A. N. : I think it's time I reveal the truth. My sense of humor is exactly the same as the one I write Jet with. Including the terrible puns in this chapter. I'm sorry for disappointing all of you.

Shopping was a great idea.

Jet doesn't know what he expected when Katara said shopping would help Sokka lighten up, but it wasn't weapons. Of course the Fire Nation would have well-furnished weapon shops – but honestly for once he can't be angry about it.

Do they have the money for a pair of hookswords ? Probably not. But damn, they're here, right in front of him, they're perfectly balanced, and Jet has been wanting to spar with Zuko for a while now and he can't do it with only one set of swords for the both of them. And Jet isn't all that comfortable with daos anyway. Too straightforward for him.

Money is a pain in the ass. Things were easier in the forest – hunting, foraging, stealing the rest from the army. Trading with Earth Kingdom folks sometimes. A lot of them were fine with taking goods in exchange for their stuff. Money just complicates everything.

But maybe it's just as well. It's much easier to rein himself in when he only has a dagger. With swords of his own, he could –

Well, his old idea of getting rid of young recruits still makes sense. They might have been conscripted, but they will still walk on Earth Kingdom and murder over and over again. Better to stop them early. At the same time, Jet knows doing this would leave him on his own and he doesn't think he could bear it.

Old habits die hard, and his reflexes remain the same at first. But maybe there's another way, maybe Jet can fight differently. Right now, he still depends on the others to stop him, but someday he could –

It's probably too early for swords. Too close to his old demons. Shame. These look really good.

Zuko is mumbling to himself – something about a piandao ? Why would he want a piandao when he already has his own swords ? – while looking at a very elegant jian. Given it's on its own, framed, and just generally fucking beautiful, Jet guesses it was made by a great master. Oh, and there's no price.

But why in hell did Zuko talk about a piandao ?

Sokka eventually stops playing around with all the weird weapons he finds – he already has a boomerang, there's seriously no need to get even weirder – and asks them what they're looking at. Or well, he asks Zuko.

Jet really isn't one to talk on grudges being taken too far, but this is getting old fast. Alright, maybe joking about the dam last night kind of made things worse, but Sokka started it. Just because he has an inferiority complex doesn't mean Jet shares it, thank you very much.

The shopkeeper starts bragging about the sword and the most famous person in the town of Shu Jing and – and it wasn't a piandao ! It was a Mister Piandao. A Master Piandao – oh come on it wasn't that bad, look, Sokka is laughing –

Jet tunes out Zuko's killjoy comments that it's not even a pun Jet or that Sokka laughing doesn't speak in its favor Jet, and instead focuses on Katara and Aang's latest attempt at comforting Sokka by telling him the reason he feels inadequate is that he never had a master – which is obviously bullshit, no number of new competence is going to change Sokka's blindness to his own strengths, also Jet never had a master and turned out perfectly fine on that front, their argument is invalid –

But Jet keeps that to himself. Getting better at fighting won't hurt Sokka or the rest of them. Plus, he can't wait to serve Sokka's ass in a fair swordfight under the guise of sparring. That's going to be fun.

And on top of that, Zuko isn't nagging about needlessly exposing the group to danger like the good worrier he is, instead praising this Master Piandao dude and saying this is a very good idea – Master Piandao is an excellent teacher – and isn't that interesting ? There's a story there, probably involving Zuko and swords, which is always a good start, and Jet likes that master already.

He is wondering if Piandao is his real name though. And if it isn't – does this guy prefer piandaos ? Though, given he made the jian on the wall, maybe not. But production doesn't mean predilection. But what if his name really is Piandao ? Did he choose the way of the sword for that reason ? That would be hilarious. Did he teach Zuko how to use twin daos, or did Zuko go down this road later on his own ? Would he give Jet free hookswords if asked nicely, since he's friend with an old student and acquainted with a future one ?

Would Jet resist giving in to the screaming voices and dying children and burns on his feet urging him to do something – wow wow wow, let's calm down here, the day was going well, there's no need to be this way.

Maybe he'll ask Zuko to spar anyway, one sword each, while Sokka convinces that Piandao dude to teach him.

Gotta keep himself busy.