Missing home (open)

Wandering into the Air Kingdom of the Elemental Kingdom captial made Rhia feel homesick. It had been three months since she had been around other airbenders, and seeing all these people in orange and yellow made her heart sink. She missed her parents. She missed her friends. She missed her teachers, although she didn't miss the lessons. Rhis sighed deeply and continued walking, looking straight down at her feet, trying to fight off tears.

It was too late by the time Rhia saw the feet in front of hers. She crashed straight into the person, bumping her nose, giving her another source of tears.

'Uh sorry...' Rhia mumbled, and no longer able to keep herself composed, she burst into tears.

Draven had been wandering around, enjoying his break from the Earth Kingdom and all of its harsh realities. His mother had come to elemental kingdom in search of help or a possible cure for her paralysis. After days of searching, his mother had become discouraged and after years of dead end searching, Draven realized that the best thing he could do for his mother was to leave her alone. All of this was on his mind when he bumped into someone.

The girl instantly erupted into tears, making Draven uncomfortable. "Err, its okay, you aren't hurt are you?" He asked the girl in a low voice.

In between gasping breaths, Rhia tried to compose herself.

'Oh no,' gasp 'I'm fine,' gasp 'just some dirt... or a bug...'

Rhia gave the man a thumbs up and laughed, the tremble unfortunately still permeating her voice. She began to wipe away her tears and search for the pretend piece of dirt that was supposedly the reason behind her crying.

Draven, who was usually uncomfortable with most peer interaction felt compelled to throw his arms around the trembling girl, who appeared to be forlorn. But after realizing that he barely knew the girl, he opted for a pat on her shoulder. "A bug, you say?" Draven almost chuckled, having used the same excuse once or twice when upset. "And please stop crying, uhh----" Draven paused and rubbed his shoulder. "Im sorry, whats your name?"

Rhia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, finally calming down. The stranger's concern for her helped Rhia regain sense, who warmed to his touch. Rhia sniffed loudly, her breathing returning back to normal, and looked at the man's face the first time.

'My name's Rhia, and I promise I've stopped.' Rhia laughed, but this time it was genuine. 'Sorry about that, I never seem to get off on the right foot with people... what's your name?'

Draven chuckled and smiled awkwardly at the girl. "The name is Draven, and im glad you're alright now" He scratched his head, "So uh, what are you doing here all alone?" he questioned, but then paused. "Sorry, I know thats none of my business." He said glancing down at the ground.

Rhia waved her hand, indicating that she didn't mind his question.

'Oh, I just travel around, meeting new people having fun, trying to find myself,' chuckled Rhia. 'My family didn't approve so I had to go by myself, but at least this way I can do whatever I want. Hey, let's grab some lunch, I'm starving.'

Rhia began to walk towards some food stalls without even waiting for Draven's answer. She hadn't eating traditional airbender food for so long, her mouth was watering for the familiar tastes. Instead of making her pine for home, the food reminded her of the Southern Airbending temple without making her forget the reasons she left.

Draven, who never had much luck socializing shook his head to decline Rhia's offer, but realized that she was already walking ahead. After a few seconds of thought Draven decided to follow her. Food is food right? He thought. "Hey, Rhia! Wait up!" he yelled after her, seeing how far ahead she had gotten. He jogged up to her. "Yeah, I could eat too." he said shyly. "But, I havent got much money." Draven rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit hes had since he was younger.

'Hey, don't worry about it, lunch is on me,' said Rhia with a mischevious smile.

Not having much money herself, Rhia had come to rely on tricks for food. She never took more than she needed, as taught by the monks in the Southern Air Temple. Walking past a stall, she created a small gust of wind, aiming it at a pile of fruit. As the fruit began to topple off the table, she turned around to the shopkeeper to help him pick it up. With her most charming smile, she gave a few pieces of fruit back to the shopkeeper. 'Sorry about that,' she said.

Walking back over to Draven with her back to the stall, she produced some apples which she had pocketed. Rhia tossed one to Draven.

'Here you go.'

Draven had smiled at Rhia's offer to grab lunch, and waited over by a large rock surrounded by smaller ones. He watch Rhia walk to a stall, and use her bending skills to cause the fruit to fall. Then in one swift movement, he saw her quickly take some before handing some back to the vendor.

After Rhia walked back, and tossed Draven an apple, he bit into it, and smirked at her. "You know, you're not the only one with bending skills." He stated matter-of-factly. He stomped on the ground and raised his hands causing the rock he was standing on to shoot up into the air with him on it. "The veiw is great from up here!" He shouted down to her, and chuckled. It was nice to earth bend just for fun.

He then lowered his hands and the rock sunk back down to the earth. "Have you ever seen other types of bending before?" He questioned. "I ask because, before my mother and I came to elemental kingdom, i was only ever surrounded by earth benders." Draven smiled sadly. "I used to always feel so sheltered from the rest of the world."