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BANG! “That’s enough!”
The Dai Li agent shouted at the teen boys as he slammed the doors of the transport cell.
The instigator kept kicking around at the ground, pleading “Please! You have to believe me! He’s a firebender! He’ll kill me in here!” The last plea was almost breathless, as if panic was starting to take over his fury.
“Please, officer, that’s my nephew in there! He’s just a boy!” The tea shop server begged the agent, standing in his way to spare time. He couldn’t bare to let his nephew go to wherever they were taking him- their entire journey to Ba Sing Ce was for the intention of not getting locked up in prison.
Even with the accounts made by the tea shop’s customers, the agents proceeded to take Zuko along with Jet, whom had only tried defending himself after Jet made the accusations of him being a firebender.
“Sorry, sir. They need to go through behavioral corrections before they can be let back out into the public, no matter the age. Fighting is a public disturbance and is prohibited inside all walls of Ba Sing Ce.” The agent answered sternly before using the rock beneath him to push himself up to the top side of the cell.
“They’ll be dropped off here when they’re through with it.” He added, then let the transport cell move onward to their next destination: Lake Laogai.
Iroh stood there in shock as he watched the transport leave his vision. If he tried to take Zuko back from the Dai Li, he’d surely be put in prison permanently.
He wished the Dai Li would have told him when exactly his nephew would be returned to him. Much like the two young teens several yards behind him, he walked back to his residence in silence.
…
Jet started to hyperventilate at the feeling of being restricted at the wrists. The cell was dark, only occasionally shedding light into the cell as the transport passed lanterns of buildings on the street.
As the soft, warm lights passed in and out, he looked over at Li, the boy he’d just combated with only a few moments ago.
He was silent, eyes to the floor as knees semi-raised to his chest as he sat on the floor underneath him. He looked tired, maybe even sad, as opposed to angry and defensive like he was a few moments ago.
Jet slowed his breathing, starring at him with wide, side eyes. Eventually, Zuko, Li, was caught by his attention, but only for a short moment before he looked back at the ground.
Li shook his head. “All this, just to be locked up anyways.” He sighed under his breath.
Jet blinked at him, debating on if he should still be afraid of him firebending at him or not.
Instead of using whatever surprise attack Jet was halfway anticipating, he’d slumped over to lean on the side of the cell. He started to mumble something under his breath over and over, but Jet couldn’t hear a word. We could hear the familiar shake of crying in his voice, though.
“Maybe if…” Jet started, trying to calm his voice to suggest how serious he was with his idea. “If you confess to them they can just send you home. Back to the Fire Nation.”
Zuko laughed.
“I’m serious, they don’t do war here so I can’t imagine… I mean they’d probably just leave you outside the wall or something. But you wouldn’t be a prisoner.”
Zuko was silent, then slowly turned to look at Jet. His face, though wet from a few tears, was emotionless.
“Look at me, Jet.” He said, knowing well that Jet was already looking at his face as he said it.
Jet blinked, trying to understand what Li was trying to suggest.
“Like you said… I’m an outcast. You think they want me back there? Look what they did to me.” he spat at the end, then shot his face around to the other side to try and hide as much as he could.
“So… so you are…” Jet felt a wave of pride at his correct theory of the boy and his uncle, then a rush of stinging rage at the thought of everyone who didn’t believe him.
Then, he had actually took in the words Li said. ”…Look at what they did to me.”
“What did you do?” Jet wondered, not getting an answer but a short snicker instead.
“Were you in the army or something?”
More silence.
“How long have you been running?”
Li sighed, but had no words to follow.
He’d stopped his questions, and just sat back against the wall for a while. The trip was long, apparently this facility wasn’t anywhere near town.
If Li was almost arrested, on the run, and was tortured with his own element, the chances of him being on their side of the war must have been slim. His uncle mentioned starting a new life and growing from past mistakes, perhaps he meant it. Jet then started to think about his own past mistakes.
“I’m sorry I got us in here.” Jet said lowly, but genuinely. “My family was right, I should have just dropped it. I just, I think I just get so obsessive and when you rejected me I guess I just couldn’t let it go and-“
“Oh, so this is my fault!?” Li shot back, awake from his thoughts again.
“N-no! What? That’s not what I was trying to say, I was trying to apologize! Damn! Why am I so bad at being good!?” Jet cursed, kicking the cell wall again.
There was silence, yet again, until Zuko shifted his weight to face Jet.
“If I tell you who I am, do you promise not to freak out? I mean, there’s no point in secrets at this point.” Zuko said in a whisper in hopes that the Dai Li wouldn’t hear.
Jet didn’t know what else to expect. The worst information about Li must have been that he was from the Fire Nation, so what was more secretive than that? Perhaps it was the crime he committed, but if that were the case, wouldn’t it be in favor of what Jet wanted in this war?
“Sure. Not like I can defend myself anymore, anyways.” Jet smirked.
Clearing his throat, Zuko sat up a bit more to scoot closer to the other teen in order to keep whispering. Jet stayed stiff at the shortened distance.
“Uhm, so after people find out about who I am, they usually don’t want anything to do with me, so I didn’t… I couldn’t… it’s why I said no to you at the station. So…” he sighed, looking to the floor for the remainder of his confession, even if Jet’s eyes stayed pierced into his.
“My dad gave me this scar.” He started, trying not to experience the memory too deeply.
With the way Li said this, it seemed as if Jet was expected to get what he was saying from this bit of information.
“So… that’s why you live with your uncle?” Jet asked as he tried to connect the pieces together.
“Well, yes but not entirely. What all do you know about the… government of the Fire Nation? Like, the royal family?” Li swallowed, trying to figure out how exactly he’d lay down the news.
“Um, I mean, there’s the Firelord, obviously. Kinda the whole reason for this shitshow, or at least him and his forefathers.”
Li nodded, “…Anything else?”
“No? I don’t exactly keep up with ‘The Royal Family.’ I think he has kids but he killed one of them or something.”
“What?” Li almost laughed.
“No, yeah! I was told he killed his son by lighting him on fire. This was like two or three years ago when we were eavesdropping on some soldiers we jumped on. I think it was to have the daughter in line for the throne?” Jet explained, remembering how shocked he and his family was at the moment. “Oh yeah, his brother was supposed to be in line, the guy who actually got through these walls for a moment before he died.”
Li nodded slowly, but in less of an agreeable fashion and moreso soaking in this different kind of information.
Since Li didn’t continue speaking, Jet went on to find his answers sooner. “So… you got in trouble with them? Was your dad working at the palace or something?”
Li closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. “No. And my uncle is alive.”
Jet nodded, trying to link his uncle into this story somehow. He didn’t mention anything about his uncle passing-
Jet couldn’t move. He couldn’t blink, swallow, breathe-
At first, he’d thought that his uncle was trying to invade Ba Sing Ce again. Then, he’d thought of what Mushi had said about his past. He’d remembered how empty-handed the two had come into the boat. How hungry Li had actually looked… ribs appearing a bit too much on that night on the ferry.
His uncle. The Firelord’s brother. His father.
He’d killed his son by burning him to death. At least, that’s what the men thought had happened. What else could happen to a child- a child, oh Gods, he was twelve, maybe thirteen?- when followed by a new heiress? Where else could he have gone?
“What’s your real name?” Jet spoke emotionlessly, vacant, still...
“Zuko.” He answered.
’The Firelord killed Prince Zuko last week-‘
“You’re the Fire Nation Prince.” Jet stated matter-of-fact.
“Not anymore.” Zuko spoke in the same tone.
Jet kept starring at the boy’s face, in pure disbelief that he was starring at the son of the man in control of the world’s demise, as well as the result of his wrath- The work of the very man whom he thought he’d never meet, thrown over Zuko’s left eye. “Why are you here? Why come to Ba Sing Ce?”
“Refuge. My sister tried to throw us in prison.” Zuko’s lip twitched as he fought a smile.
Jet relaxed a little, unable to fight a laugh like Zuko could. “Hah… sounds like typical siblings.”
Zuko nodded, “I guess so.”
As the moonlight started make it’s was into the cell, it struck Zuko enough to cast a soft blue hue over him. It reminded Jet of how he looked on the ferry, both standing at the end of the dock, and under him at the hidden corner of its storage area. Despite his father’s harm, he was still beautiful… He hoped he looked like his mother.
“So… why’d he…?” Jet nodded with his own left side of his face, not sure how to put it.
With his eyes closed, Zuko relived a light layer of his memory. “We had a disagreement in the war room. They were going to kill innocent people- my father challenged me to an Agni Kai, but I couldn’t fight him. Not because of love, I think. No, I don’t love him. I think my mom is gone because of him. But I think… I don’t know. It’s trying to decide between having food and a home, or getting to live without people who hurt you. Even before… it… I was surrounded by a lot of terrible people. My uncle was an exception, though. So- my father banished me and my uncle came along. I feel like he thought my burn would at least kill me with an infection or something, but my uncle took very good care of me so I’m still here, unfortunately.” Zuko ended with a quiet chuckle, then started to miss the comforting presence of his uncle in this cold, dark, slightly terrifying cell.
“So… you two just… wandered around? Or were you always trying to get to Ba Sing Ce? Why’d your sister try and arrest you, did you try coming back home?” Jet, who was now sure he was still safe, was fully invested.
Zuko laughed again, this time leaning back on the wall behind him. “No, no. You’ll never believe it, but, don’t laugh, my father told me he’d let me come home if I caught The Avatar.”
Jet’s eyes widened, “No way, I ran across him! He saved a village from- Okay well- So I have my own confession but I guess neither of us have anything to lose now, right?”
They laughed together, having a similar feeling to their bond they had on the ferry, but this time with much more peace and openness.
“Yeah, go for it.” Zuko smiled, invested in what Jet must have done for the Avatar to step in.
“I kinda… brought down a dam to flood a village with some Fire Nation in it?” Jet grimaced, then urgently corrected himself “-I mean! They lived and all that! Well, they wouldn’t have if Aang didn’t step in.”
“Aang.” Zuko nodded, he knew the boy’s name, but hadn’t really said it nor heard it this close before.
“So, you met him, too?” Jet brought back the conversation, both of their bodies now facing one another’s as they rested against the wall.
“Two years passed without seeing him. We were on a boat forever and ever… but all I wanted to do was to find him.”
“Did you actually want to go home, though? Why?” Jet furrowed his brows, confused at Zuko’s decision to actually attempt to come across his abuser again.
“Well, I don’t know, the world is at war with my kind so where else was I supposed to go? I guess I was also looking for someone else but it was mostly to have a real bed again.”
“Who else?” Jet wondered.
“My mom. He banished her when I was eight. Could never find her, though.” Zuko shrugged.
“Damn! What’d she do!?” Jet asked, amazed at just home many of the royal family members were booted out of the palace. It seemed even they weren’t safe from themselves.
Zuko shook his head, starting to become tired. “I don’t know. Something to do with me. My dad was going to kill me and I guess she did something to save me from that, this was coincidentally the same night my grandfather died and same week my cousin died.”
“Woah, so she killed Firelord Azulon? I love her already.” Jet smiled, but Zuko didn’t smile back. “That’s terrible he did actually try to kill you, though. And… was your cousin also mean to you?”
“Hmmph. Yeah, he passed here in Ba Sing Ce and my uncle was so heartbroken that he went missing for a while after his ceremony. We thought he was dead, so it was just me, my father, and my sister for a long while. It was the worst, scariest time of my life. Things that I never hope to experience ever again.”
Jet nodded, but let Zuko continue to speak. His heart started to hurt for the boy he’d been fighting with just half an hour ago.
“My uncle came back after a few months. He was a changed man somehow. I mean, he was always playful and on the happier side, but he had no will to harm any one or any thing anymore. He stopped adding liquor to his tea. He started treating me like his own, even before it was just the two of us.”
Jet yawned as his own fatigue started to kick in. “So what made you stop chasing Aang?”
“My uncle and I followed him up to the North Pole. He turned into a giant fish made of water and the moon almost died. My uncle and I drifted out on the ocean for weeks until we found a Fire Nation resort. That’s how my sister found us. After that, we got passports from some botanist in the desert and now we’re here.” Zuko said with confidence, but Jet just starred at him, completely dumbfounded.
“Did I hit your head back there or something!?”
Zuko barked with laughter, almost hoping the sounds of them getting along would change the Dai Li’s minds about them and choose to have them be set free. “It’s true! He really was a botanist!”
“Hah! I didn’t take you as a ‘jokes’ kinda guy.” Jet snickered, elbowing him as much as he could with his wrists still restrained.
“I’m not, I don’t even know where that came from. Sometimes I worry my uncle is wearing off on me.” Zuko nudged back.
Jet looked away from his eyes for a moment, still trying to process everything while also feeling a big sense of guilt for getting them into this situation. “Well, uh, thanks for telling me all that, I guess. And I’m sorry again about… sending us to whatever mysterious dungeon we’re about to get thrown in to.”
“So, you don’t still want to kill me?” Zuko quipped.
“As long as you don’t want to kill me.” Jet shot back at him, but this time with a bit more lightheartedness.
“Eh, not for the reasons you’d think.” Zuko joked.
They let a more comfortable silence come through, noticing a change in the gravel beneath them. They must have officially left the third ring’s roads.
“I also just really miss my play scripts. I had too many to bring on the ship without bringing attention to it.”
”I’m sorry??” Jet hadn’t the slightest clue what Zuko was going on about.
“They’re like books but for plays. My mom and I watched a lot together when she was still there.” Zuko debated leaning closer to Jet like on the ferry, but chose to stay put.
Jet also wanted to lean closer, but also stayed where he was instead. “I get it now. I never saw a play before, even with my dads. I guess I wasn’t too much of a reader until I got a bit older and needed to.”
“Needed to?” Zuko cocked his right brow.
“Hey man, how’d you think I found out how to do that stuff I did on that boat?” He winked, making Zuko’s face grow red in an instant.
“-Pssh! Gross!” Zuko exclaimed as he turned away.
Jet got a kick out of making Zuko so embarrassed so easily, he didn’t know he was that kind of person. “Gross!? That’s not what you were saying-“
“-Shht! Shut up! Shut up!” Zuko tried to get him to quiet down, humiliated at the thought of any of the Dai Li hearing about his sex life.
Jet had a wide, smug grin on his face. “Make me.”
“Ugh! You are insufferable! I can’t wait to get out of this-“
THUD!
The two sat up straight, eyes wide as they looked at one another in fear.
There were muffled voices outside, with sounds of rushing water and shifting earth from a further distance.
“Bring this cell back to here to Lake Laogai after your next stop.” One of the men said before opening the cell’s doors.
“Alright boys, c’mon. Follow me, and don’t cause any trouble. The less you resist, the sooner you can get back to your families.”
___________________
Li groaned, sitting up from his bed with sore muscles and a dry throat. Careful not to wake his boyfriend, the teen hobbled out of bed to take a swig of the medicine his doctor left for him.
Though he’d been missing his pocket watch in his room, he knew it was about eight hours in to the day due to the sounds of his father piddling with kitchenware outside.
Slowly, quiet enough to not cause a creak, Li opened the door of their room. The air had hints of lemon and lychee, Li’s most recently favorite tea combination.
“Morning, Dad.” He hummed, scratching the back of his head.
“Good morning, son. How are you feeling?”
Li and his boyfriend, Jet, had recently gotten into a carriage accident while walking down the street together. Though none of their bones were broken, they’d been in bed for days. Weeks later, now still dazed and confused every so often, the two started to continue the lives they’d left off.
“Feeling okay. Can I help you with work today, please?”
His father, Mushi Hong, owned his own tea shop called “The Jasmine Dragon” in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Ce. He used to help him around the tea shop every now and then in between his studies, but ever since the accident, Mushi has been making him take it easy.
“Mmm, I’m not so sure. The doctor is supposed to be seeing you and I want to make sure her treatments are as effective as possible.” Mushi answered as he handed over the hot cup of tea.
“Oh, right. When do you think you’ll be home? And thank you.” Li tilted his head, hoping he’d be there for the treatments again.
“Hours before she arrives. You two can stay over there, but I don’t want either of you helping. I have enough hands on deck, just relax or walk around the square, please.” Mushi spoke as he rummaged through the lower cabinets.
“Morning.” A groggy voice came from behind Li, followed by a long and obnoxious yawn.
“Good morning.” Li and Mushi said in unison as Jet sat down to join them.
Jet was an orphan, who, like Li and Mushi, came from outside of the ring. Though the trauma made his memories blurry, he recalls a vague image of his fathers and his childhood home in his mind. Everything before Ba Sing Ce, however, held little to no information for him whatsoever.
He liked to tell Li that this is because his life started when they met.
Li met Jet on the ferry leading to Ba Sing Ce, where he and his father sought out home life after traveling for so long. Mushi was originally from Ba Sing Ce, but had decided to travel the world with his two sons to give them a better sense of different cultures in their lives.
Unfortunately, the dangers of the outside world were too much for the family, as it resulted in the death of his older brother and third degree burns to the left side of his face.
Li couldn’t remember much of their travels, and the doctor told him that, much like with Jet, trauma has clouded his memories to protect him from the pain.
…
When Li and Jet went on their walks, the two would talk about their life goals, big and small.
As the two clasped hands, swinging their arms together like a soft pendulum, Jet spoke of wanting to study nursing for children. He said he couldn’t remember any names or faces, but he thought he might have cared for kids in either this life or a past one. It was true, Jet had a knack for treating the kids on the street to ice creams and ball games. Though Li was weary around the younger children due to their reactions to his face abnormality, he still found Jet’s skill with speaking to them very charming and impressive.
“I don’t know what I want to do. This sounds silly, but maybe I’d want to, like, be in plays and whatnot. But that’s just an idea, I don’t know.” Li shrugged, liking the idea of being able to act out his emotions while being hidden behind a mask.
“I don’t think that’s silly at all! Maybe we can talk to the people who work at the university’s theatre next time we’re in the area.” Jet smiled, giving his hand a tight squeeze.
Li smiled back, then whipped his head at the sound of a girl’s gasp.
She didn’t look like one of the citizens here, dressed in blue tribal clothing that seemed to be from another country. An animal unrecognizable to either of the boys flew from the ground to her shoulder, also seemingly shocked.
She dropped the items in her hand to cover her mouth in a gasp, looking horrified at the sight of them.
With both of the boys frozen, Li’s eyes stung while his face burned red. Usually it was babies and toddlers that reacted this way, not teenage girls.
Jet immediately turned to Li to grab both of his shoulders. “C’mon, let’s head back to your dad.” He whispered, stopping to yell out ”You should be ashamed of yourself!” to the girl before leaving.
The girl was taken aback, one at the sight of her two sworn enemies holding hands in Ba Sing Ce, and two at the fact that neither of them seemed to recognize her. As her thoughts slowed down, guilt and embarrassment had also poured over her as mean looks shot her way. She knew them! She wasn’t looking at his scar!
She rushed back home to tell the others.
…
“I know. I like the way I am, but it still hurts that someone would do that, especially when they’re older.” Li spoke to the doctor as he gazed at the ceiling.
“I understand, and you’re allowed to feel upset. But there still isn’t anything wrong with you as a person, because you are…?” The doctor spoke smoothly and lightly, sitting a few feet from Li with notes to give back to the Dai Li.
“I’m Hong Li, a sixteen-year-old Ba Sing Ce citizen, who lives with his father, Hong Mushi, who owns Ba Sing Ce’s Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop. I am kind, I am safe, and I am proud of who I am.” Li recited a little flatly, becoming tired of his practiced script the doctor had him say a handful of times in every session. Usually, it involved him mentioning his accident and why he’s getting treatment, but he chose to leave that part out due to the form of the doctor’s question.
“Very good. Now that we’ve talked about your week, let’s get this treatment started, shall we?” The doctor said and she slapped her knees, then stood up.
“Can my dad come in, again?” Li asked, swallowing from the nerves.
“Yes.” The doctor agreed as she opened the door to peer her head out. “We’re ready in here. Jet, please wait out either in the hall or the balcony.”
Li took in a deep breath, feeling footsteps and a warm, familiar hand being placed in his. “I’m here, son.”
Li smiled back at his dad, squeezing tight at the anticipation of the rocks that would soon contract his head.
The doctor let down the blackout curtains to the window, then lit a small stone lantern.
“Let’s have you sit up now, Hong Li.”
Li obliged, still feeling the tightness of his father’s hand.
Suddenly, the sensation of rocks met his head.
“NO! STOP! I CAN’T DO IT!” Li immediately started hyperventilating, fighting against the rocks that were now wrapping around his torso, too.
“Could we loosen them a bit, doctor?” His father whispered with concern.
“No, he’s fighting them too much. He’ll settle down.” The doctor replied.
“Please…” Li panted.
“Happy thoughts, Hong Li.” The doctor reminded him, attempting to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Instead, the hand was cold and unnerving more than comforting.
Li squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of his father’s warm embraces or Jet’s laugh. A flash of the girl from earlier appeared, but in a different time and place. The thought of her started up another wave of panic.
“Shhhhh….” The doctor hushed him as she sat down in front of his own chair, removing her hand from his shoulder to take hold of the lantern.
“Here we are safe. Here we are free.” The doctor started, using the stone of the lantern to rotate it around his line of vision.
“Your name is Hong Li. You are sixteen years old. Here you are safe. Here you are free.”
Li watched the light come close to his eyes, then smoothly whisk past his eyes.
“You live with your father, Hong Mushi, the owner of Ba Sing Ce’s Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop. Here you are safe. Here you are free.”
He gave his father a quick squeeze, excepting the one he’d returned immediately. He didn’t feel the urge to resist anymore.
“You were hit by a carriage on the street along with your boyfriend, Jet, and now have poor memory. But here you are safe. Here you are free.”
Li’s muscles softened, and he relaxed into the words. With every passing of the light, he grew more and more blissfully dazed.
“You and your father moved back here after an attack outside of the walls. Here you are safe. Here you are free.”
Li did not remember this attack, nor did he care to. He was safe. He was free.
“You are proud to be a Ba Sing Ce citizen. Here you are safe. Here you are free. There is no war in Ba Sing Ce.”
There was no war. War is a thing of the past. Li was never touched by war. The light must have been dimming, as the room grew dark.
“You will sleep now. Here you are safe. Here you are free. There is no war in Ba Sing Ce.”
Alas, Li slept.
Even though Li’s hand went limp, he kept a hold of his son. It saddened him, going through with brainwashing in the disguise of help.
“We appreciate your compliance with us.” The doctor said as she drew back the blackout curtains.
“No, no. I appreciate you for giving us a better chance at a second life. He… struggled deeply with healing and accepting changes.” Mushi sighed, catching Li’s head as the rocks were pulled back.
“Well, seems like it’s working out for all of us, then. I’ll be back tomorrow of Jet’s session. Same dosages for both of them, same time in the morning.”
The doctor packed up her bag, and let herself out after telling Jet he could come back in from the balcony.
Iroh took this opportunity to re-adjust and hold his Zuko in his arms for a moment, hoping he’d forgive him of the old him was still locked deep down in there. He’d hoped that this was what Zuko would have wanted, if not cursed with the mind-consuming urge to go back to his abusive father. Iroh gently rocked the boy’s sleeping body, pulling some of his hair out of his face. It seems he’d need a haircut soon. Time has really passed.
Iroh wondered about the other two children Jet came with. Were they too young to tend to themselves without someone to care for them? He wasn’t sure, but then again, it wasn’t an option to take them in, too.
The Dai Li knew who Iroh was. They made a deal to keep them both out of trouble by placing them in a more quiet location, with less temptation for trouble and even more so, less people to recognize them from the event that occurred. As a result, Li and Zuko were to be delivered to Iroh in his new home in the upper ring, but only to Iroh would it be new.
When Iroh was met with the Dai Li at his door, Zuko was there with Jet’s hand desperately clinging to his own. They were anxious and confused, but a special elixir seemed to knock them out once they were safely moved to beds. The story was laid out, and Jet and Li fell for it with no issue.
Now, Iroh has to witness the weening of the brainwashing in-person. It wasn’t fair, yet he somehow couldn’t be more thankful. Even for Jet, whom he knew was just looking for a new beginning, even if he got them in this situation. However, the situation was quite convenient. Perhaps Zuko never would have found happiness if it weren’t for him. Right?
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Come in, he still hasn’t woken up yet.” Mushi called out, and Jet came inside quietly.
He knelt in front of Li, brushing his hair away just as Mushi recently had, and smiled. “Was the session okay?”
“It was just fine. I think we won’t be needing many more.” Mushi answered, hoping that news would cheer Jet up, too.