Following those weeks and months after the fire nation had taken everything awayâhis entire world changed, & at once his mistrust grew. There was no one to rely on, only himself. Nothing was secure any longer and people turned on each other quickly. He was just barely surviving, just barely avoiding starvationâuntil he found others like himself. Those outcast, those on the fringes & they all could name their enemy & come together & do more than survive & fight each other for scraps. Whenever he had found another like him, he saw those same eyes, the same as hisâpeople will hurt you so donât trust anyoneâhe could hear it as if it were being screamed, shaking the trees, all the tumultuous emotions bursting forth.
His mothers had tried to protect everyone they could & it had cost them their lives. How could he not be willing to do the same? â we donât know that it wonât happen again; we donât know what else they put in my head-- what other orders.â He shakes his head as if to clear that sunken feeling. It was like being pulled deep under water, limbs heavy, lungs begging for air, burningâseeing everything happen as if far offâŚ& at once too close, the order is easy to follow, easier than anything though he strains and pulls against it.
â I canât remember most of it.â I canât remember a lot about how we got here, what had happened, & it was difficult at times to even pinpoint which were his memories & which were implanted.
He ducks his head, itâs hard to even meet her eyes, shame weighing down. This city has taken everythingâheâs no leader, no protectorâhe fought her & he didnât stop. He didnât stop even when he carved into herâhe ought to leave, not look back, that would be the best way to protect her.
He should go now, but he doesnât move, just bites into his cheek hard, clenching his fists. â Letting yourself get hurt isnât protecting me.â He insists, knowing he would take any blade for herâstand against anyone, anythingâthat was his duty, but he taught her the same, didnât he?
â What if I hadnât stopped? I didnât even know if I could..â he should have stopped before, why didnât he? Why couldnât he have stopped? Those weeks bleed into one another & he still hears her, crying out.
IRRITATION works itâs way onto her face. bee is so bad at keeping her expression neutral, always quick to show her hand, to let her emotions get the best of her. ( jet teases her often, tells her that, for one so skilled at hiding in the trees and moving without being detected, she is SO EASYÂ to read up close ). when she turns to face jet properly, her shoulder cradled gingerly by her good arm, she looks ready for an argument. determined, jaw set, like sheâs about to RIPÂ into him.
âit doesnât matter. weâll figure it out.â her words are CERTAIN, though her voice shakes. itâs scary, terrifying, to hear him talk about it. to know that those moments, which bee remembers with every fibre of her being, which keep her up at night and seep into her dreams, are lost to jet forever. bee canât forget: her aching muscles, her injured shoulder, the scar itâs sure to leave, none of them will let her FORGET.
âoh, sure. thatâs RICH coming from you.â irritation twists into anger. or maybe itâs frustration- she never could be angry at jet for long. âletting yourself get hurt isnât protecting me?â bee imitates him, repeating his words back to him with added vitriol. âjet. thatâs the only way any of us know how to protect each other. someone always gets hurt. itâs just a matter of who.â
âwhat would you have done if it was me?â itâs a question bee knows he doesnât have an answer to. âwould you have been able to- to take me out? no HESITATION, like you said?â her expression remains hard, but her voice quivers. still canât hold back that emotion, huh bee?Â