A. N. : Hey look, Zuko is back ! Things are slowly taking the shape I want them to take before getting to Book 3, so I think it shouldn't be too long before we get to it. Probably.

Jet wants to talk.

Probably. He hasn't said anything yet, and Zuko is starting to wonder if he didn't somehow misunderstand Jet's intentions.

But really, why else would Jet approach Zuko when he's wearing the uniform he knows Jet hates to see.

Zuko has thought about it before, talking to Jet, setting things straight and starting anew – like it's possible to just put things behind, yeah right –

But he was busy with a lot of things – Lin, the ship, listening to Hakoda's advice, keeping himself busy to avoid thinking about the people he murdered when he was supposed to protect them – and so he never got to doing it.

The fact that he was scared of how things could turn out might also have played a role.

And yet there he is and there they are, awkwardly standing in a staircase, probably stopping everyone from going up and down the stairs – aren't Hakoda and Bato still on the deck, what if they want to come down –

The silence is suffocating.

Zuko wishes he had some kind of gift for conversations – or even just an average ability, really. He… guesses he should probably apologize for lying and – well, lying was the only thing he did wrong ? Apart from being Fire Nation and a firebender and a Prince, but he can't apologize for that.

He is already doing what he can to help repair his people's wrongdoings – by killing them, Hakoda is wrong, Zuko is a terrible Prince, a terrible person – and until the Avatar wakes up there isn't a lot more he'll be able to do.

There isn't a lot more he'll be allowed to do, not when the whole ship thinks he is even more of a monster than he really is.

He expected these accusations from the Water Tribe warriors – they have never hidden what they think of him and of his blood – hell, Katara isn't that much of a surprise because of how little they talked before and how much she hates his kind, but Sokka – Sokka who talked to him, Sokka who apologized for saying the same kind of things, and Zuko thought he understood –

But apparently he was just sorry for saying that on accident, because otherwise he wouldn't have let them say that – Toph stood up and there wasn't any consequence, so it can't have been fear –

Does defending someone's honor when you know it is intact – or as intact as Zuko's can be – does it mean nothing to these people ?

That's not what he should be concentrating on right now – stay calm, don't show anger, don't scare Jet – but he can't help it these days, the blow is just so hard –

Suddenly, Jet is apologizing. Not for punching Zuko in Ba Sing Se – he honestly deserved it – or distrusting him or giving him hell or any of that, he just –

He should have intervened, should have told the others that they were – are – wrong, because even if he despises everything Zuko stands for – and if they hated him for being the Fire Prince he would happily join them – he can't bear the idea of people hating him for the wrong reasons. If that even makes sense.

That's… nice ? Maybe ? In Jet's own twisted way ? At least he still remembers the kind of person Zuko is, no matter what he learned about the person Zuko is supposed to be – what kind of Prince kills his people, really, even Azula wouldn't step so low, no matter how twisted she has become –

Zuko's blood is that of a Fire Prince, but honestly ? He can't be, he isn't the right person for that, even when he tries his best he keeps making mistakes – and maybe that's why Jet dares approach him again. Dares try to fix whatever there is between them. Because he sees Zuko as he really is, with all his flaws and failures, and even if Zuko hates all of them, for Jet they are probably a good thing. A way to make Zuko into less of a Fire Nation citizen and more into Li.

Zuko can't say he likes this – no matter what, no matter the failures and mistakes and hardships, he is who he is and no one can strip him of his identity – but he knows Jet needs it – Zuko needs it, needs Jet to be on his side –

Jet knows him in ways few people do, knows the pain and fear even Uncle doesn't understand – Uncle never feared fire – but his being Jet means he will either deny Zuko's fire or snap – and they both know where that leads, to crazed eyes and a twisted smile and a hand on Zuko's face –

But Zuko will bear with this, precisely because Jet knows him – believes him despite his hatred of Zuko's blood, and Zuko needs this trust, if he can even call it that, because he has no one else apart from Toph and he can't afford having so few allies in the current situation.

And it's not like he hates Jet's company anyway.