Still inching her way through the sodden forest toward the sounds of battle, Katara's heart nearly stopped in alarm when the ring of steel suddenly died away…and did not resume. But as she drew closer, she could swear there were voices muffled in the rain. Renewed by the possibility that they were both still alive, she kicked her legs even harder against the slippery ground, pushing herself closer toward that promising sound.
But then the chillingly familiar voice reached her ears through the downpour, and she froze.
Zuko was the first to his feet, stepping in front of Jet with his hands poised for an attack. This detail didn't escape Jet's notice, and he quickly moved forward, hook-swords drawn, to stand next to the prince.
"You again," said Jet with wary surprise, looking at Azula. Zuko glanced over at the other boy then back to his sister, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"I thought you said you were looking for your brother," the Freedom Fighter continued suspiciously. "So why have you been following me?"
"Because I knew you'd lead me right to him."
"Wait…you mean, you're…" Jet glanced back and forth between the two, suddenly grasping what she was saying. "He's your brother?"
"Yes," she purred, "And thanks to you, I've found him…and the Avatar."
"Jet, what have you done?" breathed Zuko in dismay, snapping a horrified look at Jet. But the other boy appeared every bit as stricken by this news as the prince.
"I…I didn't," stammered Jet before declaring earnestly, "I didn't know who she was."
This was easy enough to believe considering the rather mundane, Earth Kingdom trappings Azula was wearing.
"Of course you didn't," she said matter-of-factly. "Why should I tell you anything when you were so eager to volunteer your plans to rid the world of my worthless relatives," she explained with a condescending smirk at Zuko. His only response was to grit his teeth and glare at her.
"And since you've been so helpful," she continued pleasantly to Jet, "I'll even let you collect the reward on Zuko's head. It's quite a fortune."
"Not interested," Jet growled as he brandished his weapons.
"Get out of here, Jet," commanded Zuko in a low voice.
"I don't take orders from you," Jet replied evenly.
"Your choice," shrugged Azula, seeming to grow bored with the conversation, "I guess I'll just have to claim the bounties on both of you."
Without further warning, she launched a wave of undulating blue flame directly at Jet. Instinctively, he threw his hands up in front of his face, but he knew it was a useless gesture against the inferno racing toward him. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for what he knew would be his last moment.
But the flames sizzled harmlessly to the rain soaked ground on either side of him. Amazed that he was still alive, Jet dropped his arms to see Zuko standing in front of him, bending the last of the blaze away before striking back with his own furious assault.
Up until that moment, Jet had still been undecided about how far he could trust Zuko. But those lingering doubts were immediately eradicated when he faced the reality that he'd be dead if not for the prince's intervention. Now, however, he had another problem; he was no match for this girl.
Azula was like no other fire bender Jet had ever seen, and as he watched the siblings battle, it became abundantly clear that Zuko didn't stand much of a chance against her either. Her blue flames were precise and deadly, and it was all the prince could do to block and deflect the vicious onslaught of his sister. Jet realized then that if either of them were to survive there was only one thing he could do.
With a passionate yell, he joined the fray.
Appa raced over the forest with his passengers, a drowsy Momo only just now poking his head out of one of the saddlebags. The lemur had slept through the entire fight. He chirruped inquisitively, however, when he noticed there were people missing.
"So where are the others?" asked Iroh, now that they were no longer in immediate danger.
"Zuko said they'd meet us on the other side of the village," Sokka replied worriedly.
From the rear of the saddle where he was staring out over the swiftly passing landscape, Aang let out a startled gasp.
"We have to go back!" he shouted.
"Why? What's wro-"
Sokka's voice died in his throat when he turned to look behind him and spotted the copse of trees burning despite the pouring rain. And when a particularly large, brilliantly blue burst of fire broke the tree line, his heart sank.
"Oh no…"
Without a second thought, he tugged on the reigns and steered Appa back toward the blaze.
A fiery blast from Azula halted Jet's advance, and he only narrowly avoided being burnt to a crisp. In the same movement, the princess unleashed another attack on her brother, keeping both boys at bay. It didn't help that they had exhausted themselves earlier fighting each other, and they were hard pressed to gain any advantage over the ruthless princess.
Several of the surrounding trees were now burning, sizzling and sputtering in the drenching rain. In the undergrowth nearby, Katara shrieked in terror as a bush just off to her left exploded in a vivid flash of blue. The force of the blast flung her several feet, and when she landed, she could now see the desperate battle being fought in the small clearing a few yards away.
Zuko's strength was flagging as he continued his attempts to dodge and deflect his sister. His clothes were scorched in several places, exposing the burned skin on his arms and legs. Frustrated and furious at his inability to get the better of her, he unleashed a powerful blast at Azula, but a wall of blue flame was already bearing down on him, and when the two attacks collided in a massive detonation of flames, he was thrown backward to land with a thud near his discarded swords.
A twisted and triumphant smirk pulled at Azula's lips as she seized her opportunity to strike her brother down for good. Jet stared in awe at the energy crackling and dancing on her fingertips as her arms circled, one after the other. He had no idea what sort of attack this might be, but he wasn't going to let her complete it.
In two long strides, he stood before her, and he latched onto her wrist with a hook-sword, pulling her aim away from the fallen prince just as the bolt of lightning blasted from her fingers. It raced along the metal shaft with deadly speed, engulfing him in a blinding discharge of pure white.
Zuko heard Katara scream from somewhere nearby at the same moment that Jet howled in agony. Time slowed to the counting of heartbeats as Zuko turned his head toward Jet, staring in horror while he watched the boy crumple to the ground at Azula's feet, a residual flicker of lightning still snaking over his body.
With a roar of fury and despair, Zuko snatched up his swords in a whirlwind of intense flames, flinging the fire at his sister with every anguished swing as he charged toward her. Still recovering from the unexpected result of her attack, Azula barely had time to deflect her brother's enraged assault.
Arms working frantically to redirect the oncoming flames, Azula took first one, then another step back, her eyes widening at Zuko's unprecedented display of ferocity and bending prowess. As he closed the distance between them, she lost her footing on the wet ground as a blazing sword swiped through the air where her face had just been.
The very tip of a searing hot blade slashed across her cheek, cutting and cauterizing her flesh in a single stroke, even as she unleashed a massive blast of flame that struck Zuko square in the chest, hurling him backward across the glade before crashing to the ground. Her other hand flew to cover the painful red welt etched into her skin, and she stared at her brother in a mixture of shock and rage.
But before she had time to exact her revenge for this unforgivable insult, a powerful gust of wind sent her sailing through the trees with a surprised yell. She smashed against the trunk of a large oak and slid to the forest floor with a groan as Appa landed in the clearing from which she had just been ejected.
Sokka slid down from the bison's head, sparing a heart-stricken glance at the figure lying on the ground before spotting his sister thrashing vainly against her bonds, and hurrying over to help her. After helping Zuko to his feet, Aang looked about for any sign of a renewed attack from Azula, but the princess had apparently fled the scene; both she and her mongoose-dragon were gone. Assured the area was clear, the two boys cautiously approached Iroh, who was kneeling beside Jet.
"Is he...?" Aang whispered as he drew near, but Zuko already knew the answer even before Iroh shook his head sadly.
By now, Sokka had freed Katara from her binds, and she staggered to her feet, rushing off with the intention of healing Jet. Sokka made a grab for her in a frantic attempt to prevent her from seeing the boy's scorched and broken body.
"Katara, NO!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. But he slipped to his knees on the wet leaves before he could restrain her.
"Don't let her see this!" Iroh commanded urgently to Aang, but the Avatar stood frozen in shock, unable to pull his anguished gaze away from his fallen friend.
Zuko turned and intercepted her instead, holding her by the wrists as she thrashed and pulled to get away.
"Let me go!" she shouted angrily, still trying to wrench herself from his grasp, and attempting to look past him to where Iroh and Aang blocked her view of Jet.
But the prince only spun her around so her back faced the ghastly scene, and he tightened his grip, shaking her roughly to get her attention when she tried to glance back over her shoulder.
"There's nothing you can do!" he insisted painfully. Then with a shudder of grief he added, "He's gone."
Her eyes filled with tears as she stared up at Zuko, shaking her head slightly in disbelief and denial.
"I'm sorry," he choked out softly.
A quick glance at her brother watching anxiously nearby confirmed the awful truth and her shoulders trembled as she let out a strangled sob, her head falling against Zuko's chest in desolate defeat.
At last, he relinquished his hold on her hands, helplessly wrapping his arms around her shaking form as she wept into his tunic, and his eyes fixed numbly on the body of the boy whom he wished had never been his enemy.
The rest of the group bowed their heads silently in the rain, letting the sky shed the tears that some of them could not.
By the time the group reached the coast that evening, the storms had passed, and glittering stars twinkled overhead in merry contrast to the somber and exhausted group of travelers. Toph had recovered from the sleeping draught and after being caught up on the day's events had fallen into a natural sleep, with the others following shortly thereafter.
Only Zuko was awake, sitting just outside the camp on the edge of the hill, overlooking the port city where a ship waited to take them around the Fire Nation blockade. In his hands, he held the Blue Spirit mask, but his eyes were settled on the vast ocean shimmering in the moonlight.
A short distance away, Aang awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily as the last vestiges of his nightmare subsided. Looking around, he saw Zuko glance back at him indifferently for a moment before returning his gaze out to the horizon. Assured that the others had not been disturbed by his outburst, the Avatar quietly got up and joined the prince.
"Didn't think I'd ever see that again," remarked Aang, pointing at the mask.
Zuko didn't say anything, but instead offered up the mask so Aang could take it, watching as the younger boy turned it over a couple of times in his hands.
"You never told them, did you?" asked the prince.
Aang shook his head slowly, thoughtfully running a thumb along the edge before handing it back. "No."
"Why not?"
"Are you kidding?" replied Aang incredulously. "If Sokka and Katara ever found out that Zhao had actually captured me, I'd never so much as be able to use the bathroom again without supervision!"
"You're probably right," admitted Zuko, grinning slightly in spite of himself.
"Probably?" repeated Aang giving the other boy pointed look, "Zuko, this is Sokka and Katara we're talking about."
"Good point," admitted the prince. He knew better than almost anyone else did how zealously overprotective the water bender could be when it came to Aang.
A timid silence fell between them, and they said nothing for a while, preferring to stare out at the water.
"Jet was trying to protect you," Zuko finally said softly, keeping his eyes focused on the horizon, "Protecting you from me. He was convinced I'm only leading you through the Fire Nation so that I can turn you over to my father."
Aang stared uncertainly at the prince as he absorbed this. It made him uneasy to hear Zuko mention such a possibility so candidly and, remembering what the prince had once said about his motivations for 'rescuing' him from Zhao, Aang voiced his concern before he could stop himself.
"Are you?"
"Of course not!" retorted Zuko, looking steadfastly at Aang with a frown that showed he was genuinely wounded that the boy would consider such a thing.
Aang hung head, positively ashamed of his impulsive doubt, but before he could open his mouth to apologize, Zuko interrupted.
"But I'm not sure I'm doing any of this for the right reason," he confessed miserably, staring contemplatively at the mask. "I've done the 'right' thing for the wrong reason before. Maybe this isn't any different." Seeing Aang's confused expression, Zuko added soberly, "You've been my only way home since the day I was banished. Despite the circumstances, that hasn't changed."
"Maybe not," agreed the Avatar honestly, "but you have, and that makes all the difference in the world."
"But what if it's not enough?" asked Zuko almost rhetorically, "What if people like Jet are the only legacy left after this war; people full of mistrust and vengeance? How can any of that change after a century of fighting?"
"It will change because someone will show them a better way," answered Aang with calm conviction.
"So they can end up like Jet?" Zuko snapped bitterly, not daring to look Aang in the eye.
But the Avatar didn't miss the painful regret on Zuko's face, and it took Aang a moment to piece together what must have happened earlier that day before he and the others had arrived.
"Jet died saving you, didn't he?"
The prince merely closed his eyes and nodded, his jaw clenched tightly as he fought to keep his emotions of guilt and remorse in check.
"Zuko, you can't blame yourself for that," Aang stated firmly. "And the fact that Jet, who hated fire benders more than any person I've ever met, thought your life was worth saving only proves that you're doing the right thing…and for the right reason."
Seeing the doubtful look Zuko gave him, Aang continued quietly.
"The monks at the Air Temple used to teach us that, if a person died with hatred in their hearts, their souls would never know peace. Because of you, I don't think Jet will have that problem now."
"I hope you're right," Zuko whispered.
Aang only smiled; a serene and ageless smile that only an Avatar could possess, as he shifted his gaze back out at the ocean and took a deep breath.
"I know I am."
With nothing left to say, the two boys stared at the moonlight dancing on the sea where their destinies waited on the other side.
Author's note: Well, that depressing chapter was a lot harder to write (and much longer!) than I expected. I finally gave up trying to keep it at the 2000-2200 word count like my other chapters. There was too much that HAD to be in there to form the foundation for upcoming events (i.e. foreshadowing).
And before anyone wonders: Jet's death has been planned since I first brought him into my series during 'The Trial'. This is primarily because I wasn't very happy about his demise in the canon series. He never really had a chance to move past his hatred for the Fire Nation on his own; it was brainwashed out of him, and then came rushing back only moments before he died. I guess I just wanted a more solid redemption for his character.
I only hope I didn't shock or upset anyone too much. My apologies if I did.
And now, I begin to move on to completely uncharted territory as I take the gang into the Fire Nation. It's been a long time coming, and certainly longer than I am sure the show's creators will take, but I'll do my best to make it worth the wait.
So stay tuned for "Fire Chapter 9: The Shallows".