I'm sorry this took so long, but I was a little busy, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and this is so hard for me, I can't keep Jet and Zuko away for too long! I need the Jetko! Also thank you guys for reviewing, I love reading them ~ I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Lying on his stomach with his arms pillowing his head, tired, amber irises stare deadened at the seemingly calm, midnight, sea surface with nothing but the waning moon to guide their pathetic sail – the young Prince is familiar with the feelings of loss, hopelessness, and a slew of other dark and depressing emotions, but none quite rivaled the feeling of losing the person who felt like his other half. Yes, he'd felt this way when his mother had mysteriously disappeared with nothing but, what felt like, a dream to give him a clue as to what happened to her, yet it didn't feel quite as pronounced as now, for back then, he'd had Jet there to act as an emotional buffer; the older boy staying with him until the sun rose, simply talking with him, and soothing him – Jet who's hair was always so ridiculously fluffy thanks to the humidity, who smiled and laughed for him even when Zuko was being especially moody, who trusted him enough that he delegated the Prince with his heart.

His heart ached – he'd thrown that trust back in his face, but despite the hurt, he still smiled and laughed for him.

And now, his warm eyes and warmer smiles were gone, dragged away to a place Zuko couldn't follow or hope to get him back from. Fresh tears spring to life. Sniffling, he curls in on himself and dips the tip of his index finger within the water, feeling just a little closer to his deceased friend. He hated himself. He hated Zhao. He hated his Father, his family, his nation. Everything. But most importantly, he hated the Avatar – the Avatar was the one to take his friend away. Everyone may have pushed Jet to that point, but it was the Avatar who struck him down. Thinking of the kid's wide-eyed innocent outlook on the world and everything in it greatly angered him – desolation, grief, and a rage far stronger than before swirled and burned within his heart – he didn't care how old the Avatar may look or may actually be, or whenever the next one would be reborn, he was going to take him down, and he was going to make it as painful as possible. Forget honor. Forget his Father. Forget his Nation.

Sitting up, he prods his Uncle, "Uncle. Uncle, get up."

His Uncle snorts noisily and flails a little before sitting up, tired eyes falling on Zuko, "Wha - ?"

"Get up." Zuko reiterates, moving to the back of their small driftwood-made-raft, "We're going to reach land."

"Really?" Iroh looks around but sees nothing, "Nephew, perhaps you have been out in the sun too long, I see nothing."

"No." Zuko shakes his head, he looks to his mentor with a determined glint in his eyes, "I'm going to get us there."

Iroh blinks, "How?"

"Man the sail," Zuko slips into a firebending stance, "I'm going to use my firebending to propel us."

"Zuko, I don't think - ,"

"Just humor me!"

Stunned, Iroh moves to the makeshift sail and grabs a hold of the ropes, he looks over his shoulder to see his Nephew staring at him, an unsettling air about him. Once he gives the youth a nod, Zuko turns around. Iroh knows there's something off with his beloved relative, but before he can contemplate on the sudden change, he's stunned once more, enough so that he nearly loses his hold on the ropes. Instead of Zuko's usual red fire, a stream of fierce, hungry looking blue fire shoots from his fist, far larger and far angrier than his fire before. And Zuko either doesn't notice, or just doesn't care, as he seems to have his mind set on something, on a single-minded goal, but with the sudden development in his fire's hue and its sudden tenacity, whatever he has in mind is not that of friendly intentions.

oOo

Bored. Jet stares at his reflection in the mirror of his old room, the one they'd given him after he proved himself to the Fire Lord, the person he sees in the mirror doesn't look like him in the least bit, for the stranger is wearing armor similar in design to the Fire Nation's, to someone of importance within the land of fire. The armor is made of sleek, black metal with a black cuirass, black shoulder-guards with gold bordering, black vambraces with some odd knife-projecting-contraption underneath (Jet feels like he'll lose a finger or two if he uses it), black tassets with gold bordering (he feels like he's wearing a dress (there's also a foot-long rectangular container on the left-thigh tasset which stows a newly made bow that folds in on itself)), and black greaves. Underneath the lovely pieces of midnight armor is a plain, black, long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black pants, and black boots with golden buckles. Even the tie to his stupid topknot is black with gold outlining it. The armor/uniform/whatever is custom made, and apparently the people who'd been tasked with the job obviously went overboard, what do they think he's going to do? Invade Ba-Sing-Se?

Looking out the window which shows the rest of the godforsaken crater, he turns away from the sight of the beautiful city and the stupid mirror, walking to the door, he exits his room and begins wandering the halls he only vaguely remembers, he makes it to the garden, to his and Zuko's tree where he feels a near uncontrollable urge to tear everything apart, a deep rooted need to create chaos hidden within his body, but a memory keeps him from acting, moving towards the tree, he stares at the ground before kneeling, almost religiously. He hates Zuko, he hates him just as much as he still loves him. Someone is behind him:

"I figured I would find you here of all places."

"I feel ridiculous. Is the topknot really necessary?"

"If you're going to travel with me, I want you to look the part."

"What's the point of polishing the armor when it's going to get scuffed and bloodied anyway?"

"Are you telling me that you plan on killing Iroh and Zuzu?"

"No." Jet rolls his eyes, he turns to face her, "You know what I meant." he inspects her for a moment, "What do you want?"

"Still an uncivilized Earth Kingdom orphan, I see." Azula mock-sighs, "Did life at sea teach you nothing?"

"Life at sea's taught me plenty, but I see you're still the dainty, little, Princess I hoped I would never see again." Jet counters, he can't believe Zuko wanted to come back to this, "You still haven't told me what you want though, are we ready to go, want me to kill someone, or are you here to confess your undying love for me?"

Azula scoffs, "Get over yourself, I would never settle for some common street-rat."

"Thank the Spirits. I didn't want to have to break your heart by telling you that I'm incapable of loving someone." Zuko made sure of that since the ass still has his heart. "Then again, it doesn't seem like you are either. Man, I feel bad for the poor bastard who catches your attention."

"Love is a weak and useless emotion. There is no need for it on the battlefield where it can be used and extorted, and I'll sooner die than fall head-over-heels for some pawn that has nothing of use to offer me." Azula explains, a bite to her tone, "And it isn't like the person who catches your attention is any better off."

The teen feels like he's missed something, instead, he shrugs, "Whatever you say, Princess. So, are we leaving or-r-r?"

"Yes." she turns on her heel, Jet follows, "The ship, the crew, and the course is all set."

"See, that's all you had to say." Jet says, moving past the Princess, "There was no need for the back and forth banter."

A hand seizes his shoulder and spins him around to stare at an offended royal, "You walk behind or beside me. Never in front unless I say otherwise."

Jet smacks Azula's hand away, "If it's all the same to you, Princess Azula, I'll walk where I very damn-well want to walk." he can't stop the jeering smirk that creeps across his lips, "Besides, there isn't much of a view from the back."

He thinks he may see the ghost of pink dust the girl's features, but it shuts down a second later, "You will treat me with respect."

"I'm not afraid of you." Jet hisses, "In case you don't remember, I don't respect people who think they deserve it. They've got to earn it."

"You may not be afraid now, but you will learn to be soon."

"Geez." Jet snorts, "And here I've been wondering why no one's been courting you. You are the Princess of the Fire Nation after all."

Azula frowns, "Enough! The longer we stand here fighting, the further Iroh and Zuzu get!"

The mention of Zuko has Jet's heart soaring and sinking simultaneously, feeling sick to his stomach, he nods at the Princess and gestures for her to lead the way, he hears the girl scoff but otherwise takes the lead – he was divided. He still wanted so badly to see the Prince, broken heart or no broken heart. Yet he also wanted to run, to run as far away from the Prince as he possibly could and hide in the deepest, darkest cave he could find, like some scared little kid. How could he still love someone who'd hurt him? And if he were to reunite with Zuko, wouldn't things be more than a little awkward? Did it matter? What was more important? Zuko or his sanity?

"Men. Show Lion-heart to his sleeping quarters."

Coming to, he watches two armored men approach him respectfully, with just the slightest hint of caution belaying their respect, people were stills cared of him. Good. Let them be scared. Jet gestures irritably for the two men to get on with it, some nearby soldiers tense, but do nothing more than watch carefully, he merely watches the soldiers turn and lead him to his room. Later that night, he has a familiar dream that sets off a want and longing in his chest – he's atop Zuko, inside him, they're moving, nice and slow, each touch filled with warmth, love. Zuko clings to him, arms wrapped around him, gasping and moaning silently. When they finish, it's a tender moment, Zuko hums contently as he curls against Jet, the latter wrapping an arm around him. He sees a future with the boy at his side.

oOo

"Nephew."

"What is it, Uncle?"

"Are you feeling well?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been – different as of late."

"I'm still, shocked, about my friend's death."

"I know, but, it's toxic for your mind, heart, and soul to hold in your emotions."

"I don't care." Zuko murmurs, Iroh is going to say more, but Zuko speaks again, "Land."

Turning to face the direction his Nephew was looking, he sees that there is indeed land, but the moment to crack open his Nephew's cold shell has slipped through his fingers. Three weeks at sea had done little to tamper any of those caustic emotions, barely putting a dent in anything. He missed their friend as well, but apparently the younger firebender felt it more strongly than he did – sometimes, Iroh wonders if there was something more between his two wards. If so, that would be 10x more painful than losing a close friend, he should know as he has lost both before. A day after their arrival, they came across a resort where Iroh had tried coaxing his hurt Nephew into doing the same unwinding as he was, but all he got was a quiet grunt and the turning away of his Nephew's face. What made things worse was the fact that today was the day of the Prince's banishment – although, Iroh had a feeling that it wasn't what had the Prince so downtrodden.

oOo

Hearing racket upstairs, Jet hurries up the stairs until he emerges from the doorway leading out to the upper deck, he pauses when he sees Azula fighting with another firebender, one with the same hue as hers (if a little darker), but once he sees the familiar swish of a ponytail, he can tell that it's Zuko, he takes a step forward but pauses, he knows firebending is brought on by emotions, and he has to wonder what it was that had the Prince so, cold. Zuko manages to roll to his feet when he spots a dark figure in his peripheral, taking a quick glance, he nearly freezes, the guy standing at the doorway is in dark armor and a topknot, he looked so similar to Jet that he almost thought it was his friend, their eyes locked from the distance, apparently, his hesitation costs him as the air begins crackling, Zuko turns away from the apparition in time for his Uncle to intervene and shoot a blast of lightning at a nearby cliff, his Uncle manages to send Azula falling off the edge of the ship before grabbing his wrist and forcing him to run, Zuko sends one last look to the stranger before following willingly after his Uncle. Jet takes a step forward, wanting to chase after Zuko, but his other foot remains in place, a part of him still scared of the Prince, and when he does move to the ramp, the two are long gone.

I've been having nothing but Jetko dreams as of late, I don't know why but I'm not complaining lol ~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I seriously can't keep them apart, its killing me :(