Ok, sorry this one's short. As usual, I own nothing. Btw, thank you Invisible Firebender for your input, it was helpful.

They didn't dare meet Lee again for well over a week afterward. Jet didn't dare to show himself in the open after being recognized. Again and again he considered taking The Blue Spirit's advice and getting a mask to wear during his escapades, but he couldn't find one that suited him. Nothing looked quite the way he wanted it to. All the masks he saw depicted happy features and laughing people. Not one of them seemed to say anything about a war in Ba Sing Se.

Whenever he went on a masquerade, he tied a piece of black cloth around his face from the nose down. People recognized him when he fought, but the occasions on which he was recognized during the rest of the day became more and more scarce, which was a welcome change. But it didn't give quite the affect that a real mask would.

Zuko yawned as he examined the cabbages for sale. They were surprisingly good quality.

"Do you get much business?" he asked.

"Not so much really." said the merchant. "People keep wrecking my cabbage cart, and it's not fair. You can only go through so many cabbages a year."

Then a voice Zuko had heard often before sounded beside him.

"Hey Lee." said Smellerbee.

"Hey there." he said, without turning around. "Where's Jet?"

"He's too embarrassed to talk to you." she said. She didn't have to say "If you know what I mean." He did know what she meant.

"Tell him it's alright. He doesn't have to be afraid of us, and he can swing by any time if he wants. It's not that rough a crowd."

"Thanks, I know it'll mean a lot to him."

"Sorry we cost you so much business." said Jet. He and the other freedom fighters were back in their favorite seats at the tea shop, but they wore disguises just in case, and he was careful to avoid the wheat stem. Uncle had brewed a specialty just for him: wheat flavored tea. It helped take his mind off of the withdrawal.

"Not at all." said Zuko. "For a day or two we were the most popular tea shop around. Everybody wanted to see where that fight happened, and we were right here when they had their fill with the scene."

"Well I'm glad we could help, but hopefully there'll be no reason to have another episode like that. I don't think a repeat would be as good for business."

"Probably not." Zuko leaned closer. "Either stick around a while, or come back later." he said. "I've got something for you."

Just after closing time, as the last customer left the tea shop, Jet arrived. He was along this time, still hooded in his dark blue cloak, and not chewing wheat so as not to attract unwanted attention.

"Welcome back." said Zuko, making sure no one was watching before ushering him in.

"So what's so important?" asked Jet, taking the shortest route, as usual.

Zuko walked behind the counter and pulled out a wad of cloth and handed it to Jet.

Jet unwound the cloth and stared. Inside was a mask that looked as though it would fit him perfectly. It was reminiscent of that of The Blue Spirit, but not the same. It was red for one thing. Not a light hearted pinky red, nor a deep somber cherry red. It was bright, but not flashy, and Jet knew that in the dark it would melt into the shadows as if it were black.

The expression it wore was a bit less demonic, but somehow if anything more menacing. Its teeth were shorter, but stuck out at a slightly more realistic angle, and were as sharp as needles at their tips.

Its eyes were long and narrow, but wide enough to see through, and looked very angry.

"Where did you get this?" asked Jet.

"I know a guy." said Zuko.

After Jet had long since gone, and when Zuko was sitting alone at one of the tables brooding to himself, Uncle came down the stairs from their living quarters.

"Our friends were here, weren't they?" he asked.

"One of them."

"What did he want?"

"A kind word and a small cup of tea. That's all."

Uncle did not look satisfied with the information, but sat across from his nephew without mentioning it anyway. "You know," he said, "if you can't sleep, you should try some of my poppy seed tea. It works wonders."

"I'm not tired, and I'm not thirsty."

Uncle thought to himself for a few minutes. Time dragged on and he thought about many things. He almost had an answer concocted when he realized that Zuko was asleep. "Sleep well, my nephew." he said.

"Please!" shouted the last agent in the line. The Red Whisperer stood over him, swords drawn with four dead agents behind him. "I'm a good man! You're doing the wrong thing!"

Jet sighed. It had already been two days since he had received the mask, and it had worked wonders. Wearing it, he was much more fearsome, and people had already begun to forget what he looked like without it.

He looked down at the pitiful man before him. "And what exactly can you do to atone for the wrongs you have done this city?" he asked. "You and the other Dai Li have hidden the truth from these people. They have been in danger from the very start, and only those near the outer wall have any clue. You and I both know there is a war in Ba Sing Se, but you try to hide it, and I'll keep killing you as long as you do."

"No!" the man crawled backward, his stone gloves forgotten. "I'll leave the Dai Li forever! I'll never come back, I swear!"

Jet thought about it. The man wasn't fighting back anymore, and as much as he hated the Dai Li, he did not want to be a murderer. "There are certain conditions." he said. "I can't trust you in here. Not only must you leave the Dai Li, but you must leave Ba Sing Se, and you must leave the earth nation. You must be where you have no choice but to fight the fire nation. Any member of the Dai Li had best be prepared to leave behind not only their identities as the faceless policemen, but even their very lives, one way or another. You have ten seconds to run, and then if I ever catch you in here again, you'll be as dead as a rock."

Jet counted to ten, and the man made it.

Panting, The Red Whisperer sheathed his swords. Five Dai Li agents in two minutes was nothing if not tiring, even if one was a pipsqueak. The thought brought back memories of his old friend, and regret washed over him for the words he had used at their last meeting.

Then, to his surprise, he heard someone clapping. He looked around to find the source, then spotted The Blue Spirit leaning against a wall. He walked over and greeted him.

"Hello Blue Spirit." he said.

The Blue Spirit finished clapping and crossed its arms in front of itself. "Well done." it said. "Not only did you top my score for tonight, but you managed to find a little mercy in yourself. You probably did that one more good that any other individual in Ba Sing Se. He'll probably be the first to start fighting the fire nation."

Jet stared at him. "Thanks." he said, at length. "But I'm curious, when exactly did you start masquerading?"

"Oh, not long before you did."

"Did you hear my rumor about the prophesy?"

"I've been The Blue Spirit since long before I heard that."

"You have?"

The Blue Spirit laughed. "Didn't you think it odd that when I gave you the idea I hit the nail right on the head?" he asked, then reached up to remove his mask.

But even before he finished, Jet knew who he was. "Lee?"

"Zuko pulled his hood down and held his mask in his left hand. "That's right." he said. "The fact is, I've been doing this since the incident. But I wasn't quite so affective until you started doing it too. Once I had competition, I was really a force to be reckoned with."

Jet let out a long low whistle as he realized everything that had been going on. "So much makes sense now." he said.

Zuko replaced his mask on his face. "I've got to get back now, before Uncle misses me, and I need some sleep. You should probably get some too. A man needs his rest. Swing by the shop again some time, and I'll tell you more about myself, and everything that's happened to me."

And then he was gone, and Jet was alone on the street.