𝓗𝓘 𝓼𝓾𝓰𝓪𝓻!
(Dude, idk why I used this font back then, it's so ahh)
ʚଓ: 𝑗𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎, 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠,𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑘𝑦 𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛.
𝐴 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦.
𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑝ℎ, 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑡.
“𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒! 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛!” 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜'𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑.
“𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑌𝑂𝑈 , 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒-”
“𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡–”
“𝑈𝑔ℎℎ, 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒” 𝑡𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑.
“𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝.” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓.
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑍𝑢𝑘𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒. 𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑔, 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦… 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝, 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡… 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡… 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦? 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙?
𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑠,𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑍𝑢𝑘𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑠, 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ, 𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑖𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦.
“𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦? 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡..” 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘, 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ.
“𝐼.. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡. 𝐴 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑠, 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔.
“𝑂𝑜𝑜ℎℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑜! 𝐼𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡.. 𝐼 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙!” 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒.
“𝑁𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒, 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑚𝑒? 𝑀𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑡.”
𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠, 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ.
“𝑂𝑜ℎ! 𝑁𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎” 𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑍𝑢𝑘𝑜.
“𝑈ℎ.. 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜.?” 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠, 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑙.
“ 𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑦𝑜𝑢!” ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑙, 𝑑𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
Katara watches, staying silent, she looks at her clothes, 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 and moves her hand, fingers summoning the water off of her and pushing it aside.
Her gaze goes towards Sokka and you, a flicker of something appears in the atmosphere, heck even Toph can't sleep because of it. The two of you laugh,the way your lips moves and arches because of her brother makes something ache, her jaw clenches uncharacteristically, body moving on its own, hand and fingers directed onto Sokka, Instantly flinging out the water from his clothes, hurting off the fire the other two created.
“There, you're all dry now.” She says dryly to her brother.
Everyone stays silent, a bit confused and shocked by her outburst, before anyone could say anything, the earthbender whines and groans as she opens her tent.
“What's with you all,seriously?! I can't even have my beauty sleep without anyone interrupting!” She tells, pissed, rolling her eyes and leaving the tent.
“𝑆𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑇𝑜𝑝ℎ.. –” 𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑇𝑜𝑝ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠.
“𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑡? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦, 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦.”
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠, 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝.
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.
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The grass on Toph's feet feels harsher for some reason, who's mad? Why is it like that? The blind woman eyebrows furrowed, sighing,ignoring the way Katara was looking at both Sokka and you, who were behind her body talking, Aang 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠 beside her, while Zuko and the waterbender were the last pair of the group.
You laugh with Sokka, having a conversation discreetly whilst 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟 tries to make the earthbender a bit more…sunny. Zuko is silent, adjusting his gaze towards Katara's glares, the fire Lord shakes his head and looks ahead, not saying a word.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
“𝑍𝑢𝑘𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ!”
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑡, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑠, 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠…𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡… 𝑗𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠… 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡.
𝑇𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠,𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 , 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠.
“𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔, 𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑝.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.
—
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦,𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠,𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦.
“𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑–”
𝐴𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟,ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢, ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦; ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.
𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.
𝐼𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒,ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑟𝑢𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛..𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒𝑠, 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙.
𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎'𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑠, 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎'𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚.
“𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟?” 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑝ℎ 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠.
“𝑄𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑦.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑, 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
“𝐺𝑜 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤?”
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
—
𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦𝑙𝑦, 𝑡𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑢𝑝, 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑦 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑢𝑒,𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑦 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.
“𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔?” 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠,𝑝𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.
“𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒.” 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡.
𝑆𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑘, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡, 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝, 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠. 𝐵𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒, 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦.
𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
“𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠.. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑”
“𝐹𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔?”
“... 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤.”
𝐴 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑.
“𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒.” 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦.
“𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙…” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.
“𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑘𝑘𝑎 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢?”
“𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠..?”
.
.
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.”
