much love to you and yours - LaoTzu
Zuko and Sokka were definitely up to something, and Jet was determined to find out what. It shouldn't be too hard. They were both equally as bad as the other at keeping secrets.
"So, what's the plan?" Jet asked, and Zuko blinked his eyes at him. Like an idiot.
"What plan?" Zuko asked.
"Zuko, I'm not stupid," Jet said. "Sokka, what are you planning?"
"I'm not planning anything," Sokka said. "Why are you so paranoid?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm paranoid," Jet said.
"Well, I mean you kinda' are," Sokka retorted.
"That's not the point," Jet said. "I know you're up to something. Just tell me."
Sokka did that little, stupid whistle thing he does when he was definitely planning something. Jet stared at him, and Sokka looked away.
"What?" Sokka asked, not able to make eye contact.
"So, you're just not gonna' tell me? I see how it is," Jet said. "Zuko, what is he planning?"
"I don't know either!" Zuko snapped. Okay, maybe Zuko really didn't know. But there was for sure a plan and Jet needed to be in on it.
"Look, I'm a natural leader. I need to know the plan," Jet reiterated.
"You are definitely not the leader," Sokka retorted. "I am."
"Okay, Sokka," Jet said with a roll of his eyes. "But I still need to know the plan that you plan to lead."
"I'm not leading any plan. - Because there isn't one," Sokka retorted.
Jet sighed, long and low. "You know what, I'll find out eventually."
Sokka was really bad at sneaking. Zuko too. Did he really think he was going to be able to climb out the bed and Jet not notice? What a moron.
Jet trailed him down the hallway, watching as Zuko climbed into Appa's saddle. Sokka wasn't far behind, almost stepping on Momo's tail as he "snuck" around the rest of the gang.
"Not up to anything huh?" Zuko scolded as Sokka tried to climb aboard.
Sokka, of course, fell and sent his bagged items scattering across the stone.
"Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?" Sokka snapped.
"I'm never happy," Zuko retorted.
Ouch. That hurt a little.
"Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko."
"You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."
"No. I have to do this alone."
"How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares. We'll take my war balloon."
Jet stepped out from his hiding place behind the pillar. "So, we're taking your balloon?" he asked.
Sokka and Zuko both jumped in their skins.
"Jet!" Zuko scolded. "What – what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? You just thought you could sneak away and leave me behind huh? I'm going with you too," Jet said sternly.
"No, no, no," Sokka said. "I already have to babysit Zuko. I'm not babysitting you too."
"Babysit?" Jet scoffed.
"Speaking of babies, where's Tikka?" Zuko asked.
"I put her in the sleeping bag with Katara," Jet answered casually.
"You opened my sister's sleeping bag?" Sokka scolded.
"It's not like I groped her, Sokka! I like men. You know that!" Jet defended.
Zuko coughed.
"Oh, yeah," Sokka said, not seeming to notice Zuko's sudden asthma. "But still, you can't just leave your baby with people without asking!"
"Why not?" Jet asked innocently. "That's what we did in my village. And Katara loves it."
"That's not the point. This is not your vil-" Sokka started to scold, then inhaled a breath. "You know what, it's okay. You're still not coming."
"You're not leaving me out of the honor regaining fieldtrip. I'm coming," Jet said sternly.
"Just let him come Sokka," Zuko said, exhausted.
"See? Zuko agrees," Jet said smugly. "Two to one, Sokka."
"Urgh, fine!" Sokka spat. "Let's just go already."
Jet sat on the floor of the balloon, absolutely relishing in the fact that he was sat in between the boy he was currently kissing, and the brother to who he was previously kissing. It was awkward as hell, no one really making any amount of real eye contact, and normally he would eat this kind of thing up.
But spirits, was it boring. No one was talking. He closed his eyes for a nap a half hour ago, and still nothing had happened. Just stupid small talk about clouds. He was just about asleep, when Zuko snapped something that jolted him awake.
"Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that!"
"I know, I know, you've changed," Sokka said.
"I meant my uncle. He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down," Zuko said, downtrodden.
"I think your uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard."
"It wasn't that hard," Zuko said.
"Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?"
"Well, I did have a girlfriend. Mai," Zuko answered.
Oh? Zuko has more game than he let's on, huh?
"That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" Sokka asked, suddenly interested.
"Yeah. Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it," Zuko said.
Jet felt a pang of something. Something… foreign. Possessiveness? Jealously, maybe? But he pushed the thought away. What right did he have?
"My first girlfriend turned into the moon," Sokka said, probably a little too casually.
"That's rough buddy," Zuko replied.
Jet peeked his eyes open and smirked. "My first girlfriend was your sister," he said smugly.
"Go back to sleep Jet!" Sokka scolded.
Smellerbee stared at the wall from the infirmary mattress, the bright walls reflecting the light in from outside the barred room. Her wound was still ripe, but at least now it was sewed shut and bandaged properly. She grimaced as she tried to stretch her bruised muscles, still being a little dehydrated and well, frozen, but not nearly as much as she was. The red prison uniform they'd put on her was surprisingly comforting, at least compared to the bloodied outfit she had on before. But still, she was exhausted, despite the little bit of food she had in her belly and the little bit of sleep she had managed to get. But at least she was alive - and being treated like an actual human being.
The barred door swung open, and she heard some varied protests from the guards outside, followed by the same dull, bored voice she heard before.
"But Lady Mai, she's dangerous," the guard warned.
"I can take care of myself," Mai assured.
"As you wish," the guard relented.
Smellerbee reluctantly rolled her head towards her, unable to really move her whole body, and watched her with suspicious eyes as she stepped into the room, how her arms folded casually within her long, draping robe sleeves.
"I'm not telling you shit," Smellerbee snapped, but was quickly interrupted by a long sigh.
"Look, I get it," Mai said, unamused but not unkindly. "You're tough as nails, I know, but I'm not here to interrogate you."
Smellerbee's eyebrows furrowed. "What is this? Some good cop, bad cop kinda' thing? I'm not buying."
Mai looked like she was about to sigh again at that, but before she could Ty Lee walked into the room on her hands, looking up from the complicated position to smile at Mai before falling back down to her feet in one graceful movement. Smellerbee watched her as she did, more confused than she'd ever been in her entire life.
"Hello, Ty Lee," Mai said.
"Hey, Mai," Ty Lee chirped. "This prison is really boring. I figured I'd find you and see what you were up to."
"Well, as you can see," Mai said, gesturing around the room. "This is equally as boring."
Ty Lee eyed Smellerbee, who was still looking like she had no idea what was going on, and smiled before doing yet another little flip and landing right in front of the bed. Ty Lee leaned over a little, and Smellerbee leaned away, about to snarl at the acrobat who was much too comfortable breathing her air.
"Oh, you're a real cutie," Ty Lee hummed.
Smellerbee's cheeks went beet red, not expecting that at all. "Oh, uh – I'm – I'm a girl," she said sheepishly, turning her head and averting her eyes.
"I know," Ty Lee chirped. "I can tell by the way your lips move. You're just a tomboy, is all. A really cute one, and that's okay. I can work with that."
What the fuck is happening? Smellerbee thought, still trying to lean away. This was, somehow, way more intimidating than torture had been. "You really think I'm cute?" she managed to ask, unconvinced and surprised and confused - but admittedly… a little flattered.
"Uh, duh. What are these red marks on your face?" Ty Lee asked curiously, pointing her finger.
"Uh," Smellerbee said, then raised a hand to her reddened cheek. "Warrior's tattoos from my village?" she answered questioningly.
"Oh, wow you are tough. That must have hurt," Ty Lee chimed. "And you're a warrior too? I bet your arms are really strong."
"Ty Lee," Mai scolded, though not very enthusiastically. "I didn't come here for you to sexually harass the prisoner." Mai looked away for a moment, a slight red running up her own cheeks. "Even though she is… interesting."
What in the actual fuck is happening?
"What did you come here for?" Ty Lee chirped.
Mai did sigh at that and pulled a chair from the corner of the room, sitting down and crossing her legs and placing her arms on her lap. Smellerbee sheepishly watched her as she did, not quite able to make eye contact with anyone in the room just yet.
"I wanted to ask you if you knew someone," Mai said to Smellerbee. "He mentioned your group before. Apparently, he met you a while ago."
"I told you, I'm not telling you anything," Smellerbee reiterated, though with a little more wavering this time than she would have liked.
"I'll let you see your friend," Mai offered plainly.
Smellerbee's eyes softened despite herself. "Who?" she asked, though very reluctantly.
"Well, his name is Zuko, but you might have known him as something else," Mai answered.
"Big scar on his cheek, also a real cutie, gold eyes," Ty Lee explained.
Smellerbee thought for a moment. Could they be talking about Li? She hadn't seen him in such a long time. Since Ba Sing Se. But he was the only person who fit the description.
"What about him?" she asked, still suspicious of this woman's motives.
"Look, I don't care about your fighters or what you're doing. I just want to know if he's okay or not," Mai said. "I just figured he might have ended up with your group."
"I don't know," she answered honestly, feeling she owed this woman at least a little something. "I haven't seen him in a while. Ever since he was in Ba Sing Se."
Mai's normally unmovable face shifted for a moment, but ultimately went right back to her normal, firm lines. She stood to straighten her robes.
"I'll send the guards to get your friend," she said. "Though probably won't be for very long."
"Thank you," Smellerbee murmured, somewhat despite herself, and Mai exited without a word.
"Bye cutie," Ty Lee mused and followed close behind.
Crash landing had not been what Jet had expected to happen, but hey, he'd take it - Because Zuko had landed on top of him. And even though it had hurt a little, it was still pretty hot. Especially the little groan of pain Zuko did, which probably shouldn't be hot – but totally was.
"Hey, pretty boy," he murmured and waggled his eyebrows, and Zuko's cheeks immediately went blood red as he scrambled to his feet.
"If you two are done making out," Sokka said, brushing the dirt from clothing. "Help me push this balloon into the water."
"We're not-" Zuko started to protest.
"Yeah, yeah - whatever Zuko," Sokka interrupted, then averted his attention to the balloon.
Jet eyed Zuko and smirked, mouthing 'he knows' teasingly a moment after, effectively making Zuko want to jump headfirst into the boiling lake. His cheeks would probably be less hot in there.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Zuko murmured, trying to ignore Jet. "Because there's no turning back now."
"You have ten minutes," a guard said, to which Smellerbee rolled her head towards the door. That woman had kept her word. She almost couldn't believe it when Longshot walked through the bars, and the guards unclicked the shackles he had behind his back. He rubbed his wrists and nodded what Smellerbee knew as his thanks, then averted his eyes towards her. He looked relieved – and also, surprisingly, a little angry, though she wasn't sure as to why. That was one emotion she hadn't been able to fully pin down with him yet. It wasn't something he showed often.
"Longshot," she said with a weak smile, but he didn't smile back. Only strut with long strides towards the bed. With him closer, she could see he had a brace on the fingers he used to pull back his bow. They did break them. Perhaps that was why he was angry.
But she learned, very quickly, that that might have been the stupidest thing she'd ever thought.
He ripped the sheet back and bore his eyes into her, and his nostrils flared at the sight of her split lip and bruised, frostbitten and bandaged skin. It made her want to hide, when she'd never wanted to before. It was frightening, Longshot silently losing his composure.
"I'm – I'm okay," she managed to say, somewhat sheepishly. More air than words.
He inhaled a breath and finally looked her in the eyes.
"You're… you're not mad at me, are you?" she asked, her mind running back to her telling him she hated him, and her stomach flipped.
His eyebrow lifted, and his face softened like butter, immediately settling some of her anxiety. He wasn't mad at her.
"Are your fingers okay?" she asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, more gingerly than she'd ever seen. He lifted his hand and shrugged in response. They will be.
She tried to lift herself to meet him, but grimaced as she did. He waved his hands at her, telling her to lay back down, but she wasn't one to give up so easily. He sighed and reached his arm out, and she took it, pulling herself into a sitting position.
"I know, I know, I'm a little stubborn," she said before he could chastise her any further.
He raised another questioning brow.
"Okay, really stubborn. Don't rub it in, Longshot," she scolded.
He smiled a little, which made her stomach somersault like it always did on the rare occasions he smiled. But she didn't deserve it right now. She'd gotten him into this whole mess.
"I'm sorry," she said in a murmur, feeling the need to say it now before the chance to was taken away.
He raised a hand to his chest. It was his fault too.
"No, it's not, Longshot!" she scolded. "It was my idea to come to the Fire Nation. You should have left me!"
He raised a brow and shook his head. He'd never do that. Never.
She sighed, because she knew it was true, and looked down to her hands in her lap. "I don't hate you," she said lowly.
He chuckled a little, and her eyes shot up to see what was so damn funny. He looked at her out the corner of his eye, amused, and she could feel the blood running to her cheeks. He never believed it in the first place, and was entertained she felt the need to let him know.
"Get outta' here with that, Longshot," she scolded.
He smiled and shrugged.
"We gotta' find a way outta' here," she said in a whisper. Time was dwindling. This conversation needed to move.
He nodded. They will.
"They can't keep the Freedom Fighters in prison. It'll never happen," she whispered, a little smugly.
He smiled and nodded again. Not in a million years.
"Soon as my leg gets healed a little, I'll come find you," she whispered.
He gave her a suspiciously stern look. It better heal all the way before she does.
"I know, I know," she said. "Hopefully that other women is gone and I can come out of solitary soon anyway."
"Times up," the guard said.
"That wasn't ten min-" Smellerbee started to protest, but was interrupted by Longshot pulling her into a gentle hug. She blushed a little, but hugged back anyway. Who knows when she'd see him again?
"Soon," he said against her hair, answering her silent question, then withdrew without another word.
"Be careful," she said as he stood.
He gave her a curious look over his shoulder.
"I know Longshot," she said, somewhat amused. "You should be telling me that."
He smiled as the guards put the cuffs back on his wrists.
Soon.
"I hope these disguises work," Zuko said lowly, smoothing out the guard uniform, trying not to eye Jet who was currently still putting his uniform on nauseatingly slowly, shirt off and smirking at him; Waggling his stupid, perfect eyebrows when Sokka wasn't looking.
"We just need to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible," Sokka said.
"How are we gonna' do that?" Jet asked.
"I'm – not sure yet," Sokka said.
"We should just ask someone," Jet suggested.
"Look, I'm leading this. Not you. We can't just ask someone," Sokka argued.
Jet looked at him for a moment. "Why not?" he asked, not all that unreasonably.
"Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard. Come on!" a guard called from down the hall.
"You guys go handle that," Jet said. "I'm gonna' go find someone to ask."
"No," Zuko argued. "We can't split up. It's too risky!"
"Trust me Zuko," Jet said. "I just gotta' find a female guard and make her gush her pants, and I'll get us all we need."
"Jet-," Zuko scolded.
"Just like I did your sister, Sokka" Jet added, smirking.
Sokka made a disgusted, choked angry noise.
Zuko coughed on his spit.
"Shut up, Jet!" Sokka spat.
"Just come on Sokka," Zuko said, pulling his arm before this could accelerate anymore. He looked over his shoulder and mouthed 'be careful', to which Jet smirked and threw a thumbs up before turning on his heels.
"Oh yeah," Jet said, then smirked to himself. "Hey guys!"
Sokka and Zuko looked over their shoulders.
"Number one rule of prison," Jet advised, still smirking. "Don't drop the soap."
"Shut up, Jet!" Sokka and Zuko scolded simultaneously.
Jet's booted feet padded across the grated walkway, his eyes searching through the guard helmet as he passed cell after cell. Where to find an unsuspecting guard to flirt with…
Oh, not a guard. But someone. A girl in pink and another girl in red robes heading his way. They looked pretty important, as far as he knew.
He pushed his shoulder to the side just a tad as they walked passed, just enough to brush the girl in pink and get her attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, smiling under his helmet. "Didn't mean to bump you."
"It's okay," she chirped.
"Say, think you could help direct me?" he asked, a little flirtatiously. The girl in pink smiled. The other rolled her eyes. "I'm new around here."
"Well, sure," the girl in pink chimed.
"Ty Lee," the other scolded. "We don't have time for this."
"I'll only be a second, honest," Jet chimed back, effectively making the girl in red roll her eyes once more.
"Where are you trying to go?" Ty Lee asked.
"I'm looking for the guard lounge," Jet answered, leaning against the railing oh so casually. "But I think I found something more interesting. What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"
Ty Lee blushed a little. "Oh, you know, business stuff," she chirped. "Why don't you take off the helmet. I bet you're a real cutie under there."
"Ty Lee-" the other scolded once more.
"Much obliged," Jet said, then slipped off his helmet, holding it under his arm.
"Wow, you're not cute! You're gorgeous!" Ty Lee chirped, clutching her hands to her chest. This was way too easy.
"Oh, well I wouldn't say that, but," Jet said with a smirk. "Say, someone as interesting as you ought to know this place pretty well. Any prisoners I should keep an eye on?"
"Well, they're all pretty scary," Ty Lee said, thinking for a moment. "But I think you could handle them."
"Yeah, I heard there's some rough ones," Jet said. "War prisoners, that kind of stuff."
"Oh, yeah!" Ty Lee chirped. "There was this girl that came in a few days ago. She had these red marks on her face, but I don't think she'll be too much of an issue. She seemed pretty nice."
Red marks? Can't be…
"Oh yeah?" Jet mused. "What was she like?"
"Kind of a tomboy. Seemed too young to be a war prisoner, but she had a whole division of Fire Nation-"
"Ty Lee, that's enough," the girl in red said.
"Oh, yeah, that's probably classified," Ty Lee said with a soft smile.
"We have to go, excuse us," the girl in red said.
Jet swallowed a silent lump in his throat. It can't be… it just can't.
"Well, thanks for your time," he tried to say as level headed as possible.
"See ya cutie!" Ty Lee chirped as they began to walk away.