"I don't see why he had to come along."

Zuko bit back a sigh at Katara's words, trying not to give her any more things to complain about, trying to focus only on walking. Aang had insisted that Zuko come along, and then Katara had insisted she come to, under the pretense that someone might be hurt, that it might be Jet, that she would be needed. Zuko suspected that it was just so she could make his headache even worse, co-conspiring with the rocks digging into the soles of his richly made shoes.

Though, she did look a little concerned when Jet was mentioned.

Jet. Zuko inwardly cringed at the thought, nearly slipping on the gravel in his distraction. If this was the same kid from Ba Sing Se, if these Freedom Fighters were the same people… Personally, he'd rather not fight that fight at all, especially in front of the waterbending witch. It would just be fuel to the 'Zuko hasn't really changed' fire, and probably destroy all the good will he'd worked up with Aang.

So what? Was it better to just let Jet slice him in half?

"Katara," The Avatar said, his voice weary, both from training and jumping to the constant defense of his teacher. While touching, Zuko really would have to talk to Aang about that. He could handle people not liking him, people insulting him. Really, it wasn't anything new in his life.

"Look, guys. Can we please just focus on our mystery guests?" Haru interjected, glancing back at the three, eyes lingering for a second on the Prince. Zuko already knew that Haru held Katara's opinion and would've loved to leave this to people Jet wasn't likely to jump at yelling "Firebender!" but Aang had wanted to know why Zuko didn't want to go, and he couldn't bring himself to go into the details of his and Jet's meeting in front of someone who'd only use it as ammunition.

So here he was, climbing the steepest "hill" he'd seen in a while.

"I can't believe you guys came all the way up here to train," Katara said, sounding motherly again. "You really ought to be more careful. We don't know how much longer it'll be safe here."

"What can I say, it's a good spot to practice Earthbending." Haru said, flashing Katara a smile. Absolutely disgusting. Haru clearly had some kind of crush on Katara, but Zuko didn't really need to see it, thank you very much. Also irritating, Haru didn't seem to be having any trouble climbing.

Stupid Earthbender.

When they finally reached the top, Zuko was immensely glad, his happiness dulled only by the thought of having to climb right back down again. Why had he come again?

"So, where are they?" Aang asked, squinting into the forest trying to see through the leaves.

"Right through here." Haru said, pointing as he stepped forwards, once again taking the lead. Instantly, Katara and Aang moved after him, looking apprehensive and eager respectively. Zuko hesitated, knowing it would be easy just to walk right back down the hill of doom and hide out in the Air Temple and wanting nothing more than that. No. He was the Prince of the Fire Nation, traitor or no, and no ragtag team of orphans and their crazy leader were going to scare him. Squaring his shoulders, Zuko brought up the rear, determined not to be made a fool of.

--

Smellerbee's lungs were burning, begging her to stop this sprint, her aching and tingling legs demanding the same. But she ignored them, heart pumping with the thought of reuniting with another Freedom Fighter. It had been too long since she'd seen the Duke, who was no doubt with Pipsqueak. Longshot was great and all, but recently she'd been feeling like they were the only two left, that it had been a mistake to separate, that they were doomed to just wander and wander forever.

But their wandering had lead them to the Duke, which had to mean something, didn't it? It had to mean that everything was going to be okay, that Jet hadn't died in vain, that there was still good things in the world, you just had to look for it.

With that in mind, she told her aching legs to shut up, her lungs to deal with it and kept running. She had to be clos—

"SMELLERBEE!!"

She skidded to a halt when she heard her name, barely keeping her balance, head jerking up in anticipation, eyes scanning for the owner of the voice.

The owner found her first. Something small and hard thudded against her chest plate, it's arms wrapping around her neck, effectively tackling her to the ground, twigs and nuts crunching as she landed. She coughed, trying to catch her breath, to identify, to talk to this thing, but all she could manage was to wrap her arms around her attacker, latching onto the little being, as moisture started to form in her eyes.

"Smellerbee! I can't believe it's really you!" The Duke babbled, sitting up enough to look at her, a smile splitting his face, the too big helmet engulfing his head as always. "I mean, I know it's you, but I thought I'd never see you again! I—Eugh. Smellerbee, you're becoming a girl!" The Duke protested, pointing a finger in horror at her eyes.

"Take that back!" She said, shoving him off her so she could sit up. Sure, her tone was angry, but he'd no doubt see right through that. Hard to be angry when you're about to explode with joy.

The Duke laughed, standing up, allowing her to do the same before starting to babble again. This time, as she dusted herself off, she could only make out the words "Avatar", "firebender" and something about the capital. "Shh." Smellerbee said, pressing her palm against the Duke's lips in the hopes of stemming the flow of words that were spilling from there. "Why don't you save the stories for until Longshot comes?" So we can suffer together and maybe decipher something between the two of us. She thought.

The Duke nodded, pulling her hand away from his mouth. "Okay." He agreed, nearly bouncing with excitement. The flow of information stopped, Smellerbee could now look up at her surroundings, trying to figure out just where she was.

Instead, her eyes found a dark haired boy with goggles on top of his head, smiling at the pair of them. He was sitting in some kind of weird chair thing, his legs wrapped in a blanket, which was weird. Very weird. What was that?

"Hey." The boy said, now that attention was on him, gloved hands reaching down to the wheels on the sides of the chair, rolling himself forwards. Could he not walk or something? "I'm Teo." He said, once he got closer, holding his hand out to her. Unsure of herself, she took the hand, letting him move their hands up and down. When he released her, Smellerbee pulled her hand back in relief. Something about this happy kid freaked her out.

"This is Smellerbee, she's a really great fighter and stuff. She's a Freedom Fighter, and we used to fight firebenders together." The Duke said happily. "Oh, and she's a girl."

The Duke dodged her swipe, and Teo only chuckled good-naturedly, hopefully not noticing her blush. "I know, the Duke." He said, looking back up at her. He looked amused, but not at her reaction… Maybe.

Boy, she wished Longshot would show up.

"Hey, where's Jet?"

She looked down at the Duke, her blood going cold. She knew he'd ask about Jet, but hoped that he wouldn't notice their leader's absence for a long, long time. Or at least waited to ask until Longshot got here. He always knew just what to say, just how to say it, especially if he wasn't talking.

Smellerbee was saved having to answer the Duke by the arrival of four more people, the first long-haired, mustached boy unfamiliar. But she could see the Avatar behind him, and that girl Jet liked next to the bald monk.

Was there someone else there, or was she imagining it?

"Hello!" Katara called, waving as they got closer. Smellerbee tried to smile for her, but couldn't bring herself to give off much of one. This girl couldn't save Jet. And if the Avatar and the water tribe siblings hadn't come to the forest in the first place, none of the bad things would have happened. They'd still be in the treehouses, fighting the Fire Nation. But, no… The girl had tried, hadn't she? And her brother saved the village, and showed everyone just how revenge-crazy Jet had become…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the revelation that she indeed was not imagining the fourth person.

Smellerbee's hands closed into fists before her brain could begin processing what she was seeing. Li, the boy Jet wanted to make a Freedom Fighter then stalked under the thought that he was a fire bender was standing behind the Avatar, looking unsure of himself. She knew it was Li because of the scar on his face, that ugly thing Jet identified with, proof that somewhere along the line he'd run a foul of a firebender. He was wearing red and gold, the colors of the Fire Nation, but that proved nothing. Smellerbee wasn't really interested in whether or not Li was a firebender or not. As far as she was concerned, he could be a lemur and that wouldn't change how she felt. This boy was the reason Jet got thrown in jail, the reason that Jet was brainwashed, the reason that Jet was dead. He was the second on the list of people she wanted to destroy, the first being that Long Fei.

He would pay.

She took one angry step towards him, but it appeared that someone else had the same thought she had, someone much quicker than she was.

--

"The Duke nearly flipped out when he heard a whistle and just started whistling back. Honestly, it freaked me out pretty badly."

Longshot frowned, turning on his tree branch, looking down for the source of the voice. So what that he'd gotten lost, it could happen even to the best of people every now and then. He'd just climbed a tree for a better vantage point, trying to reposition himself so he could find the Duke better (also so he wouldn't have to whistle and reveal that he'd gotten turned around somewhere and get teased for the rest of his life). But it seemed that the spirits were on his side.

Right below him was an unfamiliar boy in Earth Kingdom clothes, followed by the girl Jet had made goo-goo eyes at and a bald monk with a blue arrow on his head that could only be the Avatar himself. He was about to concede defeat and just drop down behind them and follow them to the Duke (he could wonder later how the Duke ended up with the Avatar) when something else caught his eye.

A dark haired boy moved behind the first three, his movements determined, yet reluctant. He was wearing Fire Nation red and gold, his pale skin peeking out from under it, betraying his place of birth. From his vantage point, Longshot could see golden eyes peering out from behind tendrils of black hair, though one eye was hidden by an all too familiar disfiguring scar.

It was Li.

Longshot nearly fell out of his tree in his haste to climb to the next branch, barely remembering to stay quiet, one hand already sliding out an arrow and the other grabbing his bow. Sliding on the branch, keeping hold with his legs, Longshot let himself hang upside-down, still hidden by the leaves of whatever season it was, notching the arrow on his bow, taking aim for the boy's back.

His blood roared in his ears, either from the new sensation of hanging upside-down, or from pure adrenaline fused with newfound anger. He knew it wasn't rational, but anger rarely was. If Jet hadn't fought this boy, then he wouldn't have gotten arrested then dead. Arguably, he and Smellerbee should have stopped Jet from ever entering the shop, but they'd tried. They had no idea what would happen. Hindsight was perfect, and this boy couldn't have known he'd only get Jet killed. But Jet was still dead, and this boy was no longer in Ba Sing Se, living innocently. He was with the Avatar in Fire Nation red, which proved that he was a firebender and Jet was right.

Jet was right, and no one believed him.

Longshot closed one eye, trying to let his raging emotions fuel his actions, not distract him from what needed to be done. Li was a firebender and Jet would've wanted him gone. Li was a firebender and was hiding out with the Avatar, no doubt waiting to kill him. Li was a firebender and was close to the Duke. Li was a firebender and he'd killed Jet. Li was a firebender and he was approaching Smellerbee, and Longshot wasn't going to let him take away anymore of his family.

Longshot pried his fingers away from the sting, letting the arrow fly.

Sorry about the wait, Part 3 should be up much, much sooner. I promise.