Doctor Worm: Hey, everyone. Sorry this took so long. We had to figure out some things about how the story was going to progress before we wrote anything else. And we did that.

Also, Chapter 5 was re-written a few days ago. Go back and read it again to make sure that you've read the new version. It's been changed quite a bit.

Chapter 6: Deep-Talking

The school day went even worse than Zuko thought it was going to be. For the love of God, he had tried to beat up Aang! And then Karate class just made his day even more horrible. Zhao had him spar with Azula again. She always beat him, and no matter how good he got, she was always one step ahead of him in skill. And it wasn't enough for her to simply beat him; she taunted and demeaned him as they fought, and she never let him keep his dignity when she won. Zuko often thought that she and Zhao would run off together at some point. They were alike in so many ways.

He had to get away from it all, and that meant he had to go to Gaoling Park. That's where his friends were. That's where the Freedom Fighters hung out. Zuko still didn't know why they called themselves the Freedom Fighters; they were anything but freedom fighters. Jet and his gang of misfits picked fights and engaged in petty theft and vandalism all around town. They were relatively harmless, though, when compared with the real gangs in Ba Sing Se. The Freedom Fighters were more like neighborhood delinquents.

It was already night by the time Zuko found three bomber-jacket-clad teenagers sitting in the park. Daniel and Jake, a.k.a. Pipsqueak and The Duke, were nowhere to be found, but Zuko found Jet sitting on a bench by the bike path, staring intently at Evan and Jessica – no, Zuko corrected himself, Longshot and Smellerbee – who were passionately trying to eat each other's faces on the bench opposite him. Zuko quietly took a seat next to Jet.

"Good to see ya, Prince," said Jet, not bothering to turn to look at him, hell-bent on continuing to stare at the pair of lovers.

"Hey," said Zuko, slightly confused. "You know, it's not polite to stare."

"Yeah, I know," Jet replied. "But I just can't look away. They've been going at this for a half an hour now. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Figure what out?" Zuko asked. "Why they're doing it? It's because they're both buckets of raging hormones, remember?"

"No, no, not that," Jet said, waving his hand at Zuko, but still staring. "I'm trying to figure out how they've been breathing."

Zuko took a minute to join Jet's study of the pair. After a while, he said, completely bewildered, "I have no idea."

"And the other thing that's been confusing me," continued Jet, "is that it's gone on for a half hour and they haven't stripped down and started screwing."

Smellerbee flipped Jet the bird without breaking her kiss. Zuko laughed.

"C'mon, Jet." Zuko nudged Jet in the side. "I feel like deep-talking."

Jet finally turned to look at him. "Dude, why tonight?" he whined.

"Because Aang Yangchen is back," Zuko said flatly.

Jet's eyes widened. "Oh," he said. "Yeah. Let's go."

-.-.-.-

"So Yangchen is back?" Jet asked Zuko when they were out of earshot of the young lovers and walking along the bike path. "Jesus, I thought he was dead."

"He's not dead," Zuko growled, "he was living with his grandpa. C'mon, I told you this already."

"Yeah, but the general public thinks he's dead." Jet smiled. "And you know that they're always right."

"Jet, this is serious," Zuko said.

Jet rolled his eyes. "So your old buddy and girlfriend-advice guy is back. Holy shit, stop the fucking presses."

"Jet, I almost beat him up," Zuko mumbled.

Jet laughed. "You, beating Aang in a fight? Like that would ever happen."

"I didn't know it was him, and I completely caught him off-guard."

"You didn't hurt him, right?"

"No, Sokka made sure of that," Zuko said. "He's out to kill me."

"He's always out to kill you."

"Yeah..." Zuko remembered how Sokka used to be his friend. They always had each other's backs. Sokka wasn't the brightest kid in the world, but he was loyal to his friends and dagger-like to their enemies, and Zuko had turned himself into an enemy a long time ago.

"Why do you even care?" Jet asked. "The guy leaves for two years, and it's not like anyone else in your old group still hangs out with you."

"I don't care," Zuko defended. "Not that much..."

"Exactly. They're not your friends anymore. Get over it."

"Yeah... Maybe Zhao is right." Zuko's fists clenched as Zhao's name escaped his lips. "According to him, everyone is either an ally to be used or an enemy to be dealt with. He gives lectures about it all the time."

"Maybe he's right." Jet shrugged.

Zuko sighed. "Yeah." Then his anger from the day's class caught up with him. "I can't stand him! He always demeans me and humiliates me in front of the entire class, and he gives my sister opportunities to beat me up all the time."

"This is like the fiftieth time you've told me that. How long have you known the guy?"

"Six years. My dad hired him to teach Karate to Azula privately. Then he eventually bought Zhao his own school. Zhao never liked me, and he makes sure I remember that."

"So why don't you kick his ass?" Jet said.

"He's the instructor. If I want to learn how to fight, I have to put up with all his crap."

"Yeah, but you practice against Azula all the time, right?" Jet reasoned. "You've gotta be better than everyone else at this point."

"Well, yeah, I am," Zuko admitted. "But so what?"

"Fight him. Show him he can't push you around anymore. Dude, you're always so emo when you come here from your Karate class. It's hell for you. And you don't need those damned classes. You can fight. You've gotta stand up to him. You can even prove to Daddy that you're as good as Azula while you do."

Zuko thought about this. Azula was taking longer to beat him lately. He was getting better, and he knew for a fact that in a real fight, Azula was better than Zhao. Just a little bit better, but better nonetheless.

Jet looked at his watch. "Aw, crap, it's midnight. We were gonna go meet Pipsqueak and the Duke over by the mall and go raise some hell." Jet looked at Zuko with a devilish smile. He knew that Jet had some hairbrained plan to piss off the police again. "You coming?"

Zuko didn't feel like "raising hell" that night. "Nah. I'm gonna go get some sleep, think about tomorrow."

"God, man, you're such a pussy," Jet teased. "Afraid the cops are gonna catch us? They couldn't take down a twelve-year-old."

"Jet, don't start," Zuko warned. "Not tonight."

Jet put his hands up in feigned innocence. "All right, all right. You know, that's why I call you the Prince. You're always afraid to get down in the dirt with us common people." Jet turned around and started heading back. "I'm pretty sure Smeller-Shot back there has finished fucking by now. We're gonna get going. See ya around, Princey."

Zuko sighed. "See ya." He began to walk home alone, contemplating what Jet had said to him. Fight Zhao? It might get him to respect me... The only thing that he listens to is violence. And it could be a way to prove to Dad how good I am at this. His thoughts moved to his father. I could show him. I can make him proud of me. Maybe I'm not as good as Azula yet, but if I beat Zhao...

Zuko was so lost in thought that he didn't consciously notice when he got back to his family's mansion and into his bedroom. The act of sneaking in at night had become second nature to him, and it had become muscle memory over the years. As he dropped onto his bed, still fully clothed, the intercom in his room turned on.

"How was your midnight escapade, Zuzu?" Azula sneered through the speakers. "Break some more hearts?" Zuko groaned. She had to make sure that he didn't get complacent. She's always a step ahead, Zuko recited in his mind as he got up and muted his intercom console. Throwing himself back onto the bed, Zuko had one last thought before he fell asleep:

Everyone is either an ally to be used or an enemy to be dealt with.

My sister is my enemy.

I guess, right now, Sokka is my enemy.

But my biggest enemy, by far, is Kevin Zhao.

I will deal with him.

Doctor Worm: So, here's what's up: I went back and rewrote part of the previous chapter, namely, the paragraph where Katara tells Aang exactly how her relationship with Zuko ended and everything after that. Mostly it was because it originally sounded like something other than what it was. I'm not going into details. But we may go back and rewrite chapters as this thing progresses, to wipe out continuity errors. This is gonna be a five-arc story, with each arc containing quite a few plots, so it may get a bit hectic. If you notice any contradictions, let us know in a PM and we'll fix up one or both of the offending chapters.