Burnt Out - Zuko x OC

Earthworms and Maggots

Season 2, episode 17

Kai stood in front of the doors to her apartment rubbing her cheeks dry and trying to break up the blood that had reddened the surface of them. She didn't want her friends to ask questions. Though unless something astonishing had happened since she'd left earlier in the day, they likely would anyways.

She pushed open the door to find them all of them plus two huddled around in the living room. In the center of them all sat a chair. They turned to look at her one by one, that was when she saw the concerned faces of Smellerbee and Longshot.

"Oh, shit.."

Her heart turned into a warm puddle that dripped off of her ribs down into her stomach. Jet looked up from his lap, his hands tied together at the wrists. His eyes begged her for help like they'd done so many times before, and then flashed with fear when he saw her reaching over her shoulder for her blades.

"What are you doing here, Jet? Smellerbee, Longshot?" Kai asked cautiously, moving slow as to not startle anyone.

"I don't.. I don't know!" Jet stammered, "I can't remember anything! Smellerbee and Longshot say that I was arrested by the Dai Li, but I cant..." They could all see the mess of scrambled up memories trying to sort themselves out in his head.

"You were arrested by the Dai Li for coming at me with your hooks in the middle of town, you lying f--" She snarled, spitting venomous words his direction as her feet moved quickly toward him. Sokka and Longshot caught her in their arms, stopping her from doing any damage to his physical being when there was already so much done to his psyche.

"How do YOU know Jet?!" Katara demanded with a suspicious finger pointed at her chest. A hint of jealousy laced her words, but Kai heard what she really wanted to ask very clearly.

"Oh, don't act like it's a real shocker that he's been sweet on more than one girl, Katara." Kai rolled her eyes at the water bender and pushed her hand away from her chest.

She shoved her sword back into its holster. If he didn't remember anything, then he wasn't any real threat to her anyways. But it didn't change the fact that him being here at all had all of her secrets frightening close to being spilled out like a bag of loose marbles.. and lord, was that a lot of marbles..

"Can we please focus on the task at hand here?" Aang asked the two girls who were still caught up in their own fierce staring competition. Kai was the first to cast her gaze away, and that was enough to satisfy him, "We need to find a way to jog his real memories."

Katara made a comment about Kai giving him a big, fat kiss. "That should bring something back.." she mumbled under her breath. That was when an even better idea popped into Sokka's head. He pulled a leaf stem from a mattress pad in another room and stuck it between the boy's lips. He chewed on it for a moment, but nothing seemed to clear up for him in the end.

"I don't think this is working." Jet said as he spat out the stem.

Toph suggested he try to think of something emotional from his past. Kai had known Jet for only a few weeks, but they'd gone through quite a lot together in that time. And as much as it benefited her to have him not remember the past.. it just wasn't right. She pushed through her friends and kneeled down in front of him.

"Remember what happened the night before I left? We were in that military occupied village, just you and me."

It was a painful enough memory for Kai herself, she didn't know if it would be strong enough to help Jet at all -- until she saw the sweat congealing on his forehead. His eyes trembled behind closed lids as his mind flashed with images of Kai.