I recently started a full-time job so my free time hasn't been much when you couple in my volunteering and other things demanding my attention. I've also restarted this chapter too many times to count because I'll churn out a chunk, decide I don't like where it's going, and hit delete. I think I've got it where I want it now…

Soulmarks 4

Zuko is the biggest walking mass of contradictions Jet has ever met.

On one hand, he undoubtedly personifies fire bender stereotypes perfectly with his short temper, sense of entitlement, and his offensive based strategies…Jet doubts Zuko even understands that to stand his ground or fall back onto the defensive are options -it really is all about shoving a flaming sword down his enemy's throat. Typical fire bender tactic. Not that Jet's one to retreat or settle for standing his ground; he's more than happy to go on the offensive himself.

But on the other hand, Jet has never seen a fire bender show respect for the other nations. The first time Jet brought it up, one night after a supply run into a village where Jet had watched him partaking in the local customs with a lot more respect than Jet could be bothered with, Zuko merely mumbled about his uncle and knowledge growing stale when taken from one source (Guanyin but this firebender is one heck of an awkward turtleduck). Jet is fast developing the belief that his uncle must be a cryptic old fuck. Which is the type of man Jet can either really respect or absolutely hate depending on the circumstances. And damn, Jet is really becoming more and more aware of the lack of middle ground in his mindset. Having Zuko around is helping with that.

Speaking of which, he really wants to know his story…like how does a firebender get a scar like Zuko's? And what the fuck is he doing in Ba Sing Se hiding from his own people? The Fire Nation doesn't have many traitors but the few that have made it into the Earth Kingdom are freaking legends, Fire and Earth soldiers alike speak about them in hushed whispers in dark corners. Everyone knows of Admiral Jeong Jeong and his band of followers. Every day that Jeong Jeong lives is a new record. Before Jeong Jeong, deserters usually didn't last more than a month before Fire Nation elites took them out in the messiest ways possible (So messy that Jet never let his Freedom Fighters ever eavesdrop on those conversations; that was the stuff of nightmares).

Zuko is just a bit younger than Jet is…and for all the Fire Nation's faults, they have yet to start throwing teenagers on the front lines. Perhaps that it the one line in the sand that their spirits-cursed army does not cross.

The uncle must be the reason Zuko was hiding in Ba Sing Se. Talk about the worst way to become an outcast.

XxX

Zuko does not know what to think about Jet. But he's not entirely certain Jet knows what to think about Jet either.

There is definitely a burning hatred for the Fire Nation in the boy; it's not obvious like a forest fire would be…this is the kind of fire that is little more than embers burning in plant roots underground; it's there, quietly seething and glowing but you can't see it until something trips it up and whoosh! There goes the whole valley.

Zuko would rather have blatant burning hatred; he can deal with that. What he can't deal with is the way Jet will start to swell up with hatred and then…forces it down. Zuko doesn't understand it; why is this Earth Kingdom teen, who has lost three homes now, trying to overcome that hate? Most of the Earth Kingdom are mountains with their hate; standing tall and proud and so sure that rejecting a Fire Nation citizen just for being Fire is righteous (Agni, he really wasn't getting over the Li debacle, was he?)

Zuko is really starting to miss his Uncle's cryptic wisdom; he could really use Uncle Iroh right now.

…oh second thought, no; Jet looks the type to be fully behind Music Night.

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They're in the Fire Nation; freaking hell, they're in the Fire Nation!

So why does it look so…normal?

The village they're in could be mistaken for an Earth Kingdom town if the colour scheme was green instead of red.

Jet feels sick to his stomach. It shouldn't be so damn similar to home; he can overlap the image of a nearby farmer with his small son with a memory of his own childhood.

From the corner of his eye, he can see that from underneath the hood of his cloak, Zuko is snatching peeks of everything they walk past with so. Much. Damn. Joy. How long has it been since this guy even saw his homeland?

Jet can't help but wonder if he'd look that way in Zuko's shoes.

"So now what?" Smellerbee drawls from behind.

"We need somewhere secure to hide." Zuko murmurs in response; already organising his purchases so he can carry them. "A Sun Warrior Temple; there's one here on the main island, same as the capital."

Longshot looks intrigued.

Jet smirks. "No one goes there?"

"Only traitors on their way out." Zuko replies, lips curling on a sneer. "Uncle and I stopped there when we left. The booby traps take some getting used to though."

Smellerbee blinks. And Jet can't even begin to decipher that one.

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Zuko was not kidding; the temple takes getting used to. And for a thousand-year-old ruin; the traps are hellishly efficient (And Zuko told them that this isn't even a major Sun Warrior Temple; his uncle has been to one of those and apparently their traps are even more sophisticated). They sleep in a pair of rooms with a solid floor and roof, and four solid walls and doors that they secure each night. None of them care to find out the hard way if they sleep walk.

Zuko and Jet end up rooming together in order to give Longshot and Smellerbee some space.

And somewhere along the line they get to talking; it's unbearable for all of them in the immediate aftermath of finding out that Zuko is the banished Crown Prince. Zuko disappears deeper into the temple after blurting it out in response to Jet's increasingly agitated probes into the fire bender's past. That night, Jet has a lot of meltdowns in Long's and Bee's room over the fact their recently acquired fire bender is the freaking son of the Fire lord (But it did explain the sense of entitlement because Zuko wasn't just born with a silver spoon in his mouth; that spoon was probably pure gold with inlaid gems).

It only takes two days and a half, twenty-eight disappointed sighs from Longshot and thirteen lectures from Smellerbee for Jet to go into the depths of the temple after him. Not that he was counting or anything.

It takes him another half of a day to find the other. Zuko is hunched up beneath a huge tree that reminds Jet of the forest, staring balefully at the leaves floating on the water of a nearby spring.

Curiously, Zuko's right hand clasping tightly at his left shoulder; his knuckles are white enough to have Jet wincing at the bruises the other boy was going to have for days.

"Hey, Jet here." He announces lamely, flopping down next to Zuko. He runs a curious gaze over the other and quickly deduces that nope, Zuko has not been sneaking back to the group at night for food. Stubborn little ash maker…

"So," Jet drawls as he desperately tries to chase his own thoughts away. "How does a Fire Nation Prince end up in Ba Sing Se when he's not trying to conquer it?"

"I can't go home."

"Unless you have the Avatar." Jet rolls his eyes. "You mentioned that."

Zuko's voice makes Jet thinking of a candle when the wick is about to burn out; it's soft and keeps flickering in attempt to stay alight. "No, even with the Avatar, I can't go home."

Jet sits up and pins an incredulous look on Zuko. "What, your old man changed the terms? That's allowed in the Fire Nation?! Damn, even the Earth King couldn't pull that shit, a deal's a deal!"

"No." Zuko mutters, burrowing his face deeper into his knees. "Nothing about that has changed."

"So why not?"

Zuko licks his lips as his eyes narrow in thought. Jet knows the exact moment that he decides to share; the way his entire body relaxes, especially the way the right hand relaxes from its clench across the left should and straightens out to gently rub the abused expanse of skin, is a dead giveaway.

"The Fire Nation used to share the Earth Kingdom's view on soulmates you know. Fath -Fire Lord Ozai deemed it superstitious nonsense; some of his first acts when he came to power involved dismantling the legal protections for soul mates and making it illegal to teach about soul marks." Zuko rasps. "Most of the commoners are taught by their elders and still respect soul marks -the military have that beaten out of their ranks though. Mother taught me everything about them. I promised her that I'd never throw the Great Spirit's blessings back in their faces."

Jet has no idea where Zuko is going with this but if that isn't enough to chill someone...Oma and Shu, he knew the Fire Lord was a bastard but somehow, he didn't think anyone could be that big of a bastard.

Zuko swallows thickly, golden eyes darting over to meet Jet's briefly before fixating on the red cloth of his own shirt. Zuko's voice goes impossibly softer.

"I have an Earth Kingdom soulmate."

Oh.

XxX