Oh my God! I really loved writing this chapter! And I'm really trying to slow down on the updates, but this is just so much fun to write and I'm really on a roll here ~ I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Months have passed since Jet had been unwillingly brought to the Fire Nation, and while it hasn't lessened the hate the Earth Kingdom boy feels for the Nation or its people, he still finds himself meeting with the soft-hearted Prince and playing for hours on end, such as now, chasing the younger boy in a game of catch Jet was close to grabbing a hold of the other when he stopped suddenly, Jet stopping a second later, for you see, spending months on end with the Fire Nation Prince allowed Jet to key in on his movements which meant he knew what the boy was going to do when he was going to do it. Intuitive one would say. Following Zuko's line of sight, the tanned boy felt a frown tug his lips down, standing with her hands on her hips and that infuriating smirk she always wore was Princess Azula. Just like Zuko, she was wearing heavier layers of clothing, it being the winter season and all.

"Hello Zuzu." she croons, the Princess reminding Jet of a cobra-lion ready to strike, "I see you still haven't tired of your little peasant."

Both boys wear similar frowns at this, the only difference being Zuko's arms crossed over his chest and Jet's hands clenched into fists at his side, "What do you want Azula?"

"Mai and Ty-Lee are out right now and I'm just looking for some entertainment," she drawls airily, checking her nails, "And who better to keep me entertained than my fool of a Brother and his dirty pet, the Earth Kingdom orphan."

"Entertain yourself." Jet snaps, "We're not your playthings."

"No, I suppose you're not." hums Azula, "You're much too rude; then again, I don't blame you for your behavior. After all, I heard your parents were killed. I guess they died before they could teach you anything worthwhile – such as respect for those higher than you."

"Azula - !" Zuko snaps, Jet shoves past Zuko to loom over the Princess, the girl faltering momentarily.

"No, you're right." Jet snarls, jabbing a harsh finger at her shoulder, "I wasn't taught to respect those higher than me, but what I was taught was to respect those who deserve it. Not some puffed up little girl who thinks she's better than me and everyone else just because Daddy gives her everything she wants just because she's too pathetic to do it on her own."

Azula flutters her eyelids a handful of times before an angry snarl crosses her face, hungry flames erupt from her fists, Zuko gasps at the suddenness of it all, but Jet doesn't so much as flinch, having been taught much about firebending.

"You don't get to talk to me like that you stupid orphan!"

A flaming fist swipes at his head, Jet slips under the flames and kicks the Princess's feet out from underneath her, before she has a chance to retaliate or even blink, there's a heavy weight on her chest, knees digging painfully into the crook of her arms and two hands wrapped around her throat in a vice grip. She can't move her arms so she bucks under the weight in an attempt to move the Earth Kingdom boy – he doesn't move an inch. She can only watch in fear as the boy tightens his hold on her neck, leaning his weight onto the balls of his hands, pressing against her throat. She can't breathe, she can't move, all she can do is watch and listen to her pulse thrumming in her ears:

"Jet!" Zuko shouts in panic moving to help his sister, "Jet! Let go!" he grabs a hold of the boy's shoulders and tries dragging him off, "Jet, she can't breathe!"

Jet's only vaguely aware of Zuko rushing off, he leans until he's nose to nose with the girl, he wants so much to crush her throat, he wants blood, instead, he speaks in a grave voice, "Listen here Princess, it's you who doesn't get to talk to me like that. Unlike the rest of this pathetic Nation, I'm not afraid of you or your family. I've already killed and I'm willing to do it again, I don't care if you are just a kid," he tightens his hold, he can feel her pulse thrumming, "I'll kill you without a second thought."

"Lion-Heart!" a pair of voices cry out.

A strong pair of hands lifts Jet from the Princess's body, he's soon being carried away from the gardens – he watches the Princess sit up with a hand rubbing at her throat and Lady Ursa at her side, along with a concerned Zuko. Azula's eyes meet his one more time before the doors shut behind him.

"What were you thinking!?" Iroh scolds, he's the one carrying Jet, "If Prince Zuko hadn't gotten to me and Lady Ursa in time, you could have killed Princess Azula!"

"Who cares?" Jet hisses, "And Zuko shouldn't care either – she's always mean to him, he's too – too forgiving!"

"They're family." Iroh sighs, "Of course he's going to care. Zuko is – the young Prince is kind, he has a sense of what is right and what is wrong."

"Still." Jet frowns, "And put me down! I don't need you carrying me!"

Inhaling a calm breath, Iroh places Jet on the floor, kneeling before the boy he places a hand upon the eight year old's shoulder, "That was a stupid thing to do Lion-Heart, my Brother will hear of it and he will want you executed, and my Father may go along with it this time."

Miffed, Jet pushes Iroh's hand off his shoulder, "I don't care."

"Well you should. You're still young and you have a long life ahead of you."

"Who cares?"

"I do."

"We're not friends, and we're not even related."

"And I'm sure the young Prince will care, as well as Ursa." Iroh goes on to say, Jet's features soften an inch, "Not all of us are heartless Lion-Heart. I'm sure Prince Zuko is an example of this."

Jet looks away, "He still told on me."

"Because he believes in what's right." Iroh watches the Earth Kingdom boy scowl harder, he sighs as he stands, "Come, let's get you back to your cell."

oOo

"He nearly killed my daughter!"

"It was in self defense; Prince Azula tried to attack him with firebending."

"That doesn't justify anything!" Ozai snaps at his brother, he looks to their Father, "I told you it was only a matter of time before he tried to kill us!"

"As usual brother you are missing the point." Iroh hisses, he looks to their father as well, "Why would he suddenly attack us after he's done so good after all these months? Why would he play with Prince Zuko, a firebender, like they were friends if he was just going to kill us off?" silence, "It's because Prince Zuko hasn't tried to attack him with fire as Princess Azula had done! Yes he's training with firebenders to take firebenders down, but each and every one of his teachers say he still flinches! He still has a legitimate fear of fire and those who wield it!"

"This is why we should get rid of him!"

Iroh levels a glare at his brother, "You can't just throw fire at a problem and hope it goes away!"

"Enough!" Azulon booms, both brothers stop their arguing, "Guards. Gather the children and bring them here immediately. We will see what they have to say about this."

Four muffled echoes of yes Fire Lord Azulon can be heard followed by the thudding of boots and clinking of armor. The three man wait in a tense silence, both Iroh and Ozai glaring one another down, before anything can get any more heated than necessary, the doors soon barge open and the three children are escorted into the council room. Both Prince and Princess treated gently while the peasant boy is in shackles and chains, eyes wild, he struggles as he's pushed forward.

Iroh frowns, "Why is the boy in chains?"

A guard bows, "He was resisting Prince Iroh."

"Enough, he is here and we may begin." Fire Lord Azulon interrupts, "We will start with Princess Azula."

Azula steps forth, a roll of gauze wrapped around her neck, she looks irritated so of course Jet can't resist, he offers a lupine grin, eyes narrowing hatefully on the girl:

"Nice necklace you got there Princess."

"Don't talk to me." she hisses underneath her breath, resisting the urge to scratch at the wrappings, "I was wandering the palace alone since my friends weren't available. Bored, I had gone to see my brother and Lion-Heart - ,"

"Oh, so it's Lion-Heart now." Jet sing-songs, chains clinking, "What happened to calling me orphan ~ ?"

"I told you to shut it."

"No. You told me not to talk to you."

"Enough!" Azulon barks, Princess Azula bows her head in apology, Jet rolls his eyes, "Continue."

"I had hoped they would let me play with them, but Lion-Heart was being mean as usual, so I got mad when he started saying things and told me he shouldn't talk to me like that." Jet snorts causing Azula to glare at him, "And before I knew it, he was trying to kill me."

"Yeah – no." Zuko sends him a look, a look Jet ignores, "Half of that's bullshit."

"Well then, by all means, let us hear what you have to say Lion-Heart." Azulon frowns, "You may begin."

"I'll begin when I want." Jet grumbles under his breath.

Zuko elbows him and hisses, "Lion-Heart."

"Fine, whatever," Jet growls, he glares at the Fire Lord, "So, Zuko and I were playing when Azula came out of her cave acting like she owned the entire place - ,"

Ozai interrupts, "She is the Princess, she may act as she pleases."

"And," Jet continued, glaring at Ozai, "Since she's always acting like a bitch,"

"Watch your tongue!"

"I'll do what I very damn well want!" Jet retorts angrily until Zuko digs his elbow into his ribs again, growling heatedly, Jet returns to his tale, "Since she's always acting like the Princess she is, I wasn't too happy to see her ugly mug. When Zuko asked her what she wanted, she said we were to entertain her since her friends were gone while insulting me and her brother. I told her she could shove it, that we weren't her playthings. And of course, her being the brat she is said I was right, that I was too rude or whatever to be a plaything," he glares at her, she glares back, Zuko feels smothered, "Then she brought up my parents, saying she couldn't blame me for not learning any manners since they were killed before I could learn anything! Of course I'm going to be fucking angry! I told her she was right, my parents didn't teach me anything about manners or shit like that, but they did teach me to respect those who deserve it!"

"Then you called me pathetic!" Azula hisses from Zuko's right side.

"Yeah, so you called me a stupid orphan and then tried to burn me alive!" Jet snaps back from Zuko's left, "Anyway so on reflex I took her down since I was taught firebenders don't do so well up close and personal - ,"

"By choking me!"

"Well what the fuck did you want me to do!?" Jet hisses, "Stand there like a moron and let you kill me!?"

"So you try to kill me!?"

"Better you than me!"

"That's enough!" Fire Lord Azulon shouts, he glares at the two bickering children, "It sounds like you're both to blame! But we still have Prince Zuko to hear from." he turns his gaze upon Zuko, "Now let's hear what you have to say."

"Well," Zuko starts shyly, "He pretty much covered it - ,"

"Tell us your side Zuko." Ozai growls, Jet glares.

"Alright, well, we were playing when Azula came out, I had asked her what she wanted, she told us to entertain her since Mai and Ty-Lee were gone, Lion-heart told her to entertain herself. She called him rude and brought up his parents, he got even madder and I was going to tell her to stop but Lion-heart pushed past me so he was close to her, he told her he didn't respect people who didn't deserve it and called her pathetic. She got mad and fire came from her fists, she tried to hit him but he ducked, and I don't know what he did exactly, but he took her down. His hands around her neck and his knees on her arms, she couldn't move and he was so angry, I – I was scared, so I tried getting him to stop but he wouldn't listen, I tried pulling him off but when that didn't work I ran off to find uncle or mother."

"This is true." Iroh speaks, "Zuko was the one to get us, when we arrived, Lion-heart was choking her, I managed to pull him off and take him to his cell."

Silence.

"You were scared?"

Zuko shrinks under his father's words, "Yes."

"Did it occur to you that you can firebend?"

"N-no – not really," Zuko murmurs, "I was just – I was panicking."

Ozai opened his mouth to continue only for Jet to step forward, hand up in a halting motion, "Okay, no, that's enough, alright. At least he did something you dick! Your precious little girl can be a major bitch sometimes, no, scratch that! All the time! But he still cares for her! That's because unlike you he knows what's right and what's wrong, he has honor! More than you'll ever have!"

"I see," Fire Lord Azulon rumbles, cutting off Ozai, "I respect your spirit, you will not be executed Lion-heart, in fact, it appears as though you will be a fine addition to our security detail, I only hope you learn some self-restraint for if this happens again I will have you executed. You need to learn some restraint as well Azula, not everyone will bow before you. Now, everyone is dismissed, I am done with this nonsense."

oOo

"I was scared."

Sitting on the ratty old cot for once, Jet's glares at his hands, his fingers curling to form a fist – things were getting too tangled, too blurred for him to successfully pull off his plan, he needed to do something, and he needed to do it now. Rising to his feet, he moves to the cell door, his eyes are cold as he looks up and down the walkway, he sees nothing, hears nothing, reaching into the seam of his shirt, he pulls out a pin and begins working the lock.

"Monster."

Hearing the muffled click of the lock, he opens the door just enough for him to barely slip out, the lights having gone out some time ago, he uses the shadows as his cover and begins making his trek towards the palace. Sneak in, sneak out, kill whoever sees me. Entering the palace through an opened window near a tree, he lands on the carpeted floor with an indistinct thud, he stays crouched, listening to the silence – he hears light breathing. Quietly making his way towards what appeared to be a bed in the dark, he touches the sharpened tip of a crooked rock with the pad of his pointer finger, it's no blade, but it's sharp enough to piece skin, especially when force was applied. It's when he's standing at the person's bedside that he's able to make the vaguely distinct features of the young Prince. Zuko, weakest to strongest. Licking his lips, he raises the stone above his head as the Prince rolls onto his back, his arms droop to his side and his mouth opens slightly when he sees it, just barely in the darkness, he can see twin trails of tearstains. Frowning, he shakes his head and raises his arms once more, tightening his hold on his makeshift dagger, he thinks he's going to plunge it into the Prince's neck when a rush of thoughts plague him:

Why was he crying?

Why does it matter?

Swallowing the apprehension beginning to swell his throat shut, Jet quietly curses and tosses the rock out the window before sitting heavily on the bed, the vibration waking the young Prince who instantly becomes startled:

"Who's – Jet? Is that you?"

"Yeah," he sighs, "Hey Zuko."

"What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep." he lies smoothly, "You – I hate you."

"What did I do now?" Jet can hear the frown in Zuko's voice, "Hold on, let me light a candle."

"No!" Jet grabs what he thinks is Zuko's wrist, he feels the Prince's warm skin, his pulse, "I – just let me talk, I – I don't think I can do this if the lights are on."

"Um, okay?" Zuko pulls his wrist from Jet.

"I – I hate you because you're – you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a good person and – damn it, I hate the Fire Nation I really do, but you – you're different. You're nice, you're not like your sister or your father. You know what's right. You're understanding."

"Well I don't understand what's going on now."

Jet feels a smile tug at is lips at this, "What I'm getting at is I like you, you're like a dog."

"Gee, thanks."

Jet grins at the sardonic reply, "And well, if I'm going to be your bodyguard, I want to be friends."

"You want to be friends and my bodyguard?"

"Yeah, you're too nice, who knows what you'll get yourself into." Jet can feel the heat of Zuko's frown and laughs, "But really, it's not like I have anyone to go back to, but here, I have a friend, you. And, you're a good person, the kind of person who knows when to stop me when I get like that ever again."

"Oh, okay." he hears Zuko shuffle awkwardly, "What now?"

"Well, I guess I go back to my cell now, huh?"

"Or we can talk a little longer," is Zuko's sheepish suggestion, "Since you couldn't sleep and stuff."

"Okay, scoot over, this bed is comfortable."

"I said we could talk, I don't want you sleeping in bed with me."

"I'm not going to sleep with you, I just want to rest my back against the wall."

"You smell." Zuko huffs but moves anyway,

"No one told you to smell me." Jet says as he rests his back against the wall, "Besides, I don't smell that bad."

"I didn't smell you, and my bed is going to smell." Zuko states, "That's how bad you smell."

"You're such a girl."

"Am not, I just know how to take care of myself."

"Fine, tomorrow I'll take bath, happy?"

"No."

Jet can hear the smile in Zuko's voice, he smiles as well, pushing his shoulder against the Prince's, "You're such a liar."

Later when Zuko warns him that he can feel the sun rising, Jet bids his friend goodbye and exits the same way he came, when he's safely in his pile of hay, he's allowed a blissful hour of sleep until Iroh comes to take him to training. Despite having stayed up all night, he does pretty well, perhaps a little sloppy. But when he's brought to see Zuko and Iroh leaves, the two boys smile sleepily. Drifting off under the tree.

The feels! The feels!