Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Twelve☁

Footsteps sounded from another part of the house, and Nazadori hoped it wasn't her mother. She hated showing her emotions in front of Mava and Baleng, but showing how weak she was in front of her mother was a whole different story. While her mother had been strong when Nazadori grew up, Nazadori had been weak and angry. Her mother tried to help her change her ways, but nothing happened until she started working with King Bumi. 

She knew her mother hated the way Nazadori acted at school. She couldn't help it when Nazadori saw the popular kids hurt the others and bully them because of their differences. She needed to help those people, and maybe that was the reason why Bumi saw the good in her. That thought made her cry harder. 

"Is she okay?" Mother asked Mava and Baleng softly. She could still hear her easily, even though she was whispering to her siblings. 

"We're not sure," Baleng answered her, just as softly. "She just kind of walked in here and started crying."

It seemed like forever until her tears dried up. Her family left her alone to cry while they chatted softly together about Nazadori and why she was actually there and if something had happened to her. What was even worse was that they let her cry alone. They didn't comfort her like she needed them to. They didn't offer to make her tea to calm down, they didn't hold her, they didn't do anything for her. 

She wiped all the tears off of her face and slowly lifted her head. It was hard enough to face them after breaking down in front of them, but she realized she was actually alone in the room. They weren't even in the same area as she was. 

Nazadori stood up unsteadily and headed into the kitchen, finding Mother, Mava, and Baleng sitting in there quietly. They all were enjoying a cup of tea together, but when they saw that Nazadori had joined them, Mother stood up and offered her a cup of tea, too. Nazadori took it gratefully, using the cup to hide her splotchy face.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Mava asked Nazadori gently as she took a sip of her tea. It was the same flavor that her mother had always gotten ever since she was a little girl, and it reminded her of simpler times. "I know that always made you feel better when you were younger."

Against her better judgement, Nazadori nodded. She would much rather be outside right now than trapped in her childhood home, the place that never seemed to change while she was changing quicker than she ever could imagine. Mava stood up first and took Nazadori's hand. Mother grasped her cup of tea from her while Baleng led them through the house to the front door.

As she stepped outside, she sucked in a deep breath of the cool night air. The fresh air filled her lungs immensely, but she didn't feel as good as she thought she would. Still, it was better than being inside. She walked ahead of Baleng and Mava because she didn't want to face their questions just yet. She didn't want to explain why she had been crying for a whole day, why she couldn't stop crying. She didn't want to talk about it at all.

"Help!" someone suddenly shouted just around the corner. 

Nazadori glanced at her siblings behind her to see them both on edge, especially when a scream echoed around them. Her heart thudded against her chest, but she knew she couldn't just walk away if someone needed her help. "Let's go."

She led them to the street where the scream came from. It was incredibly dark, so dark that her eyes couldn't see anything. Yet three figures materialized before her eyes as they got used to the dark. There was one figure crouched down on the ground while the other two figures were digging through something above the lone one.

Nazadori ran toward the figures before her mind could even tell her to stop. The only thing that kept repeating in her head was that she needed to save whoever needed help, no matter who they were. It didn't matter if they were rich or poor, man or woman, she would help anyone who needed it. That was her pledge to herself and her reign as queen. If only the people knew that.

Because Mava was a trained guard and an earthbender, she took the lead in facing the two attackers. Baleng aided her in going after them, so Nazadori ran over to the person who had crouched on the ground. The person seemed to be a young girl, younger than Nazadori was, someone who wouldn't be able to take care of herself against thugs on the street. She grasped her hand and pulled her away from all the action before she got hurt worse.

"Are you okay?" Nazadori asked the young girl, holding her close to her. Because it was so dark, she couldn't see if the girl was bleeding or anything, but she didn't think she could pat her down without getting punched. "Are you hurt?"

The girl shook in her arms, so Nazadori just held her tightly against her, rubbing her hand up and down her back. She allowed her to cry into her neck instead of answering her questions right away. While the girl cried, Nazadori watched Mava and Baleng take down the two thugs, and she was glad that she had taken them up on the walk. They had saved someone from getting hurt, and that made her feel so much better.

"I'm okay," the girl finally said, her voice shaking. She sounded so scared. "Thank you so much for helping me. I owe my life to you."

Nazadori didn't say anything else to the girl. She didn't think she had the strength to. Those were the exact words she should have said to Bumi before he died, but she never really told him how much he meant to her. She just assumed that he would be here forever. But he wasn't, and she would never be able to tell him how much she appreciated him.

Still, she could do that with those around her now. She could show how much Bumi meant to her while also showing her loved ones that she did appreciate them. She just didn't know how to do that yet.