Hey there readers! Chapter 2! Gawd I'm on a roll! So hey, hopefully you lovely lovely readers managed to become engaged in the first chapter and not get bored and fleet away to find a different story. I'll try to make this as painless as possible and get to the better parts I know you all love to read. Hehe... okay.

Warning: YAOINESS- M rated stuff in later chapters. Jet x Zuko. Don't like don't Read please. Neh neh?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I do not own Avatar: Last Air Bender/ Legend of Aang.

Now my pretties!... ENJOY! XD

For the rest of the day, Zuko was bombarded with little woodland creatures trying to steal his potatoes. He grew frustrated after batting them away every five minutes. The day was very slow, that was for sure. Only four more people passed him, three of which bought a few potatoes.

The next day, two elderly woman were treating him like a child.

"Oh my! What a cute boy."
Zuko twitched with frustration and embarrassment- two very familiar feelings. These two hags decide to stand and gossip with him and about him, and he wasn't even talking. They spoke about ow they were going to be late for what ever if they didn't leave, but much to Zuko's disappointment, they never left!

Evening drew near and he was face down at the stall- not being able to leave since these women decided to buy `one more potato` every ten minutes. Zuko suddenly heard Jet's voice.

"Would you mind excusing us for a moment?"
Zuko's head shot up. It was amazing! The old women blushed and giggled and left. Jet kept flashing his charming grin at them until they were out of sight. He then turned to Zuko.

"Still here are we?"

Zuko suddenly felt as if he needed to be on guard and narrowed his eyes; "Yeah..."

Awkward moments seemed to follow Zuko wherever he went.

"Well, my troops liked the potatoes."
Zuko dead panned.

"I didn't grow them. I just sell them."

Jet leaned on the stall as Zuko leaned back on a conveniently placed tree. Just then, Zuko spotted Jet's hook swords.

"You fight with those?"

What else was he supposed to say? Jet smirked and skilfully pulled them out and swung them around.

"Yeah. Do you?"
Zuko's broadswords popped into his mind.

Even though he was intrigued by the weapons, he decided to ask what Jet was doing.

"Why are you back here?"

There was a little snip to his tone- call it a habit. Jet placed his swords away.

"Got quite a tone there. This is my run. I do check ups along this road three times a day."
Zuko had only seen him once, maybe he did `check ups` at night. Zuko found it weird how he was actually thinking about these things. Maybe it was to avoid asking out right. He didn't actually want to talk to this boy, he made his chest feel weird under that gaze. Yet, Zuko found himself talking to him like two normal teenage boys.

"You've only come down here twice though."

Zuko was mindlessly chewing on nothing after staring at Jet chewing on the same piece of nature. He still couldn't quite control that sceptical tone.

"I've been in a tree nearby."
Been in a tree? Was he a bird? Did he have nests here and there?

"Why?"
Zuko found his mouth moving on its own.

"Well I can't always be bothered walking, so I decided to sit and watch you."

Jet was being way too forward about that for Zuko's liking. He was being watched? The scarred teen felt a burning in his cheeks again and it came on strongly this time.

Not used to this kind of awkwardness, Zuko looked about.

"Why were you watching me?"
Zuko wasn't quite sure how he sounded. He was sure he sounded distraught.

"I had nothin' better to do after I gave the troops the potatoes. Plus, you were amusing to watch. You really couldn't stand those old hags. Couldn't you just tell them to go away?"

When Jet laughed and smiled, Zuko's heart skipped a beat and he felt very self conscious. It was odd how Jet hadn't commented again on his tone of voice or been snippy back.

"I... I have to go back now. Bye."

With quick actions be picked up the cart and was off. Jet watched him the entire time until he disappeared around the bend.

By the time he was back at the farm, Zuko had completely flustered himself by thinking about Jet. How Jet had been watching him for a while and he hadn't even noticed. About how he managed to be getting along with him. God damn this feeling!

The prince turned his fluster into anger and- after dumping the potato cart in the barn- slammed the door to the kitchen open and stormed through the house to the barn out back. The farmers wife jumped and paled at the princes dark and angry face.

"I-Is he all right...?"

Iroh- who was making a pot of tea- calmed her by speaking in a dry tone.

"Oh don't worry about him. And please forgive his rudeness..."

Iroh then smiled.

"He has quite a temper but he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Zuko stormed right through the house and out into the barn to the hay bed the farmer had kindly allowed him to sleep on. He swatted at the annoying bugs and pulled at his sort black hair.

"Damn it. What's wrong with me."
He knew what the feeling in his chest and stomach was, but he refused to accept it. He didn't know Jet. The boy was just handsome for his age and Zuko was willing to admit that but that was it. He refused to think Jet was hot or good looking in an attractive way, especially not to him.

`I can't be gay. I'm not gay!`

That smile of Jet's flashed in his mind and he gasped. In horror of how sensual his own gasp sounded, his slammed a hand over his mouth and crouched into a ball. He held his aching chest and stomach.

`What is this...?`

Iroh went in search of his nephew and found him sitting in the corner of the barn- an air of despair about him. He was miserable. Did something happen?

"Zuko... are you feeling all right...?"

The old man approached cautiously, knowing his nephew well. And sure enough, the scarred teen snapped at him.

"I'm fine!"

Feeling a little relieved his nephew still had a little bite in his bark, he sat down right next to him with a cup of tea for the teen. As they faced the wall, Iroh spoke quietly, still knowing something was wrong.

"Zuko... you know you can always talk to me."

He peered across to his nephew. The teen had his knees up and he was hugging them close to his chest- nothing but his nose and eyes visible. Zuko mumbled an `I know` into his sleeve and buried his head deeper into his arms. Iroh had seen that Zuko didn't want to say it outright, so he decided to play the guessing game.

"What is it then... did you have trouble at the stall...?"
Zuko's face disappeared completely into his sleeves now and he mumbled into the material.

"Not exactly..."

Iroh could see the teens ears turn beet red and he cleared his throat, knowing exactly what was going on but not letting on that he did.

"You seem a little unwell... you're bright red."

Zuko's head shot up for a moment; "Alright! I'm not fine!"
He was angry and his sleeves sizzled a little before he rested his nose on his forearm. Iroh grinned, he had figured it out for sure now.

"O~h. I see. The `love bug` has got you down then."

Fluster overtook the prince and he hugged his knees tightly- any tighter and he would have committed self-amputation. Iroh was suddenly concerned.

"Wow... that bad is it?"
Zuko shouted- nearly a scream.

"I'm not in love!"

Iroh noted that Zuko was trying to convince himself that he wasn't more so than convincing his uncle. He patted his nephew on the back. After a few minutes of silence, his uncle asked him something.

"So... are they pretty...?"

Zuko's mind whirled, he was feeling nauseous.

"Uncle... I feel... dizzy..."

"That bad is it?"
Iroh could feel for his nephew. Then again, he also knew what his nephew refused to believe.

"Uncle, can you go to the stall tomorrow...?"

Iroh sighed.

"Zuko, you really shouldn't hide from love. It has ways you know."

Zuko snipped.

"I'm not in love."

"I know what love is Zuko and you have been dipped in glue and rolled around in it. It's all over your face."

"Not it's not!"
"Yes it is."

In the night, Zuko had a mild dream. All he was doing was watching Jet sitting in a tree. That was it, not exotic or sensual fantasies- which he took as a good sign when he woke up. He let it all fall down to the fact that maybe he just thought of Jet as someone who happened to look really good. He hadn't seen a face as boyishly handsome as Jet's – well, he probably had, but he just didn't count Jet as an enemy.

Stocked up with potatoes, Zuko decided to distract himself with thoughts of how to improve the stall. He spent most of the cool summer morning tying stick together and pimping his stall with stripped sticks and straightening the thin crooked nails.

The start of the day was rather prosperous. Quite a few travellers wondered past and some decided to buy the cheap vegetables. While working on propping up the corner of the stall, a shadow blocked his light. Zuko stood to face a group of three men, all very tall and not very pretty.

"Can I help you...?"

The man at the front asked him a question briskly.

"Have you seen a young man around here...?"
He continued to describe Jet. Zuko didn't like the looks of the men and lied.

"Sorry, can't say I have."
One man kept staring at his scar and that annoyed Zuko. He decided to keep his tongue to himself though, as he didn't want to deal with any problems.

"You sure boy? We have ways of finding things out."

Zuko frowned annoyed at the man.

"I told you already I haven't seen him. Now buy something or move on."

It was taking a lot of energy to place his words carefully. Zuko was the dictionary definition of a `short fuse`.

"You giving me tongue, kid?"

These guys were trying to stir up trouble, regardless of whether Zuko watched his mouth. He decided to get at the ugly guy staring at his scar.

"Will you quite staring at me!"

The cave man scowled.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson you foul mouthed brat."

They pulled Zuko over the stall, the teen barely managed to keep his footing as they dragged him into their midsts. It wasn't easy fighting them. No matter how skilled Zuko was, it was almost as though he were fighting trees. So far, he had taken only one down, the other two were hard to take down. He was hit in the face and was quite battered. He had to make the decision of whether or not to actually use his fire bending, and make it fast.

The biggest man struck him hard in the gut and Zuko was left winded. Then the man drew a dagger.

Zuko fell to the floor holding a wound on his stomach and passed out.