𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐒

THE TALES OF JOOYEON

"jooyeon, i must fight in this war. they attacked the northern water tribe, i can't just sit there and do nothing."

jooyeon just nodded, tears streaming down his face. "i understand. but mom, she's- she's still sick! how can i- how can i take care of her?"

his father sighed, pulling jooyeon in a comforting hug. "it'll be fine. i'll be home soon, and your mother is doing better the last days. everything will be okay."

the thirteen year old cried into his father's chest, not wanting to let go. he was scared, already thinking about the worst scenarios.

his father dying in the front, leaving him and his mom alone. his mother not making it, dying from her severe illness.

their grounds were poisoned, they never knew until one day, jooyeon's mother passed out without any signs of anything.

the farmers then told them that someone poisoned their fertile ground. this was many many moons ago.

jooyeon pulled away from his father and looked at him with tears in his eyes. "will the war stop when you return home?"

the answer was no and he knew. he just hoped to hear that everything would be fine.

yet the hope quickly died down. "i don't think so, son. the earth kingdom won't stop until it has power over every element."

someone put their hand on jooyeon's shoulder, making the small boy flinch - it was his mother.

"you're already leaving?" she asked with a sad and tired smile, kissing her husband's lips. and he nodded, explaining that they shouldn't lose any more time.

one last hug, one last look in the eyes before his father left their hut. jooyeon's mother collapsed to the floor after that, too weak to stand on her own.

the thirteen year old knelt down next to her, in shock. "mom?" but no answer. so he tried again.

"mom? come on, please.." he shook her fragile body, the water sign on her neck starting to fade.

jooyeon shook his head in denial, extracting the water out of a vase to spread it over her stomach, as he started to heal her.

this always stopped the poisoning from overtaking for a few weeks. like this time.

the woman groaned, sitting up weakly as she looked at her son with teary eyes. "he's really gone?"

jooyeon sighed. he wished he'd be able to say no. but he shouldn't lie.

"yes..."

[...]

"mom, a letter from dad!" jooyeon shouted happily. it was his fourteenth birthday, and the first thing he saw was the delfi-bird throwing a letter in his room.

running into his mother's room, his excitement died down. she was lying on the floor, pale and lifeless. "mom...?"

kneeling down next to the woman, he checked for her pulse - it was gone. jooyeon started panicking, trying to shake his mother awake, calling out for her.

but no matter what he did, the woman didn't reply. jooyeon was crying at this point, not giving up.

taking a look at her neck, he noticed that the water sign completely faded away. this only happened when...

"mom, come on, you can't be dead... please wake up.." deep inside, he knew that his mother was gone. it was just hard to agree with it.

he tried for hours, not giving up, until it seeped into his mind. his mother died.