Balance | Old Version

Chapter 77

Elua's POV.

The sun had set and we were now in a dimly lit house, Jet sitting in front of us now calmer.
"The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us, and that janitor was part of their plot too," Katara says as she crosses her arms.
"I bet they have Appa here in the city," I state. "Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet," I suggest.
"Where did they take you?" Aang asks Jet calmly.
"Nowhere. I-I don't know what you're talking about," Jet says nervously.
"We need to find a way to jog his real memories," I tell them.
"Maybe Katara could kiss him. That should bring something back," Sokka jokes with a smirk.

"Maybe you should kiss him, Sokka," Katara says in annoyance.
"Hey, just an idea," Sokka says as he holds his hands up in surrender.
"A bad one," Aang mumbles with a soft glare.
"Ooh, wait. I got it," Sokka says as he walks over to a small bed and takes a piece of straw out of it, putting it in Jet's mouth for whatever reason.
"I don't think its working," Jet says as he spits the straw out of his mouth.
"Try to think of something from your past that triggers your emotions," I tell him.
"The Fire Nation, remember what they did to your family," The short girl, who I had learned was called Smellerbee, tells Jet.

"Close your eyes. Picture it," I say calmly, he takes a deep breath and starts to focus.
"No! It's too painful," Jet says as he shakes his head.
"Maybe this will help," Katara says as she walks over to him and bends water onto the temples of his head. Jet sighs as he closes his eyes, after a few moments he opens them again.
"They took me to a headquarters under the water, like a lake," Jet says as he begins to remember.
"Wait! Remember what Joo Dee said? She said she went on vacation to Lake Laogai," Sokka reminds us, the name seems to catch Jet's attention.

"That's it! Lake Laogai."

Later.

Jet had led us to a lake outside of the city and we're now standing on the sand, looking around.
"So where's this secret headquarters?" Sokka asks.
"Under the lake, I think," Jet says scratching his head unsurely.
"There's a tunnel right there near the shore," Toph says as she points over to the water. She walks over, whistling as she walks, and bends the earth up revealing a small hole down into some kind of bunker. We all jump down, there were many doors and the halls were dimly lit with green lanterns.
"It's all starting to come back to me," Jet says as he looks around.

We walk down the halls and pass a door where a Dai Lee agent is hypnotizing women.
"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se," The agent says.
"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se," The women repeat, a crazy look in their eyes.
"We are so lucky to have our walls to create order," The agent says.
"We are so lucky to have our walls to create order," All the women say in unison.
"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead," Jet says as we walk over to a door. "I think it's through here," He says as we walk in front of a door and it opens. We slowly walk in, but the room is empty.

We all jump as the door closes behind us, green lanterns are suddenly lit and we look ahead to see Long Feng, several Dai Lee agents hanging from the ceiling.
"Now that's something different," Sokka says.
"You have made yourselves enemies of the state. Take them into custody," Feng tells the agents. They all drop from the ceiling and begin to attack us. As we all fight off the agents, I turn around and see Long Feng fleeing.
"Long Feng is escaping!" I shout to the others. Aang, Jet, and I take off after him. We run into the room he had just entered and the door closes behind us again. We turn around and see Long Feng standing in front of us, a threating look in his eyes.

"Alright Avatar, Nadir, you've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance if you want your bison back," Feng threatens.
"You do have Appa. Tell us where he is!" Aang shouts angrily.
"Agree to exit the city now, and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet," Feng says calmly.
"You're in no position to bargain," Jet says as he stands in a defensive stance.
"Am I not?" Feng asks smirking.
"You're definitely not!" Aang shouts as he takes a bending stance.
"Jet, The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," Feng says. Jet stumbles, beginning to look dazed.

"Don't listen to him, Jet!" I shout, but it was too late.
"I am honored to accept his invitation," Jet says as he attacks us, we jump out of the way.
"Jet, it's me Aang! You don't have to do this," Aang says, rolling out of the way of his weapons.
"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice," Feng says smirking.
"Jet, we're your friends!" I shout to him as I dodge his attacks.
"Do your duty Jet," Feng tells him.
"He can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter," Aang tells him. Suddenly, Jet stops attacking and stares at us with a look of shock.
"Do it! Do it now!" Long Feng shouts.

Jet glares angrily as he turns to Long Feng and throws one of his swords at him, but he moves out of the way and hits Jet with a boulder, sending him flying to the ground. Aang gasps as his eyes go wide with shock, allowing Long Feng the time to getaway. I run over to him, bending some water over his chest, checking his injuries.
"I'm sorry," Jet wheezes out.
"Don't be," Aang tells him as I hear the door open and several people gasp. I look over to the door and see the others run over to us and kneel beside Jet.
"It isn't good," I whisper to Katara.

"You guys go find Appa. We'll take care of Jet," Smellerbee tells us.
"We're not going to leave you," Katara tells them as she shakes her head.
"There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader," The boy that hadn't talked at all tells us.
"Don't worry Katara, I'll be fine," Jet tells her weakly. I look away, knowing he won't be. His injuries are too severe, there were too many broken bones and internal injuries. We all stand up and make our way out of the room.
"He's lying," Toph whispers.

"I know," I state as we walk out of the room, leaving Jet and his friends to say goodbye. We walk into another room and see chains that must have been holding Appa down, but he was gone.
"Appa's gone. Long Feng beat us here," Aang says in sadness.
"If we keep moving, maybe we can catch up to him," Sokka says as we turn back around and take off running. We get out of the bunker and start to run, I hear footsteps and see the Dai Lee right behind us.
"Do you think we can outrun them?" Sokka asks.
"I don't think it's gonna matter," I say as I see Long Feng and other agents in front of us.

They bend a wall in front of us and the other agents bend one behind us, giving us nowhere else to run.
"What is it Momo?" Aang asks as Momo lands on his shoulder and chatters, Momo flies off into the sky and we all lookup. After a moment, we see Appa flying towards us.
"Appa!" Aang and I shout as he breaks through the walls, sending the Dai Lee into the water. Appa lands in front of Long Feng as he takes a bending stance. Long Feng charges at Appa, but he bites his leg and throws him into the water, skipping him like a stone. We all run over to Appa smiling as we hug our long lost furry friend.
"Good boy, Appa," I whisper to him with teary eyes, happy that we were all back together, safe and sound.