Disclaimer: Don't own.
A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and everyone who favorited or added this story to an alert. You guys are awesome. Also tomorrow is my graduation from graduate school. I feel like that should make me feel more like a real person than I do. Also this is an AU guys.
Jet knew how to watch. He watched the movements of Fire Nation soldiers for years, he watched how animals moved so he could find food, but most of all Jet watched people. He watched them and read them.
When he, Longshot, and Smellerbee ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke he watched the interactions between everyone. Well that was about all he could do, considering about three of his ribs were broken and his head needed to recover from the Dai Li manipulation as well as the blows to it. He noticed how his group had fractured from distance and new feelings. The Duke and Pipsqueak were still close, but Jet noticed how much more like a father Pipsqueak was. Longshot and Smellerbee, well, they were both getting older and Jet recognized the beginnings of romantic feelings between the two. He felt like the odd man out. It didn't help that they were all on a ship full of Water Tribe warriors.
Once everyone learned of the invasion plan Longshot and Smellerbee kindly asked to be dropped off somewhere else: they were truly done with fighting and didn't want to risk the invasion. Jet could hardly blame them, after all they went through under Ba Sing Se he was slightly hesitant about fighting again. Only slightly though, he wanted to cut down as many Fire Nation soldiers as possible to repay them for what the bastard Lee did.
Nearing the day of the eclipse Jet recovered and began practicing with his hooks again. The only thing of interest for him from the invasion (besides the utter failure) was getting to see Katara again. And getting to join their group to go to the Western Air Temple (he promised Pipsqueak that he would look after The Duke and make sure he at his vegetables).
There he took to watching people again. He felt out of place: he didn't care to go exploring with the other boys and he really wasn't part of Aang's group. He was there, however, when Lee showed up. Dressed in Fire Nation red, calling himself Zuko, offering to teach Aang firebending. Jet felt vindicated. He was right! The bastard was a firebender! Jet proceeded to do a very small victory dance. The fact that Appa licked the jerk and everyone shunned him made Jet's day better.
Jet was not happy when Lee became part of the group. Even more so when the others started trusting the bastard. Worse when they insisted the bastard's name was Zuko and not Lee and that he, the bastard, was the son of the Fire Lord (Jet really wished he had killed him in Ba Sing Se, witnesses be damned).
Jet did appreciate the sparing partner, though. Having a three-way match between Sokka and Fire Nation scum made his fighting better. That he would admit. Still he watched.
He watched Aang's crush on Katara, he watched Haru look at her a little too longingly, he watched and held The Duke when he missed Pipsqueak, he watched the blind girl laugh at everyone and still manage to look way too often in Sokka's direction. Most of all he watched how Katara and scum revolved around each other. Oh sure she hated him and he just wanted her forgiveness but Jet could see how much they noticed the other. How they catalogued every movement.
Jet let it be, he had other things to worry about other than the affection between those two. He hoped he could be around later though, maybe Aang would beat up the bastard for him.