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Memories from Western Airtemple	By : DarthAnimus Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality > Slash - Male/Male Views: 16187 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: the Last Airbender" or the characters. I don't make any profit out of writing this.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Memories from Western Air Temple
Chapter 8
You Cast a Shadow

Something had happened to Jet, and Aang and his friends knew what it was. Zuko had easily made these two assumptions from the way they acted whenever The Duke got into the mood to tell Zuko about his life as a part of Jet’s team of freedom fighters. Zuko always acted politely interested in the topic and that was probably the reason why the small boy talked about it so often. Zuko did not really mind since it was a nice change to not having anyone speak to him at all but the way everyone else started to act solemn whenever Jet was the topic was more than a slight put-off.

The oddly serious atmosphere seemed to surround only the four key members of the group, so Zuko suspected that they were the only ones who knew the secret behind Jet’s disappearance. That also meant that they were the only ones Zuko could ask about it. He simply needed to decide which one to ask.

In the end it turned out that Zuko did not need to choose one of the four to ask about the questions on his mind. There was no choice to be made when Zuko was faced with a great opportunity to for him to simply grasp and take advantage of. It was early in the morning that Sokka complained about needing to finally eat some meat and declared that he was going to go hunting that day. Zuko quickly volunteered to tag along, only to get an incredulous look from the self-proclaimed hunter.

“I seriously doubt you could handle something like that, prince boy”, Sokka spoke in a manner that indicated that he really would have preferred if Zuko stayed behind. “Do you even have any hunting experience?”

“Well, I’m never going to get any experience unless I come along”, Zuko shot back and got a snicker from Toph, followed by the girl speaking out: “He’s got a point there, Snoozles.”

“Alright, alright”, Sokka said with distaste evident in hid voice. “You can help me carry the stuff I will need. Just try not to mess everything up.”

“Got it”, Zuko said, feeling somewhat amused by the other teen’s attitude. It was clear that Sokka took his hunting seriously, probably for more reasons than simply because he preferred eating meat over eating vegetables.

As the two males made their way through the forest near the temple Zuko watched the way Sokka sneaked around carefully. The prince had only ever fished before and even that had been with little success so there were probably quite the few things he could learn from Sokka.

Zuko’s thoughts were proven wrong after spending some time on the hunt. Sokka tumbled around quite the bit and did not seem to be able to capture the quick animals living in the bushes. It made Zuko wonder why they did not simply buy meat from the market even if it could be rather expensive.

Since the hunt did not seem to be turning into a successful one Zuko decided to approach the topic of conversation he wanted to discuss. And so, when the two of them were sitting down for a break the prince spoke out: “You’ve all been acting really strange lately.”

“Huh?” Sokka uttered and blinked at him in surprise, clearly not having expected the firebender to speak. “What are you talking about?”

“You, Aang, Katara and Toph have been acting really strange whenever The Duke talks to me about Jet”, Zuko explained as he watched the teen sitting on the rock next to his intently. “Something’s up and I want to know what it is.”

Sokka frowned at the other teen then, his expression something between thoughtful and mildly annoyed. The blue-eyed boy huffed before speaking out: “I don’t have to tell you anything, not that you should be interested in something like that anyway.”

Now it was Zuko’s turn to frown, the one good golden eye narrowing so that it almost matched his scarred one as he asked: “What happened to Jet?” He watched Sokka for a while, until the Water Tribe boy shifted nervously in his seat and that signalled to Zuko that an answer of sorts was finally forthcoming.

“Did you, by any chance, know Jet?” Sokka questioned carefully, his tone bearing a hint of suspicion. A moment passed as Zuko struggled to even out his voice before he answered shortly: “No.”

“Then I see no reason to talk about it”, came the next words from Sokka and Zuko growled in frustration at the other’s refusal to make this easy for him. He also realized that the other had apparently seen through his lie.

Releasing a sigh, Zuko spoke out slowly and chose each word he used carefully: “I ran into a guy named Jet when I was travelling with my uncle and he was a freedom fighter. It seems like too much of a coincidence…” Trailing off the prince thought about the best way to form his curiosity and settled with: “He did not seem like a person who would abandon people who looked up to him for guidance and leadership.”

“I guess you do have the right to know…” Sokka muttered, even if a tad reluctantly. He looked at Zuko sternly as he added: “But you will not repeat any of this to The Duke, got it?”

“If it’s that bad, then consider my lips to be sealed”, Zuko replied easily and waited patiently as Sokka studied his face for signs of insincerity. Seeming to be satisfied with what he saw, Sokka nodded his head to himself and began to speak: “Somehow Jet ended up in Ba Sing Se. I don’t know what he was doing there since I never asked and he never elaborated. He seemed alright at first but then we found out that somehow the Dai Li had brainwashed him and made him a puppet.”

A wave of disgust welled inside Zuko’s stomach. He had had no idea that such inhuman things were going on in Ba Sing Se. In comparison to something like brainwashing, his father’s nation-wide propaganda seemed almost nice.

“In the end Jet managed to snap out of it but then”, Sokka spoke, but then paused, clearly hesitating, and Zuko knew that something horrible had happened. Finally, having either gathered enough courage to continue or having decided that there was no good ay of saying what he had to say, he finished: “…well, he was killed.”

Zuko’s hands squeezed the strap of the bag on his shoulder like suffering from a spasm and the teen struggled to keep his face neutral, gritting his teeth like in pain. Softly, hating himself for the gasp that came out with the words, the prince questioned: “How?”

“He was crushed underneath a rock”, Sokka uttered in a quiet tone and Zuko could see grief and regret written all over the other boy’s posture. “Katara tried to heal him the best she could but it was no use.” A shivery sigh came from the dark-skinned teen and Zuko turned his gaze ahead, not wanting to see the usually strong male’s tears. “Just, don’t tell The Duke, okay?”

When Zuko answered, it was in a voice that was barely above a whisper, and still it was certain that Sokka heard him, for the forest had fallen silent like death.

“I promise.”

The following night Zuko slept restlessly, tossing and turning in his bed as his face contorted in agony and sorrow. And in his dreams he saw the same sight over and over again; Zuko saw how two faceless men dragged a young man away, and he saw a pair of black eyes glare at him and blame him for all the wrongs in the world.

To be continued...
Ending Notes: This is the opening chapter to one of the big issues that I will be dealing with in the story. This means that the story will next go through a dark phase that I hope you people won't mind.
It appears that this story gains popularity as it goes further. I'll keep that in mind and aim for frequent updates.
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- 9
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Memories from Western Airtemple