That night, I slept more peaceful than I had in a while.
"Hey," Zian appeared that night while everyone but Zuko was asleep. Zian motioned for him to come closer and Zuko came after a lot of coaxing.
"What?" he asked gruffly.
"Sh." I put a finger to my lips and motioned to people sleeping around us.
"Do you trust the guy?" Zian asked, his green eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
"Me? Well of course. He's against the Fre Nation isn't he?" I shrugged. "Anyone against the Fire Nation should be trusted."
Zuko set his jaw. "You're Fire Nation."
"Shhh!" I clapped my hand over his mouth and frantically looked around us for any eavesdroppers. "Yeah, but I'm not only Fire Nation, which means I have a good side too."
"Not all Fire Nation are bad," Zian shrugged.
"By the looks of it, they are." I shot a steely glare at Zuko.
Zuko stood up. "You know nothing about me, Mei. Keep your opinions to yourself."
"Well you keep your moods to yourself," I shot back, turning from him.
"Guys, not now please," Zian interjected. "I don't trust him but I don't not like him. I mean, he seems like a pretty good guy—"
"Well he's not," Zuko said. "He's against Fire Nation. You know I never agreed to come here. If I wanted to, I could wipe him off the face of this earth faster than you could even get up to stop me."
I just turned my back to him. "You don't understand anything."
"You don't understand trust."
"I understand it enough to know that you trust no one but your 'destiny'."
"Stop bringing that into every conversation!" Zuko yelled, and suddenly, heads popped up.
"What's going on...?" someone mumbled.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep," I said.
Zuko stormed off as Zian shook his head and rubbed his face, exhausted. I crawled back into my sleeping bag.
🔥🔥🔥
"So, what're your friends' names?" Jet asked as we walked on the bridges connecting the trees, Jet giving me a tour of the giant hideout.
"Uh...The green eyed guy is Xiaoli, and the other one is Lee," I lied easily.
"And I never caught your name, which is stranger."
I smiled. "Ayame. But you can call me Mei."
"That's a pretty name." He smiled. "So why are you traveling with them?"
"They're actually traveling with me. See, I'm looking for the Avatar."
"Really?" Jet raised an eyebrow sticking a wheat thingy into the corner of his mouth. "Why?"
"Because I want to help him. I believe I can."
"Yeah? What can you bend?" he asked, stuffing his hands in his pocket and kicked a stone with his foot.
"Water. Are you a bender?" I asked, careful not to mention my double element bending power.
"Me? That's crazy. No way." Jet scoffed. "I'm one of those 'loser people.' Hey, I've met the Avatar."
I stopped, my eyes widening, and I gripped his arm.
"You've met him?" I turned him to face me.
"Yeah, and he's not as great as you think. He might not let you join him. He already has a waterbender on his team, and the girl and I didn't exactly come to terms at the end."
"The girl was a waterbender?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.
"Yeah."
"Her name?"
"Katara. From the Southern Water Tribe." Jet sighed and I could see the hurt in his eyes.
What had this girl done to everyone? Everyone I met that had met her was messed up and they were somehow upset, but then again you could see in their eyes the love they held for her mixed with anger and jealousy.
"What happened?" I dared to ask.
"Betrayed. I was betrayed."
Hmm... Now where had I heard those words before? Deciding to change the subject, I smiled up at him. "So how did you end up here?"
"When your parents are killed, you gotta do what you have to do to survive." He looked up at me. "You know, I still don't know why you're here or how you got here."
"I'm running from a madwoman and her two friends. Her name is Azula." I rolled my eyes.
"Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"Because. She's the Fire Nation 'princess'," I mocked.
"Hah. I knew it sounded familiar. And her brother, the banished prince? I'd like to meet him. He seems like a cool guy. A rebel."
I froze, my heart racing. "How would you be able to tell it was him?" I asked, trying to keep cool.
"Well for one, he has a scar. And I heard some time ago that he has this really ugly ponytail."
"So what would you do if you met him?"
"I'd kill him."
"Why? He hasn't done anything," I said against my will.
"Yeah but his father has. And he's related to his father isn't he? It'll be payback."
"But that doesn't make any sense. His father threw him out of his home, his Nation. That means he doesn't really care about his son. So if you kill Zuko, it won't really affect the Fire Lord in any way," I pointed out, getting defensive. Only I was allowed to tease Zuko.
Jet was starting to get on my nerves.
"You don't understand. You don't need to, and I don't need you to either. It's that feeling you get, when you finally get even. When you know you've finally gotten your revenge."
"Revenge is evil. It can drive you to do crazy stuff that you regret later on."
"I knew you wouldn't understand," Jet sighed, running a hand through his crazy hair. "It doesn't matter. But why do you keep defending the banished prince like he's some great guy you met? He's Fire Nation. All Fire Nation should be wiped off of this planet." Jet squinted his eyes.
"I-I understand!" I spread my arms out helplessly. "And I know the Fire Nation has done pretty crazy stuff. But not all of them are bad. Right?"
"If they let this happen they're all bad. This hundred year war," Jet said, his jaw set. He put his arms behind his head. "why are you so keen on defending them?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"I'm not," I sighed. "I'm ust trying to make a point. Nevermind." I scratched the back of my neck in defeat.
"We'll I'm glad were on the same page."
"Yup. Nothing better than hating everybody." I glanced away, hiding a scowl.
"Mhm."
I crossed my arms over my chest, thinking. "So wait. I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"Let's just say, if—just if—I was a fire bender and you just found out, what would you do?"
jet turned his head towards me in the speed of lighting. "Are you a fire bender?"
"What? Uh, no! No!"
"Prove it." Jet got to his feet, pointing on of his metal hooks at my throat, a look of crazed fury on his face.
"Hold on a minute!" I stumbled back. I gulped.
