Sorry, sorry! I feel like I've failed you all since I haven't updated in a while! I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender!
"I love you."
"I love you, Jet. I love you so much."
Apparently, any emotion that doesn't directly deal with anger or rage puts quite the toll on the Fire Prince if his snoozing was anything to go by, his body resting heavily against Jet's back with his arms wrapped around his stomach region and his fingers interlinked and resting comfortably upon Jet's stomach. It was cute. And Jet would probably worry about Zuko falling off the over-burdened ostrich-horse, if it weren't for the fact that said teen was clinging to him like a baby koala-sloth. Wanting to stretch his legs out, Jet pulls on the reins and directs them to the left of the path – Iroh wasted no time in hopping off their poor steed and finding himself a place to sit, this left Jet to wake Zuko.
"Hey Fire-Bird," Jet pats Zuko's outer thigh, "Time to get up."
This resulted in the sleeping Prince to mutter under his breath before his arms tighten around Jet and he buries his face deeper into the back of Jet's shoulder – the firebender was outright cuddling him, and Iroh knew as he was smiling slyly with his eyes closed pleasantly and his fingers interlaced and resting upon his ample gut. The man reminded Jet of a sleeping owl:
"Zuko," Jet squeezes Zuko's knee, the latter choking out a yelp, jumping, and scooting away from Jet all in one go.
"W-What was that for!?" Zuko choked out irritably,
Jet only grins, "Time to get up, Sweet Prince."
Zuko's face scrunches, "Don't call me that." he looks around, "Why are we stopping?"
"We're taking a quick break, y'know, stretch our legs and whatnot."
The Prince is obviously displeased, but he slips off the ostrich-horse anyway with a grumbled, "Fine."
Getting off the ostrich-horse himself, Jet stretches his limbs out before sighing contently and patting the animal's neck, the steed straightens itself and makes its weird ostrich-horse noise, its eyes trained on something behind him. Spinning on his heel, his hands land on the handles of his swords, Zuko's already in a firebending stance, and Iroh sighs as he stands.
"What is it now?"
On cue, five komodo-rhinos burst from the foliage and surround them – Jet's eyes flit from one man to another, each brandishing a different weapon, when his eyes fall upon the final man, he feels his mind stutter to a halt. The man looks familiar, he's Fire Nation – he's eight years old again with tears streaming down his face and people running from the fires, despite his mind telling him to run, he's frozen in place, watching in horror as his life goes up in flames, just then, a man with the sides of his head bald and black hair pulled back with red feathers adorning them seems to appear from nowhere. When their eyes meet and the man smiles at him, he can't stop the rage that bubbles in his chest and poisons his mind. Screaming, he runs for the Fire Nation bastard and tries to kill him despite being a child. He doesn't succeed, but he does succeed in impressing the guy. He's captured and sent off to the Fire Nation.
"Ah, what a pleasant surprise." Iroh starts, "Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos."
"If you are surprised to see us, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps."
The Earth Kingdom native's mind is still lethargic, but he's acutely aware of what Iroh had just said – the old General knows these guys and now he knows the names of the men who'd burned his home to the ground, and they know him. A thought occurs. If Iroh had known these guys, then does he know that these men are the exact same men who'd killed his parents and shipped him off to that godforsaken crater? And he never told him?
And as hate poisons his mind and infects his thoughts, a small part of his sanity reminds him that how is Iroh supposed to know about the men who'd ruined his life when he'd never opened up much to the man as Zuko was the only – did Zuko know these guys?
"You know these guys?"
The rasp in Zuko's voice calms him minutely, enough to clear the rage clouding his mind. Zuko doesn't know them, but Iroh does.
"Of course, Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary - ,"
Legendary?
Something within him shatters. He doesn't give Iroh the chance to say any more, spinning on his heel, he swipes for the old man who looks momentarily startled but dodges his blades effectively, and Jet thinks he hears Zuko shout at him, but he can't bring himself to care for the Prince – he wants blood. He's going to swipe for Iroh again when an arrow lodges itself in the ground between the two. Following the arrow's projection, his rage finds a different target until Zuko shoots a small burst of fire from his hand and sears a hole in the man's bow, subsequently breaking his string.
Jet trusts Zuko.
Turning his attention to the others, his eyes fall upon Mongke. Their eyes meeting simultaneously and a look of recognition flashes across the firebender's eyes before he shoots a burst of fire at Jet, the teen rolls underneath and throws a knife for the man. It's blocked effortlessly. Anger spikes through his veins. Gritting his teeth, he holds tighter on to his shuang gou and charges the man directly – it's stupid on his part for Mongke shoots wave after wave of fire bolts at him, some he can't dodge effectively, but he's so angry. Zuko on the other hand is currently facing down the masked man with the explosives; he jumps out of the way of an explosion. Rolling to his feet, he's poised to attack when a pained roar catches his attention. Head swiveling towards where he'd seen Jet last, he sees the teen drop his right weapon seconds before a blast of fire hits him directly in the chest and sends him falling heavily onto his back.
Horrified, Zuko is going to run for Jet when an explosive is thrown between him and the other, it goes off, sending Zuko flying back. Dazed, the Prince places a hand to his head. His vision is blurry and seeing doubles. He hears his Uncle's muffled shouts before he's grabbed by the arm and lifted to his feet, his Uncle is standing before him, the Rough Rhinos are nowhere to be seen but there are two rider-less komodo-rhinos milling about.
Jet!
Eyes immediately falling upon Jet, Zuko feels his heart soar while sinking, without a word he shoves past his Uncle and moves towards his friend, boyfriend, and slides on his knees to stop at Jet's side, he reaches out but stops and pulls his hand back when he sees the angry red and flaking skin of his chest and – his left hand. Swallowing hard, Zuko feels tears come to life:
"U-Uncle!" Zuko cries, almost immediately, Iroh is at his side, "J-Jet – I don't know, we need a doctor!"
"Get him to the ostrich-horse," Iroh tells his Nephew, "I think I know someone who can help not only him, but us as well."
The elder firebender watches his Nephew nod his head shakily before he reaches out and gingerly brings the unconscious teen into his arms – Iroh can't help but notice the way his volatile relative was handling the injured boy, which brings him to the question he's wondered since they first thought the youth was dead. Was there something more between them?
oOo
Mouth uncomfortably dry and body aching, Jet slowly blinks his eyes open only to flinch when the blinding sun shines into his eyes, turning his face away from the light, he feels the person behind him shift anxiously. Forcing his lids to part, he sees nothing but sand everywhere, they're in a desert. His eyes move upward to see Zuko staring worriedly down at him, Jet takes a deep breath only to wince at the pain that shoots throughout his body.
"Hey," Zuko says, his voice soft as he moves a hand to gingerly rest upon Jet's forehead, the touch comforting enough to make Jet push into his lover's hand, "Take it easy, you've been hurt pretty bad."
"I - ," he pauses, remembering the fight between him and Mongke.
"How is he?" another voice rumbles in front of him, he remembers that Iroh knows those bastards.
Moving his head, he sees the broad back of Iroh, he shouts and tries to move away from the man but Zuko is behind him and trying to keep him still. In a last ditch attempt at gaining some distance between himself and the Dragon of the West, he leans all of his weight to the right and ends up toppling off the ostrich-horse alongside Zuko. As he falls, he falls on his right forearm, there's a split second where he wonders why his entire forearm is wrapped in gauze until he feels an unbearable pain shoot through his arm and straight to his chest, the pain in his chest then shooting throughout the rest of his body. He lets out a pained scream and attempts to grab his arm in an attempt to alleviate the pain, but before he can, he feels someone wrap their arms around him and a hand petting his hair – swallowing hard, Jet slowly rests his weight upon Zuko's shoulder and shakily raises his good hand to cling to the back of Zuko's shirt. There's a decent amount of space between their bodies, enough so that his injured arm can rest comfortably between them.
He wants to ask question after question, but Iroh speaks first, "We're here."
Pulling away, both boys cast their gazes to a rundown village made of sand where the seedy residents stare them down, Zuko doesn't fluster as he normally would have if they were caught doing something relatively couple-ish, instead, he meets their stares with a caustic glare. Iroh slips off the ostrich-horse and moves to the two boys, and Jet flinches. His jerky movement not going unnoticed by the two firebenders. So Iroh stops where he is and watches as Zuko helps Jet to his feet,
"Come, I believe we'll meet my friend here."
"Here?" Zuko spits irritably, "In the middle of nowhere?" he glares at the sandy residents once more, "All I see are crooks!"
"Then we will fit right in." Iroh says gently, his eyes flit to Jet before he leads the way.
Zuko scowls at his Uncle's back, Jet doing his best not to rub at his arm, "It could be worse."
"You're hurt." Zuko starts walking, Jet at his side, "It is worse."
Jet opens his mouth to reply, but quickly shuts it when he can't really think of anything better to say, so with a shrug, he and Zuko follow Iroh into a nearby building – the trio unaware of a couple of men stalking after them. The three males find an innocuous place to sit, the chairs creak under their weight and Jet swears to whatever God is out there that he'll personally raise hell if his chair broke. Rubbing at his right shoulder, he tries to ignore the pulsating of his forearm. Zuko's knee brushes against his in a way that would read nothing more than an accident, but Jet looks to his right and sees the Prince looking at him, his face almost reading stoic – if it weren't the little details such as the subtle quirk of his lips, the tension in his jaw, and the mild twitch of his eyebrows, or, eyebrow.
"You okay?" Zuko murmurs,
"Yeah," Jet says, digging his thumb into the muscle of his shoulder, "Just fine."
"Don't lie to me." Zuko mutters, his eyes trained on a boorish man when he drifts too close.
Jet sighs, "I swear I'm fine, it's just – annoying."
Zuko's eyes flit back to him, Iroh speaks, "Ah, I believe we found our friend."
Both teens look in the direction of Iroh's friend, both mirror the annoyance they feel, but Zuko is the only one willing to speak of his displeasure as Jet isn't quite sure if he can bring himself to say something to Iroh without flipping:
"You brought us all the way out here to the middle of nowhere just to gamble on a game of pai-sho?"
"I don't think this will be a gamble."
Biting back a retort, Jet stands at the same time as Zuko, the Prince accidently brushing against Jet's forearm, the taller teen lets out a pained hiss that has Zuko jumping and staring at Jet with wide eyes. Jet would think it was cute if it didn't annoy him. As he smiles, he gestures for Zuko to go first – they're crossing the shady room when a voice catches his attention, he doesn't know why it does as there are many who're talking, but when he looks to the owner, he sees two men dressed in Earth Kingdom garbs. One looking like the men around the place, and the other looking like he belonged more in some sort of fancy court. Their eyes meet his and he can't help but wonder if they're a – thing.
Sitting on Zuko's right, as the Prince had claimed the left seat, Jet can't help but roll his eyes as he knows what Zuko's doing, the old man Iroh claims is their friend starts to talk, and they're using the wizened-secretive talk that makes his mind drift, and drift it does. He thinks of life, of what it would be like to be a bender, of the Rough Rhinos and how great it'd be if he'd killed Mongke, and finally, he thinks of the two men sitting side by side.
"What are you old gasbags talking about?"
Jet comes to – and would you look at that, Iroh and his friend made a pretty flower.
"I always try and tell you that pai-sho is more than just a game."
"That's it!" Jet turns to the voice and sees those two men approaching, "You three are coming with me!"
The old man steps before the other two, "I knew it! You three are wanted criminals with a big bounty on your head!"
Jet starts because what the fuck?
"What the fuck?" he blurts unintentionally,
Zuko glares at his Uncle, "I thought you said he would help us."
"He is." Iroh assures, "Just watch."
God – Jet isn't sure he can fight if things go to hell.
"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that gold!?"
Almost immediately, Jet understands what the man is doing when the others in the bar start to stand, mutterings of money being heard and weapons being brandished. The fancy-pants man mutters something to his cohort, but whatever it is goes unwanted as the rough-looking man continues walking towards them. Two men with swords step in his way, the man kicks them out of the way, and of-fucking-course they're earthbenders. A hand grabs his good wrist and tugs him along, and before he knows it, they're outside and running for a different part of the area.
As they enter another building, Jet realizes that Zuko's still holding his wrist, and as much as he'd love to have the Prince holding on to him, he feels as though the firebender is only doing so because he feels that Jet can no longer protect himself. Gingerly snatching his hand back, he sees the surprised look on Zuko's face. Jet forces himself to smile.
"It is such an honor to meet such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus." the man bows before Iroh, "Being a Grand Master, you must know so many secrets."
"Now that you've played pai-sho, are you going to do some flower arranging?" Zuko hisses, both he and Jet following the two old men to the back of the flower shop, "Or is someone in this club actually going to offer some real help?"
"You must forgive my Nephew," they stop before the door, "He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts."
And what do you know; they've got a secret knock and even a passphrase, Jet's already annoyed enough as is so he thinks he's going to sit this one out, he moves to a nearby flower that catches his attention, leaning forward, he sniffs at the scent, it's light and flowery, it reminds him of spring and a freshness. He hears the door slam and Iroh saying something before Zuko lets out an annoyed growl and moves to stand beside Jet who offers him a quizzical glance.
"Members only."
Jet can't help but grin, "Guess you're not old enough for them."
"That's not funny." Zuko frowns, "They slammed the door in my face."
"Here," Jet says, grabbing a flower, "Smell this."
Hesitantly, Zuko leans forward and sniffs at the flower shortly before Jet removes the flower and gives him a kiss – the blush that crosses Zuko's cheek has Jet grinning at the flustered Prince who slaps both of his hands over his mouth.
"I – why'd you do that?"
"Because I wanted to." Jet places the flower back, "And you make it too easy."
Silence.
"I thought you were mad at me."
Jet pauses, "I'm not mad at you."
"Then why - ?" Zuko falters, a look of concentration emerging, "Why won't – why are you acting different?"
"I'm not acting different." Jet spits, he moves away from the Prince in hopes that Zuko will drop it, but the firebender follows after him, "I'm still the same. It's you who's acting different!"
"Me?" Zuko gawks at Jet, "What have I done?!"
Jet spins on his heel and steps into Zuko's personal space, "You're acting like I'm made of glass! Like every little thing I do will break me! Like I can't take care of myself! In case you didn't know Prince Zuko,I can take care of myself!"
"You're hurt!"
"But I'm not broken!" Jet shouts, Zuko grits his teeth and glares at Jet through glassy eyes – of course, he immediately feels bad, "Fire-Bird, this isn't the first time I've been hurt, and it won't be the last - ,"
"That's not the point!" Zuko yells, Jet's anger resurfaces, "You're – you've been burned and it's going to scar and - !" Zuko swallows before wetting his dry lips, "And when people see it, they're going to look at you differently, like you are broken - ."
Jet sighs and reaches out with his good hand and cups Zuko's jaw, "Look, I don't care if people think of me like that; the fact that I'm still willing to fight proves otherwise. But – if you start looking at me like that, it's going to kill me, okay?"
"Okay," Zuko murmurs, placing a hand over Jet's, he moves his head so he can kiss Jet's palm, "I'm just – I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I don't know how I'm supposed to act and – you and Uncle are all that I have."
"Same goes for you." Jet murmurs, moving his left hand down from Zuko's jaw, over his neck, and down his chest where he grabs at the lapels and pulls him forward, Zuko half-heartedly digs his heels in before he rests his head against Jet's left shoulder, "Besides, it was my fault."
"How?"
"I was fighting stupid." Jet sighs, "I let my emotions control me."
Zuko tenses before pulling away, he looks up at Jet, "Is he – Mongke, the man who – y'know?"
Jet closes his eyes, "Yeah."
"But – why did you attack Uncle?"
"I – he knew them."
"That's all?"
"Yeah, yeah." Jet reopens his eyes to stare at Zuko's unimpressed look, "I know, it's stupid, but I couldn't think straight."
Zuko bites on his lower lip, "Right." he then glares at Jet, "Don't do it again."
Jet grins, "I'll do my best."
The firebender rolls his eyes but leans on the tip of his toes and catches Jet's mouth in a kiss that deepens once Jet returns the action eagerly, and they really shouldn't do anything more than that, but Zuko can't help the little moan that escapes his own mouth when Jet drives his hips into him with something prodding him. They break apart for air, both panting into one another's mouth, Zuko swallows, licking his lips, and heart beating fast.
"We shouldn't."
"I think we should."
"You're hurt."
"We'll be careful."
"Someone could walk in."
"We can hide."
"Someone could hear."
"We'll be quiet."
"Jet - ,"
"You can ride me."
The thought has him faltering, they shouldn't, they really shouldn't, but oh dear Lord, Jet was too much. The 16 year old fights back the whine threatening to make itself known, closing his eyes; he lets out a defeated sigh.
"You're impossible."
Jet kisses him, "That's not a no."
"That's because it isn't."
oOo
Morning finds both Jet and Zuko sleeping propped against the wall with their legs tangled with one another and Zuko's head resting upon Jet's left shoulder, Zuko being on Jet's left. Zuko feels something prodding at his foot, waking, he sees his Uncle staring down at them with an amused twinkle in his eyes, the younger firebender can't fight the blush that rises to his face when he realizes that his Uncle's friend is peering at them curiously. All Zuko can think of is how glad his that they're wearing clothes – him and Jet, not his Uncle and that man. And okay, that was enough. Embarrassed with his train of thought and the position the two men saw him and his lover in; he scowls at the amused old men.
"Is your stupid club meeting over?"
There's a bite to his tone, but Iroh's smile only widens in amusement – Zuko feels an annoyed tic develop, digging his elbow into Jet's arm, the latter wakes with a start, his eyes falling on Zuko then moving to the old man, and finally Iroh. Realizing they weren't in any kind of danger, Jet yawns obnoxiously as he arches his back, this turns out not to be a good idea as the burn upon his chest presses against his shirt and causing him to wince, well, the parts of his shirt that wasn't burnt.
"What's going on?"
"Everything is set." Iroh says with a smile, he forgives Jet for his attempt at attacking him, besides, how can anyone stay mad at the boy when he's glued to his Nephew's side like some lovesick pup and vice versa?
A man soon enters the flower shop while Jet and Zuko get to their feet, "I've got the three passports for our guests."
Jet frowns, "Passports?"
"We are heading to Ba-Sing-Se." Iroh answers, "It will be safer there, and we will be able to hide in plain sight."
The old man adds, "Refugees arrive there every day so they will not notice three more."
The man who'd entered with the passports hands them out, Jet looking at his, he's still a little peeved that his name is Fan. But what Zuko says next pushes the minor nuisance to the back:
"Why does it say that my sibling is Fan?"
"It does?" Jet blinks as he leans over to read Zuko's, "Where?"
Zuko points at the row of letters, "Here."
"What?!" Jet soon looks at his own and quickly locates the row, "Hey, mine says that Li is my brother!"
"Is there a problem?" Uncle Mushi asks pleasantly – deceptively, "Or would you rather it say that you two are married ~ ?"
"I – no!" Zuko scowls, entire face turning red, "That's not what I'm getting at!"
Jet rolls eyes, "What he's trying to say is that we look nothing alike."
"Exactly!" Zuko agrees snappishly, "No one will believe that we're brothers!"
Iroh only smiles, "They will."
"How do you know?!"
"If someone asks, you can say that a parent was unfaithful." the young man who gave them their passports said, "Like, say the father was unfaithful and had a woman on the side, or that your original parents left each other for different people."
Jet notices the clenching of Zuko's fists so he immediately shrugs, "Sounds reasonable."
"And we can always say that you were sick as a young child to give you an excuse for the pale skin."
Zuko snaps, "I am not pale!"
"Oh please," Jet snorts, he wants to cross his arms but he can't because of the stupid burns, "Now you're just looking to pick a fight." Zuko snarls at him, letting Jet know that he'd hit the nail on the head so Jet grins, "And just so you know, I'm the older brother."
"Why do you get to be the older brother?"
"Because I'm a year older than you, and taller."
Zuko's glare intensifies but their back and forth is interrupted when the man who'd entered speaks, "We may have a problem now, there are two men looking for you three."
Jet frowns, both Iroh and Zuko moving to look out the door's hatch, he turns to the old man, "Is there any way you can smuggle us out?"
You can't blame Jet and Zuko for their teenage horniness!