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“Good job, y’all. Another successful robbery for the books.” Jet smirked.
“What books? You can’t read English,” Zuko said. Jet laughed. Zuko pulled on the lead of the two stolen horses behind him.
“Yeah, he couldn’t even read his own wanted poster,” Smellerbee shot.
“That’s what I have you guys for.” Jet’s grinned. “Come on, let’s get back to camp. Divy up the goods.” Zuko followed suit when Jet spurred his horse into a canter. The horses easily made their way up the foothills of the Rocky Mountains up to the Freedom Fighter’s base camp. They unloaded their saddlebags and lit a fire in the fire ring. The carriage they stopped had been laden with food and clothing for a trip through the mountains for a couple of rich Southerners.
“What the Hell are those traitors doing so far north?” Smellerbee sifted through the stacks of Confederate currency they had found.
“The war ended years ago, why did they still have this?” Zuko frowned.
“They’re probably still mad they can’t own people anymore.” Jet snatched the useless money out of Smellerbee’s hands and threw it into the fire. “I knew we shouldn’t have let them leave.” He grabbed the hooks that hung at his belt.
“Jet, they’re at the mercy of the elements. We did steal their horses. They’re not going to get through the mountains without them,” Zuko said.
“They deserve whatever gets them in the mountains,” Jet growled. Zuko nodded in agreement. If the howling coming from deep in the forest was any indicator of the fate that would befall the former Confederates, they were in for a violent end. Longshot and Jet looked at eachother.
“You’re right, we can’t be blamed for their deaths if they get eaten by a bear,” Jet said. He pulled a cream silk corset out of his saddle bag. He tossed it to Smellerbee. “I got this for you. It looks about your size. I know you’ve been looking for one.” Smellerbee ran her hand over the soft fabric.
“Thanks, Jet.” She grinned. She unfolded the garment, revealing the soft curves that made up the ideal shape of the modern woman. Longshot smiled at her. Smellerbee and Longshot left the fire to fit the corset to Smellerbee’s male body. Zuko felt a warm sense of love fill his body about his friends. This only increased when Jet dropped his head into his lap, his Stenson hat falling into the dirt. Zuko smiled at him. Jet pulled him into a kiss. Jet’s lips were soft and warm. Zuko cupped Jet’s jaw.
“I got something for you too, my darling.” Jet smirked. He sat up and rummaged through his saddlebag. “Here.” He held out a bar of chocolate. “It’s from Spain.”
“Jet, that is so sweet, but it’s from Belgium.” Zuko chuckled before kissing him.
“Oh fuck off.” Jet mumbled into Zuko’s mouth. He pulled away so he could look at Zuko with a glint in his eyes. “I can read Chinese better than any of you jokers.”
“That’s probably ‘cause I’m Japanese, you racist,” Zuko replied. “And Smellerbee and Longshot both went to American Public Schools, and they aren’t gonna teach Chinese at one of those places.”
“Fair point.” Jet laughed. Zuko pressed a kiss to the corner of Jet’s mouth.
“At least you’re pretty.” Zuko kissed him again. “Thanks for the chocolate, love.” He ripped the packaging open and broke it in half. He handed one half to Jet.
“You are so sweet.” Jet kissed his cheek. The two sat cuddled together by the fire eating chocolate and exchanging gentle kisses for a while before moving into their tent and falling asleep to a light rain that had started.
~*~
A week later, Zuko watched from a bush as Jet trotted up in front of the stagecoach. “Howdy, partner,” Jet called to the driver. The lower half of his face was covered by a red handkerchief and his hat pulled down over his eyes. The sunset made Jet’s palomino, Tàiyáng, look like she was made of solid gold.
“Howdy.” The driver slowed down enough so Smellerbee could drop out of a tree to the roof of the coach. The driver turned right into the barrel of her pistol.
“Howdy.” She grinned. Zuko pulled a blue bandana over his face and snuck up to the side door. He heard a ‘thunk’ when an arrow stuck into the carriage near the front. The driver yelped. Zuko twisted the door knob and pulled it open. His face twisted into shock when he came face to face with
“Mai?”
“Zuko?”
“Zuko?”
“Ty Lee?” Zuko pulled down his bandana. “What the hell?” The two women frowned at him. Mai's arm was wrapped around Ty Lee's waist and she quickly extracted it. The top few buttons of her dress were undone and Ty Lee's skirts were push up to her knee, revealing tall grey stockings. She blushed and covered her legs.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Mai said. “Is this really where you ran off to? How far you’ve fallen.”
"Better than allowing myself to get trampled by Azula," Zuko grubbled.
"We don't see much of Azula anymore. She flew the coop," Ty Lee said. "Went up to Chicago."
"Did she say why?"
"No," Mai said. "Must be a family thing." Zuko thought about the night his mother disappeared and realized the uncanny pattern.
“What’s going on?” Jet trotted up behind him. “Do you know these people?”
“Yeah, old friends,” Zuko said, bitterly. Mai scoffed.
“I wouldn’t say that. We stopped being friends when we kissed. Now we’re nothing, Zuko. So if you’re going to rob us, go ahead. I won’t tell anyone.” She turned to look straight ahead.
“Mai, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like that. I treated you poorly and you deserved better,” Zuko said. Mai grimaced in response. Ty Lee stared at him with wide eyes. She leaned over and whispered something to Mai. Mai whispered something back. Mai sighed and turned back to Zuko.
“I appreciate your apology, Zuko, and I wish you well with your highway robbery. It feels right to have some sort of closure. If this sparks anything for me, do not pursue it, for I am in love with someone else,” Mai said.
“Don’t worry, he is too.” Jet grabbed Zuko’s shoulder.
“So that’s why you left me,” Mai said flatly. “Maybe we do have something in common.” She laced her and Ty Lee’s fingers together.
Zuko turned to Jet and said “we have to let them go.”
“Zuko, are you sentimental?” Jet smirked.
“I owe it to them,” Zuko said. "Good bye , Mai. Nice to see you Ty Lee."
"Good bye, Zuko," Mai said coldly. Ty Lee smiled and waved.
Jet shot Zuko a look of disdain. “Fine. Let’s go.” He yelled to Smellerbee and Longshot. Jet stretched an arm out for Zuko to take, which he did and swung up onto Tàiyáng behind Jet. Zuko held Jet's waist and Jet urged the horse forward and they cantered off. Longshot and Smellerbee caught up after retrieving their horses from the woods.
~*~
“Well, that was a bust.” Jet poked at the fire. “We’ll probably have to go into town to get supplies. Zuko and I are too recognizable, so you two’ll have to go.” Smellerbee and Longshot nodded. Zuko stared at Jet over the fire. For once the two weren’t sewn together at the sides. Jet had barely even looked at Zuko all evening. Zuko felt like a pile of horseshit. He wasn’t sure what happened, but he knew something changed between him and Jet. He wasn’t going to confront Jet in front of the other two, but he wasn’t going to go to bed without being able to make eye contact with his lover. Fortunately, the other two headed off to bed early and soft mumbling could be heard from the tent for a few minutes before their lantern was blown out.
“Jet, what’s wrong?” Zuko scooted over to Jet.
“The girl in the coach. Mai. She was your…” he trailed off and looked at Zuko.
“Childhood sweetheart. Sort of. I convinced myself I liked her when I was 16 so my father wouldn’t find out about my… problem.” Zuko tucked his knees under his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs. “He found out though. So I lived with my uncle for a few years before I was finally done with Denver and my sister who would come into the tea shop just to tourture me. Threaten to drag me home to my father, or tell Mai the real reason I got this scar. Azula has the same compulsion as I do, but I was too scared of her to use it against her. I don’t know if Ozai would have believed me, if I did. So I left. The only thing I left behind was a note for Mai. She has every right to hate me, but I’m glad she has Ty Lee. They’re good for each other.”
“Did you love her?” Jet looked at him.
“Not how she needed me to, but we were close friends,” Zuko said.
“But you kissed her.”
“Yeah. We did… stuff sometimes.” He averted his eyes. “It was fine. Not really my...thing.”
“Oh? What is your ‘thing’.” Jet smirked. Zuko's face went hot.
“You of all people should know,” Zuko replied. Jet leaned against Zuko.
“I do, sweetheart.” The two stared over the edge of the foothill. From their encampment they could see for miles, including the part of the plains that were lit up by the city of Denver. The moon was full and filled the countryside with moonlight. Zuko looked at Jet when he rested his head on Zuko’s shoulder. His eyes were closed and a soft smile played on his lips. Zuko wrapped an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to his head. Jet hummed softly. The two clung to each other, only retreating to their tent when the fire died out.