It's been a long, long time and I'm so sorry about that but for some reason this was so hard for me to write, I don't know why!
A phantom hand wraps around his wrist and pulls him forward tenderly, he's tugged into an unseen body where arms snake around his back and hold him close, he feels a weight on his shoulder and soft discombobulated whispers brush against his ear, soft and soothing, a feather light kiss is pressed to his temple – it's obvious that this is nothing like the nightmares he has where he feels unseen forces holding him down and static screaming in his ears, he does not feel the fear he usually does, or the need to run away. The Earth Kingdom man is sure that if he wanted to, he could pull away and the invisible entity would let him go without a fight, it radiated warmth and safety, he was in as much control of whatever this was as the unseen being.
A buried, hidden part of him wanted that feeling to last, he wanted to wrap his own arms around the soothing being and bury his face into their shoulder, it made him long for something he'd never thought or cared a lick about.
Opening his eyes, he feels a sting of regret at doing so and a yearning for those phantom touches to be real – something within him cries out mournfully, brining on a great sense of despair and loss, he almost wanted to fall asleep once more so he can chase that dream down. But he decides that it was due time that he wake and start the day, he begins collecting his clothing and armor, the warrior then starts his morning routine – he's sheathing his shuang-gou when he hears the door to his quarters open, the light from the hall bathes the room in the same reddish-orange glow. Looking up, he sees Princess Azula walking into the room with her arms folded behind her back, her eyes scanning the room as if scrutinizing his cleanliness; Jet straightens up and bows before the royal.
"Princess Azula."
"Are you doing anything today?"
"Nothing of import, Princess."
"Good." the girl checks her sharpened nails, "We caught wind of where the Avatar and his friends have fled to, but we aren't sure as of yet, I have a plan that will not only allow us to accurately pinpoint their location, but provide some interesting results for a project of mine as well. And you will be the centerpiece of it all, any objections?"
"None at all, Princess Azula."
"Excellent." she starts to turn, "Report to the cartographer room once you've finished, whatever it is you're doing."
"Yes, Princess Azula."
When he hears the door to his chambers close, he finally stands from his bow, unaware that the Princess was currently standing just outside his door with a pensive expression – she finally had Lion-Heart where she wanted him, obedient, but he lacked the usual fire, and that was something that needed to be fixed.
oOo
"Someone should talk to him."
"It has been two days since we arrived."
Toph murmurs, "I can do it."
Aang doesn't answer as he and the others watch the sullen firebender from afar, the airbender wasn't particularly confident with approaching the older boy with the shame of letting his loved one get captured choking him up, pursing his lips, he looks from Zuko and turns to the others currently crowding around the fire, a fire that was made by Sokka:
"Well, whoever goes, it can't be me."
Katara seems to brace herself, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin, "I'll do it."
Sokka tries to stop her by grabbing her wrist, but she smacks his hand away and continues walking, she hears her brother whisper-shouting at her to come back and talk it over with the rest of them before deciding on her own, but she was not one to be deterred from the decision she's already made, she approaches Zuko's sad looking form and crouches beside the firebender, the firebender who would normally tense or lean towards Jet for comfort and support, the firebender who doesn't give her so much as a cursory glance.
"Zuko?"
When she reaches out to touch his shoulder, he tenses, and rasps out a quiet demand:
"Don't."
Biting her lower lip, she lets her hand fall back to her side, "Jet will be okay, we'll get him back."
"But – you don't know that." Zuko breathes, "He's already crossed Azula once and she isn't the type to forget and forgive, she's - ," the black-haired teen appears to be in pain as he says, "She's the type to rid herself of those who are useless to her." Katara hears a quiet sniffle, "And Jet is useless to her, he won't listen to her, he'll defy her at every turn, at every chance he gets."
The waterbender feels her shoulders fall, she doesn't know what more she can say that would make him feel better, after all, she knows nothing of Zuko's sister which means whatever she could possibly say would be baseless, and as much as she wants to reach out and hold him, to let him know that she's there, she knows that he isn't the type to do something like that with someone he doesn't know well enough.
"I – I know what it's like to lose someone you love, so I know how you're feeling, all I can say right now is wait and believe that Jet is okay."
Zuko whispers, "And if he isn't okay?"
Katara swallows hard, "We'll wait until we know for sure. But we can't sit around all day doing nothing; we have to keep moving, for the sake of the loved ones we've lost, and ourselves."
Silence.
Zuko finally sighs, "I know what you want me to do, what all of you want me to do. You want me to teach the Avatar firebending, but, the thing is, I can barely create a small flame anymore, I can barely feel the warmth of my own fire."
Katara feels her heart drop, "What are you saying?"
Zuko holds himself tighter, "I can't teach the Avatar firebending."
"W – wait, what if – what if we somehow kick-start your firebending?"
"How?"
"I don't know." she looks over her shoulder and sees the others are still watching from the same place they were sitting, "What if we tell the others, see what they have to say about this? Maybe Aang will know something about this?"
Zuko stares at her a moment, then shrugs, his movements lethargic, "I guess."
"Alright." she stands, dusting her clothes off, "Come on, we'll figure something out."
"For the Avatar's sake, and the world, you should hope so." Zuko says as he gets to his feet, "I don't know of anyone else who will help."
"We've pulled off the impossible before; we'll find a way to help you."
oOo
Jet is walking the halls of the palace, having just come from the meeting with Azula and talking over her plan, it was definitely interesting, but he couldn't help but feel like he was missing a few pieces of the bigger picture. Whatever, he'll just trust in her judgment. Up ahead, he spots Ty-Lee in front of his door, frowning, the Earth Kingdom male approaches the girl dressed in pink.
"Ty-Lee," he hears her squeak in surprise, "What are you doing?"
"N – nothing!" she hides something behind her back, "I was just – looking for you."
Jet arches a brow, "Really?"
"Uh-huh ~ !"
"Here I am."
"Yes, there you are - ." she seems hesitant, her lips pursed, she ends up looking away, and toys with whatever it is she is hiding behind her back, "I uh – I just wanted to give you something, something special, I thought you might like it and – I don't know."
Jet blinks at her odd behavior, immediately suspicious, "What is it?"
Ty-Lee bites her lower lip and slowly reveals a package wrapped in pink paper, Jet blinks once more, head tilting as he attempts to get a better idea of the object's shape, the pink wrapping was done hastily and crinkled, almost like Ty-Lee were afraid that someone would walk in on her at any moment. Hesitantly, he reaches out and takes the package from the girl's hold, it feels like pinks, but he isn't sure and won't be sure, not until he opens it.
"Well, I gotta go, don't let anyone know I gave that to you! Or that you have it! Bye!"
Jet watches the curvy girl beat a quick retreat, looking around the hall, he sees no one and he doesn't feel the familiar itching of someone watching him, looking back at the package, he opens the door to his room and steps inside. Making sure the door was locked tight, he locks it and moves towards the table closest to the window, setting the package upon the table's surface and listening to the light crinkling of the paper as he does so, he moves to the window and closes it, returning to the table, he stares at the package, reaching out, he starts to unwrap the object – whatever it was, Ty-Lee didn't want anyone to know that she had it in her possession, and that it was now in his.
Tearing the last piece of pink paper off, he's greeted to the sight of – jewelry. Jewelry. Ty-Lee gave him jewelry.
Frowning, he lifts up a piece of it and holds it eyelevel: the thin, silver branches twining outward feel like they'll break within his hand if he so much as adds the smallest bit of pressure on it, the branches are decorated with small, golden blooms decorating them, at the ends of each silver branch is a thin chain of silver, twinkling with pretty green gems, the very top and very bottommost branch holding a silver veil with gold sprinkled into the fabric, unlike the other branches holding the silver chains.
Holding it up higher, he tilts his head, examining it closely; he sees the teeth of a comb, which means that it's meant to rest within the hair.
Huffing, he grabs the other half and carries the pieces towards the mirror residing in his room; he studies it a moment and realizes that the pins are meant to pierce an up-do, something he doesn't have.
"Why in Agni's name would she give me something like this?"
Jet moves back towards the table and sets the pieces back on the paper with unwarranted gentleness, he heads back towards his bed and reaches for the drawer of his bedside table, opening it, he digs around the odd knick-knacks he's collected since he'd woken until he finds what he's looking for, a tie. Gathering his hair, he starts to tie it in a ponytail – wolf-tail a phantom voice hisses indignantly, he pauses, almost looks around to see if he's not alone, but continues. Fixing the tie a bit, he turns back towards the jewelry and returns to stand in front of the mirror. Staring at the piece, he starts fixing it into his hair – once he's got both settled, he looks at his reflection, and stops breathing altogether: the starry night skies, Fire-Bird, phantom touches, I love you.
Remembering where he is, he pulls himself from the dark of his mind and looks at his reflection, the silver branches curl forward, like horns the silver chains and emeralds twinkling with each move he makes, the veils look rather flattering on him, framing his face perfectly, reaching up, he grabs the end of the veil and rubs the fabric between his fingers.
"I promise I'll be back."
Feeling sick to his stomach, he reels from his reflection and turns his back on the mirror, he hunches over, one hand over his mouth and the other resting on his stomach, his heart is beating irrationally fast and his breathing is heavier, like he'd run a mile or more. Shutting his eyes, he ignores the ache in his chest as the previous feelings of longing he'd felt earlier that morning returns with a vengeance. Tearing the hair-pierces from his hair, he holds them away, wanting to throw them across the room, to watch them shatter, but something stops him from doing so. Growling, he stuffs the pieces underneath his bed and backs away, memories clawing at the edges of his mind.
"What was she thinking?" he asks underneath labored breath, his shaking hands holding his head.
This didn't even have Azula in it and that was the main reason this was so hard for me, I'm just an idiot - oh well.