Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender and neither does James Cameron (thankfully).
A/N: It's been so long since I've updated this! I'm adding a little shipping into this story now, not much, but I'd still like to know what you think. Please review, good people.
They covered a lot of ground that day. Lu Ten led them through a landscape like none Jet had ever seen before. It resembled most closely the Chiharu gardens that Jet had once visited as a child. But that was a long time ago, he thought with a pang in his heart, back when his parents were still alive.
These fields stretched on seemingly infinitely. The long grasses were intertwined with bright red and yellow flowers that gleamed in the dying sunlight, then closed in on themselves in the crisp evening air.
"What is this place?" Jet asked of Lu Ten.
"It's called the Ketsujou. It's where the dead go to grieve for the living."
"Why should they grieve for us? I mean, why should we grieve for them?"
"When I first came here, I was met by a wise old monk. He was an air bender. I didn't really take to him at first, but after awhile I got to know him. I remember he said once 'Death is separation for a time. Not forever, just a time'. I think I know what he meant." Jet nodded silently, mulling it over. Even though his friends had lost him, he had lost them too. He pictured Smellerbee and Longshot, and felt a pang of grief wondering where they were and if they missed him, or even thought of him at all.
"Will I…will I be able to grieve here?" He asked in a small voice.
"Yes. We all must. At least, until you're ready to let go." He answered gently.
Jet continued ahead, and kept his gaze from the field around him. Every now and then he would see a spirit there, knelt in prayer. He looked away quickly from such scenes. He didn't want to think anymore about loss or acceptance. He carried a heavy heart, so to speak. Without him wondering at the impossibility of it, his eyes began to prickle with tears when he thought aloud,
"I never thought the spirit world would look so much like home."
They stopped to camp in the middle of a field, surrounded by nothing by deep blue shadow. The night air was chilled, and even around the campfire the three travelers had to bundle in blankets to keep out the cold.
"Why is it so c-c-cold here?" Jet said, teeth chattering.
"I'm not s-s-sure. It's unnatural." Lu Ten replied, huddling deeper in the blankets. Zhao refused to acknowledge the other two, doing his best to look comfortable and in control even as his frame shuddered against the icy wind.
"It's strange to feel s-s-so cold. In life, I always had my firebending to k-keep me warm." The prince said, grimacing.
A ghostly call suddenly broke through the darkness. It was soft and for a moment Jet thought he imagined it. It was the sound of a girl's voice, echoing like a siren.
"As moon I come…they call me Twi…" Came a sing-song voice, like the cooing of a dove.
"Did you hear that?" Lu Ten whispered. Jet nodded. An ethereal blue glow grew brighter at the far end of the field. Brighter- and closer. It bathed the closed flowers in an eerie light. Jet felt an unnatural calm in the face of what he was seeing. A look at Lu Ten told him the other boy was feeling the same way. The same could not be said for Zhao, however.
"It's an evil spirit approaching us! We must leave!" He said in a hissed whisper.
"No…I don't think so." Lu Ten said, rather dreamily. The voice echoed to them again, the words a little louder and clearer.
"To shine, shine, shine bright to the world…To shine is fit for me…" The blow glow was before them now, and Jet could now see a form within it. A maiden. A goddess.
"What are you, spirit? Turn back or suffer my wrath!" Zhao roared at the approaching figure, lunging into fighting stance. The figure giggled softly.
"What spirits are these that I see? A fierce fighter, but a silly man…You are known to me, Admiral Zhao." Zhao's face contorted into fear at being recognized.
"And you I know too." She said indicating Jet. "My dearest Sokka told me a tale of an Earth Kingdom boy, full of hate and rage. But I believe there is goodness in you, Jet." Jet took a step back in awe of the being before him.
"Who are you?" Lu Ten ventured to ask, lowly. "I have not seen you before in the living nor the spirit world. Nor any to whom I could compare your beauty."
The maiden smiled and giggled lightly, hiding her face behind her hands.
"I am Twi, the moon spirit." She said. Then she drifted closer until she was in front of Lu Ten. She leaned in so she whispered in his ear,
"But I am called Yue, handsome prince." Lu ten blushed bright red as she pulled back from him and drifted past their little camp and onward. She called back over her shoulder,
"I must shine for the mortals at night, but I'm sure to see you again. Farewell travelers."
They stood staring, all but Lu Ten who managed to raise his hand as a parting gesture. Then as quickly as she had come she was gone. The blue light receded.
"That was…strange." Said Jet finally, as he sat staring into the fire. Lu Ten just smiled as he looked back in the direction the spirit had left. He murmured a single word to himself as he lay down to sleep.
"Yue."
*Ketsujou- absence