"Worth Fighting For"

But all I heard—all I willed myself to hear—was the thudding of blood in my head. All I saw was the blue kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption. If Baba was wrong and there was a God like they said in school, then He'd let me win. I didn't know what the other guy was playing for, maybe just bragging rights. But this was my one chance to become someone who was looked at, not seen, listened to, not heard. If there was a God, He'd guide the winds, let them blow for me so that, with a tug of my string, I'd cut loose my pain, my longing. I'd endured too much, come too far. And suddenly, just like that, hope became knowledge. I was going to win. It was just a matter of when. ~ Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

"Why do we have to eat here?" The Duke complained, glancing around the seedy tavern. The boy was not easily intimidated, but he disliked the place, so more smoky and crowded and claustrophobic than the Freedom Fighters' tree house.

Smellerbee was about to reply that it was preferable compared to eating in the tree house during a snowstorm; but Sneers answered bluntly, "So Jet can drown his problems in drinks."

"Not even," Jet said glumly, taking a seat at their table. "All I could afford was tea spiked with sake."

The Freedom Fighters sat down together. While the others talked and ate, Jet studied his drink, alternating between glares and hopeless stares.

"Who does she think she is?" he exclaimed. No one had to ask who he was talking about. Jet had not told them what happened at Katara's house, but they gathered from his moody silence that she had turned him down. And Jet was not coping well with it.

"That girl's tangled with the wrong guy," Jet said angrily.

"Darn right," Sneers agreed.

"No one says 'no' to Jet!" He slammed his fist on the table, causing the chipped dishes to rattle. Then he slumped back in his seat, looking depressed. "Dismissed. Rejected. Humiliated. Soaked with tea! It's more than I can take."

Smellerbee held up a cup. "More tea, Jet?"

Jet looked at her for a moment, then folded his arms on the table and lay his head on them dejectedly. "What for? Nothing helps. I'm disgraced."

The Duke looked surprised. "Who, you? Never!"

Longshot placed a hand on Jet's shoulder. Jet turned his head to the side to look at him. Longshot gave him a stern, reproachful look.

Pipsqueak spoke through a mouthful of rice. "Longshot's right, Jet, you've got to pull yourself together."

"We've never seen you like this," Sneers agreed. "So … down in the dumps." He didn't like clichés, but that one seemed to fit Jet's current state.

"Come on, Jet," Pipsqueak said. "Every guy wants to be like you. You're smart, charismatic, skilled."

"True," Jet admitted with an involuntary smile.

"Every village girl is head over heels for you," Sneers piped up. Longshot cleared his throat, and The Duke added hastily, "Except Smellerbee."

Jet's smile disappeared. "And except for the one I want. How often am I going to find another girl like her?"

"Yeah, Katara's something else," Smellerbee said. "I kind of admire her chutzpah."

Jet leaned forward in his chair, looking daggers at Smellerbee. "You admire that she had the nerve to say no to me?"

"I didn't say that," Smellerbee said innocently. "But they're right, Jet. There's lots to like about you."

"You help people when they're desperate," The Duke said quietly. Longshot nodded in agreement.

"You saved Katara, just yesterday," Pipsqueak reminded him.

"Yeah … and she let me kiss her then."

Sneers snapped his fingers. "That's it. Save her from another bad situation. She'll take it as proof that you care about her, and she'll be so grateful—"

"She'll accept my proposal," Jet said. He looked thoughtful, though not very excited. "You may have something there. Only, if that really worked, she would have said yes already, after I saved her from the pirates."

"Maybe you should have proposed right away, instead of waiting until she'd had a whole day to come to her senses," Smellerbee said shrewdly.

"I'm telling you," Sneers said. "Get her caught up in the heat of a moment."

"How?"

"We'll have to work on that."

"Katara's a girl worth fighting for," Pipsqueak said. "Don't give up."

Jet looked at his drink a moment longer, before glancing up and smiling faintly at his comrades. "Thanks, guys."

Suddenly the door burst open, letting in a gust of cold air laced with snowflakes. Sokka came into the tavern, panting, looking around frantically at the customers. "Guys—I need help!"

"Sokka?"

He recognized the Freedom Fighters and came over to them. "Please, guys! He's got her locked in a dungeon—"

"Who?" The Duke asked, wide-eyed.

"Katara! We've got to go!"

"Whoa!" Jet held up his hands, looking genuinely concerned at the mention of Katara's safety. "Slow down, Sokka. Who's got Katara locked in a dungeon?"

"A firebending ninja!"

There was a moment of silence. Everyone stared at Sokka in shock or confusion or incredulity. Then Smellerbee snorted, looking down to hide her smirk. Several of the tavern's patrons openly laughed.

"We have to go, now!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's a long way to his castle—"

"What, he has a castle too?" Sneers said.

Sokka rounded on him. "Look, I never really believed in spirits, but this guy—I think he might be one! He has this castle where—well—I don't know if it's magic or science, but things are weird. There are servants who lure you in with food and wait on you hand and foot so you let your guard down—then the masked firebender comes in and locks you away! That's what he did with me, and he tricked Katara into taking my place! Who knows what he'll do to her?"

The Freedom Fighters didn't bother trying to hide their laughter now. Some of the other clients shouted, "Looney!"

"Did he just come from a different tavern?" someone asked.

"I'm not making this up!" Sokka cried indignantly. His blue eyes were wide, crazed, and desperate. "Please, I need help!"

"All right, inventor boy," Jet said nonchalantly. "We'll help you out."

Sokka opened his mouth to plead, but then stopped short. "Wait—you will?"

"Sure." Pipsqueak stood and went over to Sokka.

Sokka looked surprised, but pleased. "Wow. Thank you! I—hey!" Pipsqueak grabbed Sokka by the back of his shirt and tossed him unceremoniously out of the building. The Freedom Fighters roared with laughter as he fell headfirst into a newly formed snowbank.

"Didn't I say he was crazy?" Smellerbee said smugly.

"That was weird—even for him," Jet observed. "I mean, I always said he was nutty, but now … he's just … insane …" He trailed off, a strange look in his eyes. A sly smile crept across his face. "That's it," he said confidently.

The Duke frowned. "Uh-oh. Jet's thinking."

"That's a dangerous pastime," Pipsqueak said, returning to their table.

"I know," Jet agreed. "But that lunatic is Katara's brother. Listen …"

The Freedom Fighters leaned their heads in close as Jet whispered to them. Smellerbee was intrigued. Longshot looked impressed. When Jet had explained everything, Pipsqueak clapped him on the back.

"No one makes plans like you," Sneers stated.

"So the wedding's still on?" The Duke asked.

Jet ruffled the boy's hair teasingly. "It was never off."

Outside, over the whistling winter wind, Sokka could be heard shouting at no one in particular. "Will no one help me?"