Seizures (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic)

Fever

Jet found himself partially asleep when he overheard Zuko and Mushi speaking. Of course, as chaotic as his mind was then, he could only fully process some of the words he heard. He heard something about Earthbending again, yet imagined Mushi saying something about Zuko struggling with bending, yet brushed the thought away.

Instead, he thought the Earthbending comment had something to do with the Dai Li.

He heard the door slap shut and drifted off into a deep sleep. He finally came to when his nose caught a whiff of good-smelling food. Jet slowly sat up and lifted a hand towards his head when he felt like the room was spinning. A groan escaped his lips as he opened his eyes. The sight of Mushi moving towards him made him back away into the wall. Mushi let out a sigh and shook his head. "What can I do so you will trust us?"

"Nothing!" Jet's words came with a slight hissing sound, but his head turned, hoping he might see a way of escape. Unfortunately, he found himself incapable of processing any methods which would work, so there was no escape."

"You're afraid, aren't you?" Mushi asked. Jet glared at the man as if he had slapped him in the face letting the old man let out a sigh. "It's evident from your eyes that you're upset. It's a dead giveaway, though I think it's also because of your state of mind and body. Tea might help." Jet's eyes blinked, realizing the old man was holding a cup of tea. He took the cup for some reason yet wondered if he should drink. Mushi let out a laugh. "It's alright. Tea is too precious of a thing to put poison into."

Jet looked up at the man's face and realized his eyes were filled with laughter. He blinked a couple of times. "You – did you just make a joke."

"Yes. I could say it was a joke or a proverb. I like making jokes, and I hope I am filled with a bunch of wise sayings. I also love teasing youth about living life to their fullest, especially my nephew. It's a delight to see his embarrassed expression. It is absolutely adorable, but I must be careful. Lee is a compassionate child."

"You mean Zuko." Jet watched Mushi's eyes widen. "Why would his father burn his face? That's one of the things you're talking about, isn't it? That he's sensitive about?"

A sigh escaped Mushi's mouth. "How did you get that much out of him?"

"What do you mean?" Jet muttered into the cup of tea. It wasn't hot tea but, in fact, a very cold tea that he pushed away. "And you let it slip. His name. I don't think he knows I know his real name."

"While hot tea is good for soothing the soul, so can chilled tea. That's especially true when one's tongue and mouth are swollen and doesn't need any more pain like burns." Mushi looked away. "As for your question, my nephew isn't one to talk about personal things, let alone what happened between him and my brother."

Jet reluctantly drank some of the cold tea before setting it down. "He defended both you and his mother but called his sister a psychopath. He didn't once defend himself, but then when it came to his father..." Jet looked Mushi in the eye, hoping to read something. "I asked if the burn was from a training accident."

"Why would you do that?" The look of hurt was apparent.

"Honestly, I was trying to goad him into losing his temper." Jet reached down and drank some more of the tea, yet hated that he was receiving help from a Firebender. "Except it wasn't. It wasn't, and he outright said it wasn't the best-case scenario."

Mushi took in a deep breath. "My brother is the worst-case scenario."

"Why does he want to get his honor back from that snake?" Jet asked."

"It isn't his honor back that he really wants, yet in reality, he never lost it in the first place. My nephew simply wants to go back home, but he wants his father to love and accept him. Zuko, he's mistaking honor and love as the same thing."