Chapter 1: Agape (Unconditional Love)

"Where do you think you're going?"

Startled from the sudden disruption, Sokka dropped a pair of pants on the floor and shot his eyes up at the princess in the doorway. He couldn't tell if she was annoyed or curious.

Zuko kept on packing. "None of your business."

"As chief political adviser to the Fire Lord, it is indeed my business to know when the leader of our great nation is about to abscond somewhere without a moment's notice."

Clear that Azula was in fact annoyed, the blue-eyed warrior looked down at his messily packed bag.

"So let me repeat the question." Her tone harshened as she punched out each word. "Where do you think you're going?"

"That's a great question actually," Sokka squeaked, trying to lighten the mood. "Where are we going, buddy?"

"Ember Island," the Fire Lord grunted after a brief pause.

"And for how long exactly do you intend to be gone?"

"Just three days, geesh! What's with the third degree?"

Azula could see her brother was a bit unhinged.

He sighed dramatically. "I just need to get out of here, okay?"

"Okay," she acquiesced. "But… I'm coming with you."

"What? Why?" he groaned, blatantly dissatisfied with the decision. "Why do you even want to go?"

"I could use a break too, you know. And besides…" She crossed her arms and smirked. "It'll give me a good excuse to try out that new swimsuit I bought."

"A new swimsuit, you say?" Sokka grinned, intrigued. He turned to Zuko. "She makes a compelling argument."

Azula rolled her eyes.

The Fire Lord scowled. "Fine. You can come. Just… stay out of my way."

"That won't be a problem," she hummed, walking away to go pack, wondering what had happened to make her brother even moodier than usual.

The answer, as it turned out, was Mai.

Zuko didn't fill them in on all the details on the short ride over to Ember Island, but from what Azula and Sokka could gather in between incoherent mumbles and melodramatic sighs, Mai had stopped by the palace earlier that day to give Zuko some sort of ultimatum. And he only had three days to decide if he was going to commit himself to her or lose her forever.

Azula, under the firm belief that Mai would one day be her brother's Fire Lady, couldn't quite comprehend Zuko's dilemma. And Sokka, dealing with his own heartache from Suki leaving him and running away with Ty Lee to Kyoshi Island for some sort of sexy lesbian vacation, was having a little trouble empathizing. Nevertheless, the two decided to make their best efforts to appease the troubled Fire Lord.

"Why don't you head straight to the beach, Zuzu?" the princess offered upon arrival. "Sokka and I can take care of unloading and unpacking our belongings."

"Thanks, sis." The Fire Lord jumped on the suggestion and began dragging his feet to the shore.

"And by 'Sokka and I', I really mean just Sokka," she smirked at the warrior.

"Well in that case… let me start with the heaviest item." He faked like he was going over to pick up a bag, but instead he swooped behind the firebender and picked her up.

Azula's mouth fell open. "Unhand me this instant, Water boy!"

"I have a job to do, Princess," he laughed.

"How dare you call me heavy?! I'll have you know, I work out and train hard every single – "

Her voice trailed off as Zuko got closer to the shoreline. Under normal circumstances, he would have been perturbed by his best friend's flirtation with his sister. He hadn't failed to notice how much attention Sokka had given Azula ever since Suki left. But on this particular night, the Fire Lord only had one thing on his mind. Mai.

You have three days to decide.

What was he going to do? He mentally prayed to the spirits for guidance as he plunked himself down on the warm sand. Rubbing his temples, he released an exasperated sigh before falling flat onto his back. What happened next made his blood freeze and his arm hairs stand on end.

"I'd recognize that sigh anywhere," a man's voice called from behind.

Zuko shot straight up. He knew that voice. But that was impossible!

A bronze-skinned boy sat down next to him. "Relax," he chuckled. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

He opened his mouth to speak, to utter the name of the boy beside him, but no words came out.

"Miss me?" Jet smirked.

"I thought you were dead," the firebender whispered.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"What… what are you doing here?"

"It's kind of a long story – don't really feel like getting into all of it – but basically, after you got me arrested in Ba Sing Se, the Dai Li brainwashed me and Long Feng tried to – "

"Yeah yeah, I've seen the Ember Island Players' horrendous adaption," Zuko cut in, "I meant, what are you doing here, specifically."

"Oh," Jet chuckled. "You were never one for small talk."

"Sorry… I wasn't really prepared for company tonight. Especially – "

"From someone so handsome?" the brown-eyed boy finished for him.

Caught off guard, Zuko abruptly swallowed, choking a bit on his own saliva.

Jet laughed. "To answer your question, after I was almost killed, I was in no condition to fight. Almost all my bones were broken. My Freedom Fighters had me transported to a hospital in the Lower Ring, where I spent my days feeling absolutely useless, wanting so badly to fight with the Avatar and his friends against your father."

"I'm sure you wanted to fight me too…"

"Oh yeah, big time. Thinking about kicking your sorry ass got me through a lot of the harder days."

The Fire Lord chuckled. "Guess I kind of deserve that."

Jet nodded. "Anyway, after I was stable enough to move, I was transferred to a healing facility in the Northern Water Tribe for some intense physical therapy, as well as some healing sessions for my – " He pointed to his head. " – since, you know, the brainwashing and all."

"Sorry about that…"

"No need to apologize." Jet placed his hand on the firebender's shoulder. "I forgive you."

Zuko looked perplexed. "Y-You do?"

"Yeah. I heard all about your decision to abandon the Fire Nation and teach the Avatar firebending. The war wouldn't have ended without you, and since you've become Fire Lord, you've actually done a lot of good. Surprisingly enough."

"I… I don't know what to say."

"Don't get me wrong – I was pretty damn pissed when I found out who you really were, Lee – "

The firebender looked down at his lap.

" – but, as I said when we first met all those years ago, I knew exactly who you were. You're an outcast, like me."

"And us outcasts have to stick together," Zuko recited, playing back the night he first met Jet on the ferry to Ba Sing Se. His cheeks flushed, realizing he had said that out loud.

"So you do remember?" he smirked.

"Of course I do."

Jet smiled softly. "Anyway… I guess what I was really trying to say here is, I still know exactly who you are. And I understand why you did what you did back then."

The Fire Lord gazed warmly into the boy's eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was all so surreal.

"I was given a second chance at life. I've let go of all that anger and resentment toward the Fire Nation. And now that I've completely recovered, I'm taking the time to see the world – "

"Which is why you're here right now."

"It seems fate has brought us together once again," he grinned.

Zuko hadn't realized how physically close together they were sitting until this moment. He could feel his heartrate spike.

"I've… thought a lot about you, Zuko."

"Y-You have?"

"Don't act so surprised."

"I – "

"I'm sure you've thought about me too," he purred, confidently draping his arm around the firebender. "Especially after that one night when we – "

"That was a long time ago."

"But you still think about it, don't you?" Jet asked, all-knowingly.

That cocky bastard. Tonight wasn't the night for games. Maybe it was because of the ultimatum, or maybe because he refused to let the boy get under his skin again, but this night, Zuko was going to control his own destiny. "All the time," he muttered before closing the gap between them and gently pressing his lips to Jet's. He tasted just like how he had remembered.