The Warrior And The Pacifist

The Past Laid Bear

"It will be over soon I promise." She sure hoped so. Leki was no stranger to pain, wether it be physical pain or mental. But what she was feeling now seemed to make all that other pain pale in comparison. The pain in her right leg seemed to be the most intense of all of her injuries, hitting her in intense waves that came more frequent as the seconds passed if that was possible. As Tamura held her she latched on to his shirt with such a force she was almost certain that she would accidentally rip the fabric.

She could hear the sound of sloshing water as he waded through the lakes edge, stopping and gently placing her in until the only part of her body not submerged was her face. The water felt cool against her skin. She felt Tamura let her go and stare at her for a few brief moments before he lifted his hands and closed his eyes.

Even with her hearing muffled she could hear a ringing sound. It wasn't overly loud and in fact even in her pain stricken state she found that ringing peaceful.

With that ringing came something else, the water around her began to glow a light blue color that was in contrast to the deeper blue that covered the rest of the lake, that cool feeling vanishing and replaced with a gentle warmth that reminded her of her childhood, how on cold mornings Yengi would sit Leki in her lap and wrap her robes around her in the warmest blanket she had ever felt.

Slowly that ringing became higher pitched, and the glow became brighter. With it Leki could tell the pain she was feeling became duller and duller. Tamura was gasping his eyes closed as tight as he could get them, his hands shaking as he moved them over her, she didn't know all the facts when it came to how waterbenders healed people, but by how much it looked like Tamura was struggling it took a lot of concentration and energy to keep the connection.

Tamura fell back suddenly, the water splashing. His breath was heavy, a film of sweat of his brow and his face red. "T-there." He said with a gasp, tilting his hands, using them to cup the water and drinking it greedily.

Hesitantly Leki sat up, causing ripples in the water. Just as hesitantly she bent her leg and prepared herself for another wave of excruciating pain, but instead it was only a shadow of what it had been. Instead it was a much more tolerable sting. "Thank you." Leki said softly. "I had heard that waterbenders could do incredible things but to actually experience it for myself was...amazing."

"There are healers up north who can do a far better job in the art of healing than I can." He explained, standing up. "I can do it but it takes far more energy for me. I guess women are just...better healers than men." He shrugged and offered his hand to her.

Leki took it without hesitation and allowed Tamura to help her up. "Still...without your ability...I could have been much worse."

"That is exactly why I learned the art, to help people. I was grateful to find a master who was willing to teach me...but I learned an awful truth before I knew I was the Avatar. No matter how hard you try, you can never save everyone. It's the ones I couldn't save that weigh heavy on me...I'm glad I didn't have to add you to that list." He smiled softly, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand in such a way he didn't even seem to realize he had been doing it. and then he looked down quickly letting go of her hand. His cheeks turning a bright red. It was strange seeing someone besides her get flustered for a change. But at the same time it was doubly strange to see that someone getting flustered to be him. Such an innocent look of embarrassment on Tamura's face looked so unnatural. But she liked this kind of unnatural.

"Do...do you need me to carry you?"

Leki took a half step, her leg stinging but not unbearably so. "No...I think I will able to make the walk back on my own." She stepped back on shore. Interlacing her fingers together she exhaled sharply, a vortex of wind spiraling around her body and in an instant she was dry, one of the many perks of being an airbender it never took her very long to get dry after a bath. Walking forward she bent down and picking her staff up, taking a moment to inspect the wood grain. Thankfully her staff didn't have any cracks that were noticeable.