Author's Note: This is finally the chapter where Jet starts acting like Jet! Hurray! He's still eight, but he's not a spoiled kid no more, but becoming the confident, fire-hating leader we all know and love! ahem ahem -artsyelric

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Freedom's Prodigal Son

Abandon

Longshot stopped and took a deep breath. This was the hardest part for him to tell. He'd gotten through a lot of it, but there was still more bad to come. The Freedom Fighters pushed closer to him, anxious for the story, but Smellerbee growled at the closest, like an animal, and some backed away.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Longshot gave her a shaky smile in gratitude before releasing her. "It's okay," he said. "I need to tell this." He looked up at the people around him. His friends. His family. "I've needed to say this for a long time..."

"Your mother's dead, kid."

Your mother's… dead…

Dead…

Jet didn't remember leaving the man behind or turning away from his town. All he knew was that he was running. Running with complete abandon. Where he was running to, he didn't know either, but he knew what he was running from. Those men, their swords and fire, the fresh memories that plagued his mind, and the words that man had just said. Your mother is dead. He was running from the only place he had ever known, his home. But there was nothing left to run from, nothing there for him to leave.

Which made it all the more urgent that he run.

But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't get away from the horror, and eventually, the tears caught up with him. Fear kept his legs moving a while longer, but eventually he collapsed over a tree root and lay there, not caring or knowing where he was, curled up in a little ball so he could cry freely, like the eight-year-old, orphaned child he'd now become.

How much time passed, Jet didn't know. He cried himself into a stupor, something close to a sleep. Everything still hurt just as badly as it had before, but tears didn't come any more. He was too tired to cry.

What brought him out of his torpor was his stomach. It hurt, and he was hungry, but he had nowhere to go and nothing to eat. He didn't even know where he was, and only vaguely what direction he had come from. He would have cried then, just from being lost and hungry, but he had no more tears. And no one will come, even if I do cry. The realization left him even emptier.

He got up, picked the closest direction he could to back the way he'd come, and started walking. He didn't want to return to the village, to see the soldiers, and face his empty house or see the bloodstains. But he only knew one place in the world, and so he returned to it.

Maybe I can follow that road to Riverford, Jet thought. Maybe they have food there. Father said… Father said there were fish in the river. I always wanted to eat a fish. His stomach rumbled. Right now he wanted to eat anything.

Eventually he found his way back to places he recognized, and found himself at the edge of the forest, looking back at his smoking village. His young eyes widened in fear.

It was still crawling with fire nation troops.

He could smell smoking, and even cooking, and his mouth watered, but his legs shook and he was afraid to go nearer. The faces of the fire nation soldiers still haunted him, and even being this near to the town was terrifying him. What if they catch me and kill me too?

Suddenly, the bush behind him rustled, and something locked tight around his legs.

Jet cried out in fear as he turned around, the cruel faces of the men rearing up in his mind. But as he twisted, he fell, the vice-like grip on his legs tripping him.

Jet grunted as he hit the ground, and look down his body to see another boy, covered in dirt. The boy had his hands locked around Jet's waist, and was shaking in silent tears. "Chizun?" Jet grunted. "What are you doing? Get off!"

But the boy held tighter the more Jet tried to pry him off. "Stop it," Jet told him, finally freeing himself of the boy. "Don't follow me," he commanded, turning to leave. But moments later he heard a shuffling behind him. "I said, don't!" he growled. "Go away!" The boy bent down over his legs and the strange, completely silent sobs took him again.

Then a loud rumble came from Jet's stomach, and the crying boy looked up, his face filthy and contorted. "What?" Jet demanded, embarrassed. But then the younger boy's stomach let out a loud, gurgling sound as well. Jet sighed and shook his head. "We need food." He glanced at the boy. He no longer even looked like Jet's childhood friend. Jet wondered what he looked like after everything. Probably much different too. "I don't have any food, but I'm going to get some," he said with determination. "You want to help me? You don't look like you could eat much, runt."

The boy nodded with enthusiasm, and held his stomach. "The only food I know of is in the town," Jet mused. "But it's filled with soldiers…" The seven-year-old paled, and he collapsed into his shaking sobs again. "Stop that!" Jet repeated himself, grabbing the boy's wrists as he covered his face and head. "Chizun, stop crying." But whenever Jet said his friend's name, the boy started shaking even harder. Sighing, Jet abandoned all attempt at a name, and pulled the boy's hands away from his face, forcing their eyes to meet. "Stop that now! We have to think about how to live right now, so stop crying." After a few moments Jet's assuring tone seemed to take effect, and the boy managed to choke back the sobs and stand again.

"All right, now no more crying until we get food; understand, Runt?" The smaller boy nodded dismally, but he followed Jet like a puppy as the older boy started pacing. "Firebenders are weaker at night," he mused. "Maybe when the sun sets, we can go back and get food. It'll be just like hide and seek!" he told his partner when the boy's face fell miserably.

"Come on, we need food, and it'll be fun! Like a game! In fact," he whispered to his friend, "I bet I get more food than you."

The runt shook his head in disagreement.

"What, you think you can get more than me? I'm the king of sneaking!"

The boy shook his head again, thumping his own chest with pride.

Jet grinned. "You're on. Food hunt tonight! We'll eat until we're fat!"

But Jet didn't think any amount of food would fill the painful hole that was eating at him since the day before.

The cool night air gusted across the smoking village as Jet darted from shadow to shadow in his own, ruined home. He had two loaves of bread bulging out of his pockets, and some cow-elk jerky tucked down his shirt. He was just reaching into a jar to see if there was any rice left when he heard shouting in the street.

Grabbing the whole jar of rice, he ducked cautiously out the door and slipped behind a fallen garden wall to watch what was happening.

Two fire nation soldiers were chasing someone down the street towards him, one waving a sword, the other weaponless, and apparently, helmetless. Jet's eyes widened as they drew close enough for him to see what they were chasing.

Chizen.

The boy was running with his arms rapped around a bunch of sausage links. Jet was about to stand up and call to him when the fastest soldier caught him and grabbed his arm. The kid let out a shout and wriggled free of the first soldier just as the second soldier caught up, swinging his sword. Chizen cried out as the sword bit into his arm, dropping all the meat links in the street and collapsing in on himself in pain and fear.

Jet let out a growl and ran out towards his friend with a maddening cry. He chucked the rice jar at the helmetless man's head, and heard the jar shatter as it smashed into his head. Then Jet barreled full forced into the armed man's knees. "Run!" he shouted at his friend as he and the taller man went down in a heap. "Runt, run!" he shouted, stumbling to his feet and grabbing Chizen by the arm.

The boy was still wailing soundlessly, but he followed Jet into a stumbling run back towards the forest. They heard the guards stumbling around behind them, but fortunately their eyes weren't as accustomed to the dark as the two boys since they had just been beside a bright fire, and Jet and Chizen knew the land. Plus, the children ran with the speed that only fear for your life can inspire, pell-mell and straight into the cover of the trees. They didn't stop until the village was far behind them. Jet wouldn't have stopped even then, but Chizen collapsed to the ground, whimpering slightly and wouldn't get up.

Jet finally gave up trying to run and bent down to see his friend. He saw that a long cut ran from his shoulder to his elbow. Jet didn't know much about cuts, but he thought it wasn't that bad. He'd gotten worse the time he had fallen into the ravine, and for a sword wound, he knew it could have been much worse. But he did know that it was bad to let it keep bleeding, so he cut the hem of his shirt and helped his partner wrap the cut

"What?" Jet asked as the boy watched him. "I didn't steal any bandages. Just food." The boy's eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's right, I got some food. You hungry kid?" He nodded enthusiastically.

Jet pulled the jerky out of his shirt and they split a loaf of bread. When Jet finished his half, he wished they'd gotten the rice too. They'd already eaten half the food he'd stolen, and they'd have to get more soon. "You think we've got enough left to make it to Riverford?" Jet asked his silent companion.

The boy looked at the food considering, and then shook his head no.

"Well, figures," Jet muttered. "I guess… we'll let your cut heal up a bit, and then if the soldiers still aren't gone, we'll steal some more food in a night or two-" the boy was shaking his head hard "-fine, I'll steal some more food! Coward. And then we can go to Riverford. You've been there before, and Father… Father told me how to get there. We'll make it. You'll see."

His friend nodded, believing Jet just because he sounded so sure.

Jet just wished he was.

But the next day, the runt had a fever. Jet gave him the rest of the bread because he didn't seem to want the jerky, and then he went in search of edible plants around the forest, trying not to hear his mother's voice telling him which ones were good.

Soon Jet had a good pocketful of mushrooms and nuts, and he had even found a few berries. He ate his half on the way back, but his companion didn't want any. By that evening, Chizen was even sicker, and still hadn't eaten more than a few bites of bread.

Jet sighed. "I'm going back to the village tonight," he said. "Tomorrow, we're going to go to Riverford."

The boy shook his head weakly.

"Yes, we are, Runt. Listen here, those fire nation soldiers want us dead. They want everyone in our village to die, and not come back! If we die, they win! That's why I keep going, why I'm trying to live – because I don't want them to win! I want them to lose, and I want to win! Do you want to win, Runt? Because if you do, you'll come with me tomorrow." Jet turned away and stalked towards the town.

Before he left, he turned back to his friend. "And you'll eat that bread," he growled.

But he didn't get a chance to finish the command, because the runt snatched up the bread with a weak grin and began eating.

Jet smiled to himself as he turned back to the town. But, as he slipped through the trees, his smile faded. His mother said if a fever lasted a whole day, it meant you were really sick, and the runt was still really sick. Jet didn't even know what medicine to give him. It was going to be hard enough to steal food.

But he was greeted with the first good thing he'd seen in a while. The fire nation was gone. Smoke and fires no longer lit his small village! That meant he wouldn't have to hide! Any food he could find was free game, and maybe he could even go by the apothecary and look for medicine.

Jet ran around the houses looking for food. Most food was gone or eaten, and many homes were smashed or burned. The market had been turned upside down, and the butcher's shop was still smoldering. But he did find some houses that were still intact, and he pillaged all the food he could from the kitchen. Most fruits had gone bad, but he found more bread and meat. Not a lot, but enough for at least a few days.

When his arms were full, he left the abandoned houses and moved more cautiously into the center of the town. He didn't see anyone, so he slipped quietly into the apothecary. He was just browsing over the cures that weren't broken when the door slammed open.

"Who's in here!"

Jet's spine snapped straight, and he dropped a bottle of potion on the floor. It shattered with a crash and the man moved in the door.

Jet felt tears welling up in his eyes and his legs shaking. He could see Liu's face as the sword sliced through him. I don't want to die!

Jet pushed himself to his feet. The silhouette of the man moved away from the door, and Jet saw his opening and ran for it. His hand closed on the door as he heard the man call out, but he wrenched it open and shot through it.

He was just stepping across the threshold and into freedom when he ran into what felt like a trick wire. He didn't see anything, but whatever it was tightened around his throat and pulled him backwards through the door, dropping him flat on his back.

Jet coughed as he gasped in air and looked up to see the man standing over him, eyes glowering in the dark. It was over. He was caught, and now this man was going to end him the same way the fire soldier had ended his brother. Chizen would die in the forest, waiting for him to come back, when he never would.

He'd lost.

The man returned the long cane he'd just hooked Jet with back to his side and smiled, his teeth glowing white in the darkness.

"I said," he repeated, "who's in here."