At the park (Open)

Kazami listened to what Yami had to say. About her having no hope and how people could accept her as a ruler when she was basically an outlaw in so many places. There were so many things Kazami wanted to tell her. Things to comfort her but she might not believe her. The best thing she could do was tell the truth. Kazami thought about what she wanted to say to Yami. Suddenly, a loud whistle startled her. Was she thinking about what she was going to say so long that Yami had to get her attention? No. It was Yami calling for something. That something was huge. It swooped down from the sky black as night. Kazami stared at it in wonder. Was that actually a dragon? Was it the dragon Yami was telling her about earlier? Fireball was it? Yes, Fireball. Yami introduced her to Fireball. Could the dragon actually understand Yami? Kazami cautiously wheeled her way over to Fireball and asked, "Is it okay if I touch him?" Aria flew close to the dragon. It flew all around the dragon and sniffed it in various places, Kazami's guess, probably trying to recognize it's scent. Kazami was pretty sure that Aria has never encountered a single dragon before so it was only natural that Aria would want to find out if it had somewhat of a familier sent. Fireball was truely amazing. His scales reflected the light in a wonderful manner, speaking of which, there wasn't much sunlight left.

Yami led Fireball over to Kazami's wheel chair. Fireball watched the little spirit fly around his head, some animal sense allowing him to know the spirit's location. When he noticed Kazami, he studied her closely, making sure she wasn't armed and wasn't going to be able to hurt Yami at all. Finally, he leaned forward and rested his head in her lap, closing his eyes. Yami rubbed his neck. "He found me when I was little, and he has been there for me since. If it wasn't for him, I would have starved to death when I first ran away from home. He brought me berries that he knew weren't poisoned, and he hunted for me, cooking the meat as well." At the sound of the word meat, Fireball's ears pricked up, and he lifted his head and looked at Yami. She smiled at him. "Alright, bud, i'll get you something." She knew that up in the mountains, there were very few animals that Fireball could hunt, and nothing very large. But Yami was prepared, and she had stopped by a butcher on her way in. Why there was a butcher at an air temple was a mystery, but Yami didn't complain. She reached into her bag and pulled out a large bundle of plastic, which she unwrapped, revealing a large bird covered in Yami's homemade sauce. She tossed it in the air, and Fireball launched up and caught the meat in his mouth before gently landing again.

Fireball stared at Kazami for a few moments. Did it like her? Would it attack her? Fireball seemingly decided to trust Kazami and put his head in her lap. She put her hand on his head. It was really warm. His scales were as hard as rock but as smooth as river stones. Yami told Kazami how Fireball found her and took care of her. She wondered how a creature as fearsome as a dragon could be so nice and caring. Kazami remembered something the air nomads taught her. All creatures are like humans. They come in many different forms and personalities. Like us, every one of them is different. We should treat them like we treat one another. When Yami said the word "meat" Fireball suddenly lift his head off of Kazami's lap. Yami pulled something out of her bag. It was wrapped in something like plastic maybe or some sort of wax paper. There was the meat of a bird in it. Kazami wrinkled her nose. Meat. How could she carry meat with her when she lived in the air temples once. Living with the teaching of the air nomads meant no meat. Everyone was a vegetarian. Eating meat meant killing animals. Killing animals is terrible, you're taking the life away from an innocent creature. Yami threw the meat into the air and Fireball caught it. Kazami shrugged. Some people just liked meat. Kazami remembered what she was going to tell Yami now. "Yami," she began, "I just wanted to say that one day you will probably have to rule being 2nd in line. I'm sure if you just tell people why these things happen, about the demon, they will forgive you. People aren't just that cruel you know. Not to ever forgive somebody. I even forgive the fire benders that killed off my family. When the time is right you will become a good leader. I just know it." Hopefully Yami will become a good leader, Kazami thought to herself. No. She will become a good leader. In her own time of course. Nobody would expect her just to show up at wherever she rules and say, "Hi, sorry I've been on the run forever. I'm ready to rule now!"

Yami smiled at Kazami. This time, her words had hit a nerve, and her eyes began to water. "Thank you, Kazami," she said, wiping her eyes. She stepped forward and hugged Kazami, an action that surprised her. She was never fond of physical affection, except, of course, towards Drago, but Kazami felt like a true friend. "It's a little new to me, having somebody actually believe in me. I'm so used to being hated, yelled at, hunted. Nobody has ever put so much faith in me." Fireball seemed to sense Yami's change in emotion, and he pressed his head against her. Yami looked at the saddle on his back, then at Kazami, who, she knew, would forever be paralyzed. She wanted to do something for her, as a thanks for sharing her kindness. Yami wasn't very familiar with having friends, so she was at a loss. Finally, she turned back to the saddle, and a smile broke across her face. "Hey, Kazami," she asked, gesturing towards Fireball, "How would you like to fly?"

Kazami saw tears form in Yami's eyes. Did she really make her upset? She didn't intend to. Yami said "Thank you" and hugged her. This sudden movement surprised Kazami. She hugged her back. Yami told her that people would only try to hunt her, hated her, and were just mean to her, nothing more and that she was happy that Kazami put faith in her. She didn't know that what she said would make her feel that way. All she was trying to do was tell her how she really felt. Yami seemed like a really nice girl. Yami gestured towards her dragon and asked if she wanted to fly. Kazami was stunned. Fly? A chance to get out of her wheelchair? Of course! "Really? You mean it? Yes, thank you so much! Finally, I can get out of this wheelchair for a while." Kazami wondered what flying would be like. It was her dream to fly. Being an air bender, she knew she could eventually bend the clouds in such a way to make her almost fly but flying on a dragon? That was something completely different. She couldn't help but just keep smiling the largest grin she could.

Yami glanced at the sky, making a mental note that the last lights of twilight were beginning to fade. She would need to get Kazami home pretty soon. She walked over to Kazami and lifted her up the same way she did to put her in the wheelchair and carried her over to Fireball, helping her get seated comfortably on the back of the saddle. Yami looked at the wheelchair. Kazami would need it later, she knew. She knelt next to it and quickly found the mechanism that would allow the chair to fold. Yami strapped the chair behind the saddle, making sure it was secure. Then she walked up to Fireball's head and knelt next to him. "Alright, bud," she whispered in his ear, "Start out gentle, but be alert for my signal, in case she wants to go faster." She made sure her voice was soft enough that Kazami wouldn't be able to hear. She knew that a smooth flight might be amazing at first, but would get boring after a while. She figured Kazami may want a little more excitement, and if she didn't, then they would land. No harm done.

Yami climbed into the saddle in front of Kazami, gripping the reins. She gave a gentle flick, and Fireball began slowly flapping his wings. They soon left the ground, and, before long, they were flying through the clouds at a slow, gentle pace.

Kazami was lifted up into Fireball's saddle. Aria flew over to Kazami and stared at her probably wondering what she was doing. "It's okay Aria. I'm fine, I'll be flying for the first time." Aria seemed to understand and sat of Kazami's shoulder obviously wanting to be with Kazami. She shrugged and decided that she can't change Aria's mind. She was a very stubborn spirit after all. Yami folded up Kazami's wheelchair and strapped it onto the saddle. This was so exciting. Finally, she would be able to fly! Yami hopped on the saddle and Fireball started to take off. Fireball was flying at a very leisurely pace. Fireball wasn't making much wind but a nice soft breeze. It reminded her of when her family used to take her to the top of the northern air temple in the spring time. How her hair caught in the breeze and she always smelled the nice spring air. Although this nice breeze was nice, she was an air bender. Air is the element of freedom. She wanted to feel as if she really is free. Like how a dragon would feel. No worries, just the open sky. "Yami?" Kazami asked, "Can we go faster please? Like, a lot faster?" Kazami was fully prepared for how fast Fireball would want to go. If it meant feeling like she was really free, she was all for it.

Yami smiled and looked back at Kazami. "Took you long enough," she said with a small chuckle. She faced forward again and nudged Fireball with her knee. His ears pricked up, and instantly, he was climbing straight upward, vigorously flapping his wings. Yami was glad that her hair was tucked inside her cloak, or it would be hitting Kazami in the face. The flew through a couple of clouds, which got Yami wet, but Kazami was shielded from. Yami kicked Fireball, and he seemed to chuckle. They leveled out and hovered for a moment, during which time Yami bent the water out of her clothing, throwing it down into the valley below. They waited, and even Yami began to grow tense. Fireball had done it before: he climbs as high as he is willing, and waits, then drops at a random time. Yami tried to predict the drop once, but he seemed to change it every time. This time, they only hovered for about ten seconds before they began plummeting downward in a spiral.

Yami felt her face going numb from all of the wind. She squinted, trying to keep her eyes open. She watched as the temple grew closer and closer, and finally, at the last possible second, Fireball pulled up, narrowly avoiding a spire on the temple itself. Fireball then flew down into the valley, flying over a resovoir, diving in and out of the water, getting both girls soaked. He abruptly broke his pattern and flew away from the water, gradually ascending in a large arc. Finally, he flew back to the park, and landed abruptly, causing Yami to fly out of the saddle, over his head, landing on her face in the dirt. "Ow..." she said as she sat up, dazed.

Fireball flew upwards into the sky. The gravity and pressure of the wind were almost unbarable but yet Kazami felt as if she was finally getting to see much more of the world. They went through some clouds. Kazami stuck one hand out while clinging to Yami. The clouds felt icy cold and very wet. Like a heavy, freezing mist. Fireball stopped flying straight up and leveled out. The view was amazing. The clouds looked so beautiful viewing them from such a high height. Sadly Kazami only got to see it for a few moments for Fireball suddenly dropped. It felt as if a million butterflies were flying throughout her stomach. The wind pressed against her so hard, her eyes wattered. She felt more free than ever. All her worries seemed to go away. She felt... what was that? It aas water. Kazami held her breath and clung to Yami. Fireball went in and out of the water. To be honest, Kazami hadn't felt her whole body being submerged in the water. The dragon zoomed out of the water. Kazami couldn't help but smile widely. This was a truely amazing ride. She saw as Fireball headed towards the park. The dragon suddenly stopped. Yami got thrown over the dragon's head. Unfortunatly Kazami was still clinging onto Yami and couldn't hold herself in place with her legs so she went flying off the saddle with Yami. Luckily Kazami let go as the two went into the air and as they fell, Kazami made a small disk of air to have no damage done to her. She softly landed on the ground in the sitting position. She heard Yami say "Ow".  Kazami turned to look at Yami. She was sitting up in the grass. Seemed like she didn't have as much as a graceful landing. Dirt and grass stains covered her clothes and hood. "Are you okay Yami? Are you hurt?" The girl asked.

Yami pressed her hand against her head, and it felt wet. When she pulled her hand down in front of her eyes, she saw the familiar blood. She had a large gash on her head from the impact with the ground. She saw that Kazami hadn't even gotten hurt from the landing. "I'm fine," she said, noticing the worried look on Kazami's face. Yami pressed her hand into the grass, feeling the water within. She pulled some out, just enough to heal the wound without killing the grass. Soon, the gash was completely gone, and Yami began washing the blood out of her hair and off of her face. "A normal person would feel lightheaded, or even lose consciousness after losing this much blood. But my blood cells regenerate at an amazing pace, so i'm regenerating blood as fast as i'm losing it." Yami took more water from a different section of grass and froze it, creating a mirror, which she used to see where the blood was.

"So, Kazami, where do you live? I figure I ought to get you home, seeing as how late it is." Yami felt that since she was there, she ought to help Kazami get home. As soon as she washed the blood off, she walked over to Fireball and untied the wheelchair. As she began to unfold it, she noticed that it was soaked, so she carefully bent the water off of the chair, dropping it in the grass. Yami knelt next to Kazami and lifted her up, setting her down gently in the chair. In all honesty, she was exhausted, and she just wanted to get some sleep.