I was honestly too excited to wait for five reviews to post this and I have considered the kiss - I've got plans people, I've got plans! I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender ~ !

The morning after Jet is surprisingly the first to awaken – blinking a couple of times, he brings the heels of both of his hands to his eyes and rubs in frustration. Annoyed and tired. Blinking some more, he turns his head to the left and spots Zuko still fast asleep, although a twitch here and a twitch there foretold the firebender's own awakening. Sitting up, he scans their makeshift camp and realizes that not only is Katara gone, but Aang as well.

Curious.

"Jet?" a bleary voice murmurs, glancing over his shoulder, he sees Zuko staring at him, "What are you doing awake?" he pauses, tired mind seemingly thinking his statement over before asking in a more awake tone, "What time is it?"

Jet snickers, "Don't worry, you didn't sleep in." despite them having worked through their spat last night, there was still a slight hint of hesitance on both sides, "I just happened to wake up early."

The Prince narrows his eyes, "That's a surprise." he sits up, stretching his arms over his head, "Are you sure you didn't just stay up all night?"

"Hey now," Jet huffs, "I can wake up on my own."

"Yeah," Zuko levels his gaze on him, "But that's usually later on in the day."

Jet resorts to sticking his tongue out in response, earning an eye-roll from the newly awaken firebender – they're starting their morning routines and cleaning themselves off with a damp rag, cupping their hands together and splashing their faces with handfuls of water when Toph finally wakes up, the rumbling of her rock-tent opening giving her away. She stands tall, stretching her arms over her head and yawning loudly. Once done, she smacks her lips together and approaches the large clay pot, simply dipping her hand in and using her hand to wipe at her armpits, sniffing once, then shrugging and walking away. Both Jet and Zuko glance at one another – Toph obviously notices their little interaction:

"Unlike you birds around the bird-bath, I don't see a reason to spruce up."

Zuko's nose wrinkles in mild disgust and Jet shrugs before inhaling loudly, cheeks puffing out with air and dunking his head into the water, his hands gripping onto the rim of the pot, his behavior earning a startle from the firebender who now watches the other teen and the slew of bubbles that begin breaching the water's surface. After a handful of seconds, the firebender scowls at the weapon-wielding teen hogging the water and presses a hand upon the basin's side and lets a little fire warm the water – soon enough, Jet pulls himself up, throwing his head back and sending water flying everywhere. Some liquid landing upon Sokka's face, causing the Water Tribe boy to finch a little.

Jet hisses, glaring at Zuko through sopping hair, "What the hell?"

Zuko only frowns, "You were hogging the water."

"So you decide to cook me?!"

"I wasn't cooking you." Zuko hisses, he then smirks, "I was boiling you."

Frowning, Jet slaps at the water, splashing Zuko and effectively dampening his clothing – the firebender yelps and stares down at his now wet clothing before sneering at Jet and splashing him back. This starts an all out splash war. Soon both boys are drenched and looking like drowned rats, Zuko looking more miserable than he has any right to be, his expression only darkening when Jet shakes his head from side to side, sending droplets flying everywhere.

"Jet!" Zuko snaps, shielding himself.

Behind him, Toph is shielding her find of berries, and behind Jet, the water definitely rouses Sokka this time from his slumber as he sits up, sputtering and hissing, his sudden awareness to the world capturing the attention of the other three:

"What is wrong with all of you!?"

Toph questions him around a mouthful of berries, "What's wrong now, Drama Queen?"

"This!" he throws his arms out wide, "All of this! I can't go one," he holds one finger up, "One day without being awoken by yelling. The ground suddenly shaking beneath me. And water falling out of nowhere!" after his tirade, he notices that it's only Jet, Toph, and Zuko, turning back to his Sister's sleeping bag, he reaches out and touches the small mound, his hand surprisingly dipping into it easily, "Wha - ?" throwing off the covers, he realizes that it's not Katara, but a lump of vegetation, he reels, turning to the others, "Where's Katara?!"

Jet stares through dripping bangs, Zuko looks mildly confused with steam rising off of him in waves, and Toph continues munching on her newfound snack before adding, "Twinkle-Toes is missing too."

"And Aang is missing too!" Sokka shouts, jumping to his feet, "Where is - ?!"

BELCH.

Zuko's face twists into disgust, "What was that?"

Toph promptly spits a loogie, "Get over it, Sparky."

"You're offending his princely constitution." Jet says.

"I wasn't - ," Zuko pauses when he sees Toph lick her lips, a purple tinge to her tongue, "Uh, your tongue is – well, it's purple?"

"What?! Now Toph is sick?!" Sokka shrieks, he gets to his feet and rushes to Toph's side, "Toph. Mouth, open, now!"

Toph frowns, "Why?"

"Your tongue." Zuko reiterates.

Sighing, the earthbender does as asked, feeling Sokka hovering before her and inspecting her apparently purple tongue with Zuko wearily approaching, peering over Sokka's shoulder while Jet continues drying his hair and combing out a few tangles.

"It is purple." Sokka murmurs, he straightens up, hand cupping his chin, "How do you feel?"

Toph shrugs, "Fine."

Zuko frowns, "Nothing at all?"

"Nope." she pops the p.

"Then how can - ?" Sokka trails off once he sees the bag of berries she's holding, he gasps, lighting up as it all fits together, "The berries!" he turns around to look at Zuko who seems to hesitate upon seeing the look upon Sokka's face, "Appa isn't sick!"

"What?"

"Appa isn't sick! I bet Katara's been feeding him these purple berries!" Sokka turns his attention towards the village, "And I bet she's the one helping those villagers too!" he lets out a frustrated shout, "I can't believe her!"

The Fire Prince leaves the boy to stew in his outrage, returning to Jet's side and checking on his now soaked bandages.

oOo

After shushing Aang, they turn around the corner of the large outcropping of earth only to come face to face with the others, finding that everyone was up and about, her eyes flitting from one to the other before landing on Sokka's disappointed look:

"Oh – hi Sokka," she looks to Aang shortly, "We were just – on a morning walk."

"Oh really?" Sokka grits, tone disbelieving, "A morning walk?" he has her roll and starts emptying it of the grass she'd managed to bunch together and stuff inside before dropping the sleeping bag itself, she shuts her eyes knowing he's going to lecture them. "I know you're the painted lady! I know you've been sneaking out late at night! And I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purplizing tongue berries!" he promptly points to Toph who has the bag of berries and sticks her tongue out revealing it's purple nature, "Katara," Sokka starts once again, "What you did put our whole mission in jeopardy." he turns away from them, crossing his arms over his chest, "We're leaving right now."

Katara looks to Jet who's watching Zuko as the firebender seemingly dries out his shirt manually, he glances her way and offers a shrug, for a split second, she wonders why Jet's clothes appeared to be soaked but dismisses her curiosity once she hears Sokka snap at Aang, the airbender offering a quick excuse.

They begin gathering their stuff, Jet and Zuko already having finished their packing seeing as how they didn't have much other than their clothes, their weapons, and their bed rolls. During this time, Zuko is still drying out Jet's clothing. When they stop their actions, it's because they all hear a whirring mechanical sound coming from the river Heads up, they all move towards the edge of the cliff where they spot a group of Fire Nation soldiers speeding towards the wooden village.

"What's going on?" Toph asks, settling at Aang's side.

"Fire Nation soldiers are heading towards the village."

Sokka turns to his Sister, "What did you do?"

"I kind of – destroyed their factory."

"You what?!" Sokka shouts, catching the others' attentions.

Katara turns on her Brother, "It was your idea!"

"I was joking!" Sokka shouts, "I also said to use Spirit magic and made funny noises!" he slaps his palm to his forehead, turning back to Katara, "Did you even think this through!? The army's going to blame the villagers! They're heading there right now to get revenge."

"Well," Katara challenges, "What was I supposed to do?!"

"Leave!" Sokka states, "Do nothing!"

Silence.

"No!" Katara advances on her brother, "I will never ever turn my back on people who need me!" she stands up, "I am going down to the village and am doing whatever I can."

They're all watching Sokka who suddenly gets up and goes after his sister.

"We're going to end up helping, aren't we." Jet mutters to Zuko who shrugs.

Minutes later:

"I'm not sure we should be thankful that we're not needed," Jet starts beside Zuko, the two sitting on the moss covered rocks while Toph slams the large rock onto the ground, "Or annoyed."

"The Painted Lady is a Water Spirit." Zuko says, "I doubt fire will help – or killing."

Jet mutters grumpily, "I do more than kill."

When all is said and done – they all gather upon the boat, Sokka getting them across the mucky river, the sounds of cheering and hollering getting louder and louder the closer they got until they're standing on the same dock. Jet leans towards Zuko, using a hand to cover his mouth as he whispers to the Prince:

"Should we really be here?"

"It's not like there's a bounty on us."

Jet frowns when the people turn angry and betrayed at the big reveal of there being no Painted Lady, "Still doesn't seem right. I mean, what if word gets back to Azula, won't she track us down or something?"

"I - ," Zuko blinks, "I hadn't thought of that."

"That's a great idea!" Dock exclaims, "We'll clean the river!"

Zuko grimaces, "I'm not cleaning a river."

Despite his declaration, the firebending Prince finds himself on one of the many boats scouring the river, fire seeping through his clenched teeth at the disgusting muck they fish out of the water. Snorting to himself, Jet turns away from the miserable sight Zuko makes and zeroes in on Katara, swallowing, he takes a deep breath and approaches the girl. Once close enough, he places a hand upon her shoulder causing the girl to falter and water to fall from the stream she'd been bending, earning a few shouts from people who'd been underneath it:

"Mind if I talk to you?"

"O – Oh," Katara's blushing, "Sure thing, Jet."

Gesturing for Katara to follow, he stops at the edge of the dock knowing full well that this is the absolute worst place to break the news to a waterbender, a waterbender surrounded by water, but he feels eyes on him and he knows that he has to go through with it. Flexing his hands, he turns to the girl, fully prepared to go for an unexpected swim:

"Katara," Jet starts,

"Jet." Katara murmurs.

"I – know about your feelings towards me."

Katara blinks rapidly, wide-eyed and anxious, a bright red blush lighting up her cheeks – she begins toying with the end of her sleeve to the Painted Lady outfit, "And?"

Now Jet normally wouldn't care what happens to him, or what others think, but he knows he has to travel with her after this and things were going to become awkward, "And I'm sorry – I like you, but now in that way."

"What?" he hears her whisper, she looks heartbroken, "But I thought - ,"

"You're an amazing girl," Jet starts, "A great fighter and an even greater waterbender, but I just, I can't really like you the way you want me to."

"I – I don't understand. I – if you knew I liked you, why didn't you say anything sooner?" Katara murmurs, Jet can see tears beginning to spring up in her sad blue eyes, "Why?"

Chewing on the inside of his cheek he feels like he's on thin ice, "I kind of hoped that if I didn't react or show an interest in it, that you would, I don't know, move on to someone else."

"Move on?" Katara mimes heatedly, now she's glaring but the tears are still there, unshed and glistening, "Move on to who?!"

Jet feels pinned beneath her glare, "Uh – Aang?"

The second the Avatar's name slips from his mouth, he knows he's made a mistake, it shows in the way Katara turns livid, "What's that supposed to mean!? I – you – why would you flirt with me if you didn't like me!? Was it all a joke to you!?"

"No!" Jet shouts in an attempt to disrupt her train of thought, "No! I may have done a lot of things in my past, but I would never play with someone's feelings, especially if I have to travel with them for Spirits' knows how long!"

Katara jabs her finger into Jet's chest, "You've done it before!"

Jet narrows his eyes, growling, "When have I ever?"

Hearing their shouts, everyone had become still, even some of the people on the river were floating listlessly – realizing things were about to go very bad for Jet, Zuko asks for the rower of the boat to bring them back to the dock. Aang and Sokka ready to help if need be. For who, they weren't quite sure yet.

"Of course you wouldn't remember!" Katara snaps, "Back in the forest! Remember that!?" she sees the recognition light up in Jet's eyes, "You – you pretended to like me and – you made me care for you! You were my first crush!"

"That's not my fault!" Jet snaps, knowing full well that she was right but refusing to admit anything aloud to her, "I didn't make you do anything! You did that all on your own, Snowflake!"

Katara frowns, "Is there someone else?"

Jet narrows his eyes at her sudden whisper, "What makes you say that?"

The Water Tribe girl spots movement beyond Jet's shoulder and recognizes it as Zuko, her eyes snap back to Jet and glowers, "Nothing."

It doesn't make sense. Of course it doesn't. But as Jet opens his mouth to demand an explanation, he's hit square in the chest by a sudden burst of polluted water and knocking him into the dirty river. There are various cries of shock and surprise, even a few giggles from the girls. Breaching the surface, Jet gasps before he spits out a bunch of muck, coughing and hacking – a shadow falls upon him, looking up he sees Zuko leaning over the edge, offering a hand.

"You brought it upon yourself."

"Yeah, yeah." Jet growls, "Just get me up."

Aang and Sokka both flinch when they see Katara hit Jet with a water funnel before storming away, there are exclamations of surprise and a few giggles from the girls. Sokka muttering a yikes. But sure enough, Zuko is helping Jet back onto the deck, Aang turns his attention to Katara:

"Katara?"

Katara simply brushes past him, "Not now, Aang."

oOo

Sitting with the others around the campfire, Aang notices how Katara refuses to acknowledge Jet as a whole, but despite this, it seems that it doesn't faze the older boy – at first, Jet had remained silent, looking guilty, and staying near Zuko, but that gave way to him cheering up and going on about his day. Minus the obvious space he gave the waterbender. It confused Aang, wondering how Jet could go on as if he hadn't just broken a wonderful girl's heart. Or how Katara's eyes will still fall upon Jet, lingering for a good ten seconds, looking like he was the single most amazing and terrible person, looking sad before turning to indignant fury.

And it wasn't like Katara didn't know what she was doing, she knew she kept watching Jet far longer than she should after him breaking her heart, but she had been so sure that she loved him and that he had at least felt an inkling of attraction towards her in return – but now, each time her eyes fall upon Jet, she sees the way Zuko looks at him, so warm and soft and vulnerable, and she knows she shouldn't hate Zuko for what Jet had done, but it's hard not to when he's sitting so close to the boy she'd cared so deeply for, when he's the one who gets to have all of his attention, when he's the one who makes him smile. It's so hard not to when jealousy begins clouding her mind.

When she feels tears begin to come alive, she stands abruptly and mutters a quick excuse as she makes for a quick escape to the river – once safe and hidden from their eyes, she kneels at the river's side, placing her hands into the water and watching the liquid flow past. She just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Jet had been the one to suggest the berries and making it seem like Appa was sick, or the fact that he'd apparently kept her secret until Sokka found out for himself, and he'd definitely flirted with her!

But – maybe he was just being nice.

She didn't really know him beyond what he chose to show her, not like Zuko who knows all of his secrets and vice versa if Jet's standing up for him was anything to go by. They'd been friends for a long time. Did that mean Zuko knew that Jet didn't like her and still kept quiet? Did they laugh at how Jet had her wrapped around his finger? Did Zuko not know?

Which brings her to her next set of questions – was Zuko in love with Jet as well? Did Jet know? Was that why Jet refused her advances? But if that were the case why were they so rough with each other?

Love was supposed to be tender, like Jet had been with her – she didn't even know Zuko that well, how was she supposed to base all of this off of two complete strangers?

Beginning to doubt herself, and giving herself a headache in the process, she shuts her eyes and lets the tears flow free, until she feels someone wipe it away. Opening her eyes with a startled noise escaping, she looks up, coming face to face with a woman in white, her hair long and dark, her skin white with red streaks painted here and there, as well as a gold crescent moon upon her forehead. She knows exactly who this is. Gasping, she stares wide-eyed at the apparition.

The woman smiles, soft and kind, "Thank you."

When the woman disappears into the mist, she smiles tiredly, the knowledge that she'd helped out an entire village turn its luck around and cleansing the river water making her feel better than she'd been before.

PLANS PEOPLE! PLANS! Unless I forget later on, then in which case my future self is going to kick myself in the butt! READ. REVIEW. FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A SONG RECOMMENDATION! I haven't run low on songs yet, but I'm almost getting there and it's a little disconcerting!