Chapter 4

Compromise

"Are you feeling okay?" a kind female voice awakened Zuko from a deep sleep. A huge sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he realized that he didn't have the nightmare again.

"Fine," he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, only to see Jin standing in front of him, smiling. "What's going on?"

"Jet wants to make a deal with you."

Raindrops make a pitter-patter noise on the deck outside, and Zuko stood, and walked over to the window.

"It'll be hard to leave home," Jin murmured. "But I have everything ready for our journey."

Zuko spun back around to her, and she was standing right behind him. "Oh," he muttered, stepping backwards. Her smile widened, and she bit her lip slightly. "Uh, are you sure you want to come? I'm not exactly sure what we're up against here—"

"You're nervous," she noted. "I know you and Jet have a bad past, but he's changed, just like you have."

"Let's say that's true—he still feels the same about the Fire Nation."

"Wouldn't you, if something so terrible happened to you?"

"It did."

Jin took a deep breath, stuffing Zuko's blanket into a sack. "Please, just cut him some slack. At least your mother is still out there somewhere." She handed the sack to Zuko, who set it down. At his feet was the crimson cloak. He shuddered at the thought of the figure from his nightmare. Was someone after him?

Was Azula still haunting him, somehow?

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's… nothing."

"I don't believe that," she frowned. "Not for a second." The beating of Zuko's heart in his chest overwhelmed him. Some strange, familiar feeling was taking hold of him—and before he knew it, he and Jin were only an inch apart. His fingers ran through her hair. Her sickeningly sweet scent excited his senses, and he put his arms around her waist. Jin shook her head slightly, and Zuko hated that she was right. This… the two of them, together… was wrong. He started to pull away, but she gripped his wrist.

"Don't," she whispered, but suddenly the door swung open. Both of them stepped back a few feet. Smellerbee's dark eyes pierced through Zuko's soul, and immediately, shame set in.

Smellerbee pursed her lips, then sighed deeply. "I won't tell."

"Thank you," Jin choked through her tears. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, not to anyone in particular, and grabbed her own sack and went outside into the pouring rain.

Smellerbee glared at Zuko as she approached him. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I…"

"If you want Jet to forgive you, you need to make the effort, too."

"What's this deal he wants to make with me?"

"I don't know. But it probably doesn't involve stealing his girlfriend." She then shoved Zuko towards the doorway, and they grabbed their sacks and made it outside. Raindrops fell like heavy bullets onto Zuko's back, completely drenching his cloak. Jet leaned against the side of a house across the street, with his own sack across his chest and a long piece of wheat straw between his teeth.

"Let's get this straight," he snapped. "I still have no intention of forgiving you. But as much as I hate you, I hate your sister even more. Before you two overthrew the Earth King and took over Ba Sing Se, she set up a secret, underground prison for people like me. She had these guys capture me, and take me there."

"The Dai Li?"

Jet shook his head. "They were a bunch of traitors of the Earth Kingdom—a band of rebels that helped Azula with the overthrow of Ba Sing Se by capturing people like me. They were ex-Dai Li, who served under the Earth King for a long time, working as double agents. They've always been loyal to Ozai, and they're more dangerous than you can imagine."

"Maybe I should get my friends to join us."

Jet's features contorted into something between a smirk and a frown. "No. We need to be as stealthy as possible, which means there can't be too many of us."

"We could use one more," Zuko insisted.

"Who?"

"You have something, Jet. Something of my mother's, from our house at Ember Island."

Jet's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"My father told me that Azula found out about it."

"So you're still buddy-buddy with the rest of your family? I knew it. I knew I couldn't trust you." Zuko felt the guilt take hold of his heart, because of course, Jet was right. Not in the way he thought, but it didn't matter. Either way, what Zuko and Jin did, however small it was, was wrong. He took a deep breath.

"Azula is dead." Jet's jaw dropped.

"You killed her?"

"No… I almost died saving Katara from her, and then Katara saved me. But the point is, we left Azula to rot, and that she did. She went completely crazy… and my father is in a prison in the Fire Nation, entirely powerless."

"So it's all true. I'm almost impressed that you and your team could do all that."

"I guess you don't always have to be willing to kill the innocent to end a war."

Jet rolled his eyes. "I'm past that, now."

"What did you steal from my mother?"

"A piece of fabric… I was going to sell it, and some other old trinkets from your house on Ember Island, but when I returned to Ba Sing Se, I was arrested by the underground traitors that worked for Azula. They took the fabric, and some of the other items I was going to sell, along with my dignity… So here is my proposition: you help me get back at them, and I'll help you find your mother."

"How can I be sure you won't turn on me once I help you fight them?"

"Unlike you, I have honor. I always keep my word," he held out a hand, and Zuko shook it reluctantly. "Now, who else do you think we need?"

"June. She has a Shirshu. It tracks—"

"I know what it does."

"We can let it smell the fabric, and then it can find my mother for us. Plus, June's a pretty strong warrior herself."

"We only need her after we get the fabric, then."

"We should find her sooner than later."

"Where is she?"

"A bar, somewhere. It shouldn't be too hard to find her."

"Then I guess we shouldn't waste any more time talking about it," Jet shrugged, starting to walk off. Everyone followed, and Zuko fell into step with Smellerbee.

"Does he even know where he's going?"

Smellerbee's penetrating eyes told him not to question it. Eventually, they reached a bar near the marketplace called The Lonely Cabbage. Piles of trash, along with groups of hung-over teenagers, who were probably only a little older than Zuko himself, stood outside the entrance. The strange odors emanating from the door of the bar, mixed with the mud created by the rain, caused Zuko to wrinkle his nose. Some of the teenagers spat at his feet, and he recoiled, bumping into Jin. Jet snorted, unable to mask his disgust at what he took to be Zuko's obvious ignorance of the lower classes of the Earth Kingdom, and yanked Jin back to his side as they all stepped through the door.

Immediately, a gasp erupted from Jet's throat, and his entire body froze as he stared at a man in the back corner, who wore a crimson cloak.

Just like the man in Zuko's nightmare.

Zuko edged toward Jet and whispered, "Do you know that man?" Jet's eyes remained glued to every moment of the man as he shook his head slowly, carefully, as if the man were his prey.

"Then why—" Zuko began, but Jet pushed him out of the way and kept his hand near his swords as he approached the man.

The man stared straight forward, ignoring Jet completely as he moved his drink back and forth in front of him on the table. His impatience mounting, Jet produced a dagger that Zuko didn't even know about and drove it into the table, a mere inch from the man's hand.

Jet proceeded to take a seat, and the two men spoke to each other in hushed tones. Zuko struggled to overhear, only catching bits and pieces of their conversation. Something was too soon, and nearly impossible. But what?

And was this the man that had haunted Zuko's nightmare? If he was, and Jet knew him… A shudder ran down Zuko's spine. The whole thing could be a trap, he thought. Zuko could hold his ground in a fight, without a doubt. Firebending and dual swordsmanship were on his side. After all, even if fighting them set him back, the determination to find his mother would keep him going.

Longshot took Smellerbee aside to discuss something, and Zuko moved towards Jin. Would she let this happen? Would she allow him to get this far—this close to finding his mother—just to let Jet take it all away by betraying him? Zuko closed his eyes tightly. Betrayal. He'd betrayed Jet, when he lied about being Fire Nation, and when he and Jin had that moment back in the tent, however innocent. He'd betrayed his own uncle. He'd betrayed almost everyone he'd ever known.

Did turning to the good side and helping Aang restore peace and balance in the Four Nations really give him redemption for all those transgressions? Deep in his heart, Zuko knew that he was a good man, that he'd even found honor. But was his soul pure? How could it be, after all he'd done?

Jin noticed Zuko's distress, and sidled up alongside him, giving him a sideways glance. Feeling the warmth of her body next to his, he opened his eyes but watched as Jet and the man continued to speak. "What's on your mind?" she asked sweetly. Though her words were meant to comfort him, they put him even more ill at ease.

"Nothing," he shook his head, lowering his gaze to his hands, marred by scratches, signs of past losses, past victories. Marks of his time on both sides.

"Nothing?" she repeated with a slight chuckle. "We both know that's a lie." Her words hit him like a ton of bricks. They were the exact words Mai said to him when he was at the Boiling Rock, after he'd abandoned her to join Aang. He swallowed.

"Fine. You're right. It's a lie," he growled, taking a seat at the bar next to a grimy old lady who was downing shots like there was no tomorrow. After moving one seat down, he ordered a cup of chamomile tea to calm his nerves.

Jin sat beside him, ordered a cup for herself, and put a hand over his. "You don't have to lie to me."

Steaming mugs of tea quickly appeared before them, and Jin grabbed some cinnamon from her sack to sprinkle on top of the tea, then paused a moment before doing the same for his. He gave her a questioning look and she smiled. "Trust me. You'll love it."

It tasted like spring, like home. The tea burnt his tongue, but Zuko couldn't have cared less. It only made him think of his mother. She was out there, somewhere. Waiting for him. Waiting to reunite with her only son.

Jet's voice rose from the corner of the room, and Zuko snapped to attention, thinking once again of that haunting dream.

"Do you know who that man is?"

Jin looked over her shoulder at Jet and the cloaked man, and shrugged, stirring her tea. "I don't know a lot of Jet's friends."

"Friends," Zuko chuckled, looking at the dagger, which was still in the table. Jin rolled her eyes.

"He's not usually like this," she explained.

"You don't have to defend him. I know Jet. I know what he's like."

"That's the thing. He's never like this when we're alone together."

"Well, maybe you're finally finding out who he really is," Zuko ventured, and Jin raised an eyebrow at him. A wave of anger passed over her kind features, but she shook it off.

"He's not," she rejoined, struggling to keep her voice steady. "But ever since you came around, he's been… he's been…"

"Who he really is?" Zuko cut her off angrily. "You're going to have to accept the fact that Jet will never change. He'll always hate the Fire Nation. He'll always hate me."

"At least he has a reason to hate them! I know you're different now, Zuko, but Jet's going to take a lot of convincing."

"I hadn't noticed."

Jin rolled her eyes. "I hate how you're acting, too. You two are never like this when I'm alone with either of you. You're acting like children."

"Well, at least I have the dignity to date someone who actually cares about me!"

"Mai?" Jin's eyebrows furrowed. "Since when did Mai do anything selfless for you?"

"Since when did Jet do anything selfless for you?"

"What is your problem?" she demanded. "You have got to stop acting like this."

"I do? You know what he's like."

"He's never like this, and neither are you, unless you're together. So get your act together, or we're not going to be able to do this."

"Fine."

"No," she frowned. "Zuko, you have to promise me, that you'll start acting like the guy I know you really are. I know that you and Jet… don't bring out the best in each other, but you have to promise you'll do everything you can to make this work."

"Okay. I promise." He searched her face, and she gave him a small smile. "Does that mean…" his voice trailed off.

"That we can't—" she closed her eyes. "You know how I feel about him," she said painfully, and her eyes met the beautiful, twin, golden pools, the left of which was surrounded by his scar. She placed a hand on it and took a heavy sigh.

"I don't," he retorted, holding her wrist as she gently stroked his scarred face. "I don't understand it at all, actually."

"And I don't understand you and Mai."

Zuko's grip on her hand weakened, and then he pushed it away, eyeing her intensely. "But… we can't. It's wrong."

Jin nodded halfheartedly and walked toward the table where Jet and the man were speaking, not daring to look back, because she knew that if she did, she would never let herself go forward again.