Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I do not own the characters, either. I do, however, pwn them.

Such a delay between chapters, my apologies~

Again, I can't edit in fanfiction so I need to use crappy "xo" breaks between sections :/

X
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
X

"Two days, Fire Lord Zuko, two days."

Zuko nodded, "I know. Thank you for the transportation, General Tao."

Tao replied with a wry smile, offering his hand.

Zuko took it, glanced over at Jet who was placing their packs in the small rowboat, and thanked the crew.

"You ready?" Jet reached for Zuko's hand, then decided against it.

Zuko smiled at Jet's attempted action, "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

The crew watched the two board the small boat, them lowered them into the water below.

Jet reached for the paddles, but Zuko stopped him, "I'll do it."

"I don't mind."

"It's my mission. I can't just sit back and relax."

"It'll help distract you, won't it?"

"Yeah, a bit," Zuko switched seats with Jet, grasping the paddles in each hand, and began to row towards the island.

After a few minutes of watching the ripples from Zuko's paddling, Jet spoke, "Well, we should probably think of a plan."

Zuko raised his eyebrows at Jet, "If you think of one, let me know."

Jet rolled his eyes, "You have to think too; I have no idea where to start. Do we just circle the island until we find a path? I don't think there's going to be any signs around, pointing us in the right direction."

"We'll just find an area that's not as steep as the others."

Jet's brow shot up, "And then what? Climb it? In case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly Earthbenders. And we don't have equipment that'll get us up the side."

Zuko frowned, "You didn't think it was important to pack some?"

Jet tilted his head, "Oh, don't try to put this on me. You said to "pack light." So I gathered the basics; water, food, some rope and stuff."

"And stuff?"

"Okay fine, I didn't even consider bringing equipment for rock climbing. Happy?"

"Why the hell would that make me happy?"

Jet frowned, "You don't have to be difficult."

"Difficult? Difficult is what we're about to encounter on that island. I am not being difficult."

"Uh, yeah, you are."

Zuko glared at him.

Jet glared back.

"Well now that you screwed it all up, should we head back to the boat to find some? Or do you want to think of another way to scale the cliffs."

"Can't you just use firebending?"

"Firebending doesn't exactly move boulders around."

"You know, if you had just found an Earthbender to help us, we wouldn't be having such an issue."

Zuko huffed, "I told you, none wanted to come."

"Actually, now that I think about it, when the hell did you even go around asking for help?"

"There are things I do without your permission, you know."

Jet eyed him, "Yeah but…Zuko, did you even go ask for help?"

"Of course I did."

"And even though you're the Fire Lord, not one person volunteered?"

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Jet, how many times do I have to tell you—"

"Yeah, yeah, no one wanted to risk it. Just exactly how dangerous did you make it sound?"

"I told them the truth."

"You sure you didn't over-exaggerate it?"

"And why the hell would I do that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jet smiled, "maybe you wanted to be alone with me?"

Zuko stared at him, pausing his rowing for a moment, "Are you on drugs?"

Jet smiled, "Well, I have an addiction to you."

Zuko shook his head, starting his rowing again, "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, but you love me."

Zuko attempted to hold back his laugh, "Stop being weird."

X
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
X

"We're here," Jet ceased his paddling as the boat touched the sandy shore; he had taken over for Zuko about two-thirds of the way.

Zuko stepped out, grabbing the edge of the boat to pull it onto the shore.

"It's so hot here," Jet joined Zuko, lifting the packs out, "and really humid."

"Please don't start your complaining."

Jet shook his head with a laugh, "You're such an ass."

Zuko smiled, "Yeah, but you love me."

Jet laughed, facing his Fire Lord, "Yeah, I really do."

Zuko blushed, dropped his smile, "Uh, well, we should probably start our search. Once we get up the cliffs, we still have to locate the camp, so…"

"So," Jet tossed Zuko his pack, "let's haul some ass."

X
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
X

"How about here?" Jet squinted up the rocks, "It's on a bit more of an angle then the other spots we looked at."

"The rocks look loose though."

"Yeah, but at least them falling means we have some footholds," Jet pointed to the spots where rock had already dislodged, "It's better then trying to scale the flat sides."

"You might be right," Zuko bit his lip, "I'll test it out."

"I'll test it."

Zuko frowned, "What, you don't think I can do it?"

Jet cocked a brow, "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not that pathetic and weak, Jet."

"Hey, don't start bitching at me."

"I do not bitch!"

Jet opened his mouth to reply, then started laughing, "I missed this."

Zuko shook his head, rubbing his forehead, "We'll just both test it, okay?"

"Uh, sure, but you know that it's not really a test if we do that."

"Jet, just shut up," Zuko tightened his pack, turned to the cliff, and placed his foot in the first gap.

"Want me to give you a boost?"

"Get your hands off my ass, Jet."

"Sorry," his smile was taunting, "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah, that's what you were doing."

Jet laughed, "Stop bitching and concentrate on the cliff."

After Zuko got a few feet above the first foothold, Jet began his climb, following Zuko's path until he was able to pull himself up alongside the Firebender.

"Are we there yet?"

Zuko ignored the annoying question.

X
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
X

"Don't look down, okay?"

"Jet, why the hell would you even say that? It just makes me want to look down more."

Jet was breathing heavily beside him, "Yeah, well, I looked down and now I really regret it. Plus, my arms are on fire. I need to rest."

Zuko grunted as he pulled himself up another few inches, "I do too, but there's no place."

Jet squinted up, "There, a bit to your left. The ledge is small, but we should be able to fit if we sit still."

Zuko followed Jet's gaze, "Alright, let's go for it," and began working himself sideways, heading for the ledge.

The two reached it, gasping for air, clutching onto the rocks around them and staying as still as possible; if they moved too much there was a chance they'd fall off the small area.

"How far do you think we are?" Jet asked.

Zuko leaned forward as much as the ledge permitted; looking down at the distance they climbed, then up towards the top, "We're probably about halfway."

Jet cursed, closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the rock wall, "At this rate we won't make it until nightfall."

"Well we don't have a choice. It's not like we can camp here for the night."

"I need some water," Jet carefully slipped his pack from his shoulders, pulling out a canteen, "want some?"

"You first."

Jet nodded, uncorking the bottle and taking a few gulps before passing it to Zuko. Two or three sips later, he handed it back.

"That's all you want?"

"Don't want to have to pee when I'm climbing."

"Ah, shit."

Zuko raised a brow, "You have to go, don't you?"

"Yeah, sorta."

Zuko shook his head, then swept his hand out before them, "Go ahead."

"You want me to pee off the ledge?"

"I don't want you too, but if you gotta go you gotta go."

Jet craned his neck to look down, "How am I supposed to pee when I'm gonna be terrified of falling off?"

"Jet, I'm not giving you a lesson here. Just go."

Jet bit his lip, "Fine, fine. Don't look, okay?"

Zuko cocked his head, "Jet, you've tried to grope me like eighty times since I've known you and you're embarrassed to pee in front of me?"

Jet frowned, "I'm peeing off a ledge here. I don't need the extra pressure."

"Will you just pee already? We need to get back to climbing or we'll be stuck on the edge in the dark."

"Yeah, I will, just look away."

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Unless you want to see what I've got in here," Jet used a hand to start undoing the knot on his pants.

Zuko blushed, turning his head away quickly, "Alright, I'm looking away, I'm looking away."

X
XoXoXoXoXoXoXoX
X

"Zuko," Jet grunted, "faster."

Zuko clenched his jaw, "How much faster do you expect me to go? I feel like I'm going to explode."

"Harder then, work harder."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one on top."

"It doesn't make a difference," Jet moaned, "Zuko…"

"Crap."

"What?"

Zuko glanced down at Jet, "There's no more footholds."

"What?" Jet clutched the rock wall harder, "There has to be. Maybe we need to shift over."

"Jet…the rock is perfectly flat in either direction."

Jet looked up, and sure enough the rocks were smooth and gapless, "But we're so close to the top. And night is closing in. What do we do?"

"I'm thinking."

He stared at his knuckles, white from the strain of holding on, then glanced down at Jet, pain showing on his face. It was amazing that they had made it this far; almost impossible. He focused on the distance they had left; if it had been a hole in the ground he could jump that distance with a bit of help from his firebending. Was there a way he could use that here?

His father and sister were able to propel themselves around using fire; his father had even mastered it into a form of flight, so why couldn't he?

The only problems were one; he usually needed a running start and from the position he was in, that seemed impossible, two; he had only ever been able to do it for small distances, and three; Jet was there, too.

He closed his eyes, envisioning the fire shooting from his feet, pushing him upward until he was able to grab onto the top edge. He envisioned it again, imagining letting go from where he was now, dropping to Jet's level, then kicking flames from his heels and pulling Jet with him to the top. It was risky; could he do it?

"Zuko?" Jet's voice was strained.

Zuko was breathing deeply, concentrating on moving all the warmth in his body to his legs, down them to his feet. Jet started as fire sparked from Zuko's soles.

"Jet, do you trust me?"

Jet met Zuko's gaze, unsure of what he was planning, forced a small smile, "Do I have a choice right now?" Zuko smiled, and then to Jet's horrible surprise, let go of the wall.

Almost in slow motion Jet saw Zuko's body falling towards him, past him. Pain shot through his heart; the fear of losing the person he loved blinded him. He didn't see the fire kick on, the flames gather around his Fire Lord's feet, only felt warmth rise up from below, arms encircle him, ripping him from the wall, air pushing down on him as he was rushed upwards; then he was above the top of the cliff, the warmth faded back into the cool of the night, and he was falling, arms still holding him tight until impact from hitting the rocky top of the cliffs ripped one from the other, and his vision cut out, enveloping him in darkness.