I woke up the next morning, bounding out of bed and Gram pounding on my door. She rapped on everyone's door until she heard them shuffle out of bed. She led everyone down the hallway into an open cavern that had rows of dusty tables and chairs. The cavern split up four tunnels, each leading in a different direction. Gram told us that the one that we had just come out of was the family dorms, the one to the right was for the women, and the left was for men. The tunnel straight ahead of us was the entrance to all the other tunnels. She handed us all dust brooms and told us to get to work with the Main Hall first.
"Where are we going to throw all the dust?" one of Jet's friends asked.
Gram slammed her foot into the ground, and an opening straight down opened up.
I spent most of the time fooling around with Yun, sweeping dusty onto him, and vice versa. Every now and then, I would steal a glance at Jet, but he was always looking at the floor and seeping away. Gram earth bending stairs and swiped the cobwebs off the massive ceiling, we all had a fun time dodging dust clumps. By the afternoon, we had finished cleaning off the dust in the Main Hall and even used the water from a well to finish wiping the tables.
I noticed Jet walk lean over and tell Gram something.
"Tao!" Gram hollered. I hurried over. "Go with him and get some food."
"Huh? What about cleaning?"
"We have enough idiots cleaning. Just go with him in case there's any trouble. And go change, both of you. You look horribly like a firebender, and you just look horrible." After changing, Gram led us through a tunnel that also branched out into many others. She told us to take the tunnel furthest right that would lead to stairs to the second ring's surface. She handed us some money, and we were on our way.
Jet and I walked around in silence. Everything here was noticeably cleaner, not as cramped, and there were far fewer people. Everyone looked so elegant, and I felt like covering up the old earth kingdom robes I changed into. I didn't dare to look at Jet after our talk last night. In addition to feeling so shameful for lying, I was now humiliated after telling him so much. We found a market and purchased some food and headed back when our hands were full. The entrance was hidden under a bridge and was reachable by removing a heavy metal grate near the river. We finished our trip without exchanging any words or even a glance.
That night Yun, Gram, and I cooked dinner, but by the end, Gram had kicked both of us out screaming that we were only good and lighting stuff on fire, and Yun and I scrambled out laughing loudly. I went to my room and practiced some firebending forms. This room was much smaller than the one I slept in one before and didn't have a connecting bathroom. I heard a knock at the door and opened it to find Jet looking down at me.
He handed me a bowl of stew from Gram. "Can I come in for a bit?" he asked.
I stepped back and let him in. "Yeah, yeah, of course."
I let out a deep sigh as he sat down on an old chair. "Your Gram wants me and my friends to help look for yours tomorrow."
"She's not actually my gra- anyway, I'm sure you don't have to if you don't want to."
"I know. But I feel bad for staying here and not helping."
"Well then, don't help. That's a shitty reason. Help if you want to help."
Jet didn't say anything but looked at his bowl. "Are you going to get married to that guy?"
"Huh? Well, I haven't seen my parents since I was younger, Yun probably won't see his ever again, and Gram doesn't care. So, probably not."
We fell silent again." I should get going then."
"Yeah, yeah."
Jet stood in the doorway for a moment. "I said that I would protect anyone innocent and in need, and that includes you and your village so, let's go find them tomorrow."
I smiled and nodded.
The next day we walked for what seemed to be ages back underneath the outer rim.
"Alright." Gram cleared her throat. "I want you all in two groups, a firebender in each. The ones who saw Tao's signal should be underground in the arena, Yun- take your group and go there and bring them back here. Tao, take your group and search for the remaining above ground. I will be right here waiting." a piece of earth popped up out of the ground, and she took a seat.
I felt Jet move behind me with Smellerbee and one other boy they called Throw. Yun's group piled out the hole in the vast wall and out the booth that covered the entrance. We waited for a few minutes and followed. The sun was almost set, and we had until morning to find them. We went to all the shops and places where they worked but only found our friends at the back of a bakery. They were a young couple with their son. They led us to another small family of four who hid in an abandoned building. They showed us where Jet used to live, and there was an elderly could who shivered in the corner of a cafe where the owner neither asked nor answered questions. That was where the trail ended, and in fear of the sun rising and people waking up, we hurried back underground.
Everyone waited in anticipation for Yun and everyone else, but worry plagued everyone after a few hours. Jet, Smellerbee, and I were at the foot of the stairs when the entranced opened and Yun and the villages piled into the tunnel. We led everyone back to the Main Hall, and there were lots of tears and hugs to spread. I stood by Jet and watched everyone reunite and sigh in relief.
"Thank you for helping out."
Jet shrugged. "I didn't do anything."
"I would've been lost if you weren't there."
"I'm glad everyone is back."
"Well... not everyone, but almost everyone."
I patted his arm and went to join everyone else.
After lots of greetings, someone yelled to clear the tables and put them against the wall. "Look at the place Gram has led us to! Her family has provided for all of ours for years." Everyone turned and bowed to her. "And now... it would be a waste if we did not use this space to its full potential!" everyone found a partner, and flames soared through the vaulted ceilings.
I found Jet and his friends sitting against the wall in horror. I sat next to Jet.
"Aren't you going to join them?" he asked.
"Not right now. Sometimes I just like to watch. It's like dancing in away."
He didn't say anything.
"We haven't spared in almost a year. This is what we did for hours on end."
"What a strange village." he murmured.
"Yeah." I stood up and held out my hand. "Do you want to?"
Jet looked away. "I feel a little tired." he stifled a yawn and rose on his feet. In a lower voice, he said to me. "But if you want to walk me back to my room, you can."
I followed him to his room, and we sat across one another once again.
"I used to do massage heat therapy, so if your still sore, let me know," I said awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to talk to him.
I saw a tiny smile flicker across his face. "I'm a little sore right now." Once again, he stripped his shirt off and laid down on his stomach.
I heated my hands, loosened his muscles, then lit a small fire under my hands and hovered them above the knots in his shoulders. I told him that the heat should help the blood flow, and that would ease the stiffness. Jet grabbed my wrist and rolled over on his side.
I sat down on the bed, my back to him and my face very hot. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, and he buried his face into my back. Tears as hot and my face leaked out.
"I can't... I don't know how to feel." He murmured into my back. "I have never felt this strongly about someone, but..."
"I should probably go. I don't think we can really do anything." I tried to get up, but he held me back and sat up so that his whole frame was wrapped around me. "Jet- I'm a firebender and lied to you for so long about it." I sniffled.
"Yeah. But it wasn't because you were deceitful. It was to save you and your village. And you nursed me back to health and saved me from the Dai Li. I completely forgot about every worry in the world when I had spent my days with you." I could hear him grin. "And thanks to you, I got that huge reward from that underground fighting ring. And you were a firebender during all of that."
"Yeah... I guess so."
I felt his arms loosen. "Besides, there are things you don't know about me."
"Like what?"
"I- before I came here, I lived near a village that was part of the fire nation." Jet distanced himself from me and leaned against the wall. I crawled in the middle of the bed and sat facing him and closing the distance between us. "I- I almost flooded the village." he looked away.
"I don't understand-"
"I tried to kill them, Tao. I thought that every one of them was evil and like the ones who burned down my home. But they were just like your island, they were innocent people."
"Jet... what the hell?" I scooted back. "You literally tried to murder people."
"Yeah."
"I can't- Jet."
"I didn't. Some... people came along and saved the village and told me I betrayed myself and the people I vowed to protect. The innocent lives, regardless of what nation. That's why I wanted to help yours out."
"Well. That's a horrible Jet. But at least now, you know, not every single person in the fire nation is the fire nation that destroyed your home and took your family."
"I know."
"I'm going- I'm going to go... I don't want to get mad and fight with you."
Jet grabbed my wrist again. "I think you should. I think you need to stay, and I think we need to be honest and fight."
And that was exactly what we did.