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JET
I wake up, reeling from the pains in my leg, head, and chest.
"Don't sit up," comes his familiar voice.
I shoot up, grunting out as a burning rages through my chest and stomach, then I fall back down onto the blanket. "Son-of-a..."
"Dumb ass," he says.
"Lee!" I call out, holding my stomach.
"Your ribs are busted up, leg's broken, and you've got a big knot on the back of your head," he tells me. I guess he thinks I couldn't figure that out on my own. "Probably shouldn't have tried to take on all those big Earthbenders alone. What were you thinkin'?"
"I don't know," I say before wiggling into a more comfortable position. Ignoring the pain, I role onto my side to get a good look at the guy. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," I finish as I prop myself up onto my elbow.
"Damn!" I here myself say. "You look different, Lee. What the hell? I don't even recognize you."
He rubs is clean-shaven head. "No more bed head for me," he jokes without cracking a smile.
"I'm not talkin' about that, you crazy Firebender! Where the hell is your scar?"
He lets out a deep sigh. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me," I dare.
I find myself listening to some crazy story about spirits and getting killed by a lightning strike or drowning or buried alive by his sister, Princess something-or-other. It's hard to take it all in. Did he just say his sister was a Princess?
I go to ask a question but he just keeps goin' on about hearing and seeing things that weren't there, climbing a mountain to the Eastern Air Temple and opening his Ch-Cha-whatever-the-hell they are, and talking with some old Guru guy. “Did he just say something about Onion and Banana Juice?” I think to myself as he rolls on with his crazy tale.
I roll my eyes. That Firebender is high on something and I need to get me some of it!
I watch the firelight flicker in his golden eyes and create long, moving shadows across the pale, distinctive features of his face. His face betrays no emotion as he drones on in a soft tone about making deals with spirits and I crack up at the sheer ludicrousness of his story. He pauses, never wavering from his cross-legged sitting position, hands folded neatly on his lap, back straight as a steel rod, as he waits for me to finish my outburst. If only I could get a good read off of him as he stares back at me with a blank expression while I offer up a half-heated apology and tell him to continue.
He's not at all like the angry, fed-up, worn-down looking refugee I went after in Ba Sing Se. He's cleaned up, shaven, without his scar, and wearing some bamboo flip flops, cut-off gray shorts, and a white tunic. He looks like a cross between a monk and a traveling hippie. I hold back another laugh as I think of him as a traveling hippie, remembering these crazy wandering Nomads Smellerbee, Longshot, and I ran into who sang stupid songs and got us lost on some legendary trail when we were traveling to Ba Sing Se. Maybe he ran into those guys and they gave him some of their special herbs of something. Maybe that's why he can be so chilled while he rambles on about some spirit who steals faces or something.
"They have a spirit for everything," I mumble and he nods before continuing.
As he goes into this part about wandering the Earth Kingdom looking for something to do with his time, I notice his swords are still sheathed, resting by his feet, and I relax, glad to know he isn't going to attack me when I'm hurt.
I think about my own swords as they lay next to his. As if commanded by my thoughts, he kicks my swords to me and finishes his story with "The Firelord's family - Firelord Sozin, the one who started the war over a hundred years ago - are all cursed. My Uncle Iroh and I are all that's left of our family and if we screw up, the spirits will bring the wrath of the spirit world down upon both of us because our family nearly killed off the Air Nomads and disrupted the balance." When he spits out that line of crazy talk, I stare at him with what I'm sure is an expression of utter disbelief.
He cocks his bald head to one side and I hear myself say, "That's some crazy shit right there, Lee." He nods his agreement, and I'm sure not even he can get his head around his own story. I realize that he didn't answer my question about his scar but I decide to let it slide because now, my head is pounding.
As a chill passes between us, he warms his hands with Firebending and I bulk at the sight of the fire as it comes out of his mouth and into the palms of his hands. I'll never get use to seeing Firebenders bend. They're like human blow torches.
When he stands up to stretch, I get a good look at him. Nothing but skin and bones, even more wasted away then when we first met over a year ago. If the wind got up, he looks like he'd be blown away by it--a ghostly apparition floating on the breeze.
He re ignites the dying fire by punching his fist at it. I nearly jump out of my skin as a fireball the size of my face flies from his fist and the fire roars back to life.
"I'm going for a walk," he says, not bothering to look at me as he leaves the small cave he's turned into his makeshift home. "Get some rest." I watch him pick his broad swords up then wander off into the woods.
I hold my swords in a death grip while I contemplate sleeping near this Firebender. My body decides, against the wishes of my mind, that it needs to rest, Firebender or no Firebender.
SONG
"Song..." his voice comes softly. I wasn't sure who he was at first, but I now know it's Lee.
"Can you help him?" he asks, his golden eyes pleading. "He went to sleep last night and I can't get him to wake up," he says and I hear his voice crack a little.
I pause, taking note of his withering hands and wonder what he's been doing all this time...
He lets out a deep sigh. "I didn't know where else to take him."
I smile at Lee in the hopes it will easy his discomfort.
"Sure," I say, "bring him inside."
Lee lays his friend down on the table and takes off the straw hat he's wearing.
"How's your Uncle?" I ask as I pull out a blanket to cover his friend with.
"I haven't seen my uncle in over a year," he says and I get the sense that he's not in a talkative mood.
"Oh," I say as I remove his friend's boots and shirt.
"Your friend has taken quite a beating."
I'm eager to change the subject when I see that Lee's face has taken on a dark cast.
"Yep. He took on some Earthbenders in the next town over. Not sure why he did that but he's a little nuts," he says as he rubs the back of his neck.
I work quietly to heal his friend as Lee stands stiff as a board, looking on from a dark corner of the room.
"His name's Jet," he tells me, cutting through the awkward silence that has fallen upon us. "Here are some of his things." He tosses a couple of strange-looking swords, a blanket, and a sack of Jet's belongings onto a nearby table while I prepare some ointments and potions.
"When he gets better, he can find his own way to wherever he's going," he tells me and I nod as I watch him grab for his hat.
"Won't you stay?" I ask as I see him turn to leave.
"No. I have to be moving on."
"Always in a hurry," I note as he puts his hat on, "My mom - "
"Makes too much roast duck," he interrupts, offering me a small smile. "Tell her that my uncle talked about her cooking for weeks."
"I will."
I follow him outside and watch in silence as he pets and whispers to his ostrich horse. He removes his belongings from his saddle. "He's all yours," he tells me and I can feel my jaw drop. "Take good care of him. He was injured in one of the last battles of the war. I bought him at an Earth Kingdom livestock auction where I met the Corporal who rode him in battle."
I must have given him a doubtful look because he cuts in with "I didn't steal him."
"Okay," I say, not wanting to offend him.
"I worked hard to earn the money to buy him by fixing up houses, fishing, loading ships, and doing any job I could so I could move from place to place," he informs me and I'm startled that his face shows no emotion. "We've been all over the Earth Kingdom together."
He pets the horse behind his ears for a brief moment before walking away from it.
"I believe you," I say.
He offers me another small, grateful smile then turns to walk the path that leads into the nearby village.
"How will you travel?"
"I'll manage," he says, his voice drifting back at me.
What I do next can only be explained as an act of stupidity.
I call out to him. "Zuko!" I say.
My voice rings out, echoing back at me. I wince as it fills my ears. He stops dead in his tracks then turns to level his golden eyes with mine.
What the hell am I thinking?
His flip flops click as he strides toward me, a determined but otherwise unreadable look on his face.
"How do you know who I am?"
As he presses me for the answer, I shift my stance as I feel the weight of his gaze upon me. He's taller than I remember and I have to strain my neck to look up at him.
"Your wanted poster," I say. I'm suddenly very nervous as his golden eyes shift from side to side. "They posted it up a few days after you and your uncle passed through here."
I reach up to brush his face with my hand where his scar use to be, too afraid to ask him what happened to it. He takes my hand into his, and I'm aware of how warm his hands are, another reminder that he's a Firebender.
"I just want you to know," I hear myself tell him, "that you don't have to lie about who you are. You're welcome here and so is your uncle."
He drags my hand from his face then lets it go. I let it drift to my side and he lets his hand do the same.
"Even if he's the Firelord?" he questions and I see his brow arch.
"Your uncle ended the war and sent Earth Kingdom soldiers home to their families. He taught the Avatar Firebending. Some people are skeptical, thinking he has some sort of hidden agenda, but he ate at our table. I looked in his eyes... He's a good man. He's welcome here anytime."
"Even after we stole from you?"
"Desperate people do desperate things, Zuko. My mother and I understand that. Truth is, if you would have asked, we probably would have given you our horse. We didn't use him much anyway. He was my father's horse."
He apologizes. I accept it with the sincerity in which it has been offered.
"Will you send your uncle our best wishes when you see him?"
"If I see him, I'll tell him." He stresses the "if" and I wonder what has happened between them.
"You'll take care of Jet, right?"
"Yes," I promise him.
"Thanks," he says then walks away.
I feel a sense of loss for him though I don't understand why.
JET
"My name's Song," she says, smiling.
"I'm Jet," I croak out.
"I know. Lee brought you here so I could take care of you."
"Where is Lee?" I ask as I try to move.
"He's gone," she says. I see her face droop slightly.
"Try not to move. I've got your ribs wrapped up tightly so they don't puncture your lungs, and your leg is elevated in a sling. Your head is bandaged, too."
"Thanks," I say, not at all minding being taken care of by this soft-spoken young lady.
She offers me food, drink, and kindness. Not since my mother passed has someone taken such good care of me. Next time I see that crazy-ass Firebender, I'll have to thank him for dropping me off here.
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