never made a move on her?"

Zuko furrowed his brow. Why would he? He… hadn't considered it. Why was Jet even asking? Wouldn't he be jealous of such a thing if he was planning on making out with her? Was he just toying with him now? And why, oh why, was he even answering such ridiculous, invasive questions anyway?

"No," he answered, knowing he didn't have to.

He could have sworn Jet's lips twitched towards a smile for just a moment, but why? He didn't make any sense. No sense at all. Much like Azula, he thought a bit grimly for a moment. But at least Jet's mind reading abilities weren't quite up to par with hers, and for the most part, seemed to be used for far less nefarious purposes. Like simply to just piss him off. But still all his purposes remained unclear. At least for now.

"Tell me something," Jet said, a little less mischievousness in his tone now.

Zuko immediately prepared for the worst.

"How is it that there's snow on the ground and you're wearing short sleeves?"

Zuko held his cup very still for a moment. That is definitely not the question he'd expected.

"Well," he said, thinking for a moment. Was Jet genuinely curious about this? Would he like the answer he gave? "Firebenders can regulate their body temperature."

Jet seemed to mull over that information for a moment, looking to somewhere behind Zuko. "So – you can make your body hot?" he asked.

"Something like that," Zuko answered.

Jet's voice came out softer this time, softer than Zuko had probably ever heard. "When – when did you know?"

Zuko was confused for a moment, until he realized the intent. Jet was looking at Tikka behind him, and what he was asking him was when he realized he was a bender.

"Earlier than I can remember," Zuko answered, a little softly.

Jet paused for a long while, and it was one of the few times Zuko had ever seen his surety falter visibly. His eyebrows knit together, and his hands seemed to fumble a bit as he picked apart a pecan.

"I-" Zuko started. "There's – there's a way – you can check," he said.

Jet looked to him for a moment, clearly confused. "What?"

"To see," he said. "Benders can feel other benders chi."

Despite the good intention, that was the incorrect thing to say. Jet's hands balled together, and his brows knit together tight as he shot to his legs. "No," he shouted with a venom Zuko hadn't heard since Ba Sing se. "Don't you fucking touch her."

The shuttering of Jet's breath was visible amongst the cold air, and Zuko held very still for a moment. "I swear to the spirits Zuko, you fucking touch her and I'll cut your fucking head off," he said, although not a shout but equally as convincing.

Zuko swallowed the lump in his throat. "I won't," he assured, very calmly. "I promise. I won't."

Jet licked the venom from his lips and inhaled. "Okay," he said, not quite calm but not nearly as angry. "Okay." He unballed his fists, seemingly very reluctantly and rubbed his hand down the hem of his pants.

Zuko watched him seeming to go through every ounce of emotion he had in just a few seconds.

"She's just-" Jet started, then paused. He inhaled a large breath and let it out. "She's all I have," he said, the words coming out as a plea.

"I know," Zuko said softly. And know he did. His uncle was the only thing he had, and he was gone now. If snarling and shouting had been able to protect that, Zuko would have done it too. Had done it before. When Uncle was injured by Azula, he remembered that pain. That desperation. That need to shout.

Jet's chest rose and fell heavily for a few moments as he looked to somewhere in the distance. "I'm sorry," he said quickly and almost inaudibly.

It took Zuko by such surprise that it took him a moment to register that it had actually been said. "Me too," Zuko said quietly after a long silence. But sorry he was not for any recent events. He hoped Jet would understand. Hope he'd hear I'm sorry for having lied to you in such simple words.

Jet looked to him, brows still knit together - but not in anger anymore. Zuko couldn't meet his gaze, rather just looked into his cup.

Seeming to understand what the apology was for, and all it intended, Jet walked away and went to fetch Tikka without another word.

The next hour was… uncomfortable, to say the least, but in a way, the both of them felt a little better about the other. More understanding, but quiet and thoughtful the two were non the less.

Jet had went near completely silent again, and Zuko knew that meant to not press him any further. He said he was going to speak to the avatar himself, and Zuko didn't argue the issue; only hoped that his spoken plan to make out with Katara wasn't the actual plan. They packed camp and walked towards to edge of the cliff.

Zuko grappled down first, at the end of the temple in which he knew the avatar's group wasn't, and Jet went down second; Carefully, and delicately, with Tikka on his back opposed to his chest. Zuko knew better than to suggest he didn't, and Jet felt himself sigh in relief as his feet touched bottom. Rosebud waited patiently up top, stalking the rabbit-moles that dwelled in the field above.

"Just stay out of sight," Jet warned him. "I'll let you know what happens."

They weaved through the temple, and upon growing closer, Zuko slipped out of sight as Jet continued towards the area in which the group was. He didn't know exactly where they were and had to search a bit, and all the while an anxiety was growing in his chest.

He rounded a corner and there she was, in water tribe blue, kneeled over a simmering pot with her back faced to him. He paused, his feet seeming to be unable to draw further out into the open. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke.

"Katara," he said softly, halfway in the hallway and halfway out.

She went still, her arm hovering with the ladle in her hand. She looked over her shoulder slowly, as if fearing she would seea ghost. And when she turned, that is exactly what she saw.

Jet waited for her to register for a moment. Her hand dropped the ladle and she stood to face him, a little too quickly for her own good. "Jet?" she asked, her hands drawn up to her chest.

"Yeah," he answered with a soft smile. "It's really me."

"It worked," she breathed, as if the words had lifted a weight from her shoulders.

With how much he'd scorn her and how badly, what she did next was a complete surprise to him. She didn't nail him to the sides of the temple with water spikes. She didn't slosh him over the side with a wave. She didn't do any of the things he'd expected. She walked slowly through the few feet that distanced them and lifted her hands to brush her fingers over his armor, as if to ensure herself that he was real by touching him.

She looked at him for a moment, looking as if she was about to cry at any second. "You're alive," she said again, probably more for herself than for him.

"Thanks to you," he said with a warm smile.

Her lips drew up just a tad at that, but reluctantly as if she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her smile. He hated it. He hated what he'd done to her. Made her fall for him just so he could use her. And he'd never felt a damn thing for her, no matter how beautiful she was. But what he did feel, very true and near, was the guilt for having done it.

"I'm sorry," he said softly and genuinely and much more easily than he had to Zuko. "For everything before."

She opened her mouth, as if she was about to say that it was okay, then quickly closed it. But he knew it wasn't okay. He was so sure she knew it too.

"I forgave you a long time ago," she said, and for some reason that hit him where it hurt. His breath hitched in his throat, and for one of the few times in his life, he was lost for words. Her hands hovered over him for a few long moments before she let them fall back to her sides.

"Why?" he questioned. It didn't make sense. The last he saw of her; she'd pinned him to a wall. More so how? How could she forgive him? He'd thought what he'd done had been unforgivable.

"I understand a little more now," she said gravely, a little darkly, and for some reason it made him uneasy. Her hands rolled into somewhat of a fist, and it didn't go unnoticed. She looked unsteady on her feet, and as if she was looking through him and not at him. He swallowed, hard. He didn't like what he was seeing. This wasn't her. He was seeing himself – in the time right before he snapped. Before he'd decided that every fire nation head should roll. And now, more so than ever, he could see how unsettling, how wrong, it had felt for everyone around him.

"Katara, I-" he started, the words seeming to hang in his mouth.

Then suddenly, a hair raising crack sounded in the distance; followed immediately by an explosion and debris falling to the earth.

"Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore! The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!" Zuko shouted.

Jet looked over incredulously to the scene of Zuko flailing his arms towards the assailant, and Katara seemed to snap herself out of whatever fog she'd been in.

"He's back," she said solemnly. Though Jet wasn't sure if she was referring to the strange man or Zuko. "Come on! We gotta' take cover!"

Jet followed as Katara yanked his wrist towards wherever she was leading him. He trusted she knew where to go better than he did; His eyes trained on Zuko the entire time as his feet padded across the stone.

"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Zuko shouted at the man, who seemed indifferent to his words. Zuko tried to firebend at him, but the larger man snatched him by front of his shirt and held him tight. "All right! I'll pay you double to stop!"

Any other situation, and Jet would have laughed. But the startled Tikka on his back whimpering was telling him otherwise.

The man held Zuko tight and took aim once more. Jet's face fell as their eyes seemed to meet from afar. Zuko lifted a leg and landed a kick to him, causing the blast to go elsewhere. Otherwise, the strange explosion surely would have blown them to pieces. Great. Another thing he has to thank Zuko for. Katara led him behind a series of pillars and Jet peered around them, his heart hammering in his chest.

But he feared he wouldn't get the chance to thank him. The man, frustrated with Zuko's antics, took aim straight at him. Zuko's heart stopped as the strange crackling fired up once more. In defense, he whirled a shield of fire around himself as the blast sent him off the side.

Jet held very still for a moment as he watched the smoke clear, and his heart fell to his stomach upon seeing the man, alone, on the stone balcony; Zuko nowhere in sight.

The rest of the gang had seemed to catch up at this point, running to take cover along with them. Sokka and Aang looked at him incredulously, but Toph seemed unsurprised.

"Jet?" Sokka and Aang both asked simultaneously, their breathing heavy.

"Hey, Sokka. Hey, Aang," he said. "Catch up later, yeah?" he said quickly.

Sokka just nodded. Aang furrowed his brows as he peered around the columns.

Another explosion sounded, this one way too close for comfort. It startled Tikka so bad she had started to scream, but there wasn't much comforting to be done at the moment. Jet positioned her in the corner, his body in front of hers so she wouldn't get hit by debris.

"He's trying to blow the whole place off the cliff side!" Toph called.

"Shit, shit, shit," Jet murmured. He wasn't used to feeling this fucking defenseless. Even if he didn't have Tikka, his swords were useless against this.

Katara peered around, having to duck quickly back into cover as yet another explosion sent rocks flying. "I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up, and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here!"

Sokka paused for a minute, the idea quickly coming to him. "I know how to get an angle on him!" He held his boomerang tight in his hand, peering around the column and aiming as best he could. "All right buddy, don't fail me now!"

Once it left his hand, there was a long silence. The seconds seeming to take years to go by. The boomerang whipped through the air, and Sokka caught it once more. "Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka celebrated. The man held his face, clearly shaken, but stood proud once more. "Awww, boomerang!"

The deafening crackle sounded, as well as another explosion, but yet, nothing happened this time. The gang held still in their hiding place for a moment, waiting with their hearts in their chests.

Finally, Sokka had the nerve to look around, and the man, as well as the platform he'd been standing on, were nothing more than rubble now.

"He's gone," he said, the relief evident in his voice. "He's dead."

Jet pushed past the group immediately, half running to the open stone and peering around. He looked for what felt like hours for Zuko to appear. Then, he spotted him; Struggling his way up a tree root than had overgrown the side of the temple. Tikka still cried against him, but she was unharmed. Only startled.

"Aang, quick do me a favor," Jet said, the hurriedness in his voice evident as he untied the linens that held Tikka against him. "Take her, and calm her down for me. I gotta' go help."

Aang went to him a little surprised but took Tikka without a word. As soon as she'd left his hands, Jet took off to the platform and clambered up, his breath high in his chest and his heart in his stomach. He could feel the gang's eyes on him as he ran to where Zuko was dangling, but no matter. They could deal with it.

He looked over the side, and Zuko was pawing his way up the root.

"Shit," Jet said, a bit of panic in his voice. He went down to his knees and held his hands down. "Come on, just a little more and I'll pull you up."

Zuko's hands were struggling, but he made it high enough to snatch Jet's forearm. Jet's grip tightened like a vice on him, using all the strength in both his arms to pull Zuko over the side. Zuko fell over the threshold, almost on top of him but not quite. He rolled to his back and swallowed the lump in his throat as Jet sat with him for a moment to catch their breaths.

Zuko's breath was ragged, but he managed a "Thanks."

"No problem," Jet answered breathily, licking his lips in relief. "I guess I owe you a thanks too."

Zuko smiled an adrenaline fueled grin, putting his hand over his heaving chest and staring at the sky for a moment.

"That was crazy," Jet breathed, like it wasn't obvious.

Zuko chuckled a little bit. "Seriously."

Jet smiled despite himself. He'd never really heard Zuko laugh like that. At least so openly. Guess almost dying will do that to a guy.

Jet stood and brushed to dust that had collected on his clothes, and a moment later Zuko lifted himself to a sitting position, the breath in his lungs seeming to finally get him somewhere.

And suddenly, the eyes of everyone else were much more prevalent. It was almost tangible how all of the attention was on them. Jet cleared his throat as if they'd hear it. "I – I gotta' go get the kid," he said, as if he needed an excuse to leave. He stepped away, almost reluctantly as Zuko stood to straighten his clothes. He followed with wobbly legs but not too closely behind Jet.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Zuko," Aang said as he met them halfway, the rest of the gang close behind him. Jet reached his hands out for Tikka and Aang handed her over with a warm smile.

"Hey what about me? I did the boomerang thing," Sokka noted.

"Trusty boomerang," Jet said humorously.

"And you," Sokka started. "Well, welcome back to the land of the living," he said casually, as if that were anywhere near appropriate.

Jet chuckled a bit as Katara shot Sokka the look.

"Thanks, Sokka," he said.

Jet could see all of them shooting eyes between him and Zuko behind him, as if trying to fit together some type of puzzle he himself hadn't put together. He rocked Tikka somewhat mindlessly, trying not to hold anyone's gaze for too long.

"So, what a – what brings you here?" Sokka asked. "Because I'm really confused right now."

"At least someone said it," Aang said.

"I uh- I wanna' join you guys," Jet said, more sheepishly than he'd hoped for. "I've uh- changed. A lot. And I wanna' help."

"Clearly," Sokka said, his eyes darting between Jet and Zuko once more. "But I thought you uh – hated – uh, you know," Sokka said, as if trying not to offend Zuko. For some reason.

"Obviously not," Toph said. "They've been traveling together." Then suddenly all eyes were on her. "What?" she defended, feeling all the heads turn to her. "I know things."

Zuko cleared his throat from behind him, drawing all eyes to him. Jet turned to face him, and Zuko's shoulders were high, his back straight. Just like he'd showed him.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday, I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right," he said, and Jet didn't miss the subtle glance he shot him.

"All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world."

Jet stood a bit slack jawed for a moment. He'd never expected Zuko to give a better speech than he did. And his words… besides the father part which he didn't quite understand yet, it was everything Jet had intended to say. Everything he felt, through and through, down to the tee. From Zuko's mouth.

Aang pondered for a few moments, seeming to mull it over. When he spoke, it was very soft, but sincere.

"If Jet can trust you enough to travel with you, then I guess I can too," he said.

Jet tried hard not to let that get to him, but he supposed he deserved it. Aang turned to him too. "I'm happy you're here with us, Jet. I was worried. I can see a change in you too, and we could use skills like yours." Aang bowed to the both of them, and Jet was unsure if he should reciprocate it, didn't even know how to really, but Zuko didn't hesitate to.

"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group," Zuko said sincerely.

"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, what do you think?" Aang asked.

Toph shrugged. "Eh, go ahead and let them join."

"Sokka?"

"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it," he answered.

"Katara?"

She gave a long pause, looking between Jet and Zuko unsurely. "I'll go along with whatever you think is right."

Zuko and Jet both shined toothy smiles at the group, but only Zuko spoke. "I won't let you down! I promise!"

The group dispersed without much else, and Zuko and Jet looked to each other quickly, still smiling like too-happy goofballs. Zuko seemed to realize what he was doing rather quickly and looked down and away, a flush running up his cheeks. Jet's grin grew a little wider as Zuko stepped away.