Wandering Firebender

Thirty: Brother's Blood

The morning came, and Elio woke up with a heavy feeling in his chest. Tomorrow, he and Sri were to get on a ferry and set sail for Ba Sing Se. This would be his final day in Full Moon Bay. He still had 24 hours to wait, but his anxiety was already beginning to build.

After getting up, eating his breakfast and fixing his hair, he got out of his tent and stretched his arms and legs. He looked over towards Sri's tent. He decided that it would be a good time to check on her again and see how she's doing.

Elio started to make his way over to her tent, but as he approached it, Lao and Jin called him over to a fire not far from him. Both of them waved him over, so he felt obligated to change directions to go see what they wanted first.

"Good morning, Elio! How are you feeling?" Jin greeted him pleasantly.

"I'm doing well this morning. How are you?" Elio replied politely.

"Doing fine." She answered.

"Has Sri come out of her tent yet?" He asked curiously.

"Not yet," Lao shook his head. "She likes her time alone when she's upset; helps her process everything. But we have breakfast ready for the both of you. Why don't you take hers to her? She seems to like ya." He suggested with a chuckle.

"Um... I mean yeah, sure." Elio agreed to it with an awkward chuckle.

"Here." Lao held out two sandwiches to him. Elio took them both in his hands and nodded.

"Thank you." He said before making his way back to Sri's tent.

As he reached the tent, he paused for a moment. He was a bit nervous to speak with Sri again; he hadn't spoken with her since their brief exchange yesterday. He wasn't sure what he'd be getting into now that he was attempting to speak with her again.

He took a deep breath in to muster up his courage...then walked up to her tent.

"Hey, Sri?" He called to her, getting down on one knee at the entrance of her tent.

He waited for a few moments, but no response game.

"I'm sure you must still be really upset. My, um... My offer still stands. I'm here for you if you need to talk." He said.

He hoped that this would get a response out of her, but still nothing came.

"Well... I brought you breakfast. I'm just gonna leave it here in your tent. Hope to see you later." He said. He slowly reached his hand inside and set the sandwich down, making sure not to look inside. He quickly retracted his hand and stood up, making his way back to Lao and Jin.

"Anything?" Jin asked.

"'Fraid not." Elio answered, shaking his head.

"She'll come around. She always does," Lao said confidently. "Don't worry about it too much."

"Alright." Elio said. He was a little hesitant to leave her completely alone for longer, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice...

"So where did you learn how to fight with a staff, Elio?" Suki asked him curiously as the two of them hung out during her break.

"Oh! I, uh, was taught by a master: Master Rala. I've had two lessons with him, and they've done so much for me already." He answered with a chuckle.

"I bet! I'm sure that thing has gotten you out of some tight spots." She presumed.

"You have no idea," He laughed. "I wouldn't be here without it."

"Oh wow! Maybe I'll get some training from this Rala guy," Suki joked lightly with a giggle. "Where did you find him?" She asked curiously.