the avatar, and that one good firebender, lee

earth, part three

jet swings the door open, running a hand through his messy hair. behind him, smellerbee and longshot groan into their beds. jet looks zuko up and down, nodding a hello, "morning already, huh?" zuko nods. "what's up?"

"we're serving breakfast in a few minutes, i'm making my rounds to tell everybody," zuko replies, hastily backing away as jet steps out of the room. the freedom fighter closes the metal door behind him, loudly sounding the creaking joints.

"i hope your food is decent," the boy grumbles, chewing on a straw. "we've been eating scraps for weeks."

"well, no worries, then," zuko assures, guiding jet up the stairs. "today, you and your friends will eat like kings."

-------

after his first three hours, zuko retreats to the bunk room for his midday break. sinking into the bottom bunk, zuko rests his shoulders, and in the bunk above him jang peeks a teasing smile. "i hear from the grapevine that you've got yourself a friend, prince lee."

"your majesty's got some earth kingdom fighter," feng adds, feigning surprise. "such good taste."

zuko snatches his two pillows and offers each snickering boy one to the head. they laugh nonetheless, throwing them back at him as he withers into his bedsheets, groaning, "why do you always do this to me?"

"i think it's nice zuko's socializing," mara speaks up, laying on her stomach and propping her chin on her palm. "he's finally got someone his age."

"don't make us sound old," jang complains, jumping off the top bunk. crouching down to zuko, he ruffles the boy's hair. "i'm sure zuko loves our maturity."

shortly after, jang and feng take off to start their shift and zuko follows to continue his. peeking at jet's table, the freedom fighter must've left to his room, zuko surmises, his table already cleared for the next customer. zuko leads another passenger to an empty table, writes down the order, and as he goes in the kitchen to grab a cup and a pot, he drops the paper at kook's table. the routine continues--cleaning, serving, nodding--for the next few hours, only ever pausing for lunch.

repeating another night of cleanup, zuko helps rearrange the chairs and tables for music night. daito wheels out his cart of warm and freshly baked pastries, jee tunes his violin, iroh clears his throat, and jet li nods at zuko as the tea server makes his rounds, placing empty cups on the table. as zuko pours the freedom fighters' tea, jet greets, "nice night, huh?"

"yeah," zuko nods, shrugging. "did you like the food?"

jet smiles. "like kings." pointing at his companions, he introduces, "that's smellerbee. this is longshot. we're the freedom fighters." smellerbee narrows her eyes. we were .

"cool." taking smellerbee's order, he passes the note to kook before returning the tea to the cart. jee plays his violin, haku beats the drum, the travelers clap along.

"i see your new friend is here," feng notes, nudging him in the side. "you're getting along nicely." zuko sighs, shaking his head. "what? it's so exciting. the only other kid you've talked to is the avatar, and, well, you see how it's going." zuko grunts. feng's smile grows, stepping away for the incoming customer. "i think i'll be going now."

"hey." zuko turns around, mumbling a hey back at jet li. the freedom fighter ticks his head to the side. "walk with me, please."

the two walk to the back of the ship, clear of any passengers or tables. stopping at the railing, they lean over and watch the tides pass them by. "so," zuko begins. "what's up?"

"are you a fighter, lee?" jet asks. staring at zuko, the wind rushes them, feathering through his hair and cooing at zuko's scar.

zuko shrugs. "not much of one. why?"