Jet
Kelani feels right at home amongst the Freedom Fighters. They too have been on their own, taking what they can get from place to place. As a pirate, Kelani had plenty of experience with this way of life. The others, however, are bewildered and amazed by the way the Freedom Fighters live.
Though she feels comfortable around them, Kelani gets a bad feeling about Jet. His overall demeanor makes her somewhat suspicious of him. Not really being a part of the group, she stays out of it, letting Sokka try to lead them. Katara immediately seems smitten by Jet and his attitude. Kelani rolls her eyes, and catches Aang looking displeased with the development as well.
The workings of the treehouses are breathtaking, she has to admit. Watching Aang fly through the forest of trees mesmerizes her, if only for a moment.
Their first night with the Freedom Fighters, Kelani confides in Sokka.
“He kind of gives me the creeps.”
“Really? I haven’t noticed much, but I’ll let you know if my instinct changes.” Kelani chuckles at the call back to his instincts, and the way the others distrust them.
“I’m surprised his immediate disregard for your leadership didn’t throw you off.” Kelani adds, elbowing him. “Not to mention the way he flatters Katara. It’s so empty, and she takes it in stride because she doesn’t realize he’s manipulating her…”
Sokka looks at Kelani, wide-eyed. He wasn’t expecting such an admission, or rather observation, from her. He averts his gaze to his feet, thinking back to the way Jet holds Katara’s attention. It did seem shallow, like he didn’t really mean it, and was saying anything he could to get on her good side.
“Yeah… That is fishy…” Sokka agrees, brows furrowed. His face changes nearly into a scowl, his finger and thumb wrapped against his chin as he thinks. “Well, he invited me to go on lookout with him tomorrow, so maybe I can get a better grip on who he really is.”
“Cool, thanks for listening, Sokka.” Kelani smiles, retreating to her shared treehouse with Katara.
The next day, Kelani sits with Aang and Katara, waiting for the others to return. When they find Sokka, he looks distraught and almost disturbed.
“We’re leaving.” Sokka declares, walking past them, pulling Kelani by the arm so they can talk in private. “How did you know?”
“Know what?” Kelani asks, looking concerned for Sokka and the wellbeing of her new friends.
“About Jet. Have you met him before?”
At that, Kelani wonders if there was ever a chance of her crossing paths with Jet and his Freedom Fighters while the pirates were docked somewhere.
“No, something about him just didn’t sit right with me. What happened?”
Sokka explains the way Jet and his fighters bullied a helpless old man, and completely ignored Sokka’s input to leave the old man alone.
“That’s disgusting.” Kelani replies, her jaw tightening in anger. If she had any combat training, she would fight Jet the next time she saw him. It would be useless though. No doubt Jet would easily overtake her. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Her and Sokka head back to their friends, only for them to side with Jet and insist on staying longer. Kelani groans.
“What? Are you Fire Nation, pretending to be on our side?” Jet challenges.
Kelani tenses up, clenching her fists.
“Listen here, Robin Hood, I don’t care what you think of me. I think you're a skeezy, angry loser and you don’t care about the path of destruction you create so long as you get what you want- and you don’t even know what that really is.”
Aang, Katara, and Sokka all stare at her as she storms off to her treehouse. Sokka follows after her, clearing his throat as a warning that she isn’t alone.
“Was that too mean? I know he lost his family but-”
“But so did you, and so did we, and we don’t have the same mentality that he does. I think you were right, he needs to find the right way to cope with what he’s going through, and this isn’t it.”
“Thanks, Sokka. Really, you’ve consistently been there for me, and I appreciate it.”
“Of course, us non-benders have to stick together.”
Later that night, Kelani wakes up to ruffling in the trees, but it seems like more than just the wind. She gets out of bed and sneaks out of the treehouse.
“Sokka?” She whispers.
“Good, I was hoping I’d wake you. I heard Jet and the others heading off somewhere. I want to follow them.”
“Lucky you woke me, and not Katara.”
The pair follow close behind Jet and his followers until they’re caught.
“Ah, troublemakers, I knew that was you.” Jet calls out smugly.
Kelani rolls her eyes and resists the urge to punch the smirk off of his face. She’d probably break her hand.
“You’ve got to trust us, you know. Us fugitive teens have to stick together.” Jet tries, walking closer to the two. Kelani scoffs.
“If you expect me to take orders from you, you’re no better than the Fire Nation and their pirates who kidnapped me and stowed me away until I was useful to them. I can think for myself, thanks.”
Jet pauses.
“So, the Fire Nation ruined your life too. Don’t you want to get back at them for it?”
“No! Not in whatever sick way you’re planning. Karma will come back to them and they’ll pay for their actions.”
“Sokka?” Jet challenges.
Sokka stands firm, shaking his head, his arms crossed.
In a split second, Jet has two of his fighters take Sokka and Kelani, holding them captive until after Jet’s plan has been executed. Walking through the forest, Sokka tries to reason with Pipsqueak Smellerbee. They continue to side with Jet and advocate for his revenge methods. Out of the corner of her eye, Kelani notices the traps set out to capture the wildlife from the forest. She nudges Sokka and calls attention to the traps.
The pair run off, weaving around the disguised traps, letting Pipsqueak and Smellerbee get caught in them.
“Sorry! See you guys later!” Sokka calls.
“Or never!” Kelani adds.
The two run off farther into town, looking for a way to unbind their hands.
Once they make it into town, they warn everyone of Jet’s plan to flood their home, and start an evacuation plan. The old man Jet threatened the night before offers to cut the binding from their hands, and they thank him.
Worried for how much time they have, the two hurry back to the treehouses to collect their things and retrieve Appa and Momo. Sokka guides Appa in the direction of where they left Jet.
“So, I know Aang wouldn’t advocate for it, but I really wish you would’ve punched him.”
Kelani laughs, imagining punching Jet like she wanted to.
“Oh, me too. Maybe one of these days you can train me in basic combat.”
Sokka grins at the idea, and nods.
“Sokka!” They hear from below them, and find Katara and Aang, keeping watch on Jet who is tied to a tree.
Appa lands, allowing the group time to mount on his saddle, and they fly off again. Jet fades away, his body frozen to the tree.
Aang and Katara apologize for not heeding their friends’ warning.
“That’s okay, Katara, just don’t let a cute guy influence your decisions so much in the future.” Kelani teases.
Kelani and Yue snuck around the castle of the North, looking for something sweet to sneak back to the Spirit Oasis. The two girls giggled as they tried not to get caught. Standing on her tippy toes, Yue spotted a platter of leftover Kale Cookies from one of her father’s afternoon meetings. She slid the platter closer to the edge of the counter, and grabbed cookies by the handful. Kelani followed suit and each girl scurried away with enough cookies to last until dinner.
“Sh!” Yue urged as they snuck around to the secret passageway to the Spirit Oasis.
Yue was warned not to come here, but she loved to break the rules and find herself on little adventures. Kelani followed her blindly wherever she’d go.
Kelani couldn’t contain her giggles as they shuffled through the tunnel to the Oasis. She’d never seen it before, and her excitement was bubbling over. It started getting warmer, and Yue told her this meant they were close.
At the end of the tunnel, light poured through the Oasis, taking Kelani’s breath away. Yue extended her hand to Kelani, who took it eagerly. The warmth of the Oasis masked the warmth of her own flushed skin as Yue held her hand, guiding her through the enchanting Oasis.
“Father says this is the easiest way to connect to the Spirit World, although I’ve never tried.” Yue explained, releasing Kelani’s hand and sitting down next to the pond. She was careful not to let any crumbs from the Kale Cookies litter the ground or the water.
Kelani mimicked her stature, sitting on her knees. She watched the fish circle around the pond until the sun started to set. The two girls felt the light disappear behind the opening above the Oasis, and knew that dinner would be called soon.
“We better get going, Father won’t be happy if he finds out we snuck in here.”
He was not.
The two girls were caught, and he forbid Yue from leaving the confines of the Palace until the next full moon.
Those ten days were the loneliest Kelani ever felt.