𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 was obscured by hazy clouds hanging low in the sky. My bag weighed me down as I trudged forward. There hardly wasn't any snow on the ground, but I didn't mind that day. My head was heavy with thoughts and emotions and pain, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was coming up on the anniversary of that day. Or maybe it was something different. Whatever it was, it was making me feel off.
The walk to Nora's house was very uneventful. She lived on the outskirts of town, away from the busy days and nights of Republic City. She told me once that she used to love spending her nights out on the town, but when she got married, she settled down with her husband. They had lived in this house for as long as they'd been married. I loved visiting their house because it was so beautiful and homey, and Hale was a great guy that made me feel welcome there.
Nora was the breadwinner in their family of two. She owned the shop I worked at, and before that, she worked at a couple of different shops. After they got married, Hale got into a bad accident at work and ended up paralyzed from the legs down. He ended up getting a mechanized wheelchair from Future Industries early on, which was a good thing. Hale was working at Future Industries when it happened, so that was probably why they gave him a wheelchair. I thought that Hale would have pressed charges against the company, but he didn't because of how laid back he was. He had never let the wheelchair change who he was; it didn't debilitate him because it gave him the strength to keep moving.
I wished I had his strength.
My frozen fingers knock on the door in quick succession. It immediately opened, as if Nora was waiting for me. "Raya!" Nora said excitedly. "It's good to see you!"
"I just saw you yesterday," I said with a quick roll of my eyes. I pushed her inside and kicked the door shut behind me. "Where's Hale?"
"You hate me, don't you?" Nora gestured to their living room which was just off to the side of the main entrance. I saw a hand wave at me. "You just come here to spend time with Hale."
"Perhaps," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. Nora noticed my sour mood but didn't say anything yet. "So, what are we doing today?"
"I'm not sure yet," she said, grabbing onto my arm. She led me into the other room where Hale was. He was bent over something in front of him, and he had on his safety goggles. Now that he was stuck at home most of the time, he had time to work on his favorite hobby: woodworking. "Hey, Hale!"
I hugged him quickly. He glanced up at me, a smile flashing across his face. His hair was graying on the sides near his ears, but he still had that glint in his eyes that reminded me of a little boy. "How are you doing, Raya?" he asked, setting his tools down on the table in front of him.
"I could be better," I muttered. The pain in my head flashed up, but I ignored it. I assumed it was because I was very stressed about Mako's scarf. I forced a smile on my face and said, "I've been okay. What about you?"
"I'm great!" He gave me a grin before pointing to his project. "I'm making a table right now, even though Nora threatened me not to make it. 'We already have too many tables as it is' is her excuse, but my thought is that you can never have enough tables!"
"That sounds like Nora."
"Would you like a table for your house?"
A real smile spread across my face as I quickly nodded. "I'd love a table, Hale. Tahno and I could use it in the second living room of our house." We normally didn't sit in the second living room because it hardly had anything in it, so this table would be perfect. "Thank you!"
"How is Tahno, anyway?" Hale took his goggles off, setting them to the side. "I haven't seen him in a while."
"He's good." I sat down on one of the cushions on the ground, crossing my legs underneath me. Setting my bag to the side, I leaned back on my hands. Hale never lost his smile, making me feel a little better about my situation. "He's been practicing for his pro-bending matches, though I think I can convince him to visit soon."
"That would be great." The easy smile never left Hale's face. "He deserves to take a break like the rest of us."
"I've told him that," I said with a sigh. "He doesn't listen to me. He wants to make sure that we have enough money. I'm pretty sure that he's working this hard because he wants to take care of me still." I screwed my eyes shut, pushing the images away from my mind. "I'm not a little girl anymore."
Nora's tender touch made me open my eyes. For some reason, my eyesight was a little blurry. My eyes had gotten misty from the tears I had been suppressing, but I still didn't want to cry. It had been a long time since I cried about this, and I didn't want to cry about it ever again. Before Nora could say anything to me, there was a knock on the door. I jumped up and said, "I'll get it."
I didn't wait to hear if they had anything to say. I didn't want to talk about my bad mood anymore. It made me frustrated and mad that it still affected me. I wrapped my hand around the doorknob and swung it open. A pretty girl was standing in the doorway, an easy smile on her face. Her green eyes were a little confused when she saw me, but she didn't show it otherwise.
"Is Hale here?" she asked politely. "I wanted to check up on him."
"Yeah, he's here," I said, frowning. "Why?"
"I'm Asami Sato, daughter of the Future Industries founder," she said, nodding. Her perfectly styled dark hair didn't even fall into her face when she did that. "I check on him every few months to see how he's doing and how his wheelchair is doing. Can I come in?"
I hastily stepped to the side. "Sure."
Asami walked into the house and headed straight toward the living room. Nora gives her a nice smile as she walked toward me. "I didn't know that the daughter of the Future Industries founder came and checked on Hale," I whispered to her.
Nora pulled on her jacket and handed me some gloves. "I usually give them some space. Hale doesn't like it when I stay with them because he doesn't like me hearing how hurt he got."
"Where are you going?" I asked her.
"We're going on a walk together."
"Oh. I guess that's fine with me." I glanced at my bag that sat on the cushion where I had been sitting before. "I'll just leave my bag there. I doubt that Asami would want to steal things from me since she's rich."
Nora gave me a look, pushing me forward. I opened the door and stepped out onto the small porch. Nora softly shut the door behind her before saying, "Asami wouldn't steal anything from you, and it's not because she's rich. She's a good girl."
"I didn't mean to stereotype her," I said, frowning. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Nora. I've been off for a couple of days now."
Nora took my elbow and led me off of the porch, walking down the street. The clouds had parted a little bit, allowing the beautiful sunshine to fall on Nora and me. Her grip on my arm was tight, making me frown. She was silent for a long time, making me think that she forgot about it earlier. "Does it have something to do with your past?" she asked softly.
"It might," I said, nodding. Nora didn't know the huge thing in my past, but I have breached the subject before. I haven't been ready to tell her, and I still wasn't. "I'm not sure, though. Ever since I fell a week ago, things have been off."
"Did you hit your head?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't that bad."
Nora hummed a response, ducking slightly when a branch hung a little low on her side of the sidewalk. The green foliage was pretty around here, making me wish that Tahno and I bought a house on this side of town. "I'm sure it's nothing, sweetheart," she said, offering me a smile. "Knowing you, you'll be able to bounce back soon."
"Right," I said, averting my gaze. It took me forever to bounce back years ago, so I doubted her words.
The fresh air around us helped with my bad mood. Soon into the walk, I was feeling slightly better, which was amazing. I sent a quick 'thank you' to the Spirits for their help, but I was still confused about my bad mood. It wasn't normal for me to feel like that, so what was going on? I couldn't figure it out.