CHAPTER EIGHT
( JERK OF AN EX )

THE WOODS WERE ALL too familiar to her. The large trunks, sturdy branches, trees big enough for many treehouses, beautiful leaves that hid everything from the ground with ease. The leaves were changing color once again, and though Flo thought the sight was beautiful, just as she did before, she couldn't help but glare. Somewhere up there, were treehouses filled with kids of all ages, kids who suffered because of the Fire Nation, all led by the biggest jerk in existence.

Ever since they landed, she's been snappy at the others. She didn't mean to, it was just that she wanted to get out of these woods as fast as possible; it certainly didn't help that the Fire Nation roamed the area. It was why the Freedom Fighters chose this place anyway. The longer they stayed in the woods, the easier it became for them to be noticed by either Fire Nation or the Freedom Fighters, and Flo wanted neither to happen. A fight would simply break out and Aang would more or less save the day if the soldiers ran into them, but if it were the others?

Flo had a burning hatred for her ex, and she knew if she ever saw his face again he would end up with a black eye or two.

"You're glaring at nothing again," Katara said from where she sat on the ground.

"No I'm not." She was.

Katara gave her a look, rolled her eyes, and turned away only for Sokka to turn to face Flo instead. "You've been like this ever since we got here," he said, a hint of concern in his tone.

Flo looked away from him and to the side. She leaned more against Appa and didn't respond, almost disappearing into his thick fur. Sokka sighed and turned away as well. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes as he motioned for Aang to do something. The boy simply shrugged helplessly. He attempted to cheer her up earlier that morning and he got completely ignored. Still, he made a move to walk over to her and Appa, and Flo quickly lifted the hood of her cloak and wrapped the rest of it around herself. Aang frowned.

He frowned even more when he noticed that only one of two certain flighty animals weren't with them. "Where's Momo?" he asked.

As if on cue, Momo's yowl was heard deeper into the woods. Sleemo, who had been getting attention from Katara, jumped away from the girl and flew off just as Aang started to run. The other three had no choice but to follow. They eventually found the lemur caught in a trap hung high in the trees. Aang used his airbending to jump up the trees and lowered the trap to the ground. Sokka and Katara carefully opened it and let Momo out, who happily started to eat lychee nuts once he was free again.

Sleemo, though, was clawing at one of the other two traps. Hog-monkeys made a few sounds of begging. Aang went to help them as well, but Sokka used his boomerang to cut them down. Once the hog-monkeys were free as well, Sokka looked at one of the metal traps.

"These are Fire Nation traps – you can tell from the metal work. We better pack up camp, and get moving."

"Oh, thank Spirits." The words tumbled out before Flo could stop them, and she merely shrugged as the others looked at her in question. She scowled. "Well? You heard him. Come on."

Flo didn't wait for them to head back to camp. Once she got there, she immediately started to pack up and put the arrows she made into the quiver. After finishing, Aang sat on top of Appa's head and waited for the others to hand him things so he could get them situated in the saddle. Just as Katara handed him a bedroll, Sokka stopped them.

"Uh-uh, no flying this time," he said. He reached for the roll and Aang handed it to him. Flo made a face when he then handed it to her. She just dropped it on the ground.

"Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked.

"Think about it," Sokka started. "Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa – he's just too noticeable."

"What? Appa's not too noticeable," Katara argued.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him."

Appa groaned, and Aang laid his hands gently on the bison's head. "Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow," he said.

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked, hands on her hips.

Sokka turned to his little sister and pointed at himself. "I'm not the boss, I'm the leader."

She almost laughed. "You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!"

"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior," he said, voice high pitched. He quickly lowered it, "So, I'm the leader."

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang. I mean, he is the Avatar."

"Are you kidding? He's just a goofy kid!"

Flo looked to her side and had half an urge to smile at the sight of Aang hanging upside down from one of Appa's horns. She smothered that urge, though, and crossed her arms.

"He's right," Aang said. "But I say Flo's the leader."

Sokka's face fell. "But she's a girl!"

Flo glared.

The water tribe boy's eyes widened dramatically. He quickly tried to backtrack. "Not- not that, y'know, there's anything wrong with that! I didn't mean that! I swear. It's just, well, you've never had to, like, lead...anyone...before. Because, uh, you've been...alone. I should shut up."

"Yeah," Flo snapped. She glanced away and her scowl fell a bit. "But, er, your idea isn't too bad," she admitted begrudgingly. She would rather face a group of Fire Nation soldiers than Prince Zuko ever again, even if that old general was with him. She wanted a break from the constant fighting and, honestly, she missed traveling on foot. Besides, she was pretty sure that they weren't anywhere close to the Freedom Fighters' hideout.

Sokka grinned wide. "Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?" Katara suddenly asked. "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl."

Sokka blushed. "I- I've kissed a girl! You just haven't met her..."

"Who? Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran," Katara said, smirking with crossed arms.

"No, besides Gran-Gran! Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot and a leader has to trust his, or her, instincts."

Aang stepped over with a large backpack as Momo sat on top of it. "Who knows, walking might be fun!"

+++

"Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"You get used to it," Flo told him with a shrug from beside him. The answer just caused Aang to dramatically groan and throw his head back.

"I don't know, Aang, why don't you ask Sokka's Instincts? They seem to know everything," Katara joked.

Sokka gave a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny."

"I'm tired of carrying this pack," Aang complained.

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while?" Katara asked. "Sokka's Instincts!" Flo mouthed the words with fake enthusiasm and then rolled her eyes. Katara had been using the joke nonstop ever since they started walking, and it was getting old already.

"That's a great idea! Hey, Sokka's Instincts, would you mind–?"

"Okay, okay," Sokka interrupted Aang. "I get it. Look guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe from the...Fire...Nation..."

The group walked through two red bushes. Sokka trailed off as they all stopped walking and properly looked ahead of themselves. It was a camp. A Fire Nation camp. Filled with Fire Nation soldiers. Flo thought that maybe she should have voted for the flying idea rather than agree with Sokka.

"Run!" Sokka yelled.

The four of them dropped the packs they were carrying and tried to run. The soldiers lined up and one of them shot a blast of fire their way. It missed them but unfortunately cut off their path.

"Sokka, your shirt," Aang shouted.

Sokka looked down at the sleeve of his tunic and yelled, panicked, until Katara got it out with some splash of water. The four of them huddle together with the burning bushes behind them and the Fire Nation soldiers in front. The two benders got into stances behind the others. Flo aimed her bow and arrow at them and Sokka stood there, ready to grab his boomerang or club – or run – if needed.

"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," Sokka said to the soldiers.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked in a whisper.

Sokka hesitated. "...Bluffing?"

A soldier with an eye patch smirked. "You promise not to hurt us?"

"Do you want to lose your other eye?" Flo threatened, which might not have been the best idea given as the archer who was wanted by the Fire Nation always shot them in their eyes. And, well, Flo was that archer, but no one needed to know that. Not now. Before any of the soldiers could react to that, though, the one eyed soldier looked shocked for a moment before falling to the ground with a groan. The men lowered their weapons, confused.

"Nice work, Sokka! How'd ya do that?" Aang asked.

"I thought it was Flo," Katara mumbled.

"Uh... Instinct?" Sokka replied just as Flo shook her head, silently telling them that it wasn't her either. Though, she did have a gut feeling about who it was.

Suddenly, Katara pointed to the trees and Flo felt nothing but dread and anger at once. "Look!"

Flo watched with a hard expression as an all too familiar tall teenage boy flipped out of one of the trees, kicking two soldiers and knocking them to the ground. He ran forward and used his twin hook swords to pull at another two soldiers' ankles, sending them head over heels as he did another flip. The two soldiers landed on top of the other. The teen landed on his feet, and smirked with that awful twig in his mouth.

"Down you go."

As he went off again, Flo's hands tightened on her own weapon. "Asshole," she found herself angrily muttering before she could stop herself.

Sokka looked at her, surprised, but she ignored him and shot an arrow at one of the soldiers that ran to them without even glancing at the man. As everyone else went every which way, and as Freedom Fighters jumped out of the trees, Flo stayed put and just shot an arrow at every soldier who tried to get to her. She didn't move at all. It ended quickly, thankfully, and even as Katara, Sokka, and Aang stepped over to her ex, she stayed where she was.

"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!" Aang was completely awed.

"Army?" Sokka scoffed. "There were only, like, twenty."

"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak," Jet introduced himself and his group. Meanwhile, Flo was seething where she stood, glaring at his back.

Aang walked over to Pipsqueak and The Duke. "Pipsqueak? That's a funny name," he said to the little boy, laughing.

Pipsqueak, the giant muscular man beside The Duke, bent down to Aang. "You think my name's funny?" he asked.

For a second, Aang looked nervous, but he quickly grinned. "It's hilarious!"

"Nice to meet you," Sokka said to Jet, though it sounded forced, over the sounds of Pipsqueak, The Duke and Aang laughing together. "I'm Sokka, this is my sister Katara, our friend Aang, and then that's Flo over there."

Jet's shoulders tensed for the shortest moment before he relaxed again and spun around. His smirk was wide. He tilted his head to the side when she started to stomp over. "Well, if it isn't Whiz," he said, using the name they used to call her. Immediately, the three she had been traveling with looked utterly confused, and she tensed.

Flo dropped her bow and took the quiver off of her back. Then, she tackled Jet to the ground and punched him straight in the face, catching everyone off guard. Jet, much to her surprise, dropped his hook swords. She honestly didn't think it would be this easy.

Despite the bleeding mouth, Jet just smirked. Again. "Well, it's nice to see you again, too, babe."

She gaped at him. That anger quickly turned into fury. "Nice? Nice?!" She screamed. "I'll show you nice." She moved, ready to punch him again, but suddenly two pairs of arms pulled her off of him and someone was helping Jet to his feet. She thrashed against them until they let her go, and she steadied herself on her feet.

Longshot and Smellerbee stayed at her sides, ready to grab her if she lunged again. All she did though, was glare at them and Sneers, who helped Jet, with hurt eyes. The emotions swirling within her weren't pleasant at all. She wanted to yell at Longshot and Smellerbee, and especially Jet, but refrained from doing so. When Longshot fixed her with a certain look, she glanced away.

"It's... It's good to see ya again, Whiz," Smellerbee said.

Her eyes narrowed into slits. Smellerbee took a hesitant step back. "Don't call me that," she hissed quietly. She then sharply turned on her heels, picked up her bow and quiver of arrows, and left the camp. She ignored Sleemo and The Duke as she walked by them, needing to be alone.

+++

Flo didn't get overly mad too easily. Sure, she got annoyed and frustrated, and a type of angry where looks could kill, but she rarely blew up on people. She never had an intent to harm or hurt anyone in any way when mad. She rarely went on a rage. Well, the Flo now wouldn't do that. The Flo from a year and a half ago was, for lack of better words, a bomb. She didn't handle her anger well back when she first met Jet and the Freedom Fighters.

Mourning the deaths of her family didn't go too well for her. The woman who had taken her in when Gang left for the war explained, when Flo listened, the grieving process. Ten year old Flo dove head first into denial at first, and when she learned her father wasn't coming back, she ran. She didn't know what else to do. She ended up skipping right over anger. Little Flo prayed to the Spirits to at least give her one family member back, because she didn't want to be completely alone back then. When she realized that she would never see her brothers or sisters or parents ever again she became, essentially, numb. She shut down, put up walls, didn't get close to anyone, and the little runaway did what she needed to survive on her own.

And then she met Jet.

Some of the walls crumbled down, she found a place within their little band of orphans and lost souls, and quickly realized how furious and angry she was. Not just at not having her family anymore, but at the Fire Nation – at the 600 Day Siege, and the man who led it. That's when the so called "Fire Hunter", as the soldiers liked to call her, made the first appearance. She needed to let her anger out somehow, and the young teen thought it was best to let out on the Fire Nation soldiers. Jet agreed. In fact, he encouraged it. Called it revenge. Vengeance.

Flo soon came to realize that it wasn't satisfying. That it wasn't okay. That she didn't like killing those men and women even though they were Fire Nation. She stayed quiet about it for a bit, kept to herself, and ended up actually fighting with her fists instead of just pulling back arrows and letting them whiz through the air from her perch in the trees. She got a few of the other Freedom Fighters to teach her how to throw punches and kicks without seriously injuring herself. Obviously, Jet noticed. The guy wasn't dumb, unfortunately, and he caught on to the lack of arrows missing, and how Flo started to blow up on everyone less and less.

The day he confronted her, it was a two day walk from the hideout, and Flo admitted she didn't want to kill or harm anyone – especially the innocent. That didn't sit well with Jet. He wanted Flo to stay the way she was. With both her and Longshot hidden in the trees, they were a force to be reckoned with. A fight broke out – definitely not the first, and certainly not the last – between Flo and Jet. The other Freedom Fighters had to, unfortunately for them, witness it. It ended with the couple agreeing to work it out in the morning because it was late and they needed to get to the hideout as soon as possible.

Flo woke up the next day. Jet was gone. So were Longshot and Pipsqueak and Sneers and everyone else who tagged along; except for Sleemo. Flo's walls were quickly rebuilt after that and she went back to avoiding attachments with others.

That was six months ago.

This was the first time in months that Flo felt so much rage and anger. (Excluding when she saw General Iroh with the banished Fire Prince and the pirates). She didn't want to take it out on Aang, Katara, or Sokka – or even the teens and kids who followed Jet's stupid orders – but she'd gladly admit that tackling her ex-boyfriend and punching him was extremely satisfying.

So instead of giving Jet a black eye like she wanted, Flo hurled rocks and nuts and sticks at a tree, and shouted random curses and profanities, and pretended the tree was her jerk of an ex-boyfriend. If she cried while doing so, no one had to know. And she hated crying, so much, but she couldn't stop the tears this time. She couldn't really tell if they were angry tears or sad tears, but she doubted that mattered too much in the current moment.

Appa stared at her from where he laid a few feet away. The bison followed her when she left the Fire Nation camp, and now they were a safe enough distance where she could yell without anyone else hearing too much of anything.

Flo went to grab another rock, or stick, or something but she threw everything within her reach. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she impulsively kicked at a tree root instead. It was a big mistake. She kicked with the foot with the gradually healing sprained ankle – she hadn't been limping for a week now – and the pain quickly came back.

"Shit! Ow!" Flo hopped back and grabbed her ankle. She soon fell on her butt. Thankfully Appa was there, so she landed on one of his legs. She hissed and rubbed at her ankle, and Appa rumbled out a roar that sounded concerned. She sniffed. "It's okay, boy," she whispered.

"Flo? It's me," Sokka's voice met her ears a few seconds later.

Her lips tugged into a frown. She wiped at her eyes. "Go away."

He clicked his tongue as he rounded Appa's head. "No can do," he said. "Aang and uh... The Duke? Yeah, they forced me to get you and bring you Sleemo. The other arrow dude just stared me down, but I think he agreed with them." Sokka smiled as he walked in front of her. Sleemo was perched on his shoulder, and when he got close enough she flew to Flo, forcing herself into the human's lap. Sokka sat down beside her, then. His smile was gone.

Flo didn't say anything. She loved on her hawk-cat with one hand and kept her other hand on her ankle.

"So... What's the deal between you and Jerk? I mean, Jet."

Flo snorted. "That's an accurate name for him," she muttered. She shrugged. It was quiet between them as she debated on whether or not to tell Sokka. She soon made up her mind. "We dated. Then he left me. They all did."

Sokka frowned. "What do you mean he left?"

She gave him an are-you-serious look and he looked back at her expecting an answer, not backing down. Flo sighed, defeated. She didn't have the heart to yell at Sokka to leave. "We got in a fight after a raid. We didn't agree on some things, but he said we could work it out in the morning on our way back to the hideout. Morning came, and everyone was gone."

"Okay, jerk is too nice of a name for him," Sokka said, angry on her behalf. He sat up straight and started to wave his hands around as he talked. "What kinda piece of–."

"Sokka."

"What?"

Flo fixed him with a look. One that told him to shut up without her having to actually say it. She agreed with Sokka, of course, but she didn't want to think too much about it anymore, let alone talk about it.

He sighed, giving in to what she wanted. "...Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

He stroked his chin as if he had a beard. "I think you need a hug," he said after a beat of silence.

She rolled her eyes. "I do not need a hug," she protested. She looked at him again, saw that challenging glint in his eyes, and furrowed her brows. "No, Sokka."

"Aang would want to give you a hug," he tried.

"Well, that's Aang. You're you," she said. Flo stood and as Sleemo moved to sit on her shoulder, she fixed the bun that was made out of half of her hair and then made sure her bangs weren't going every which way. "Do I still look like I had a breakdown?"

Sokka stood as well and shrugged. "Your eyes are a little red, that's it," he said honestly. Then slowly, "You know...only friends would ask other friends that question."

Flo refrained from rolling her eyes. "I don't do friends."

"Right, and that's exactly why you called Aang a friend back with the pirates."

"Shut up."

"Okay, maybe family? We could be your family, if you want."

"Sokka," she warned.

He held up his hands. "Look, all I'm saying is that I – we – won't abandon you like Jet," he told her. "You don't have just Sleemo anymore. You might want it that way because you're weird, but I promise we're not leaving you. Okay?"

Flo eyed him carefully. His words sounded genuine, and he even looked genuine, and at noticing that she felt uneasy. It was a promise, which didn't sit well with her. Her family made empty promises of coming home, and Jet made a promise and broke it as if it were nothing. Now Sokka was making a promise, one she didn't even want, and she honestly didn't know how to feel about it. Aang made that promise too, back with the Hei-Bai spirit – though, she didn't know if that was about saving Sokka only or both that and not leaving her; nonetheless, Flo didn't want to believe them.

"Let's just head back," she suggested. "We can't stay gone too long."

She didn't wait for him to follow.

+++

Entering the Fire Nation camp again was...interesting. She made eye contact with Jet almost instantly from across the camp, and she turned around to leave again. Sokka muttered, "Nope," placed his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her along for three seconds until she shoved his hands off. Aang was quick to run up to her and tell her how cool the Freedom Fighters were, and then The Duke ran and jumped on her back, the side his helmet whacking her in the head, which just made Aang laugh.

Flo scowled. She scowled even more when she noticed Katara talking to Jet. When the two boys left her alone finally, she went to walk over there, to save Katara from Jet's stupid charms, when Pipsqueak roped her into helping him load up the blasting jelly. She didn't question what they were going to use it for, at least not yet. She was currently more worried about Katara with Jet.

"...take the stuff back to the hideout," she heard Jet say.

Aang stopped in his tracks. "You guys have a hideout?!" he asked, too excited for his own good. Though Flo had to admit, she was excited to see the hideout again. She loved being up high in the trees and that was exactly where the Freedom Fighters' hideout was.

"You wanna see it?" Jet asked.

"Yes, we wanna see it!" Katara spoke fast with pure excitement, and she leaned into Jet with folded hands, almost as if she were begging.

Not too soon later, everyone was walking through the woods. Appa was at the rear with Pipsqueak and the wagon while Jet led the way, everyone else in between. Flo kept on accidentally walking up front as well, used to leading the way with the Freedom Fighters with Jet even after so many months apart. Every time she noticed she had gotten beside him again, Flo stood in place until a few others walked by. Well, up until Jet grabbed her elbow exasperatedly on the fourth time.

"Geez, just stay here, it's easier," Jet said. "Besides, I'd like to talk to my former co-leader."

Flo glared up at him as he pulled her to his side. He wrapped an around her shoulders, and she quickly jabbed him in his ribs. Jet hissed and his arm slid off as he sidestepped away. "Don't make me punch you again."

He chuckled and smirked. "Just as feisty as before," he said, still rubbing the spot she elbowed. He lowered his voice as he leaned down. "How many have you killed?"

"I stopped doing that."

"You? No way," he laughed quietly. "There's no way you've stopped killing when that old General is still alive." He paused and his smirk grew. "There's no way you haven't used the dagger I got you either. I noticed that you still have it – are you sure you hate me, Whiz?" He reached up and grazed his fingers along the healing head wound. "How'd you get that?"

Flo glowered. She slapped his hand, hiding a wince. It still hurt; not only did she get a bad cut, but there was a bad bruise there as well. "What are you planning?"

Jet sighed and held his hands up lazily. "No touchy, I know. Sorry." He sounded the furthest from sorry – annoyed, if anything. "But nothing terrible, if that's what you're worried about."

"Doubt it."

It was his turn to glare at her. "People can change, Flo."

"I know." She paused, stopped walking, and tilted her chin up to look him in the eyes when he stopped too. The others were watching. "But if you don't believe me, why should I believe you?"

Jet clenched his jaw. He didn't say anything.

Flo now wore a smug expression, one that rivaled his own. "What? Hawk-cat got your tongue?"

He opened his mouth, but she didn't give him the chance to say anything. She started walking again. This time, she had no care about being up front.

+++

The hideout was as amazing as Flo remembered. Beautiful, too. For a moment, everything was okay – peaceful, even. She sat at the edge of one of the highest platforms and watched everyone else, and let Katara, Sokka, and Aang talk to Jet themselves. She didn't want to be around him anymore than she had to. So, she sat there, dangled her legs over the edge and watched Sleemo fly around happily, Aang zoom around on the ropes, Katara with Jet, and Sokka trail behind everyone else.

Flo didn't move until night fell. She made her way to where everyone was gathering for dinner. A few kids who recognized her smiled her way, but she stared back with little to no emotion. She wasn't just mad at Jet. She was mad at everyone. They all bonded, some way or another, and it sounded childish but the fact that they chose Jet over her stung.

She plopped down beside Sokka. She was tempted to sit beside Aang but the boy, for some reason, loved Jet and would no doubt try to talk to Flo about him. She also wasn't going to sit by Katara, who was obviously crushing on her ex. And then she definitely wasn't going to sit by any Freedom Fighters, no matter how big The Duke made his puppy eyes. Sokka and Flo shared a look. They both didn't like Jet. For different reasons, but Flo could tell even from where she sat earlier that Sokka's dislike for the guy grew with every passing second.

"How did you date him?" he whispered loudly over everyone talking.

There was an answer to that, but she didn't want to say it. I was like him once, probably wasn't the best thing to admit in the current moment. So instead she said, "No clue." Then, "I was stupid. Kinda like your sister is being."

Sokka groaned dramatically. "Don't remind me."

Thirty minutes later, Jet stood on top of the table with a drink in hand ready to give a speech. Flo wanted to be deaf, suddenly. "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine," he shouted. The Freedom Fighters cheered. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog-monkey."

The Duke, now with no helmet, jumped onto the table and walked around a fish platter with his arms raised. Flo let the tiniest of smiles form; she couldn't stay mad The Duke for too long. As he passed her again during his second round around the platter, she motioned him over. He quickly came over and she gave him three berries off of her plate. The Duke grinned wide. He thanked her, went back to his own spot, and not even a second later she got half of a loaf of bread tossed at her. She caught with ease and actually smiled at The Duke. It wasn't big or anything; it was rather small, but genuine and filled with a silent thank you.

(Sokka wanted time to freeze right then, because that was the first real smile anyone had gotten out of Flo, and– was his heart supposed to beat this fast?)

"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees." The Duke, Flo, and Sokka all tuned back into Jet's speech; two of the smiles fell. The tall teen lifted his cup, about to take a sip. "Maybe they're right."

The Freedom Fighters booed.

"Or maybe... They're dead wrong!"

Loud cheering ensued. Flo grimaced and took a bite of the bread The Duke gave her. She kept her gaze down as Jet stepped off of the table and sat between the Water Tribe siblings.

"Hey Jet, nice speech," Katara complimented.

Flo took an even bigger bite of the bread.

"Thanks," Jet said. "By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today." He paused. He leaned around Sokka and smirked at Flo. "And I definitely won't forget about you, Flo. You did great taking down those soldiers."

An insult was at the tip of her tongue but Katara cut her off, and Jet turned back to her. Flo didn't know whether she should be relieved or worried. "Well, he's great," Katara said, talking about Aang. "He's the Avatar. I could use more training."

"Avatar, huh? Very nice."

"Thanks Jet," Aang said. Flo could hear his smile.

"So I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle," Jet told them. She knew that tone; he was planning something, and it wasn't good.

Much to Flo's relief, Sokka stood and interrupted them. "Unfortunately we have to leave tonight," he said, and started to leave.

"Sokka, you're kidding me!" Hey exclaimed in feigned disappointment. "I needed you on an important mission tomorrow."

The boy halted. He turned around. "...What mission?"

"I'll tell you all about it!" Jet smirked widely. It unnerved Flo, and that feeling grew as he looked at her once again. "Before I say anymore though, I need to know if the Fire Hunter will be in on this."

The Freedom Fighters suddenly quieted.

Flo paled.

Katara's mouth parted.

Sokka frowned.

Aang looked confused, yet a little excited and hesitant all the same. "The woman archer that kills Fire Nation soldiers?" He looked at Flo with a little smile. She grimaced and glanced away. "Flo knows her."

Jet chuckled. He stood and grabbed Flo's elbow. She started to feel herself panic, because this was not how she wanted to break it to innocent and sweet Aang that she murdered tens of men and women. She grimaced, guiltily, and avoided everyone's eyes as Jet wrapped an arm around her shoulder with that stupid smug smirk.

"Know her?" he asked. He laughed again. "Aang, buddy... Flo is the Fire Hunter."

***

A/N— So, you guys finally got a basic backstory of Jet & Flo's relationship (which, I will say was not exactly a healthy relationship despite how she truly used to like Jet, a lot) along with some of what Flo went through emotionally after she ran away. She was an angry little thing but obviously that changed; not completely though, unfortunately. She obviously has some more things to work out.

Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! I had fun writing it, actually, and enjoyed letting Flo deck Jet lmao. The next chapter is already written but I don't know when it'll be up. Anyway so yeah, thanks for reading!! xx