D/C: I Own Nothing.

Warning: Jet isn't really a favorite character of mine.

Willow Bark Tea

Willow Bark has been used for centuries as a pain reliver. Particularly when it comes to chronic headaches or back pain. This could also be used as a form of aid toward weight loss.

Warning: Too much could cause stomach cramping and bleeding.

Note: It is better to use the branches of a willow tree that are around 2-to-3-year-old will trees.

Note II: Careful with how much is used and how long it's been steeped for. Too much could be harmful.

Note III: It's very bitter.

"I can't believe this happening…" Zuko muttered under his breath, camping with the Gaang in a thick forest which he knew is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. The reason he is with the Gaang instead in his boat, has to do with the fact that there is a rare herb that grows in this part of the Earth Nation that could not be found anywhere else. That and Uncle threw Zuko at the Gaang's direction and ran off before the teen could retaliate.

Thus, resulting with Zuko being forced to travel with his friends for this one trip to gather up rare herbs. (Along with hanging around people his own age.) So, here he is, a very fed up firebender who is muttering under his breath that he still cannot believe his uncle's actions. As stated above, this part of the nation is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers that could easily recognize them and that is the last thing he needed.

"Remember, I am not part of this…" Zuko motioned between and the others with obvious annoyance in his voice. "Party. I am simply here to gather up some supplies and then I will be on my way."

"Suuuure." Sokka mocked with a shrug. He grinned back at Zuko to see the older teen giving him a glare that caused the Water Tribesmen to whip his head back forward. "How's business?"

"Business is booming." Zuko replied dryly at Sokka's attempt on changing the subject.

"Where's Momo?" Aang asked, looking around to realize that Momo was no longer in sight.

-.-

"Fire Nation traps." Zuko whispered to himself at the sight of the animal traps that are hanging by rom on tree limbs. He shouldn't be surprised by it, no. None whatsoever. He watches on as the others free Momo and the other trapped animals.

"Do you know anything about the area, Zuko?" Sokka asked, raising up one of the unarmed traps to show it to Zuko. "This is a Fire Nation trap. Judging by the metal work."

Zuko let out an audible sigh. "The Fire Nation had previously taken over this area and has been in its control since. That's as much as I know at this point."

"We should leave as fast as we can." Sokka said, dropping the trap to head back to camp. "Zuko, where exactly is the location of the herb?"

"It should be further into the forest, not far from here." Zuko answered, following the others back towards camp.

Sokka nodded in acknowledgement. He thought over what they should do next. It was clear they should not stay for far too long in the area for fear of the Fire Nation soldiers. "We should avoid flying. Appa is too noticeable and will make us a flying target."

"What? Appa's not too noticeable." Katara questioned her brother, raising an eyebrow his way.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on its head. It's kind of hard to miss him." Zuko deadpanned, pointing at Appa once the Air Bison came into view. "With him, he is easily recognizable and the last thing you need is someone hunting you down right now in enemy territory."

"See! He agrees with me!" Sokka exclaimed, pointing at Zuko who only glared at him in return. He scratched his left upper arm, thinking over their next move. "I know you all wanna fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

Katara, once again raised an eyebrow at her brother, crossed her arms over her chest. "Who made you the boss?"

"I'm not the boss. I'm the leader."

Zuko snorted when he heard Sokka's voice crack. He looked over to see Aang trying to comfort Appa by saying that he and Sokka were jealous of him.

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang." Katara pointed over at Aang, who has been trying to now avoid the despite between the siblings. "I mean, he is the Avatar."

"Are you kidding, he's a goofy kid!" Sokka exclaimed once more.

At this, both Aang and Zuko nodded in agreement. Aang looked over at Zuko and gave him a devious smile. "Why won't you be our fearless leader, Sifu Hothead."

"I am not part of the Gaang, and I have my own crew to think of." Zuko rolled his eyes at Aang's suggestion of him possibly becoming a leader of their ragtag team. "Let's just get our bags ready to start walking."

-.-

'I blame Uncle… I blame Uncle…' Zuko thought in his head as Sokka shoved him behind a giant tree before he could be seen by the Fire Nation soldiers, who's camp they accidently walked into. He cursed his luck as Sokka attempted to bluff his way out of fighting the soldiers.

Zuko reached behind his back where he hid his swords in case if things go bad and by the looks of it, it is heading down that path. Taking one sword out and was about to take charge when someone jumped from the trees and taking out two soldiers. The newcomer, using hook swords to continue taking down the soldiers.

'He must be Jet of the Freedom Fighters.' Zuko thought, recognizing the teen from the many reports he had read or heard through his travels. If there was one thing the Freedom Fighters hated the most, it is Fire Nation. 'Oh, this is not good.'

More Freedom Fighters started to make their appearance in helping Jet take down the soldiers. Zuko eyes went wide at the sight of Jet running up to Katara with what looks to be a flirtatious smile. By the looks of it, Katara appears to be falling for Jet's charms.

"You took out a whole army out almost single-handed." Aang said complete amazement at the sight of the fallen soldiers.

"Army? There were only like… twenty guys." Sokka said disdainfully at the sight before him and more so when he saw how his sister is looking at Jet.

Zuko slowly puts back his swords and debated his next move. He knew that if he showed himself, he could be taken as spy from the Fire Nation or another soli-the sound of a bow being pulled and feeling of someone standing behind caused the banished Fire Prince.

Hands raised in surrender, Zuko moved forward when he was motioned to by his captor. When he came into sight of everyone, the Freedom Fighters glared at the sight of him. The only ones that did not glare were Aang, Katara and Sokka who attempted to tell Jet that he is their friend and not some Fire Nation spy… to no avail.

"He's our friend, he isn't a spy!" Sokka exclaimed while pulling on Zuko's long hair and cheek. This earned him a glare from the older teen before pushing Sokka away him.

"You really need to stop doing that." Zuko shot Sokka a glare when the other started to pull on his clothes and that resulted with his broadswords to fall out of their sheaths.

In the background, Katara looked on dismay as Jet gave her a look, as if he proved a point. "Look, we know him and he's harmless."

Bonk~

"Hey! That hurts!"

"…Mostly harmless." Katara didn't bother to hide her cringe when she saw Zuko smacking Sokka upside the head to get him to stop pulling on his face. "Look, we just need to go through the forest, and he needs to collect somethings for his uncle's tea shop."

Jet looked at Zuko with fury clearly written in his eyes, one of which Zuko had seen many times over. Of course, the banished Fire Prince knew the other is just trying to intimidate which wasn't working. More annoyed than intimidated.

"One wrong move, and I'll kill you myself." Jet warned Zuko.

"Funny… I was going to say the same thing."

-.-.-

Aang knew that the moment Jet threatened Zuko, Katara immediately distrusted the leader of the Freedom Fighters. Sokka already didn't like the guy as it is, but he knew he should trust his friends. Plus… there was something off with the entire group as it is.

Maybe Sokka was right?

"How about we go back to our hideout?" Jet asked smoothly to a clearly irritated Katara. "It is getting dark and it will be too dangerous to wonder around the forest by then."

Katara looked over at her brother and friends, wondering if they should take his offer. It is getting dark and the last thing they needed is to wonder into another Fire Nation campsite. Aang simply shrugged, showing that he'll follow her lead. Sokka and Zuko both clearly showed distaste towards the group but made no notion of turning down the offer. Looking back at Jet, she looked like she had given up when she motioned to him that they would take up his offer. "We'll take you up on that offer… long as there will be no more fighting between us. I've seen enough fighting as it is."

-.-

Normally for a day like today, dealing with Fire Nation Soldiers, the Freedom Fighters would celebrate. Now, there was no time for celebrating as they all glared at Zuko, trying to figure out why would Jet invite him here to their hideout out of all places.

"The tree I am looking for is deeper into the forest. We will travel some more together tomorrow and then separate ways." Zuko mentioned, pulling out a map from his person and this caused many to tense around him. Under the belief that he was possibly going to bring out a weapon. Many kept their weapons close to them, even after seeing Zuko only pulling out a map from his person. Zuko opened up the map and motioned for his friends to come closer. He pointed at an area, that appeared to be near a waterfall. "The trees I'm looking for should be in this area. With some luck, I might find some other herbs too. If we leave before dawn, it'll give me enough time to meet with the others…"

Zuko motioned to another location on the map, earning nods of approval.

"Question? How soon are you supposed to meet up with your uncle?" Sokka asked. "If it's soon, we could leave tonight?"

Zuko could only snort. "I know the location where I'm supposed to meet them. They'll stay there until I return. If anything, we have business to take of there."

"Iroh is looking for a new tea set?"

"…yes."

"Actually… I was hoping you could help us with something." Jett interjected, appearing by Katara's side.

-.-

Zuko really, really, really, hates Jett.

Like… really hates him. The guy managed to convince Aang and Katara to help them with the guy's project. Mainly, Jet needed waterbenders for some reason and said reason doesn't sit well with Zuko's stomach. What could he say or do? Jet knew what to say and simply used his charm against Sokka's attempt to get the others to see reason. Zuko knew his crew will wait for him but staying in one place for far too long, brings risks. On the other hand, he couldn't leave his friends on their own with the Freedom Fighters. They are an unknown and well… his friends are rather green eared… ugh. He could already hear Uncle lecturing him if he leaves them behind…

Thus… Zuko decided that he would go on his own to look for the willow bark. In actuality, he's sneaking around the area in disguised to keep an eye on his friends. It wasn't all that hard really. As much the Freedom Fighters wanted to make themselves look like professionals… they are kids. The vast majority of them are children that have little to no training. The little training they do have, is mediocre at best. The main ones that looked like that had some sort of training, are Jet and his main crew.

That's about it, and just like all the others, none of them ever spoke out against Jett's actions or commands. Jett has charisma and he's using it to his advantage. He knows what to say or do, to make everyone believe he's in the right. That saying anything against him, would mean that they are siding with the enemy. Everything is for the family. Saying anything against Jett, is saying something against the family.

Jet uses his sickenly sweet words to sway everyone to see his way of things…

For example… to justify beating up an old man.

-.-

"What do you mean we are missing half of the blasting jelly? Who was guarding it?"

"Pipsqueak and The Duke."

"Where are they now!"

"…"

"We thought they had run away with it, but we later found them tied up far away. The Duke kept repeating Blue Spirit when we found him. Know anything about Blue Spirit?"

"…"

"Sokka has been kept under watch by the others, Longshot. Cant' be him."

"Double check. We can't let our plans fail now."

Unbeknownst to Jet, hidden in the shadows is a figure almost entirely dressed in black sans the blue ogre mask he is wearing. The figure crept went about to blend back into the darkness when he caught sight of someone familiar that is spying on Jet and some of his crew.

'Of course, he's here…'

Down below is Sokka, spying on the conspiring Freedom Fighters.

-.-

Sokka knew he needed to run and warn the others before he gets caught. Right now, he fears that if he does move, he'll be found out. That is the last thing he needed. If they are willing to wipe out an entire village, who know what they'll do to him. Stomach turning at the thought of how Katara and Aang would feel if they understood the full capacity of Jet's plans.

This could destroy them!

He needs to warn them, now!

That would have been the plan until Sokka was suddenly taken by surprised. Someone had grabbed hold of him. They placed a gloved hand over his mouth and began being pulled away from the scene.

-.-

"Aang, have you seen, Sokka?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen him since last night."

The following morning, Aang and Katara started off the day to get ready. They are being led by Jet to a shallow river to help with his plan to extinguish a possible forest fire. The idea sounds… sound, but there's something about the plan that has them at edge. Katara more so than Aang, it mainly has to do with Zuko's silence before he headed off without them. Not once did Zuko acknowledge Jet, his plans or anything. Zuko always had something to say, even if it's to complain about something or another.

"He mentioned something about going out to help your friend." Jet replied, giving Katara a smile.

This of course, caught Katara's attention. She shot Aang a look and he began to look uncomfortable.

That is something Sokka wouldn't do. Zuko would never allow Sokka to help him.

"So… Jet, where exactly is the river?" Aang asked uneasily.

"It's not far now."

-.-

"That's the last of them." Sokka and a guardsman helped an elderly couple climb into the back of a wagon. The two took a step back, watching on as everyone left the small town in semi-organized order.

"We'll go to the nearest settlement from here. I told my higherups that we should have taken care of those Freedom Fighters after so many of us were attacked by them." The guardsman spat out. "Children or not, they have attacked many of us since they moved into the forest. Some even went missing and some turned up dead. It was just a matter of time before something like this would have happened."

Sokka's lips thinned. He didn't want to think as such, but after seeing what had happened with the old man… his mind never really wondered down that road. Shaking his head, this isn't the time to think about it. Right now, he has to look for the others and figure out what Blue Spirit plans on doing to the Freedom Fighters.

At this point, anything is game.

-.-

One moment, Jet is leaving Katara and Aang at the river to head over at the dam and now he's waking up tied up to a tree… by said dam. By the looks of it, he's isn't the only one in the same predicament. Smellerbee, Longshot, and Sneers were all tied up along side of him.

What… happened?

"Who are you?" Smellerbee shouted once she regained consciousness and saw a masked figure standing in front of them. Her eyes only widened at the sight of the figure's mask.

"Blue Spirit…" Jet whispered out, seeing a figure wearing all black and a blue ogre mask. What really caught his attention are the dual broadswords he's currently pointing one at him at the moment. Jet's eyes narrowed at the figure, this has to be the one that had taken the barrels. "What are you doing? Let us go!"

Blue Spirit simply raised his other hand, the other broadsword in hand, and pointed at somewhere. The Freedom Fighters blinked a couple of times before they looked at the general direction where the unknown is pointing at. Above the tree line is smoke. So much smoke. This caused Jet to look around in panic, to figure out where they are.

"Isn't that….?" Sneers' voice quivered, unable to finish his question.

"What did you do!" Smellerbee hollered out, she started to squirm in an attempt to break free but to no avail.

"Preventing you from doing something horrific… and completely out of line." Blue Spirit said in a surprisingly calm voice.

-.-

"Jet planned on having you two fill up the dam with water and later destroy it to drown the town below…"

Aang and Katara were so close to filling up the river when several sets of explosions could be heard in the distance. Worry set in when several of the Freedom Fighters were asking for their help. Apparently, a fire broke out at the camp and they needed help as it appeared that Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot were no where to be found to help or lead them.

This caused the two to drop what the were doing to help out. When they got there, they quickly did their best to put out the fire. It didn't take long to figure out how the fire started. There were barrels of blasting jelly and this caused Pipsqueak and The Duke to freak out once they finally made it to the camp from who knows where.

This set off alarms for Katara and quickly questioned them about it.

This resulted with the two telling her and Aang about Jet's plan. To say that they were beyond horrified, is an understatement. More so when they still couldn't locate Sokka, Appa, or Momo at the camp. Katara fell to her knees, hunching over herself and blaming herself. She should have listened to Sokka and followed her gut when she didn't see her brother that morning. Aang did his best to console her, but he felt just as devastated. The entire situation is atrocious and the fact that his actions could have…

"I can't believe it! He blew up the camp! I know the guy could be a bit crazy, but to his extent! Where's Zuko when you need him. I need some sort of sanity in my life." Sokka's voice ranged out, which was followed by Appa's grumble in a sort of agreement to his words. "What about you, Momo?... yeah, I thought so."

-.-

Zuko glowered at the sound of a explosion

If Zuko hadn't known that Sokka had evacuated the citizens of Gaipan, he would have turned around and hunt down Jet.

Of course, the terrorist wanted to prove his point. At this point, he did what he could. The people of Gaipan are safe and hopefully, the Freedom Fighters will disband. Better now than latter. Last thing everyone needs, is for the Fire Nation to take an extra notice of the area. Unlike himself and his friends, the Fire Nation would have taken no prisoners.