"Jet," I repeated. "What brings you to attack us?"
"I thought you were Fire Nation," Jet said with a knowing smirk, twirling the weed in his mouth.
"D you want to see my hideout?" he said nicely, his eyebrows still arched in that half smirk.
"Yeah, we'd love to see your hideout," I smiled, and I felt Zuko tense behind me.
"Great," Jet smiled, satisfied, and waved his arm for us to follow him. As he walked, I put an arm around Zuko's shoulders.
"It's okay, Z," I grinned, "He's a nice guy. And he hates the Fire Nation, which means we can trust him, right?"
His amber eyes narrowed and he pushed me roughly, walking past me. I shook it off and walked to Zian who raised an eyebrow.
"Why did you let him push you?" Zian asked.
"Poor guy. I was mean to him. I deserved the push," I shrugged.
"Well, whatever. And what are you going to do about this boy's hatred for the Fire Nation?"
"I'll have to deal with it. I wanna know who he is, you know? How it feels like to be hated for once. If you know what I'm saying," I said to Zian, linking arms.
"Um, no. I don't get you." He furrowed his brow.
"Well, you know no one has ever hated me—"
"Are you sure about that?" he smirked.
I punched him lightly on the arm, pulling my other arm out of the link. "Aha-ha very funny." I rolled my eyes.
"Go catch up with your friend," he just laughed.
"Uh yeah, I think I'll do that," I said with a nod and ran towards Jet who was far up ahead.
A few minutes later, deep into the woods, Jet stopped. "Everyone, grab a handle!" he announced and grabbed a hold of one. They were hanging low from the trees, barely visible, and long. Zian grabbed up and was instantly yanked up, disappearing into the leaves. Jet's friends did too, until only Zuko, Jet and I were alone and there were two handles left. "Wanna come with?" Jet asked, stretching out his hand.
"Uh, no thanks, you can go on ahead. I'll be up there in a few," I said, taking a step back.
"Are you sure?" His smirk faded.
"Positive," I confirmed.
Jet blew out through his lips and grabbed a handle, yanking it, and then he disappeared.
I turned to Zuko.
"Why don't you trust the guy? He's helping us," I said.
"I don't and I never will. I'm not coming with you. He hates the Fire Nation," Zuko said dryly, "And that gives me no reason to like him, let alone trust him. I'm out." Zuko ripped off his straw hat and turned his back on me.
"Zuko, there's one handle left. Are you sure you want to do this?" I grabbed his arm to stop him.
He yanked it out of my grasp, his eyes shooting daggers into mine. "Yes."
"But we need you, Zuko. Zian and I. You're the only one that can help."
"Who? You?" Zuko whipped around. "Since we came here, everything's been about you! Do you think I wanted to be here? I only came because I respected my uncle," he said, towering over me as I leaned back under his powerful gaze. "He said maybe I'd learn something along the way. But all I've really learned is nothing but how to argue and how to blow out of control and get angry, and that doesn't help when you're me. Our situations are different, Ayame. They'll always be that: different. Do you know how much time I've wasted here while I could be put there, hunting the Avatar?" he swept his hand across the forest to emphasize his point. "You wasted all my time." He pointed at me. "And you're wasting even more of it, acting foolish and following this Jet guy. You're stubborn and selfish."
