Helping a friend (Loolaalee, Tarlof)

((Lol sorry, the first time I didn't realize that there was a second page. My bad!))

"Wow, your own private fort. But...why don't the other kids get along with you?" Amaya knew what it was like to have a rough time with your peers. After all, she was frequently bullied back home simply for being a girl, and a girl who was training in combat, at that. Boys often teased her that only boys fought and that girls weren't supposed to use bend for combat or learn to use weapons.

Amaya watched as Anika pulled out the package. Everything inside of it was beautiful. Amaya felt the sheath of one of the katana, and part of her wanted to wield the weapon herself. She slowly drew her hand away as Anika explained about her father and how her parents had been murdered 3 years previous. Tears threatened at her eyes. "Oh, Anika!" She wrapped the girl in a bear hug. "I understand, at least a little. My daddy died before I was born, or so my mommy says. I never got to meet him, but I heard he was a great hero, who saved many lives, even my mommy's." Now there was crying. The girls hugged for a bit, crying out their grief. Then a loud rumble interrupted them. Amaya looked down. "...is it dinner time yet? I haven't eaten since this morning, and well..." Typical of a small child, to forget what she was doing five seconds after doing it.

After Anika and Amaya cried Anika slowly put the items back in their hiding place. She giggled when Amaya's stomach growled.

"Dinner should be done by now."

She stood and started walking back to the orphanage.

" miss tianmei built the fort for me so I could have a place to have fun. The other kids pick on me and don't play games with me because I tend to win and am smarter than they are. I try to hide it but it's not easy."

anika led amaya to the dining area where the other kids had already gathered. they were tossing stuff at each other and being roudy but anika sat down at her usual spot and calmly waited. she turned to amaya. "

so tell me about yourself. ive been talking about me since we met."

"Hmmm, stuff about me..." Amaya thought for a minute. "Well, i'm a fire bender-" A collective gasp rang throughout the room. It seemed like everything froze, and all attention was focused on Amaya, who suddenly felt uncomfortable being spotlighted like that in front of a bunch of kids she didn't even know. Eventually, though, the silence became too much to bear, and the other kids went back to making a mess. "I'll talk a little quieter," Amaya said, blushing a little. "Anyway, I live on an island called Ember Island in the Vermilion Empire. It's really pretty, and it always smells like the sea there. My mommy, brother, and I go to the beach all the time. Oh yeah, I have a twin brother named Shuramine. Together, we're training to one day become warriors. I hope to one day be able to meet royalty, maybe even work for them."

Amaya had always wanted to meet royalty. Of course, most little girls wish they could acutally be royalty, but Amaya got over that pretty quickly. But being able to meet royalty was another story. To actually be friends with a prince or princess would make Amaya's world. "What about you?" she asked Anika, "Do you have any dreams or goals?"

"well," anika said pensivly. "i dont really have any dreams. i do wish i had my parents still alive. other than tat i just want to do right by them you know?''

anika was cut off when tianmei came out with the food. "ok children time to eat." tianmei said cheerfully. the children sat down to eat. while most were rowdy anika was calm collected and polite, always asking for more rice with a smile and a please.

(going to move on after your post.)

I need to talk to Tarlof about that, as it was a partner to a different thread.

Amaya felt like she should have been happy. She should have been happy to see all of these kids her age. She didn't really have friends back home, and making new ones was always great. But she didn't. She felt lost. She felt empty. Even though she was going to find her mother soon, the reality of the situation finally set in: she was lost. Lost in a huge city she had never seen before, lost for who knows how long.

She tried her hardest, but she couldn't fight the tears. Amaya started bawling, causing the other kids to stare at her. She would have shouted "I want my mommy" if she had been an insensitive person. But she knew that shouting such a phrase would only make the other kids sad too. So she sat there and cried, desperately trying to stop.