Been a while and for that I apologize!

After the resident earthbender had declared that the characterizations of each of them was spot-on, sparking a loud and verbal debate against such an idea, the group had parted ways, both to cool off and to stretch their legs before they were to settle in for another long act. Both Jet and Zuko were the only two to remain behind, already seated and starting to settle into a comfortable position. This time, the Prince is the one to act as a living pillow, Jet's head propped against his shoulder, slouching into his fiance's side, and said fiance's arm slung around his shoulders – by the time the second act is about to begin, the others have returned, this time Aang sitting beside Jet instead of behind, the older male suspects it's in some attempt to be closer to Katara, the added body makes seating a little tight-knit.

The murmuring of the audience falls silent as the lights dim and the lights on stage ignite, bathing the scene in light to reveal the actors, the few props, and the backdrop that seems to be that of a village, or possibly a town, set in the Earth Kingdom. The actors then begin their scene.

"Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom."

Katara announces, giving the audience the answer as to where the trio currently was – the puppet Momo didn't count.

"I better have a look around," Aang opens his, her, his glider, it's still as funny to Jet as it was the first time he'd seen it, the thing was so small he'd initially assumed it to be a fan. "To see if I can find an earthbending teacher."

"Hey," Jet whispers to Zuko after seeing Aang fly around the theater, "Since that's a bald lady," Toph snorts at this and Aang huffs, "Playing Aang, do we refer to her as him? Or still her?"

Zuko looks thoughtfully at the playbill, "Him, I think."

"Shh!" Toph hisses from the other end of the bench, "I'm coming up!"

Just then a deep, manly voice echoes throughout the theater and a trapdoor underneath the prop boulders opens, the lift lifting a man, a tall, muscular man who holds the boulder prop above his head, Jet feels his face drop in surprise, wiping off all expression, at the sight of the play's rendition of Toph, Zuko drops the paper he'd been reading seconds before Jet bursts out laughing along with the others.

"Who are you?"

Toph spits into something offstage, or so Jet hopes, then proclaims loudly, "My name's Toph," Toph then flexes to reveal even more definition, "Because it sounds like tough, and that's just what I am."

There's laughter from the audience below when Toph starts to speak:

"Wait a minute, I sound like – a guy, a really buff guy."

"Well Toph," Katara starts coyly, "What you hear up there is the truth, it hurts, doesn't it?"

"Are you kidding me ~ !" Toph exclaims, "I wouldn't have cast it any other way!" she then chuckles, "At least it's not a flying bald lady ~ ."

Jet laughs, Zuko looks over at Aang to see his reaction, and Aang scowls.

"So, you're blind?"

Aang waves his hand in front of Toph's face.

Toph chuckles, deep and manly, "I can see you doing that. I see everything that you see, except I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth."

Jet is about to snort at the thought that the playwright thought Toph was loud for the sake of seeing, when the Toph on stage screams, he feels Zuko tense up at the loud noise, cringing at the worst of it, Aang covers his ears, and it's then that Jet starts to laugh, he covers his mouth with one hand and starts laughing his ass off, disturbing Zuko enough to make the firebender sit a little straighter and look at him with such a look of innocent confusion that it sets him off again. A minute later, his laughing fit dies and drifts off into giggling, his stomach hurting too much to do more than that, because of that, everything from that point on is met with quiet giggles, unable to contain himself, almost like a dam had burst within his head and now he was finding the terrible writing humorous – a new scene is set up with dramatic lighting, the background a simple color, and both Iroh and Zuko are on stage, standing opposite of one another.

"Zuko," Iroh starts, "It's about time we had a talk, about your hair," and for some unexplainable reason, Jet looses it at that and his previous laughter returns, meanwhile, Zuko shifts in his seat with an embarrassed flush, wrapping his arms around himself, "It's gone too far!"

"Maybe it's best if we split up."

"I can't - !" Jet cuts himself off with a wheeze, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

The firebender pouts, looking at Jet with a red tint coloring his cheek and now the tip of his ear.

The way Zuko turns away from Iroh with that dramatic hair flip just adds more fuel to Jet's laughter, this time Toph join in on it, Suki pats Zuko's shoulder in a comforting manner as the firebender sinks into his seat – even though the play was casting him in such a ridiculous light, he couldn't really be too annoyed, not with how freely Jet was laughing at the silliest of things. It warmed the Prince's heart, thinking his fiancé deserved a little downtime to just enjoy himself, especially after all he's been through. In fact, he doesn't realize that he's stopped watching the wreck of a play, content to commit Jet's expression to memory, until movement beyond his future husband catches his attention, there he sees Aang looking at him with a knowing glint in his eyes and a too-wide smile on his lips. Feeling his face burn, he resolutely turns his attention to the horrible play and it's terrible actors. And on stage is Jet, after having been shown inaccurately joining Azula's side voluntarily in the first act, it shows that they're chasing after the Avatar's group, every once in a while Jet will snicker at the Jet on stage, the Jet on stage sounding like a stereotypical, angst-ridden teen who talks like he's talking through a sigh, the hair was ridiculous, looking like a dried bush. It seems Jet even gets a kick out of the low-key romantic subtext between him and the actor who plays Azula.

"Lion-Heart?"

"Yes, Princess Azula?"

"You've done well."

"Thank you, Princess, that means a lot coming from you."

The way the two actors stare longingly at one another has Jet snickering, and while Zuko knows that the play is pretty inaccurate and just a play, but that doesn't stop the slight stinging in his chest at the thought that it seemed the playwright was going to be setting them up for a romance. It must bother him a little too much for he feels Jet wrap an arm around him, the two having separated after Jet couldn't stop wiggling around, smiling tenderly at him, pulling him close, and pressing a kiss to his temple. This is enough to ease Zuko, he relaxes in Jet's hold and sinks against him, a hand on Jet's, when it comes time for him to betray Azula, things are skewed but Jet finds it hilarious nonetheless, even Zuko has to join in on Jet's laughter with his own quiet chuckle.

"Azula, my sister, what are you doing here?"

"You caught me ~ wait, what's that?! I think it's your honor!"

All actors turn to look.

Zuko rolls his eyes, "Ridiculous."

Jet snorts at his unimpressed mutter.

"Where?!"

Azula disappears through some secret doorway to the actor's left, his right, when the other actors turn and see that she's gone, Katara turns to the audience and says:

"She escaped, but how?"

oOo

The scene was obviously taking place underneath Lake Laogai, what with the creepy, glowing crystals painted in the background and the Dai-Li, but it was a – mess would be an understatement. For some reason, the Jet on stage was still with the Avatar group despite the real Jet having left the second they turned their backs so he could find Zuko, during the fight with the Dai-Li, Jet had somehow gotten himself brainwashed, like what happened to Longshot, or almost happened, Jet couldn't quite remember, he starts talking gibberish, his hands somehow having been replaced with his shuang-gou, and then there was a rock. A hollow, papier-mâché rock that floated slowly and to the left, his right, making Jet's weird gargling sounds even more embarrassing, for both himself and the actor, behind him, he can hear Sokka snickering, if he were capable of showing his embarrassment, he'd be red in the face, when the rock lands atop Jet, Jet knows that his expression is that of confusion, now Toph is giggling, Sokka is laughing obnoxiously loud, Aang is even chuckling, and Katara is covering her smile with her hand.

Zuko sounds just as confused as Jet feels, "Did you just - ?"

The firebender hesitates, like he isn't quite sure if it's the right thing to say.

So Jet finishes his question, "Did I just die?"

It takes a moment or two for his question to sink in before he starts laughing too.

"I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive."

Beside him, Zuko flusters, Jet grins when he sees Katara looking uncomfortable.

"You don't have to make fun of me!"

"But I mean it," Zuko scoots closer to Jet, "I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."

"Wait! I thought you were the Avatar's girl!"

From the corner of his eyes, he sees Aang give a small nod at this, only to remember that the kid had a thing for Katara, and that maybe seeing Katara going after several guys on stage was making the kid feel jealous, so he keeps an eye on Aang, curious as to his reaction.

Katara laughs, "The Avatar? Why, he's like a little brother to me," she laughs again, "I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way."

And the kid's face falls.

Ouch.

"Besides, how could he ever find out about this?"

The way it's said has Jet looking away from the Avatar to see the two actors on stage hug, a choked laugh escapes Jet and Aang immediately gets onto his feet, a look of annoyance on his face, a glare directed at the stage before he turns away. Yikes. Well, at least Jet tried to be a little sympathetic.

"Oh, you're getting up?" Sokka whispers, "Can you get me some fire flakes? Oh, and fire gummies!"

Jet rolls his eyes, but keeps quiet, no need to bring attention to Aang's current issues – later on, the play shows Azula, Zuko, Iroh, and, and himself, who Jet thought was supposed to be dead according to the play. Or did he miss something?

Jet feels his brows pinch together, "Why am I back? I thought I was, you know, dead?"

Sokka huffs from where he sits behind him and Zuko, "Apparently you're not."

"Maybe they're playing into you being a," Zuko falters, "A spirit?"

"You mean like the rumors that state I'm inhuman?"

"Yeah." Zuko gives a nod, "Those."

Jet huffs, "If only."

Zuko pushes Iroh down, Jet flinching when he sees that, Zuko goes to Azula's side, "I hate you, Uncle, you smell, and I hate you for all time!"

Oh Gods.

Looking to Zuko, he sees his fiancé looking regretful, somber as he stares at the actors on stage, Jet lightly touches Zuko's knee, the Prince grasps his hand, but his expression doesn't change. On the other side of him, Katara looks just as worried for him.

"You didn't really say that, did you?"

Zuko turns away from her, but now Jet can see his expression fully and it tugs at the instinct to protect the Prince at all cost, "I might as well have."

"Hey," Jet says, pulling his hand out from underneath Zuko's, he grabs the firebender's wrist, "Let's get some air."

The fire-wielder purses his lips, but gets up and follows Jet out of the box and into the corridor, they take a few steps away from the entryway that leads to the seats and stand near the railing that overlooks the bottom level of the theater, Jet turns, leaning his back against the railing, he scans the hall for any possible eavesdroppers before he turns to Zuko, his voice low when he asks:

"Want to talk?"

Zuko just sighs, head lowered, expression tight, "I've made so many mistakes."

"But you've learned from them," Jet assures, "And that's a good thing."

"I know." whispers Zuko, "But it doesn't feel like it."

Reaching out, Jet pulls Zuko into a hug, the latter returning the hug and burying his face into his chest – by the time the second intermission arrives, the other three seem a tad tense, Jet pulls away from Zuko and turns to the others, Sokka informing Jet that he'd died again, along with Aang, who is still gone which prompts Katara to leave in search of him, soon Sokka and Suki are leaving in an attempt to get backstage. Watching the couple go, he decides to do something himself, so he turns to Zuko, bumping his shoulder against him.

"I'm going to get something to snack on. You need anything?"

Zuko shakes his head, "No."

"Alright."

Walking through the crowds of Fire Nation civilians, Jet remembers his disdain for the color red and what it symbolizes, remembers that not too long ago he'd actually been brainwashed by the Dai-Li Azula had in her employment, something that the others don't know about because he'd kept it a secret. For what reason?

Great.

No wonder the playwright wrote him with a weird split-personality, which, while not true, he just wasn't able to help how he felt, carrying so much secrets on his shoulders, burdens, doing the unhealthy and ignoring his issues until they boiled over and drowned him in his own little pit – when Jet returns to Zuko's side, he's sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, his hood thrown over his head, and beside him sits Toph, the two look comfortable enough, so Jet sits beside Zuko, a small package of fire flake in his hand. Looking past Zuko, he sees Toph smile in his direction, the look reassuring, looking back to Zuko who looks more upbeat than before, he smiles.

The play begins again for the third and final act, Jet is back which makes no fucking sense since Sokka had said he'd died.

"I thought you said I was dead." Jet scowls.

Sokka snaps, "You were!"

"Why in the Spirit World to they keep killing me, then reviving me, just to kill me again?" hisses Jet, now annoyed, it was funny the first time, maybe even the second time, but at this point it seemed like they just weren't sure what to do with him, "It's like they don't know what they want to do with me!"

Toph snorts aloud, "You are a pretty complex guy, I'm pretty sure the playwright couldn't make heads or tails of where your loyalty lies. Whatever's left of it anyway."

"With Zuko!" Jet damn near shouts which jars Zuko, "It should be obvious! The Fire Nation knew I was loyal to him, the warmongers always loved to point that out whenever they could! At this point, is it even me they're characterizing, or is this a different person altogether!?"

"Well," Katara starts hesitantly, "You two did split ways after Ba-Sing-Se, maybe that threw the writer off?"

"Honestly," Sokka continues, "I find it weird that they're pushing your relationship with Zuko as something brotherly, why is there so much romantic subplots? Also, Zuko, what was with the weird ornament thingy you bought for Katara?"

Zuko sighs, "That was supposed to be Jet's engagement piece."

Suki makes a cooing sound at that, seconds before Jet asks contemplatively, "You think the playwright knows we're a thing, but doesn't want to make it happen because that's like, slander or some stupid shit like that?"

Sokka gasps, "Which would explain the overly stated brothers thing!"

Things settle down, but now Jet is less invested in the play, having lost interest after his third, or was it fourth, death, Aang returns some time after that – he may have fallen asleep because when he tunes back in, Zuko dies by Azula, the crowds obnoxious cheering grating on Jet's nerves, then Aang dies by the Fire Lord, who knows what happened to the others, and Jet doesn't know whether he's alive or not at this point. Maybe they finally put him out of his misery. When the play ends, it's obvious that it was written solely for the purpose of the Fire Nation with the amount of propaganda towards the end, Jet gets to his feet with a grumbled:

"Finally."

Zuko grunts in agreement.

Outside the theater, walking back to the beach house, Zuko takes Jet's hand and says, "That, wasn't a good play."

This time Jet grunts in agreement with his fiance's statement.

Behind them Aang agrees, "I'll say."

"No kidding."

Katara.

"Horrible."

Suki.

"You said it."

Toph.

"But the effects were decent."

And Sokka.

One more episode to write!