Chapter 14 - The Cattle Drive
A pigster crowed loudly outside the barn as the Fire Prince lay on his makeshift bed of blankets and hay bales, staring upwards at the wooden roof blankly. It was a good thing that he got so much sleep yesterday during the day, because he didn't sleep a wink the entire night.
How could he sleep? Instead, Zuko had just kept replaying the events of last night over and over within his head. The unexpected invite to the treetop hillside, the luminescent shimmer of the fireflies, the sight of Jin getting closer and closer to him... and then, well, he didn't know. Everything was just moving too fast for him. It was like he was just caught up in the moment.
If it wasn't for that passing fish jumping up out of the nearby stream and making a noise, bringing him back to his senses, then would he have done it? Would he have kissed the Earth Kingdom girl?
He wanted to say no. He wanted to say he would have turned his head away at the last moment. He wanted to deny acknowledging the small part of himself that had been the tiniest bit curious about what it was like to kiss a girl.
Perhaps what made the whole thing additionally bizarre to him was the fact that the more he dwelled on last night's memories, the more he found himself picturing not the Earth Kingdom girl standing beside him there on that hillside underneath the light of the fireflies, but instead a certain dark haired Water Tribe girl. A Water Tribe girl who had, over the course of the last couple weeks, continuously argued with him, slowed him down, and confounded him to no end.
Biscuit neighed overhead the Fire Prince from her nearby stall. "Yeah, yeah," groaned Zuko lazily as he got up and placed some fresh hay in the ostrich horse's trough.
But also within that very time frame, that same Water Tribe girl had encouraged him, led him to face hard truths that he wasn't certain he could have faced alone, and had even fought at his side. There certainty weren't many people that Zuko could admit that would do all that for him. And this waterbender hadn't expected anything in return, didn't ask for anything in return, didn't seem to want anything in return.
Zuko sighed to himself. In all honestly, perhaps things would have been easier if she had wanted something in return. At least if that was the case, then he could fulfill that request to make up for all his recent mistakes.
Biscuit squawked again as the ostrich horse ruffled her feathers. "Hold on," muttered the Fire Prince as he started to fill another nearby trough with water. "I'm working on it."
The firebender patted the head of Biscuit as the ostrich horse drank her fill from the water trough. "Don't suppose you know why I keep picturing Katara next to me on Firelight Hill, do you girl?" he mused.
The ostrich horse simply shifted back over to the hay trough as she continued eating her breakfast. Zuko rolled his eyes. "No, I don't suppose you do." He hadn't really been expecting an answer. He just needed someone else to talk to beside his own thoughts. "Neither do I."
A tail swipe smacked the young firebender upside his face as Biscuit seemed to turn back and look at the boy. Coughing as he pushed the tail feathers out of his face, Zuko demanded with annoyance in his voice, "What was that for?"
All the Fire Prince received in response was an indifferent snort from the ostrich horse as she resumed eating, seemingly in a huff, or at least what passed for being in a huff for an ostrich horse. Zuko glared at Biscuit for a minute before sitting down on another hay bale off to the side.
He didn't need advice from an ostrich horse anyhow. He knew the answer to his own question. He just didn't want to admit it out loud. To do so, well, to do so would be to give life and expectation to that very answer. And he was terrified that the waterbender might not feel the same.
If his track record throughout his short sixteen years of life was any sort of proof, then it was very clear to Zuko that fate did not want him to be happy. He had lost his Mother when he was just a child. His own Father disfigured him just to teach him a lesson. He was banished for speaking out of turn to try and save the lives of his countrymen. He had been unsuccessful in capturing the Avatar despite pursuing the airbender for the last three unsuccessful years. His Sister hunted him to remove him from the line of succession permanently. And now he wandered the Earth Kingdom as both an exile and a Fire Nation criminal with the possibility of being recognized and killed every day.
'No,' Zuko thought grimly. 'There's no way that Katara feels the same. How could she? Why would she?' The Fire Prince sighed to himself. 'And even if she does, it doesn't matter. I'm on the run. I can't drag her more into the danger that awaits me from my Sister, my Father, and the rest of the Fire Nation.'
Shaking his head, the Fire Prince finished getting ready to face the day. As he did so, his thoughts returned to the Earth Kingdom girl as well. Even as dense as he normally was, it was clear to him that Jin harbored some interest towards him. Zuko frowned. That was probably only because the Earth Kingdom girl didn't know his true background. If she knew he was Fire Nation, then she would despise him just like everyone in that plains village did once they learned of his origins. Not everyone would be as accepting as Katara. It was probably safe to assume that the Water Tribe girl was the exception to the rule.
Zuko proceed to the barn door. No, it would be best to finish up his work on the ranch, finish recovering, and depart this place before anything else happened. Stopping to look back once more, Zuko addressed the ostrich horse. "Eat up girl. We're going to have a busy day today with this cattle drive Han wants us to do."
Biscuit merely gave a neigh that sounded suspiciously like the ostrich horse was saying something like, 'I'll be ready. Just be sure not to slow me down.'
Zuko walked outside the barn and took some time to meditate on a hay bale. Then, he ran through both his firebending and sword forms. His firebending may have been sealed to him, but going through the forms again and again allowed him to tire himself out. And more than that, the repetitive practice let his thoughts refocus themselves on his movements instead of the complicated distractions that were threatening to overwhelm his mind.
Longshot appeared at some point that morning as well. The two warriors exchanged their customary head nod of acknowledgement as the archer set up his targets and got to his own morning practice. It wasn't until Katara emerged from the ranch house and walked next to a trough full of water that Zuko stumbled in his forms once more.
She seemed to be pointedly ignoring him as she kept her back to his direction and ran through her waterbending warmups in silence. Today, it seemed that she was single-mindedly focused on increasing her speed and proficiency in transforming the water into ice. Katara kept pulling droplets of water from the trough, freezing them into icicles, and then launching them at an unlucky wooden post in the distance.
Zuko was getting very uncomfortable flashbacks to the first night that he had traveled with the Water Tribe girl and all the ice needles that had surrounded and quite nearly killed him. For some reason, he was starting to felt a phantom pain of ice needles digging into him each time another icicle impacted the wooden training column.
Katara melted the icicles embedded within the wooden post and littering the nearby ground into a substantially large orb of water. Stretching and pulling that water ball, Katara bent the plume into a cloud burst as all the water erupted outwards and rained down to cover an open patch of land. Then, she practiced summoning ice stalagmites that spiked up in swift order as a jagged display of her bending prowess. She repeated that for a while, melting and refreezing the water.
Zuko couldn't help but think to himself, 'She's really focused on ice this morning for some reason.' The waterbender's control over her element was definitely growing by leaps and bounds. She was getting much faster at freezing and unfreezing the water as well moving it where she wanted it to go. Now, if only she didn't have that cold look in her eye as well.
Katara continued to batter the poor wooden training post with barrage after barrage of icicles. 'He almost kissed her!' She had not been able to get that particular thought out of her mind all night as she twisted and turned over and over in her sleep.
The waterbender wasn't exactly sure what kind of look she had seen on Zuko's and Jin's faces last night. She had seen Zuko at his lowest, back when the two of them were admitting hard truths to one another. She had seen vulnerability on the firebender before. Tenderness, caring, support; she had seen all that before. Whatever those looks on her friends' faces had been last night, however brief those looks had actually been, they had been similar, but different. Something that the Water Tribe girl had never experienced herself.
Specifically, that look in Zuko's eyes as Jin and the Fire Prince leaned in closer and closer to one another. Zuko certainly had never looked at her with that look in his eyes before. Katara paused. Not that she had wanted him to before. Another barrage of icicles pummeled the wooden training post without mercy. Not that she would admit to wanting him to before.
Katara frowned as she took a moment to observe the results of her bending. Zuko had seemed pretty nauseated at the idea of the two of them being married to one another back when both Gansu and Sela had mistook them to be husband and wife. And yet...
A water of whip rushed into Katara's hands. And yet... The waterbender swung the whip wildly as she lashed out at the wooden training post. And yet! With a grimace, the water whip froze into a small spear that Katara threw with all the force she could muster. She missed the column that was more icicle now than wood, but the ice spear still sank heavily into the nearby dirt.
And yet! Zuko seemed to have no issues with very nearly kissing Jin after barely knowing her for just two days! Katara stared blankly at the aftermath of her waterbending. Sure, Jin was cheerful, upbeat, optimistic, encouraging, easy to talk to, and an all-around amazing person that Katara was happy to call her friend. But this and that were two separate manners entirely.
Katara breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to calm down a little. She hated feeling this way. She hated these feelings of envy and bitterness. But most of all, she hated herself for feeling jealous.
Jin had been nothing but a wonderful friend to the Water Tribe girl since the two of them met. And here Katara was, getting upset. "Some friend I am," muttered Katara lowly to herself. And not only that, but the waterbender had actively interrupted of her friend's attempts to date a guy that the Water Tribe girl was just now realizing that she herself might actually be harboring some feelings for.
Why had it taken her so long to finally understand her own feelings? If only she had understood how she felt earlier and had just told Jin as much the other day. 'Jin would have understood,' thought the Water Tribe girl. Katara was somewhat sure of that. Or at the very least, the Earth Kingdom girl probably would have understood. To her credit, Jin had given Katara several chances to admit that she liked Zuko before the Earth Kingdom girl decided to make a move, but Katara had been stubbornly adamant that they were just friends and nothing more.
The waterbender grew increasingly agitated as her waterbending spiked and flared with intensity. Bending several gigantic icicle spires, Katara sent them careening directly at the wooden beam as it finally breached its structural integrity and splintered into several pieces of fractured timber and broken pieces of ice.
Katara was left breathing heavily with her dominant arm outstretched as she took in the destruction she had rained down on her inanimate training dummy. Glancing around the yard, she noticed that, together, both Zuko and Longshot quickly shifted their stares from the splintered fragments on the ground, to her, to the remaining stump of the formerly solid wooden column, back to her, and then, wisely, back to their own training. Each boy was pointedly trying to not to catch her attention after all those brutal displays of bending prowess.
Satisfied that at least her waterbending training was going well despite all the other chaos she was feeling, Katara headed inside the ranch house. Camila was in the kitchen, preparing another stack of griddlecakes and scrambled eggs for everyone's breakfast. The waterbender noticed a baked dessert on the counter near the sink.
Intrigued, she walked over to the confection. "Did you make this too for breakfast?" Katara asked.
Camila glanced over at what the waterbender was looking at. "The paopu fruit tart? No, Jin made that last night." The lady of the ranch shrugged. "I guess they didn't get the chance to eat it. A bit of a shame really. The thing's probably a bit stale by now. Especially since it was left out all night uncovered. And Jin was really looking forward to sharing it with Lee too."
Katara gulped. She did recall Jin talking about this dessert last night. Another thing she had interfered with. "She was? How come?"
"Oh, just a silly bit of folk lore actually," answered Camila as she flipped the griddlecakes over on the flattop grill plate. "There's an old wives' tale in the Earth Kingdom where it is said that if two people share a paopu fruit, then their destinies become forever intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what." Camila laughed to herself slightly. "I told you Jin's a bit of a romantic. That girl can get so caught up in every passionate or starry-eyed tale out there." Camila flipped the griddlecakes again. "Though, I like to think that's a bit of her charm."
Katara was only half-listening to the older woman after she heard the explanation about the paopu fruit legend. Remembering back to just a couple of days ago in town, the Water Tribe girl recalled taking a sip directly from Zuko's agua fresca before the firebender finished his drink. "I've shared a paopu fruit with Zuko before," she whispered faintly to herself.
"What was that dearie?" asked Camila as she pulled the fresh batch of griddlecakes off the hot metal flattop and stacked them on a plate before pouring out some more dough.
"Nothing," said Katara quickly as she grabbed several plate settings and went to set the table.
As Katara busied herself with positioning plates and cutlery onto the dining table, Jet and his crew waltzed haughtily into the dining room. They were not going to miss breakfast again so soon. The grogginess in the rogue's expression disappeared completely as he noticed the waterbender. "Good morning Luna, you're looking lovely as always."
"Good morning Jet," returned Katara politely as she finished up. "You all got back late last night, didn't you? Did you find what you were looking for in town?"
Shaking his head, Jet slid into a chair near the waterbender. "No. But we only managed to investigate the south and west parts of town so far." He patted the next seat over. "Here, take a seat. I'll tell you what we did learn though."
Katara looked back at the kitchen. "I should help Camila bring out the food first."
"Nah, Pipsqueak and the Duke can do that, can't you fellas?" countered Jet as he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the kitchen.
Pipsqueak seemed to get a slightly annoyed look on his face at being ordered around again by his leader. But he still said, "Yeah, we can do that." He started to walk towards the kitchen as the Duke ran ahead.
Noticing the conflicted look on the Water Tribe girl's face, Jet encouraged, "Don't worry about it. The boss lady likes the Duke. Even if the little guy drops a couple of things, she won't yell at him for it."
The Duke dropping food to the ground hadn't exactly been what Katara had been thinking about, but it certainly was a likely possibility the more she considered it. Jet slid out the chair next to him an inch or two with his foot as he turned to converse with Smellerbee and Longshot for a moment.
Pipsqueak was sort of blocking the entranceway to the kitchen now with his body. With him in the way as Camila handed the giant several plates of food, Katara couldn't get back over there even if she wanted to.
Sliding the chair that Jet had kicked the rest of the way out, Katara sat down near the Freedom Fighters. Jet grinned as he turned his attention back towards the Water Tribe girl. "So as I was saying, I've got contacts back in town still. They're checking out the north and east portions for us. I should hear back from them soon."
The rogue slid his seat a little closer to Katara as he lowered his voice a bit to make sure that Camila didn't overhear the next part, even though the lady of the ranch was in the next room over, preoccupied with getting Pipsqueak and the Duke to help out. "It seems those girls from that tavern managed to vanish before the town's garrison could arrive and put out the fires. No one's seen anyone matching their description since. But we'll find them though. Now that we know that there is Fire Nation nearby, we'll track them down. Can't let them freely operate in our lands anymore."
The fact that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee were still out there somewhere and no one in town had seen them in the last couple of days did not sit well with the waterbender. Mai and Ty Lee were dangerous enough with those throwing knives and those weird punches that blocked her bending for a short time. Katara realized that she still needed to ask Zuko about that ability of Ty Lee's.
However, Azula was incredibility dangerous. The Fire Princess bent lightning. Not only that, Azula used her gifts for destruction and maiming. That lightning strike, it that was meant to kill. And Azula had aimed that attack directly at her. Katara was positive that her waterbending was not yet strong enough to block an attack of that magnitude. If Zuko hadn't jumped in front of her to block that attack, then Katara knew that there was a very good chance that she would likely have met her end there.
Jet was observing the contemplative expressions on Katara's face as they continued to darken. "I heard from Smellerbee that the Fire Nation captured you once before. I swear I won't let that happen again. Those Fire Nation girls will pop up again sooner or later and we'll be ready to bring them down."
Katara was brought out of her thoughts by Jet's comments. He was misunderstanding what she was thinking, but it was nice enough to hear his bravado and reassurances that she would be safe. Even if he didn't truly realize how dangerous Azula actually was. "Thank you Jet. That means a lot."
A grin spread roguishly across Jet's face as Smellerbee gave him a slap on the back. Jet turned around to converse with the tomboy and the archer.
A moment later, Katara noticed all the others on the ranch beginning to file into the dining room. And shortly after that, Pipsqueak walked back in carrying an enormous tower of griddlecakes that were precariously perched on top of one another upon a large serving platter as the Duke ran around the giant's legs with a bottle of syrup.
Following a hearty breakfast, Zuko, Katara, Jin, Han, Ralin, Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot began saddling up their ostrich horses for the cattle round-up. Pipsqueak and the Duke would be riding behind in the wagon with a couple of supplies and lunch items. Camila decided to remain at the ranch to keep an eye on things.
Handing Katara the reins to their ostrich horse, Zuko stated, "You should ride Biscuit. She's used to you. I'll ride one of the other ostrich horses."
Katara shoved the reins back into Zuko's hands. "She's your ostrich horse. I'll ride one of the other ones." Without waiting for him to say anything else, the waterbender walked over to one of the other saddled horses and boosted herself up.
"Ouch," smirked Jet from atop his ostrich horse. "I don't know what you did to upset her, but Luna definitely sounds crossed with you. You know what, I'll see if I can put in a good word about you with her." With a kick to his horse's side to get the animal trotting, Jet positioned himself over next to Katara as the two started to depart the ranch. Pipsqueak and the Duke were right behind them with the supply wagon.
'There's no way he's going to be saying anything good about me,' inwardly griped Zuko as he watched Katara laugh at another one of Jet's probably boastful claims. He patted Biscuit gently as he reached for the saddle horn. "I guess it's just you and me today, girl. Let's get this done quickly."
"Mind if I tag along?" asked Jin as she rode up next to him.
Zuko stiffened. He had been dreading seeing the Earth Kingdom girl again today, despite knowing that everyone was going to be helping out with the round-up. "No, I don't mind," he managed to get out.
Jin led her ostrich horse to fall into step alongside Biscuit as the pair departed last from the ranch. Everyone else already moving along down the trail.
It didn't take long for the Fire Prince to grow increasingly uncomfortable with the silence that he normally desired. "Jin, about last night..."
"It's okay," calmly reassured Jin as she cut him off. Then, she sighed. "I pushed you for a kiss when you weren't ready. We can take things real slow and just see where it goes."
'She really is understanding,' thought Zuko for a moment. That only further tore at him. He knew that he needed to give her a proper answer. Zuko breathed in deeply. "It's more than that. I need to be more honest with you. You deserve that, Jin."
Jin gave a little laugh. "Oh? And what are you hiding then?"
'Quite a lot actually,' panicked Zuko inwardly for a second. Shaking his head, he refocused on what he needed to say. "I'm a drifter. No home, no family, no wealth. The world has been cruel to me and I rather not involve anyone else in my problems and misfortunes."
"You're being a bit contradictory. You're traveling with Luna," pointed out Jin.
"That's because Luna doesn't seem to care about any of those things," replied Zuko. "And she was the one who started traveling with me."
"I don't care about any of those things either, you know," replied Jin softly. "You may try to act like a vagabond, like you don't care about anything, but I don't think that's the real you. You have sad eyes. You still care. You haven't given up hope, not completely. You're looking for something, a purpose perhaps? Maybe you can find that here on the ranch... with me?" she added the last part optimistically.
This conversation really wasn't going in the direction that Zuko had envisioned it. And what shocked him the most, was the tiniest part of him that seemed to be considering her suggestion. Jin was offering him something that he had been longing for deeply these last three years, a place to belong. But he knew that place wasn't here, or at least he was fairly certain it wasn't.
Another couple of minutes of uneasy silence followed as Zuko stared at the back of Biscuit's head without answering the Earth Kingdom girl. He almost didn't hear Jin as she spoke up once more. "It's Luna, isn't it?"
Zuko let out a breath that he didn't even realize he had been holding. Almost like he was breathing life into his earlier realization. It had to be obvious to everyone but him, hadn't it? Of course it had been. He always missed the most obvious things right in front of him. He gave a small nod.
Another couple of apprehensive moments passed as the two ostrich horses trotted down the trail. "Does she know how you feel?" Jin probed further.
"I didn't even know myself until this morning," answered Zuko flatly. Then, he shook his head. "It doesn't matter though. I doubt she feels the same way. So like I said, it doesn't matter. And I rather not subjugate anyone to the constant misfortunes and troubles that always plague me."
Jin was quiet again. She appeared to be inwardly debating something. Zuko figured that she was probably thinking that he was just complete trash. Not that he could blame her. He was feeling like complete trash right now, rejecting her just like he feared getting rejected by the waterbender.
Coming to a decision, the Earth Kingdom girl nodded and glanced back over towards the Fire Prince. "I think you should give her the chance to tell you how she feels."
Zuko blinked. His brain was having a difficult time comprehending the suggestion that the Earth Kingdom girl had just given him. That was not the response he had been expecting. Jin was clearly on a whole other level of considerate than anyone else he had ever met before in his life.
And despite that, Zuko sighed. "I've thought about that too, but what am I supposed to say?" The Fire Prince sat upright in his saddle as he gave a quick cough to clear his throat and a small fake wave. "Hello... Lee here, but I guess you probably already know me, sort of, since we've been traveling together for a while now. Uhh... so, the thing is, I know we've had our differences before, like when you nearly killed me with ice needles in your sleep or when I put my foot in my mouth when I said your Brother left you behind, but I forgive you for the ice needle thing, so, uh, yeah, I hope you accepted my earlier apology for the whole rude comment thing. But I realize I should probably apologize for that again. Well anyway, I like to think things are good between us now. I mean, I thought things were good between us before, but I realize that we both still had our disagreements, which was bad. But anyhow, I think it's time I told you how I really feel about you, and to say that... I think like you?"
After he managed to fumble through his entire speech, he glanced at Jin and asked meekly, "Well, what's your answer?"
Jin promptly burst into laughter. Zuko sighed again. "Yeah... that's probably what I'd say too."
Wiping a mirthful tear from her eye, Jin tried to hold out her hand to him to not say anything else as she caught her breath from her laughing fit. "You sounded nothing like you usually do. It was like you were trying to make some kind of grandiose speech."
Zuko frowned. "It doesn't matter anyway. I don't think she ever forgave me for my insensitive comment despite my apology. And I can't blame her for that. I was wrong to say it."
Jin replayed his speech in her head. "Wait, if that part was true, then was the part about the ice needles true too?"
"It was a rough first night traveling together," he answered simply. "She had nightmares and can apparently waterbend in her sleep."
"And you let her continue traveling with you despite that?" asked the Earth Kingdom girl, earnestly.
"I know about nightmares and how painful they can be..." Zuko replied gloomily.
Another couple of minutes of awkward silence continued between the two of them until Zuko decided to speak up again. "I am sorry. Really, I am. I never meant to lead you on when I accepted your invitation last night to the hillside. I did have a wonderful time. It was fun."
"But?" inquired Jin, preempting the obvious next part.
"But..." stretched out Zuko after a beat. "It wouldn't have been fair to you. I started thinking about Luna after I got flustered and left and I haven't stopped thinking about her since."
Jin didn't say anything after that. Instead, she caged her eyes forward as she stared down at the back of the head of her ostrich horse.
Several more minutes of restless silence passed for Zuko as he listened to the talon stomps of the two ostrich horses continue on. Eventually, even Zuko couldn't take the quiet and started, "Jin, I'm sorry again. Are you...?"
"I'm angry at you, you know," interrupted Jin sternly.
Zuko nodded as he accepted the answer. That, should have been expected.
However, it appeared that Jin wasn't done. "And I'm a bit angry at Luna too. But what I'm the most angry at, is the fact that you two met and spent so much time together before I could meet you." The volume in Jin's voice dropped to a slight whisper. "Maybe then things could have been different between us."
"Maybe," echoed the Fire Prince softly. Then, he gave a small laugh himself. "I was an even bigger mess before I met Luna though."
'If that's the case, then here I am trying to steal another girl's work,' mused Jin to herself as she smiled at Zuko's comment.
"It may not be what you wanted to hear, but I do see you as an amazing friend. And I really don't have too many of those," offered Zuko. "There are very few people that I have talked to for this long. I'm not exactly a people-person."
The Earth Kingdom girl sighed for a moment as she shook her head as a small smirk graced her face. "Well, I guess that's exactly what every girl wants to hear from the guy they like; that they should just be friends," joked Jin slightly.
Zuko felt a little more comfortable with the small talk he made with Jin as they rode onward to catch back up with the rest of the group.
Smellerbee and Longshot were conversing about something towards the left side of the covered wagon as they followed along atop their ostrich horses. Well, Smellerbee was talking. Longshot simply responded with either a head nod or head shake each time to indicate his answer. Still, Smellerbee appeared to be just fine with her friend's level of conversational skills. Or at least that's how it looked to Jet as he watched them lazily. Smellerbee always seemed to be the only one of the group who really understood all of Longshot's looks and expressions. Jet could manage well enough, guessing his way through most of the time, but it was Smellerbee who definitely understood the archer the best.
Leaving them to it, Jet turned back to the distracted waterbender that he was riding alongside. "You want to talk about it?"
"Huh?" managed Katara as she was pulled out of her thoughts. "Talk about what?"
Jet nodded his head backwards towards the Fire Prince and the Earth Kingdom girl who were pleasantly conversing near the rear of their loose formation. "It's bothering you, isn't it? Lee picking her over you."
Katara snapped her gaze back forward again. "I don't care about that," she replied a little too quickly. After a moment, she glanced over at Jet who was just patiently chewing on a grass reed as he looked back at her. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked tepidly.
"It's clear as day. You've looked back at them about half a dozen times in the last five minutes alone. You're not very good at hiding your feelings, are you?" answered Jet. Then, he flashed a roguish grin. "It's quite cute that you are so expressive. Lee really messed up by rejecting you."
"He never rejected me," returned Katara swiftly. At Jet's raised eyebrow, Katara sighed. "I never told him how I felt. I didn't realize myself, until it was too late."
Jet snorted. "Then he's a fool for not noticing you earlier. His loss. Now if you were my girl, then I would definitely treat you better. Candlelight dinners, poetry under the stars, and gifts just because you deserve it."
"I'm nobody's girl," refuted Katara adamantly. That phrase held too many negative connections to being a belonging, something that she narrowly avoided not too long ago. Then, her expression lightened. Maybe she was being too defensive for no particular reason. It wasn't like Jet was trying to own her or anything like that. She figured that Jet was just trying to be charming. Relaxing her shoulders, the waterbender added, "Still, thanks for the sentiment. Candlelight dinners do sound nice. Not too sure about the poetry though."
"That suits me just fine. I'm not much of a poet!" laughed Jet as Katara joined in. Jet may be very talkative, but these lighthearted jokes of his might have just been the medicine that she needed right now. At the very least, they were taking her mind off of her two friends laughing and talking without her at the backside of the formation.
"But seriously, forget about Lee," pressed Jet assertively as the laughter died down. "He seems to have made his decision already. I'll bet you anything that he'll probably decide to stick around here with Jin. But I can tell that you're searching for something. That's why you're traveling, isn't?" probed Jet.
"I'm looking for my Brother actually," admitted Katara. "We got separated a while ago. Lee's been helping me, but..."
"Hey! I could help you in Lee's place!" declared Jet like he had just come up with the greatest idea in the world. "Yeah, it's perfect really. When Lee tells you that he is going to stay here, then you can tell him that you're going to travel with me and my crew. We're headed to Ba Sing Se."
'Ba Sing Se?' thought Katara. That was where she had reasoned her Brother had likely traveled with Aang and Zuko's Uncle. That was going to be her next destination anyhow. Traveling with Jet and his friends would be much safer than traveling alone. "I'll think about it," she responded.
'Hook set,' thought Jet to himself as his grin widened. "That's all I ask."
The rogue and the waterbender rode side by side for another couple of minutes until Katara decided to start the conversation this time. "Why are you all headed to Ba Sing Se?"
"It's... not a happy story," muttered Jet as he appeared to put on a dejected front.
Katara felt like she unexpectantly encroached on a very sensitive topic. "You don't have to relive it if you don't want too."
Jet shook his head. "No, no, I can manage. You should know more about us. If you hear our story, then maybe that will make your decision to travel with us all the easier."
As he chewed on his grass reed for another couple of moments, seemingly to build anticipation, Katara couldn't help herself but to ask, "What happened?"
Jet sighed and began his version of the events that led to where his crew was now. "There used to be more of us, the Freedom Fighters, I mean. Homeless kids, all of us. The Fire Nation has destroyed so many homes, so many lives. Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and I, well, we wanted to make a place for all of us abandoned kids. We created a home for ourselves in the forest near Gaipan. Several large treehouses with amazing elevators and rope swings. It was a paradise. It was our home."
"That sounds wonderful," marveled Katara. Though, she got the sense that if Jet left the place that he had come to call home, then something terrible must have happened.
Jet continued, "It was. Then, the Fire Nation arrived again. They took over the village of Gaipan." His face darkened. "But what was worse was that the townsfolk actually started to live peacefully alongside those Fire Nation oppressors without complaint. We felt betrayed. We tried to fight back. We would target the Fire Nation supply lines in an effort to try and weaken their resolve to stay in Gaipan, but we could never do enough. The Fire Nation started to send out patrols and they rounded up some of my Freedom Fighters."
"Oh no!" gasped Katara as she listened to the rogue's sad tale.
"When all hope seemed lost, help arrived," offered Jet. Then, he appeared crestfallen again. "Or at least we thought so. The people that appeared, the people we thought were our allies, they betrayed us too. During the fighting, the dam upriver broke and the whole area was flooded. Gaipan got wiped off the face of the map."
Katara was shocked. Who could do something so terrible as to destroy an entire village? "What happened to everyone in the village?"
"Someone tipped off the Fire Nation," grumbled Jet. "The soldiers stationed there escaped before the river destroyed the village."
"And the villagers?" pressed Katara with concern.
Jet smiled back at her. "Fortunately, the Fire Nation had the decency to evacuate the townsfolk too."
The Water Tribe girl let out a sigh of relief at the news.
"No one knows who destroyed the dam, but the Fire Nation blamed us. They just needed a scapegoat and why not blame the vigilantes in the forest? Even if they are just a bunch of kids," concluded Jet. He shook his head. "We couldn't stay there anymore. I couldn't keep everyone together anymore. We were forced to break up into smaller groups and find new homes."
The rogue gestured to the rest of the Freedom Fighters around them. "My friends at my side are all I have left. And I'm going to make sure that they find new homes in Ba Sing Se. Then, I'm going to keep fighting. Until all the Earth Kingdom is free," he finished.
"You were betrayed?" asked Katara a little taken back. "People would betray a bunch of homeless children? I can hardly believe it."
"I know. That kind of betrayal makes it all the harder to trust in others again," stated Jet with a somber expression. Then, he looked directly at Katara. "But I know that you're a good and caring person Luna. I know that I can trust you. I just hope that you can find it in your heart to trust me too."
Katara could feel the pull at her heartstrings. Jet was laying all his emotions out on the table discussing his tragic past like this. She nodded in return. "I do trust you Jet. I think you're a good person trying to help out your friends like that. I see why the Duke looks up to you."
"Thank you Luna. That means a lot coming from you," grinned Jet roguishly as the two continued to talk.
As they reached the far pasture, Han signaled for everyone to halt. "Okay. We're going to break everyone up into teams of two. Pipsqueak and the Duke, you both remain here with the wagon. We'll gather the cattle around here into this general spot. I want you two to keep an accurate count of the total heads of cattle. We usually have somewhere around two hundred."
As Pipsqueak gave a nod of confirmation, the senior rancher turned to the rest of the group. "Ralin and I will move on our own and gather the stragglers and outliers from the main herds. For the other teams, let's just go with Luna and Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot, and Jin and Lee since you all are right next to each other already."
Han turned to look at the scattered cattle herd across the wide open pasture. "Just a couple of things to keep in mind. Approach them slowly and within their line of sight; otherwise, you're likely to spook them. Be sure to position yourselves on the far sides of them before you start shouting at them to move. That will get them to head back in this direction. They are smart enough to gather together here on their own once you get them to start moving. Any questions?" he asked as he turned back to the group. Receiving none, Han waved everyone onward.
"Hey Lee!" called out Jet as the pairs started moving. "Wanna bet on which of us can gather more than the other? Winner gets to order the loser to do something."
"He really is a five year old, isn't he?" grumbled Zuko lowly so that only Jin heard him.
Jet scowled when he saw Zuko say something under his breath and Jin laugh in return. "I'll take that as a yes!" the rogue shouted as he kicked his ostrich horse into a faster stride.
Katara frowned when she saw Jin laugh at whatever it was that Zuko said. 'They're telling each other jokes now? Jin got Zuko to open up enough to make jokes?' the Water Tribe girl distressed. Of course Jin would have traveled alongside Zuko all the way from the ranch. Katara should have known that by leaving Zuko behind, Jin would definitely have filled the role of traveling companion. Still, looking at them now, it appeared they had grown far closer together in the short time since the group departed the ranch.
For the next few hours, all of the them focused on rounding up the scattered cattle. Surprisingly enough, Jet seemed particular determined to show-off his riding and wrangling skills as he gathered as much of the cattle as he could. It was a stark contrast to loafing off he had done during the building of the cattle pen.
Zuko had a fairly good idea about why the rogue was taking this specific job more seriously, and that idea was centered completely on the waterbender alongside the rogue. Still, the Fire Prince didn't want to rise the bait of Jet's childish bet. Instead, the firebender did his best to ignore the showboating going on across the pasture.
A short time later, most of the scattered herds had been joined together into a single large mass of walking beef near the supply wagon where Pipsqueak and the Duke were finishing up with their tallies. The group decided to take a quick break to eat the lunch they had brought with them before finishing up.
"That brings the total count to one hundred and eighty three," reported Pipsqueak as he made a couple of marks on the side of wagon with a piece of chalk. "We've counted the herd three times now."
"And what's the count between me and Lee?" demanded Jet.
Pipsqueak looked at another set of marks. "Your team's got thirty one while Lee's team stands at thirty six."
The rogue grumbled a bit as he took another bite of his lunch. Zuko, for his part, remained disinterested in the whole gamble. While Jet had pushed his ostrich horse in a mad dash towards the largest of the scattered cattle groups, spooking them to walk or trot away from him more often than not, Zuko had simply followed Jin's expert lead as well the pointers Han had given them at the start. Because of that, Biscuit still looked raring to go while Jet's horse was looking more than a little tired.
"If everyone else is curious about the rest, then Smellerbee and Longshot have twenty six while Han has forty seven and Ralin has forty three," continued Pipsqueak as he tallied up the count.
Ralin gave the other old rancher a light punch in the shoulder. "Looks like we've still got it boss. We had to gather the furthest groups and we still took these kids to school."
Jet scarfed down the rest of his meal in record time and jumped back onto his horse. "There's still a couple out there! I'm not done yet!" With that, he galloped away.
"There he goes getting all competitive again," sighed Smellerbee. Longshot simply shrugged.
A little while later, as the rest of them were finishing up their meals and checking over their ostrich horses, Pipsqueak noticed a dust cloud approaching quickly. Narrowing his eyes, he realized it was Jet bringing in a single young steer. "Umm... isn't he returning a little too fast?"
Han gave a sharp curse as he looked up. "Damn fool! He'll spook the whole herd at that speed!" As the old rancher moved to jump onto his horse, a blur galloped past him.
Zuko commanded Biscuit into a faster gallop as he intercepted Jet and got behind the charging young steer. Readying the lasso in his hands, Zuko rose up in his saddle into a standing position as he twirled the rope overhead a couple of times. He knew that he was only going to get one chance at this.
Judging the distance critically, the Fire Prince ignored Jet's startled shouts at his sudden presence. Then, he let the lasso fly as it looped around both horns of the young steer. Flicking his wrists sharply, the firebender pulled the rope taut and urged Biscuit to slow down. Both the ostrich horse and the charging steer slowed together as Zuko kept the line tight.
Han rubbed the back of his head as he took in the sight with complete astonishment. "Well, I'll be. I certainly never taught him that." He looked over at his Granddaughter. "Just how long was he practicing his throws on that wooden post?"
"A couple of hours," answered Jin with a smile on her face. "He took Biscuit out as well and practiced for a while on horseback too. He said that he wanted to get used to throwing the rope on the move too."
"Hot damn," muttered Ralin as he gave an approving whistle. "The kid's got some serious skill to grasp all that in single afternoon of practice."
Zuko came trotting back with the steer in tow. Ralin removed the rope from the steer's horns and, turning it towards the rest of the gathered herd, gave the steer a slap on the side to get it trotting gingerly over there. "That was some mighty fine rope work there," congratulated Ralin as Zuko coiled his lasso back up.
"Hey! That one counted as mine!" protested Jet when he saw Pipsqueak make another mark under Lee's name.
"You nearly caused us to have to redo all the work of gathering the herd in the place," reprimanded Han sternly. "If you're going to act like a child, then you're going to be treated like one. You stay here at the wagon. The rest of us will finish the round-up."
Jet appeared like he was going to argue for a moment before noticing Katara and the rest of his Freedom Fighters looking at him questioningly. Instead, he crossed his arms and hopped onto the front seat of the wagon. "Fine by me, my ostrich horse was getting tired anyway."
Jin walked over to Jet's ostrich horse and patted the bird's neck. "I'm going to check on Hwin here." When Zuko looked at her oddly, Jin grinned sheepishly. "I've named all the horses on the ranch." Then, she looked over at the waterbender. "How about you pair up with Lee to finish the round-up?" Then, the Earth Kingdom girl looked back towards Zuko.
Zuko just stared at Jin blankly. Sighing faintly, Jin stared back speaking with her eyes as she tilted her head towards Katara and gave a slight head bob. Comprehension slowly crossed Zuko's eyes. Then, he gave a small shake of his head in the negative. Jin stubbornly put her hands on her hips.
Katara watched her friends having a silent conversation amongst themselves. 'They're already that close?' she misunderstood. Shaking her own head in frustration, Katara started her ostrich horse back out into the pasture in the direction that she was sure that she had seen a small group of cattle hiding out. Zuko and Biscuit trotted to catch up.
After they were out of earshot of everyone else, Zuko found his voice. "Katara, I need to tell you something."
"Surprisingly enough Zuko, I'm actually not all that interested in hearing about the date you went on with Jin last night," dismissed Katara flatly.
Zuko blinked in confusion. "You knew about that?" he asked, slightly taken back.
"It's not exactly a large ranch Zuko," Katara replied as she spotted a grouping of nine cattle in the far distance.
The firebender looked around the expansive, wide open meadow. "I'm fairly certain that we're still on Han and Camila's land, even this far out from the house and barn. This is actually a pretty large place," he commented matter-of-factly.
The waterbender huffed in irritation. Sometimes, Zuko just took things too literally. "If you're about to tell me that you've decided to stay here with Jin for a while, then that's fine. I'm happy for you. I truly am. You deserve some happiness. Especially after the way the people in that plains village treated you. I'm going to keep going on my own. Or maybe with Jet. He offered to let me join his crew for awhile. And I still need to find my Brother. If your Uncle is with him, which I am positive he is since my Brother would not have ditched a wounded man, then I'll let him know where you are." Finished venting her tirade, Katara kicked the sides of her ostrich horse to send the animal into a gallop.
Watching her speed away, Zuko whispered lowly, "But... that wasn't what I was about to tell you."
The ranch hands finished rounding up all of the cattle, two hundred and two by Pipsqueak's grand total, and began the cattle drive back to the ranch proper. Katara stayed next to the front of the formation, while Zuko just lingered near the back, watching absentmindedly for strays and moving to guide them back to the herd when they tried to branch off.
His deflated attitude signaled to Jin that his conversation with the waterbender did not go well, though he was remaining silent as to what was actually said. Further, Zuko had latched onto Katara's declaration that she was giving serious consideration to traveling to Ba Sing Se with Jet and the rest of his group. That little knowledge nugget was doing very little to improve his sullen mood. Needless to say, the return trip to the ranch was a long, quiet march indeed. Except for maybe the parts where Pipsqueak and the Duke took turns in poor attempts to sing song lyrics from the wagon in the center.
Shortly after everyone returned and the cattle drive was ending, Han shut the wooden gate to the cattle pen as they finished loading in the herd. "That should be all of them. Now we just need to brand the young calves and get everything ready for tomorrow when the buyers come by to take some of this herd off our hands."
The Water Tribe girl's ears perked up at Han's statement. "Brand?" muttered Katara nervously.
"Ah, sorry about that little missy. The wife did mention what happened to you," apologized Han as he heard her uneasiness. Then, he attempted to explain himself. "We need to brand all our cattle with our Sierra Bonita Ranch logo though. It lets us differentiate from the other ranches in the area and helps us to keep track of our herd." Han patted one of the steers. "Don't worry too much. Their hides are pretty tough. They'll feel it to be sure, but it will heal pretty quickly for them." Then, Han finished with, "Umm... You don't have to stick around for this part though. No real need. Ralin and I can finish up here. Why don't you kids go get the ostrich horses settled in the barn?"
Katara's eyes hardened as she stared at the metal branding iron that Ralin was bringing over from the barn. "I think... I think I need to stay. This might help me get over some of the trauma from when I received my brand."
"Ka-Luna," started Zuko, almost accidently saying her real name. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone."
"I'm staying," reiterated Katara, firmer this time.
Jet flung his arm over her shoulder. "If she wants to stay, then let her stay. She's a tough cookie."
Katara bucked the wayward arm off her shoulder. "Thank you Jet, but I can speak for myself."
Zuko watched Katara in trepidation as Ralin got a fire going and let the branding iron heat up. Han was taking this time to sort through which cattle were unbranded and bringing them closer to this part of the pen.
When the first cow was branded, Katara stiffened sharply. The smell of seared meat waffled through the air, but Zuko wasn't swayed by the smell like Jet and his friends were. The firebender's attention was purely focused on the waterbender. Each additional mooing sound from each sequential cow or steer that was branded, combined with the sound of sizzling flesh, was clearly chipping away at her. Katara's right hand had already rushed up to hold her left shoulder as the Water Tribe girl attempted to hide her shaking.
Suddenly, and without warning, Katara turned and bolted towards the barn. Jet quickly made to follow, but Zuko grabbed the rogue's wrist and pulled him back. Stumbling backwards a couple of steps before he managed to right himself, Jet reared up on the Fire Prince. "What are you stopping me for? I'm just going to check up on her."
"No, you're not," replied Zuko defiantly as he started to move forward. "I am."
"Like heck you are," returned Jet roughly as he went to shove the Fire Prince. "You already have one girl."
Swiftly ducking underneath the push with a side step, Zuko grabbed Jet's outstretched arm, turned, and flipped the rogue over onto his back. Jet hit the ground with a solid thud as the rogue stared up at the sky, bewildered by how he suddenly found himself on the ground.
"Consider this my order for winning your stupid contest," dismissed Zuko as he continued into the barn after Katara without further comment.
Jet growled in anger as he stood up only to find Han and Ralin barring his way towards the barn. "Why don't you just call it quits for tonight kid?" offered Ralin, the red hot branding iron still in his hands.
Jet had both his hands balled into fists, standing there in obvious fury at being shown up for the second time today by Zuko. For a moment, Jin thought the rogue might actually take a swing at either her Grandfather or Ralin. But a moment later, Jet spun on his heels as he backed down and stomped over to the ranch house, the rest of the Freedom Fighters following along with their leader.
As the dust settled, Jin found herself in awe at how simply Lee had overpowered Jet. And not only that, she found herself amazed at just how protective Lee could be. For the second time that day, Jin felt envy at the connection between Lee and Luna.
Inside the barn, Zuko spotted Katara crouched down on the far side of the animal stalls, cradling her knees in her arms as she rocked back and forth. As he approached her slowly, he could hear she whisper to him, "I thought I could be stronger than that. But all I'm remembering is the excruciating pain and the smell of burnt flesh."
Taking the initiative to sit down next to her, Zuko allowed the Water Tribe girl to lean against him for support as he helped her to continue to rock back and forth. "You don't have to say anything. I know. I know exactly what you are talking about."
Katara knew that Zuko was talking about his own scar. Neither of them said anything else after that. They just sat there in the comfort of one another as Katara calmed down and Zuko kept vigil. The two of them stayed like that until long after the others had eaten supper and Camila came out to the barn with plates for both of them.
The next morning, Katara apologized to Han, Ralin, Camila, and Jin about reacting the way she did. No one had said anything to her at all about it, but she felt that she needed to say something to them. All of them offered words of reassurance that she had nothing to apologize for. Jin even went as far as to say how courageous Luna was to try and face her fears.
Katara didn't feel courageous, but instead rather silly. The whole incident could have been avoided if she had just excused herself like Han suggested, but she had to stubbornly try and face her nightmares. And it was Zuko who helped her to pick back up the pieces when she fell apart again. Zuko, just after she had told him off back in the pasture. Zuko, who said nothing and just let her lean on him for support. Zuko, who was out of her reach because she waited too long to say anything.
Not a great look when she had told him that she could take care of herself. Katara sighed as she stood near the cattle pen distractedly practicing her waterbending and watching several different merchant carts and people on ostrich horseback approach the ranch. Han did say various buyers were going to come to the ranch today.
While Han, Ralin, and Camila handled the transactions, one of the newcomers proceeded directly over to where Jet and his friends were leaning against a different part of the cattle pen. As the stranger whispered a couple of words to the rogue, Jet got a wide grin on his face.
With a discreet head nod at Smellerbee and Longshot, both of whom nodded back and slipped away quietly, Jet shook the stranger's hand in thanks. Katara was a fair distance away, but she thought she saw what was some money exchange hands. Afterwards, Jet conversed with the stranger for another minute or so before the stranger nodded in understanding and left.
Curious, Katara walked over to the group just as Jet was explaining something or other to Pipsqueak and the Duke. "What was that about?" asked the waterbender.
Turning to face the Water Tribe girl with a cocky and boastful grin, Jet answered, "That, Luna, was one of my contacts reporting in. We found them."
"You mean?" started Katara as her eyes widened in understanding.
The rogue nodded. "Yeah, the supposedly mighty firebender girl and her bodyguards. All three of them are on the north side of town, staying in some fancy, over-priced inn that only the super wealthy can afford." The rogue's face gained a resentful expression. "Spoiled, pampered brats. Should have figured that firebender was likely a highborn. This just proves that she comes from money."
Then, his self-confidence returned. "But never mind that. Some out-of-touch aristocrat won't be a problem for my band of Freedom Fighters. And better yet, this is actually an opportunity for all of us."
Katara gave him a strange look. "Opportunity?"
Jet nodded as Longshot and Smellerbee returned with a wooden cart and ostrich horse to pull it. The remaining Freedom Fighters piled onboard. "You bet it's an opportunity," repeated Jet as he leaned over the railing of the wagon. "We bag this firebender, here, this far into the Earth Kingdom, then it will prove to the people that the Earth Kingdom needs to get more serious about rooting out and ridding itself of the Fire Nation. The Earth King will have little choice but to take us seriously."
The waterbender wasn't all that quite sure that everything would work out exactly as Jet detailed. Even if he and the Freedom Fighters were successful, the Earth King may still not take them seriously.
Regardless though, Azula was dangerous. Katara knew that firsthand. Letting Zuko's Sister roam free in the Earth Kingdom wasn't a smart choice either. If there was a chance to capture her now, shouldn't they take it?
Going after Azula in town would be a risk. All those townspeople could get caught up in the fight. But if Jet was right and they had the element of surprise, then they could get the drop on Azula. Not to mention, the town was full of earthbenders and town guards. With all those soldiers on their side, then Azula wouldn't stand a chance. Facing her in town might actually be less risky than facing her out in the countryside.
Jet watched the Water Tribe girl run through a range of calculations in her own head. Deciding to weigh in on her thought process, he stated, "We're going to go get them right now." He offered her his hand. "Want to come along?"
Katara was broken out of her analysis as she looked up at Jet's outstretched hand.
When the Water Tribe girl hesitated for a moment, Jet added, "You could really help us save a lot of people."
Katara looked over at Pipsqueak and the Duke, both of whom nodded in return. Smellerbee just appeared impatient to get a move on, while Longshot kept his eyes forward as he silently stared down the road ahead of them.
Glancing back for a moment, Katara saw Zuko dutifully stacking hay bales near the cattle pen. Jin was sitting on the fence nearby as she happily engaged in conversation with the Fire Prince. Well, it was clearly Jin doing most of the talking, but Zuko didn't seem to mind the company as he worked.
The waterbender's gaze returned to Jet's extended hand and the fearless smile he sported. Another moment later, she made her decision.