Work Text:
“Arrest them! They’re firebenders!”
Jet spat the word out with so much venom, it made Zuko flinch. He had never seen this side of Jet before. Somehow he knew it was lingering somewhere, with the way he talked about the Fire Nation. He refused to speak about it in excess, but Zuko saw the way Jet's eyes would darken at the mention of his home country. It gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt.
“This poor boy is confused!” Uncle cried, “We’re just simple refugees.”
His uncle looked to him for support, but he averted his eyes.
Honor. That’s what Zuko tried so hard to achieve. Honor means no lies. Azula lies. But father still sees her as honorable.
It didn't matter. He couldn't be like Azula. He wouldn't lie. He wouldn't say it.
That’s as good as lying, a voice told him.
Pao jumped to Uncle’s aid instead, pointing an accusing finger at Jet.
“This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees!”
“It’s true, sir. We saw the whole thing,” the customer from earlier added, “This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city.”
Uncle chuckled, blushing, “Oh, that’s very sweet.”
The two officers (Dai Li agents, Zuko presumed, Uncle told me about them earlier) stalked up to Jet.
“Come with us, son,” one commanded. Jet swung his hook at the agent, but he disarmed him. The agent bound Jet’s wrists as they both grabbed him by the arms and began dragging him to the wagon they came in.
Zuko sighed.
“Wait.”
The agent turned around at the sound of Zuko’s voice.
“He’s just drunk,” Zuko lied, “just give him to me, we have a tea that can sober him up. I’m sorry for the trouble he’s causing.”
“What?!” Jet exclaimed, “No! He’ll kill me, he’s evil, he’s-”
“Ignore him, he’s drunk out of his mind and doesn’t know what’s good for him,” Zuko bit, yanking at Jet’s arm, "He makes all kinds of ludicrous claims when he's out of it, it won't happen again, I promise."
The agent looked at him skeptically, then glanced at the other agent before removing the stone binds on his wrists. Jet seemed wildly confused as to whether he was being liberated or damned. The agents returned to their wagon and swiftly rode out of sight.
The crowd slowly started to disperse as Zuko roughly dragged Jet towards the complex of apartments where he and Uncle were staying. Uncle looked at him quizzically. He responded with a blank glare, causing Uncle to shrug and return to the tea shop to help with the damage.
Once they were out of the public’s eye, Jet shoved Zuko off of him frantically, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.
“What do you want?! What are you gonna do to this city?!” Jet demanded.
“Stop it, Jet! Be quiet!”
“These people just want peace! Stop trying to take it from them!” Jet yelled. There was a deep hint of sadness and desperation in Jet’s eyes.
“Just let me explain! Please, Jet!”
“I can’t believe this. I asked you to join the gang! I trusted you! I-” Jet cut himself off.
“I know,” Zuko sighed, “I lied, and I betrayed your trust, and I’m sorry. But we’re not here to hurt anyone, you have to believe me.”
“Why should I?” Jet hissed, his words laced with hurt. It almost reminded him of the look on Lee’s face when Zuko declared who he was.
There was a contempt that settled in the atmosphere whenever anyone mentioned the Fire Nation, but nothing compared to the suffocating terror that spread at the declaration of his title...
Zuko. Son of Ursa and Firelord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation. Heir to the throne.
“I’m wanted by the Fire Nation.” Not a lie.
“Why?”
“I betrayed them.” Not a lie.
“How?”
How?
He didn’t capture the Avatar. Because my father sent Zhao.
He attacked an admiral. Because he nearly murdered me.
He disrupted the Siege of the North. Not really.
“I… released the Avatar.” Not a lie.
“Aang? You saved Aang?” Jet raised his eyebrows, his interest piqued.
Who the fuck is Aang? “Uh, y-yeah?”
“How do I know you’re not bluffing? I haven’t heard about anyone releasing the Avatar. Well, other than the Blue Spirit.”
“That’s me.” Not a lie.
Jet eyed him suspiciously, “That can’t be true. That’s bullshit. The Blue Spirit isn’t a firebender.”
“That’s the catch, isn’t it?” Zuko smirked slightly, allowing himself some pride, “Do you wanna see the mask?”
Jet feigned cautiousness, attempting to hide his excitement, “How do I know you won’t kill me in your little Fire Nation death dungeon?”
Zuko scoffed, rolling his eyes, “What, you mean the crummy, one bedroom apartment that me and my uncle share? Yeah, the mold is really deadly.”
“Fine, whatever,” Jet said, “If you kill me I won’t say I told you so.”
Zuko rolled his eyes once more before grabbing Jet’s arm and dragging him in the direction of his apartment.
“Can you show me the swords too?” Jet asked excitedly before slapping on an unbothered face, “That is, if you’re not bluffing.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
They reached the apartment, and Zuko slid open the door to find Uncle preparing for bed. He looked startled upon seeing Jet with Zuko.
“Good… good evening, nephew?” his uncle said unsurely.
“I was just bringing Jet here to... explain some things,” Zuko gave his uncle a pointed look. His uncle looked at him quizzically before shrugging.
“Good to know. I’ll be going to bed now, nephew. Please wake me if you need anything.”
With that his uncle settled in the cot next to the stove and laid down to sleep. Zuko pulled Jet into his room.
“You make your uncle sleep in the cot?” Jet asked.
“No, he insisted. Something about it being better for his back.”
Zuko shut the door behind him and Jet before kneeling down to the floorboards. He slid his finger along the crack of one of the boards before lifting it up. Inside were his mask and his dual swords.
“No… way ,” Jet gaped, “You’re actually the Blue Spirit! You’re a hero!”
“Quiet down,” Zuko hissed, “I don’t need everyone in Ba Sing Se to know this.”
“Right, sorry,” Jet said sheepishly, “Sorry it’s just- the first time I heard about the Blue Spirit, I just thought- that’s so fuckin’ cool.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Zuko said curtly.
“I didn’t know the Blue Spirit had a scar. That’s even cooler!”
“How is that cool?”
“It means you wear it with pride! It means the Fire Nation hurt you and you’re hurting them back.”
I wear it with anything but pride. It’s shameful and humiliating.
“His own father burned and disowned him!” Zuko remembered the old man saying. Even in the Earth Kingdom he was a disgrace.
“Li?”
Who? Oh yeah.
Jet looked at him suspiciously, “Is that your real name?”
Zuko hesitated.
“... yeah. It is.”
Maybe Li and the Blue Spirit could be the same person. But Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation could never be either of them. Prince Zuko wasn’t an Earth Kingdom peasant working at a tea shop. Prince Zuko wasn’t a dishonorable thief and a traitor.
But Li isn’t a disgrace. Li has a family. Li has a simple life. Li is the Blue Spirit. Li is a hero.
Li isn’t Fire Nation, Li isn’t hated.
Li isn’t feared.
“Oh. Jet’s not my real name.”
Zuko shook away his thoughts, “What?”
“Yeah, I don’t remember my real name. After the Fire Nation attacked my village, I met my friends. The Freedom Fighters. We all came up with nicknames, because we thought it’d be cool,” Jet chuckled rolling his eyes, “Now it’s the only name I know.”
“The Fire Nation attacked your village?”
“Yeah,” Jet lowered his head as his eyes wandered, “They burned it down and murdered my parents. Not a lot of people survived. It was an attack by the Rough Rhinos, some military group from the Fire Nation.”
Zuko gulped.
“It’s nice to see old friends."
"Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary.”
“T-That’s… ” Zuko stuttered, “... so, you came up with ‘cool’ nicknames?” he attempted to tease.
“Yeah. We were kids at the time,” Jet grinned lopsidedly, “I was eight.”
Eight...
“Oh.”
They sat side by side on Zuko’s bed in silence.
“I’m sorry I attacked you.”
“It’s okay. I can see why. We’ve hurt you.”
“I wouldn’t say ‘we’,” Jet raised his eyebrows, “You’re different.”
Zuko didn’t respond.
“I attacked Aang too,” Jet sighed, solemnly.
“The Avatar?” Zuko asked incredulously, “Why?”
“I was… a different person,” Jet’s head sunk, “I tried to do something horrible to a village to get the Fire Nation out of it. They turned against me when they found out. I was mad, originally, but I realized how wrong it was. I guess I always knew, somehow. That’s probably why I hid it from them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I lied to Aang and all of his friends. Somehow I think all us Freedom Fighters knew we were wrong. We just felt like it was okay because the Fire Nation hurt us. But the Fire Nation hurt her too, and she was still so strong.”
“Who?”
“Oh, sorry, Katara. She was Aang’s friend.”
Katara. The waterbender with the necklace. Zuko remembered her. She offered to heal his uncle and he yelled at her and all the Avatar’s friends. He shouldn't have done that. She was just being... kind.
“I really liked her. I shouldn’t have lied to her. She deserved better than that. I was weak, and I let my anger control me. I wish I could apologize to her. Someday.”
“I’m sure she’d forgive you,” Zuko said, though unsure. Perhaps she would. She offered to help Zuko even after everything. Zuko ignored the voice in the back of his head urging him to dwell on what 'I really liked her' was supposed to mean.
They sat in silence again.
“I should go,” Jet said, “It’s getting late.”
“You shouldn’t go out there alone,” Zuko said.
Jet scoffed, “I survived in the woods for eight years, I think I can handle walking through the city.”
“Well there weren't a lot of earthbending Dai Li agents after you in the woods, were there?"
"There were firebenders after me in the woods," Jet raised an eyebrow, "Besides where else would I stay?"
"Just stay here, you douche,” Zuko rolled his eyes.
“Here?” Jet asked, “Where?”
“Just sleep in my bed, it’s big enough,” Zuko gestured to the bed they sat on.
“I-In the bed? With you?” Jet stammered.
“Yes?”
“... okay.”
Zuko slid into his side of the bed and pulled the blanket down the other side for Jet to lay in. Jet looked at him hesitantly before climbing in awkwardly next to Zuko. He nearly used firebending to turn off the candles, but he looked back at Jet and opted to untangle himself from the sheets and blow them all out.
“Why aren’t you just using firebending?”
Zuko turned to face Jet, “I didn’t want to… trigger you or anything.”
“Trigger me?”
“Like, a panic attack or something? Your village was burned down.”
“I don’t get those. Longshot does, though.”
“Oh.” Zuko couldn’t figure out why he felt disappointed. Perhaps he hoped Jet knew the feeling.
“Can I… see you do it?”
Jet may not have gotten panic attacks, but panic was evident in the shortness of his words and the stiffness with which he sat up in the bed.
“Turning off candles is hardly firebending.”
“I don’t need to see whatever elaborate training routines they go through to practice murdering us,” Jet said curtly, “Putting out fires. I wanna see how you do that.”
The look in Jet’s eye was hurt, but insistent, and unwavering, and it made Zuko gulp.
“Okay,” he croaked out.
He ran a hand along the candles and one by one, collected each flame in his palm before dispersing them all. He avoided Jet’s face as he walked back to the bed and slipped in.
“Can we sleep now?”
“Yeah.”
They both laid awkwardly, knowing that neither was sleeping. Zuko thought about how the days after this would play out. What would Jet tell Smellerbee and Longshot? What would Zuko tell his uncle? Would the Dai Li come back for Jet? Would Jet tell someone?
No, Zuko thought, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t .
Suddenly Zuko felt a warm hand engulf his own under the sheets. He turned his head to meet Jet’s sleepy eyes. Jet gave him a lopsided grin.
“Li?”
“Hm?”
“I really like you too.”
He didn't wait for Zuko to answer, he simply closed his eyes and adjusted his head against his pillow.
Zuko was the one who shuffled closer to Jet, his head tucking itself against Jet’s shoulder. Jet leaned his head against Zuko’s and hummed in satisfaction.
It’s Zuko, he wanted to tell him. He didn't. But he wondered how his real name would sound rolling off of Jet’s tongue.
Maybe someday he’d tell him.
***
Zuko always considered himself very stealthy. His slight loss of hearing on the left side made his right side much more in tune to sound. His firebending training allowed him to be more delicate in his steps. Training with dual swords allowed him to be clean and efficient with his tasks. He could break into virtually any establishment.
He paled in comparison to the Dai Li.
He noticed the lack of warmth in his bed, but he didn’t shake awake until he heard Jet’s muffled screams fade into the distance.
“Jet?” he called softly, trembling. Jet wasn’t next to him.
He threw his covers off of him and ran through the apartment.
“Jet!” he cried, “Jet?!”
“Nephew, what’s wrong?” his uncle asked groggily, emerging from his room.
Zuko ignored him and ran out into the street. The sky was completely dark except in a corner where the sun was beginning to rise. There was no sign of Jet.
Zuko clenched his teeth and blinked back tears.
“What happened, Nephew? Where is Jet?”
Zuko turned around and glared at his uncle, whose head peaked out from behind the front door.
“He’s gone.”
He walked back into the apartment, ignoring his uncle's gaze. He reached his room and slammed the door shut.
***
“Did Jet just… die?”
He already knew. He was dead. They killed him.
He tried to ignore Katara’s worried gaze.
"Zuko?"
He didn't even know my real name.
He felt the familiar sensation of warmth glossing his eyes. He blinked his tears back again.