#meelo lok

“Good morning!” they chanted.

You smirked, “it is.” That was your usual response, you loved the dance that was what every conversation would be.

“You doing the usual today?” Jinora asked, they all had your schedule figured out.

You shrugged, “you know it.”

“You don't want to shake things up?” Ikki asked, pressing her palms into the table and leaning towards you, “shouldn’t you have a boyfriend or something by now?”

“Oh no,” you laughed, “What would dad say about that?”

“He’d probably be relieved that you finally got friends other than us!” Meelo said, “He’s always saying stuff like that.”

“What? No, he's not Meelo!” Ikki said. You felt a pressure settle on your chest. You’ve grown accustomed to it, it was technically always there but you felt it get heavier every time someone’s expectations of you were mentioned.

You said nothing and continued to eat while Ikko and Meelo were arguing. The conversation resumes its dance, you smiling while finishing your food.

“Have you guys been learning cool stuff in your airbending training?” you asked, waiting for them to finish their food.

“Not really,” “No,” Ikki and Meelo groaned simultaneously.

Jinora scoffed, “They only want to fight and break stuff.”

“Well, that's the cool stuff,” Meelo sighed, dramatically.

You chuckled, “Well, air nomads are known to be peaceful, there’d be no reason to fight.”

“Grandpa Aang fought,” Ikki added, perking up.

“He doesn’t count, he was the Avatar,” you said waving your hand.

“Dad can fight,” Meelo said.

“How do you know? Have you seen him?” you asked.

“No, but I know he can!” Meelo shouted. You smiled and hummed, you knew he could too, it was just fun getting under their skin sometimes.

“Are you all done?” you asked your siblings at the table. You got variations of yes as you picked up their trays. You got up and went to wash them. Once you finished, you went to the mediation pavilion to meditate. Usually, your mind rarely strayed but now you couldn’t stop thinking about what Ikki said, you kept to that same thing every day and in all your 16 years you haven’t done anything particularly notable. You thought about things you wanted to do and to say the list was short would be an understatement. And the more you thought about it, the sadder it became to you. You reeled your mind back in, trying to return to your peaceful mindset for a moment.

Slowly your mind drifted back to the topic, you began to think of things that could inspire you. Of course, going to the city was one of the only things your mind went to. But you couldn’t, when would you? The ferry only comes between dawn and dusk. Though surely Dad wouldn’t notice, or mind for that matter. Before you could continue thinking about this you stood up and decided to go for a walk. 

You wandered the grounds, actively avoiding the Airbending area where you knew your father and siblings would be. You found yourself headed toward where your mother should be, and though you were nervous you didn’t stop moving. You knew Pema and Tenzin weren’t your parents but ever since they took you in, they treated you like their own. You weren’t sure your siblings were outright told but you figured they knew.

You took a deep breath and went to find her. You slid the door open and she was kneeling on the floor, breathing deep in meditation. You slid your shoes off, a habit you couldn’t recall but couldn’t shake. 

The door clicked shut behind you, she opened her eyes and smiled, “Going off script today?”

You returned her smile, “Yeah, something Ikki said got me thinking.”

“Are you taking notes from a troublemaker?” she smirked, raising her brow and chuckling.

You sighed with a smile, “You make what I’m about to say sound like a bad idea.” She tilted her head and waited. “I was thinking about how I always follow this schedule and how I haven’t really gone out and done anything. And because of all that I don't have anything I want to do. And that just scares me a bit.” You looked down at your hands in the pause of your rambling, “So what the point of that was, I’m wondering if sometime I could go out and explore the city?”

You slowly lifted your eyes to hers, keeping your chin down, and you were met with a smile, “Of course, I think you should go out and find something that drives you. And if you think the city is where you can go find that then you should go. But this is something we should talk about with Tenzin, though I see no reason for him to think you shouldn’t go.” 

You smile and fall to your knees to wrap your arms around your mom, “thanks! I’ll talk to him in a bit!” You released her and left, sliding your shoes back on, and closing the door behind you. You eagerly walked outside, pausing to think of the best time to ask him, settling on waiting until he was done training the others. You resumed your schedule, heading toward the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was one of your favorite places to be, the radio was set on low and people talked in hushed tones as they worked. Sometimes if you were there after sunset, you could hear pro-bending matches go on. Unfortunately, you made this discovery recently and haven’t found more time to listen. You quickly did your work, anxious to ask your dad the question. In your haste, you bumped into one of your friends, knocking the empty pot he was holding onto the floor.

“Woah,” he said, stumbling.

You caught him by his arm, steadying him, “Sorry, I was in a rush.” Both of you knelt to pick up the pottery shards.

“It’s alright,” he said smiling. Saamol was about your age, with a round face and dark brown hair that stuck out at odd angles. Both of you worked in the greenhouse at the same time. “It must be important if you’re not paying attention.”

“It is,” you smiled, sticking your hand out, “I can take these to be fixed.”

He shrugged and handed you the pieces, “what is it?”

You stood and smirked down at him, “Well I can't jinx it, can I?” He sighed, smiling, and stood up. “Sorry again, I have to go though, bye.” You waved and left, stuffing the shards in a pouch you carried for this exact reason.

You got to the airbending arena just as Tenzin was letting your siblings go. Meelo and Ikki ran up to you, telling you exaggerated versions of what they learned, while Jinora hung back to talk to your dad. Before your mind could dwell on it, you smiled and focused on your siblings.

“Did Dad finally teach you some fighting moves?”

“No, but we spent more time in the bamboo gates! We had a competition to see who could be in the longest.” Meelo said, waving toward the gates.

“And if he hadn’t been cheating I would’ve won!” Ikki pouted.

“There were no rules! Only winning and losing!” your brother cheered running off, Ikki chasing after to scold him.

You shook your head with a smile and turned to Jinora and your Dad who were walking toward you, “I’m guessing you won?”

Jinora smiled, “No, his ‘cheating’ unfortunately affected me.” You smiled after her as she followed her siblings, leaving just you and your dad.

“Did you have a nice day?” he asked, walking with you toward the dining hall.

“Yeah,” you shrugged, “same as usual. Did you?” He smiled and nodded. You stopped walking and faced him, “I was thinking, you know, I’ve never really been to the city and I was thinking it would be an interesting place to visit and explore…” He raised his brow at you, “I heard they have good food there too! I was just wondering if I would be able to go some time.”

He sighed and shook his head, “You should know by now, that that place is full of distractions and dangerous people. Your time is better spent honing your skills here, instead of finding negative influences there.”

You frowned sagging your shoulders, “but air nomads are supposed to be travelers! Learning from different cultures to have a better understanding of others!”

“The city is not a good place to learn from,” he said with an even tone, “the city has more bad than good to offer.”

You felt your heart begin to race from the injustice of it. The way he spoke like his words were fact, “but-”