Yin & Yang

Chapter 19.

Smellerbee sighed. "That lemur remembers us. We better be careful, Jet." Her hair was long now. Pulled back in a ponytail at the base of her neck, covering a strap full of daggers. Jet nodded. Longshot moved in to hug her and Jet simply looked over the railing.

"This will be fun." He whispered to them. "I wonder if his martial arts is any better than before." His and Longshot's cloaks whipped behind them. Jet's hooked swords flashed in the evening sun and the feathers of arrows made the wind whistle as it passed through them in their quiver on Longshot's back. Jet looked up to the full moon as it rose up in front of the boat near the destination of Sozun. They would be there within a few hours. This man who had paid for them to do this was taking a big risk. To kill the Fire Lord? His contractor was obviously in high ranks to promise a pound of gold coins to get it done. Of course, the three would need that money in order to disappear after the job was completed.

Jet eyed Toph, brushing a few fingers through his thickening chin hair. He'd grown it out a little, as he'd been getting contracts lately. His eyes watched as her curved body drew his attention, a sway to her hips made him smile. Even if the lemur remembered him, would she? They had only met once or twice that he could remember. Maybe if he tried to disguise his voice and gave her one of his aliases, he could get to know her better. His hand touched his chin in thought. "Don't." He heard Smellerbee's voice tell him softly. "If that animal remembered us, it might raise an alarm to her." Jet continued to eye Toph. Later he promised himself.

An old man approached Toph. "Ma'am will you sign this, please? It is a list of our passengers and how long they desire to stay in the Fire Nation." Toph nodded and raised her hand up for the quill. Katara had helped her to memorize at least how to write her name if it were needed. The man placed the quil in her fingers and held up the paper. "On the line, if you.. oh. My appologies." Her blank eyes looked in his direction. He placed his hand on hers and lead the quill down to where to start her writing. It was sloppy and none of the letters were the same size, even tilting down and then back up. "Aah. Miss Be Fong. I will send notice to the Fire Lord that you are on your way, if you desire."

Toph nodded, "yes, please if you would. Lady Katara is there already. I am just arriving a few days late." She felt a body behind her. Jet towered over her by a few feet.

He placed a hand on her small framed shoulder and then hugged her. Momo angrily chirped out and flew away, circling them. "I'm so glad I found you!" She stiffened. His voice was familiar. Her hand bent the railing she was holding onto. "Sir, thank you. Name's Mars. Mars Lu Feng. Been looking for her for a while now. Distant cousins, we are." Jet placed a slight slang to his voice and tried to slur some of his words. It was obvious it was fake but he kept at it regardless. "This here is my sister and her husband." Jet motioned to Smellerbee and Longshot. "Liina and Nuroh Sparrow." They waved to him. Smellerbee blushed. They hadn't married. They just enjoyed each others' company.

Longshot placed a soft kiss on her temple. The rail bent more and snapped off next to her hand. "If you know what's good for you; you'll let me go and back off. If you don't, you'll have another hole to breathe out of." She promised. Jet promptly let her go and jumped back. Toph silently bent the metal back to where it was and crunched it together where it had snapped off, then smoothed it to look like nothing had happened. "Might want to have some one weld this together. It might hurt some one." The man promptly departed. Toph turned to Jet and grabbed the collar of his shirt. She yanked him down to her level. "Who the hell are you and how long have you been following me?" Grabbing the railing again, it broke off completely. "Don't lie to me, either. I may not be able to see, but I can still tell." She waived the metal in his face.

Jet eyed it with disinterest. "You notice he didn't ask anyone else for their names? Just so you know, he wasn't holding a document for peoples' names. He also carried with him a red ribbon for a messenger hawk. You managed to get some one's eye on you and now your name will be taken to the Fire Lord's palace. Claiming you know him is pretty big."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Maybe because it's true that I know him. We both taught the Avatar." Shoving Jet away from her, she tied the metal in a knot around the railing. "I know he's sending a messenger hawk. I don't care. Once I get on land, it's not like anything can be a danger to me anyway." He stumbled and fell to his butt. She kicked his foot. "I know you're not who you say you are. I never forget a voice. Stay away from me." Momo joined her shoulder again and she walked away. Jet smiled.

"Thanks a lot, Mars." Smellerbee glared down at him. Jet smirked. Standing, he walked away from his companions, assessing the ship. He watched as a hawk flew off from the ship ahead of them, a red ribbon trailing behind it in the winds.