A. N. : Honestly I felt Extatic when I finished this chapter. Jet is growing, slowly, and while I don't think he'll ever be healthy, this is still pretty big. Don't expect him to get it all right in one go though.

Jet fucked up.

He fucked up so bad he honestly thought he would have to kill the old man to get out of this mess.

But no, the guy told him to be careful – Jet called him a murderer, and therefore exposed himself as Earth Kingdom, and this damn old man tells him to be careful –

What the fuck.

Is he a traitor, does he feels guilty for killing and burning and – breathe – did losing a leg make him realize suddenly how much of a fucking terrible person he is – breathe Jet for fuck's sake –

In and out, and again.

Let's pretend for a second that this old man is actually a traitor and not just a delusional idiot – though now that Jet thinks about it, it would explain a lot. Anyway let's – let's pretend. In the case the guy really is a traitor to his Nation, what would that mean for Jet ?

A source of intel, for one – dude has been in the army, he has to know things. An ally ? Nah, too old and injured to fight, and even then Jet doubts even a traitor would be ready to kill his own like that – Li did, but Li is the exception and also not the subject.

Is the old man alone in this ? Are there others, and if there are, are they organized ? Even not talking about Jet – after all there weren't many people who would follow him even back in Earth Kingdom, so here – if there is, hypothetically, an organized group of Fire Nation traitors, would they provide help to Aang ?

This is all theories and baseless hope, but somehow Jet's mind thinks of Mushi's Pai Sho philosophy. You can always find friends with Pai Sho, no matter where you are. And it's absolutely stupid, especially since there is no Pai Sho board around, but Jet remembers that and he starts thinking that maybe Mushi meant something more than just a game philosophy.

Not that Jet is going to play Pai Sho with someone who could hypothetically, maybe be on his side. Possibly.

Though if he isn't then why would he – old and delusional Jet, stop giving yourself hope.

Hope ? Hope for what anyway ? What would an old glassmaker even do to help ?

Or maybe he's just waiting for Jet to trust him and tell him about Aang – hah, nice try, Jet won't fall for that –

Wow, even for him that's a new low. What kind of paranoid idiot would seriously believe this ? One thing Jet knows for sure is that the Fire Nation believes itself to be invulnerable, even more so now that Aang died. They wouldn't bother hiring someone to unmask spies.

So the old man is either an idiot or a traitor.

Could Jet use him somehow ? Bend him to his will to do – what exactly ?

The man is talking, Jet only realizes that when he sees his lips move. Maybe he's been talking all the while and Jet didn't notice – even now he can't really focus on the words and has no idea what this guy is saying.

It must have been pretty obvious, because the old man turns to face Jet with a very slow move – he takes the stool from under his peg leg, turns, puts the leg on the stool again with a poc sound. Ah, the leg was cut above the knee. Jet wonders what walking that way feels like.

Boy, the old man says, and Jet doesn't like being called that at all. He could kill this man with his thumb, he's not a boy anymore. He isn't an adult – doesn't want to be an adult, to be a coward bowing to the Fire Nation – but he isn't a powerless child.

Jet's thoughts were probably clearly shown on his face – that or the old man is used to these kinds of situations – because the guy sighs and says that he is, well, old, and so to him Jet is a child just like many other people are. It doesn't have anything to do with looking down on him.

And he adds – how can he, how dare he – he adds that he understands Jet's anger – what a fucking joke really, as if a soldier, as if an ashmaker could understand that – but Jet shouldn't be so loud about it – Jet swears he's going to beat this guy with his own leg, he'll see who's loud then.

Being too critical of the war only brings trouble. At best Jet could end up in jail. At worst… well he should be too young to be conscripted, but you never know.

And Jet wishes the old man had said anything but that. Conscription ? As in, people being forced to go to war ? But no, the Fire Nation is full of murderous assholes, why would they need that system ? Earth Kingdom resisted for a hundred years without something like that – and now that Jet thinks about it, that was probably only because the Earth King didn't know about the war and so he never signed the order – the Fire Nation wouldn't need that –

Surely they all want the war, aside from Li and Mushi. They have to.

Jet looks at the old man. He doesn't want to know, doesn't want to hear him talk about the Fire Nation being full of people. Jet doesn't want to, but he has to. He has to know, has to understand, no matter how painful or terrible. He can't keep running away like a fucking airbender.

He breathes.

Jet asks for the old man's name.