Chapter 16

Aang stood next to Appa, bending a large rainshield over him as he ate. Appa didn't like his food damp. For that matter, neither did Aang.

Katara walked up to stand next to him, joining her bending with his to create a nice, dry bubble for them.

"How is Zuko?" Aang asked quietly.

"I wish he was more alert," Katara replied. "He's sleeping too much. Toph says he has trouble staying awake more than fifteen minutes or so at a time. And it's getting to her too. She seems so distracted." She reached out to pet Appa's long, soft coat. "I miss Bumi. I wish we could go home."

"Home?" Aang asked with a grin. "And where would that be?"

"Wherever you and Bumi are," she replied, leaning into him. "But you know, this place isn't so bad now that Lian Shen has stopped messing with our dreams. It's practically made of water. And the rain is really peaceful."

"It's a little like us, isn't it?" Aang asked. "All misty. Air and water. Clouds."

Katara looked out over the lush green swamp. The rain fell steadily all around their little dome, mist rising from the trees. Then Aang turned to her with those clear, steady gray eyes and brushed the hair back from her face, cupping her chin in his hand.

As he bent to kiss her, he let the mist rise around them, clinging to their skin, embracing them with its airy dampness.

Behind them Appa could only grunt a little in protest as his food got wet.

Meanwhile, Jet stood in the doorway of the guest hut, rain dripping heavily into his eyes, blurring his vision. But not so much that he couldn't see that look of challenge on Mai's face, that look he knew so well from his dreams. He stared at her for a moment before jerking his thoughts back into order.

"Lady Mai," he began with a deep bow, "I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was inexcusable. I should not have taken the liberties I took with you. You have my word that it will not happen again. And I also want to thank you for saving my life."

Mai listened to his well-rehearsed apology, then responded with a slight bow of her own, "You have nothing to apologize for, Jet. I thank you for taking such good care of me."

He was aware that she was still looking at him, but did not meet her eyes. He nodded and turned to walk away, when he felt her hand on his arm.

"There's no need to stand in the rain," she chastised. "Come in and dry off."

He paused a moment, then entered the hut. No one else was around. "Where are Aang and Katara?" he asked.

"Aang went to check on Appa and Katara has gone to check on Zuko and Toph," Mai replied, taking a seat on her cot and passing Jet a dry towel. "That's one of the perks of being a water-bender, I guess. They can both just bend the rain away from them and stay dry. I hope they'll bend me a nice umbrella over the fire when they come back. It's been so cold in here today."

It didn't seem that cold to Jet, even as wet as he was, but he nodded in agreement, glad to see that he could talk to her reasonably and professionally.

He toweled off his hair, then pulled a dry change of clothes out of his pack. When Mai realized what he intended to do, she got up and walked to the door.

She opened it to step out just as the bottom fell out of the endless cloud and rain poured down so heavily it sent a damp mist into the room. She felt herself shiver.

"No, close the door," Jet said. "There's no point in you getting soaked too. I can wait."

Mai shut the door again, then asked, "How about if I just keep my back turned?" Jet gave her a nod, and she turned to the window to watch the rain.

As Jet began to unbutton his vest, Mai kept up a one sided conversation about the weather, how cold it was, how long it had been raining, and how long Dei Zi had predicted it would rain. "She says we're in for a week of this at least, can you believe it?" she said sadly as she stared out the window into the darkened skies.

The clouds were so heavy overhead that even in late afternoon it appeared to be closer to evening. Fat raindrops splattered the leaves and the ground, turning the wet mushiness outside even wetter, even mushier.

"I don't know if I can take another week cooped up in this place," Jet replied as he pulled his wet shirt over his head, "even though I did actually manage to sleep well last night." Then he stopped as he realized what he'd said. His shirt hung dripping in his hands for a second before he regrouped his senses and hung it over the end of his cot.

Mai stood there silently then said, "I slept better too. Aang said the swamp spirit was interfering with our dreams. Maybe the nights won't be as bad now." She could hear the rustle of clothing behind her and made every effort to keep her eyes focused out the window.

"I'm done," Jet said at last and she turned back into the room to see him draping his wet clothing over whatever surface was available.

"If I were a bender, I'd dry them for you," she offered with a little smile as she walked back over to her cot, pushing it back against Katara's to make more room for him to walk around. Then she sat, pulling her blanket up around her shoulders. "Also if I were a bender," she continued, "I'd generate a little heat in this place. It's cold in here."

"I'm not really that cold. Just wet," Jet replied, pushing his own cot as far against the edge of the room as he could. Then he sat down on it and leaned back against the wooden wall of the hut.

"Are you a bender?" Mai asked conversationally.

"Nope, not to amount to anything," he replied.

They sat there quietly for a few more minutes as the rain pounded and the thunder rolled.

"So--" they both said at once, then laughed.

Then Mai said, "Your turn to ask something."

Jet nodded. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked curiously. "You were incredible."

Mai thanked him and began telling him of her early training. "My parents were a little disappointed that I didn't have any bending abilities to speak of. All Fire Nation nobles are supposed to be benders," she said wryly. "But when I began martial arts training, my teacher found out that I have a kind of gift with knives." Then she shivered a little.

"Are you still cold?" Jet asked.

Mai gave a little nod. "I just can't seem to warm up with all this rain." She then yawned a little. "And its so dark and gloomy outside. It makes me want to sleep."

Jet pulled the blanket off his cot and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Just where do you keep all those knives?" he asked in a teasing voice. His eyes grew wide as she pulled up the sleeves of her tunic to reveal two sleek spring-loaded holsters.

"I have three more in my belt and two on each ankle," she added.

He whistled in appreciation, a little surprised that he hadn't been able to feel any of that weaponry on her body the night before. Then he forced his attention back to the present as Katara and Aang entered the room, both annoyingly dry.

"How's Zuko?" Mai asked solicitously.

"He's not doing as well as I hoped," Katara replied seriously. "He's not getting his strength back like he should."

"Maybe it will just take time," Jet offered. "I know how he feels. It took me months to truly get over being blasted by Long Feng." The memory of that whole experience still rankled and he shook his thoughts away from the recollection.

"Long Feng? The head of the Dai Li?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yeah," Jet replied. "Do you know about him?"

Mai thought for a moment, then replied, "I've just heard the name in Ba Sing Se."

"Jet helped us escape from him during the war," Aang interjected helpfully. "He broke free of Long Feng's brainwashing and attacked him."

"And Long Feng returned the favor," Jet said with a dismissive laugh. "That was a long time ago."

Katara walked over to give Jet a little pat on the back. "We thought you didn't make it," she admitted sadly.

"I've been presumed dead plenty more times since then," he replied with a little grin. "I don't take it personally any more."

Mai had grown a bit pale. She'd already heard this story, but from the other side.

She, Azula, and Ty Lee had infiltrated the castle at about that time. Once they'd taken over Ba Sing Se with the Dai Li's help, there was a time when Long Feng was a valued ally. She'd actually listened one night over dinner as he regaled them with the story of how he'd made sure that the only person to ever break conditioning at Lake Laogai would never so so again.

That person must have been Jet. She'd actually nodded in agreement as Azula had congratulated Long Feng on killing him. What had she been thinking? What kind of monster had she been?

Once again she deeply regretted ever joining Azula. Nothing but bad had come from it and she'd spent years trying to make up for the things she'd done. Trying to become the kind of person she ought to be.

Jet could see that Mai was shaken by the tale. "It's no big deal. I got over it," he said gently. Then he turned to Aang and Katara and asked, "How long do you think before we can pull up stakes and get out of here?"

Katara shook her head. "That depends on Zuko. I was going to try to get him up to walk in a few minutes."

"Let me come give you a hand," Jet offered, rising to his feet. "I've been through rehab a time or two myself. I know how rough it can be."

But even with Jet's help, Zuko could barely manage to stand, much less walk. He tried. He tried with everything he had, but it was like something was sucking the life out of him. He was so tired.

And after only a few minutes of effort, he could feel his nerves begin to protest. His head began to pound and the supportive grip of their hands on his arms turned into steel vises. "Katara, stop," Toph called to them. "It's too much."

"No," Zuko tried to tell her, but even as he said it, his knees buckled. Fortunately Jet caught him and eased him back to the cot.

He shook with the exertion as Katara worked some of her healing on his pounding head. The pain eased, but he could still feel himself trembling.

The rain continued to pour outside the hut, making the air inside chilly and damp. The trembling turned into shivers.

"Sparky, are you okay?" Toph asked him as she leaned in close.

He nodded wordlessly as she reached out to touch his cheek and forehead. "You're freezing," she stated, then pulled another blanket across him.

The trembling began to ease and he felt himself slipping again into sleep. He tried to fight it, but he felt so weak, so lifeless. The voices around him grew more and more distant until he finally could hear them no more.

"I just don't know," Katara sighed. "I've done everything I know how to do for him. Dei Zi has done everything she knows how to do. I just don't know why he's not bouncing back from this faster."

"Go talk to Aang," Toph said firmly. "See if the other avatars have any idea what might be happening to Zuko. Get him to talk to Lian Shen again if he has to. Something is not right, Katara. I can feel it."

Katara nodded in agreement. "Jet, do you want to walk back with me?" she asked.

"That's okay," he answered. "I'm going to stay with Toph for a little while."

"You don't have to do that," Toph replied firmly. "I'm just fine."

"I want to," Jet stated, walking Katara to the door.

Once Katara was out of earshot, he turned back to the earthbender, amazed as usual by how much power was contained in that petite frame. "Toph, how are you holding up?" he asked in a very no-nonsense fashion.

"I'm fine," she said firmly.

"You're lying," he answered. "I can hear it in your voice. Tell me the truth."

Toph sighed and leaned back in her chair. "It's so hard," she finally confessed. "I can't see anything. My mind wanders. I can't feel the ground. I'm cut off. I feel like I'm losing myself."

Then she reached out to stroke Zuko's hair back from his face. "He needs me to be strong, but I feel so powerless. I can't do anything to help him, Jet," she sighed. "I can't even help myself."

Jet understood how she felt. Ever since his first night in that place, he'd begun to feel like he'd lost his footing. Like he'd become rootless.

"If I could just get the earth under my feet for a few minutes," Toph said sincerely, "I would feel so much better."

"I'm no bender," Jet replied, "but I can imagine how bad it must be for you to be cut off this way from the earth. I miss it myself."

Then it hit him. He and Toph were cut off from the earth—they felt lost. Zuko and Mai were cut off from the sun with all this rain and shade—they felt cold and weak. Maybe that was the solution.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said and ran out the door of the hut.

By the time he arrived at the guest hut he was soaked again. Fortunately, he had a master waterbender and the avatar available to bend him dry with almost no effort. That kind of ability must be nice, he thought.

He looked over to see that Mai had stretched out on her cot and was apparently asleep, still wrapped in both blankets. That just reinforced his theory.

"Aang, Katara," he began, "how do you feel?"

The two of them looked at each other. "I feel fine, I guess," Aang answered.

"Me too," Katara added. "Why do you ask?"

"I've got a theory," he began. "Zuko and Mai are Fire Nation, but all this rain and the thick swamp has cut them off from the sun. Mai was complaining about being cold and tired. Zuko is even worse—maybe because he was already weak from the bite. Toph and I are Earth Kingdom. But there's no earth around, so we feel out of touch and lost."

Aang thought for a moment. "That makes sense. Katara is enjoying all the water. That's why the Water Tribe lives at the poles, nothing but ocean and ice. They're surrounded by water."

"And the only people who can live in the swamp and not go stir crazy are water benders too," Katara added.

"Air Nomads have a real advantage," Aang commented sagely. "We're always in our element." Then he smiled at them and added, "Otherwise, we'd suffocate."

Katara just ignored him. "Jet, I think you're right. We need to get the rest of you guys out of here—especially Zuko," she declared firmly. "Some place rocky and sunny. But close—I don't think a long ride would be good for Zuko right now. What little movement we tried just now set him back too much for my peace of mind."

"The sun will be down within a couple of hours anyway. We'll let Zuko rest through the night, then pull out first thing in the morning," Aang suggested.

They roused Mai and all headed over to the healer's hut to deliver the news. When Toph heard their plan, her face brightened in a way Aang had not seen for days. He wondered why he hadn't already come to the same conclusion. After all, he was the avatar and was supposed to be connected to all four elements. Surely he should have missed having contact with the earth and the sun.

Jet had been very observant to make the connection, especially since he wasn't a bender himself. Leaving Katara and Mai to help Toph, Aang and Jet returned to the guest hut where Jet got busy readying his still damp clothing for travel.

Aang immediately felt bad. He should have already dried them for him. "Let me get that," he said, reaching out a hand to bend the water out of the wet leather and fabric, then firebending a little heat into the items. "Gets the wrinkles out," he explained. "Katara always makes me do the laundry."

"Must be nice to be able to do that kind of thing," Jet said with a grateful grin. "Us regular folks just wash them by hand and hang them up to dry."

"So you aren't a bender at all?" Aang asked curiously as Jet began to fold his now dried trousers and shirt.

"Not really," Jet replied. "Sometimes I get a feeling from the ground, but I can't really manipulate it or pick up rocks or anything. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Aang answered, but kept thinking.

Mai and Katara returned to the hut, carrying a couple of trays of food. Jet was glad to see it. Thoughts of leaving that miserable place actually brought his appetite back.

"Toph is so excited to leave," Katara said. "I think this is definitely the right thing to do. But we still don't know where we're going."

Jet took a bowl of stew from the tray Mai held out to him and spoke up, "I think I know the perfect spot. It's an old hideout of mine. As the sky bison flies, it shouldn't take more than half an hour to get there, but it's too remote to be used by bandits because it's up in the mountains. There's a large cave and a spring."

"I don't do caves," Mai replied firmly.

"There's also a large open area that gets direct sun nearly all day. You can soak up rays to your heart's content," Jet continued with a grin. "And the cave is big enough to hold Appa. Trust me, you'll like it. No centimanders."

Mai smiled back at him and unaccountably his mood lightened even more. He decided not to tell her about the scorpionspiders.

Back in Dei Zi's hut, Toph watched as the old healer gathered up a few personal items for the night. "I won't deny that it'll be good to have my place back to myself again," she said a little gruffly. "It's getting to be downright boring sitting with Bo all day."

"Is he any better?" Toph asked politely. She'd certainly not meant to inconvenience anyone.

"I reckon," Dei Zi replied. "Katara has worked enough healing on his back that maybe he'll be able to get around well enough to send you all on your way tomorrow. All the rest of the men have gone on a hunt and seek with Hu."

"What's a hunt and seek?" Toph asked.

"They hunt dinner and seek enlightenment from the swamp. Hu says if they listen closely enough, they'll hear things that will help them understand themselves," Dei Zi replied sarcastically. "I think it's just a chance to dodge work for a couple of days."

"So they listen to the voice of the earth?" Toph responded thoughtfully.

"Not so much the earth as the swamp. Hu talks about wishing he could hear the earth too. He says the earth and the swamp talk to each other," the old woman offered. Then she gave Toph a sly wink and added, "But he talks about this kind of thing mostly when he's been sipping on swamp punch."

Toph nodded in understanding as Dei Zi left the room. She went back to Zuko's side. It hurt her so badly to see him this way. To know there was nothing she could do. He shifted a little in his sleep and the blankets dropped off his shoulder. He was going to get cold, she realized.

All the same, it took her a moment to focus enough to pull the blankets back into place. Jet was right. They had to get out of here soon. She had to get back to a place where she could hear the earth's voice again herself. Otherwise, she'd soon begin to lose her mind completely .