"I'm a water bender, see?" I got to my feet and whipped out water from a nearby barrel. "Proof."

"Okay," Jet mumbled, dropping his hooks a little.

"Wait. So if I was a fire bender you'd kill me on the spot." I rubbed my chin, anger starting to bubble inside me.

"Fire Nation can't be trusted."

"Get that silly idea out of your head! You trust me but If I was a fire bender you'd kill me. But I'd be the same person so why . . . why are you like this?"

"Because I hate the Fire Nation."

"And what If I say I hate weird guys that live in giant treehouses? Then?"

"I haven't done anything to you."

I stared into Jet's eyes, throwing my hands in the air. "I give up."

"They killed both of our parents. I don't see why you defend them like they're your family or something."

"I only defend them because I've met a few that aren't as bad as you think."

"That's what they want you to think."

"Jet! I've known them for a long time and some of them are amazing people. Sure we fight a lot and act like we hate each other and all... But it doesn't mean I really hate them." I rubbed my face. "But I hope they really don't hate me."

"Who are you talking about?" Jet clenched the hooks tighter.

"P-people. They're long gone now anyway." I looked away sadly.

"Well. I hope they're nowhere closeby."

"You sound brainwashed." I felt my head throbbing.

"Cool down a bit. You need it. You're letting this get to your head. Pretty soon you're going to grow up and realize what you have to do to survive in this cruel world. You can't always expect love and happiness everywhere." Jet pulled on my arm. "Let's go back."

"I'm already grown up!" I said fiercely, yanking my arm away.

Jet sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Don't do this to me, Mei."

"I'm not doing anything to you. I'm trying to make you realize that not everyone is bad."

"And I'll show you that all Fire Nation is bad."

"Show me? I already have enough proof." I clenched my fists.

"Just give me a chance. I'm not a bad person and you should know that. You of all people!" Jet said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I loosened my fists.

"That you're different. You're the only one who understands me because we went through the same pain. We're alike. Don't you understand?"

I took a step back. He was right. We were alike, even if what we believed was different. "Okay. I give you a chance."

A smile broke out across his face. "I'll prove it."

"I hope so. But if you're not able to . . ."

"Trust me."

I sighed. "Okay."

He smiled, satisfied. "Wanna go back now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sure."

🔥🔥🔥

"Where were you?" Zian asked, looking annoyed.

"Why? What happened?"

"Zuko is nowhere to be seen. Last time I saw him he had a major mood swing and he said he was going to kill you for dragging him into this."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And I couldn't find both of you and I was stuck here with these people—" Zian wrinkled his brow. "No offense to them."

"None taken!" Pipsqueak boomed nearby.

"Sorry. Jet was just showing me around." I sighed.

"We'll I'll see you guys later," Jet said behind me. I nodded and he left.

"What's the plan?" Zian asked after Jet disappeared from view.

"The plan is . . . we're staying one more day."

"What?" Zian exploded. "Why?"

"Jet wants to show me something." I put a hand on my hip. "Take it easy."

Zian's eye twitched and he grabbed my shoulders. "What. Because 'Jet' wants to show you something? What's wrong with you?" he shouted. "Don't you realize that you came here for the Avatar, not some treehugger named Jet? Now I know why Zuko acts mental. Because he travelled with someone like you."

He pushed me back so that I almost lost my balance and I grabbed onto the wooden rails to keep myself steady. I looked up at him, shocked.

Tears sprang into my eyes. "You too?" I quickly turned and wiped my eyes before he could see. "Well it was you who chose to come with me. What did you expect me to do?" I said quietly.

"I expected you to be mindful of your time. We don't have much of it as you can see. You've driven all of us to a point where we can't take this nonsense. Look what you did to me."

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry." My vision blurred again. "Things haven't been easy for me either. I have to deal with Zukos anger problems and everything. He really gets to me sometimes and I guess I'm stubborn because of that."

Zian sighed, relaxing a little. "I'm sorry too. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." I nodded, feeling better just because he apologized.

"I'm just excited to meet the Avatar. And I also don't like Jet." Zian wrinkled his nose.

I laughed, sniffing and wiping my tears as they slid down my cheeks. "Agh see I'm crying. Ew."

Zian grinned. "Hey, it shows your inner girl. It's okay."

"Whhaaaat?" I punched him playfully. "My outer girl doesn't show?"

"Not in the least."

"Just because I cry doesn't mean it's girlish. I've seen plenty of grown men cry."

"Is Zuko one of them?"

I smirked. "Well, we'll just have to witness that one together, won't we?"

🔥🔥🔥

"Wake up!" Someone hissed in my ear.

"What?" I groaned, my eyes snapping open.

Jet's face came into view. "Wake up."

I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

"What are you doing here?" I shrieked, shooting up.

"Keeping my promise."

"Your promise is a lie," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Jet grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "Let's go."

🔥🔥🔥

"So what are we doing exactly?" I asked as we stopped by a large rocky hill and a narrow stream. I looked over the ledge and saw a small town below crawling with...

Fire Nation soldiers.

"Your friends Xiaoli and Lee are on their way. They're going to help. You come with me."

He pulled me away from the ledge and walked me into the forest. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see. You'll understand soon enough."

Suddenly, a whistle pierced through the sky. A bird call.

"See your friends are here now. I'll tell you what's happening." Jet said.

We walked deeper into the forest when he finally said, "Okay. Here's what's happening. You know that small town down there? It's been taken over by fire nation soldiers. Innocent people have been victimized by them and food is stolen and high taxes are taken unfairly. That's wrong, do you agree?"

"Fully." I said shakily. "But what is this—"

Another whistle rang through the air.

"Your friends agreed to the plan," Jet smiled.

"So what are you doing to the town?"

"Xiaoli is going to help us on this part—" he was interrupted by an angry bird call. "Looks like the one with the ugly face disagreed to the plan." Jet cupped his hands around his mouth and sent a bird whistle back. "So as I was saying, you agree that Fire Nation, in this situation, is bad?"

"Yes. In this situation," I repeated.

"Well there are hundreds of towns spread all over the place that have been captured by the Fire Nation. Disgusting Fire Nation soldiers swarm the towns and we've been doing our best to rid of them."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"I need your help to finish this town off so we can rid of the Fire Nation from this area completely."

I stared at him and nearly fell off the tree stump I was sitting on.

"What?"

"It's the right thing to do."

"With the normal earthbenders that also live there? Are you crazy?"

"Look at the bright side," Jet spread his arms, "no more bad Fire Nation."

"No." I stood up. "How could you kill of all these innocent lives?"

"Same way they killed all our innocent people."

"Look what you're saying!" I almost screeched. "You're the one killing the innocent now! You've dropped down to the level of the bad people! You're crazy!"

"I'm perfectly fine. Once the last village has been cleared up, there'll be no more Fire Nation in the place."

"How are you going to pull this off?" I said, exasperated.

"We'll see, this was the hardest fire nation town to clear up. We failed many times but then we came up with a plan."

My eyes widened. "The rock mountain."

"You're catching on quickly," Jet nodded approvingly. "Xiaoli is going to help us break down the mountain."

"He'd never—"

"He already has."

"No!" I pushed him roughly so that he hit a tree. "You're a crazy idiot, you know that? Zuko was right," I muttered, backing away.

"Zuko?" Jet repeated.

"No I said...I said Zulo. Zulo is my nickname for Xiaoli."

"Huh?"

"I have to get out of here," I said frantically, whipping around. "You can't do this." I stared to run. Faster and faster, my heart thumping wildly but I knew he was behind me. I popped open my drinking canteen and whipped out a stream of water. I look over my shoulder to see Jet close behind and clenched my fists and flicking them, ice shards flying at his face. He broke them all with his metal long hooks and jumped, disappearing into trees.

"God help me," I muttered when suddenly, something jumped in front of me and I smashed my nose into the figure. I yelped, falling hard on my tailbone, my eyes burning from the pain. "What the—"

Jet poked my head with the hook. "You okay?"

"Stay away from me," I said, wiping my eyes on the back of my sleeve.

"You're not trying to understand. What I'm doing is for the good of everyone. Please believe me."

"You said you'd show me that all Fire Nation isn't bad," I said clutching my nose. "But instead you tricked us into doing you're dirty work for you. You know I hate you right now. Like, a lot. Like extreme hatred. I loathe you," I spat.

"That's your problem."

"Move out of my way before I whip your ass," I growled.

"What are you gonna do?" Jet smirked.

"Something I should've done a long time ago."

I got to my feet and put my fists out in front of me, my limbs aching. "Please don't make me do this."

He burst out laughing and in anger, I delivered a fiery roundhouse kick to his chest and he flew back, slamming into a tree trunk.

He groaned, looking up at me. Sweat beaded on his forehead and I could tell he was shocked.

"If you actually cared about who I was, than you'll ignore who I am," I said breathing heavily.

"You're a firebender? I should've known," he growled, staggering to his feet.

"You're blinded by your hatred for the fire nation. Look at me," I said. "You were actually my friend."

"I was. Not anymore."

"You're crazy."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't. I'm a waterbender."

"But you just —"

"And a firebender."

"So you're the Avatar?" he sputtered.

"No."

"Then how—"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. Now leave me alone before you never live to ruin another persons life again."

I turned around to walk away when something slammed against me back.

A long metal hook.

He just crossed the line.