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𝐓he lighthearted airbender sat on the top of a hill, her feet dangling over the edge as she watched the horizon, the tiniest snowflakes falling over her. She wore her usual Air Nomad clothing and even added an orange scarf around her neck to add to her comfort. Below her, she could see Korra, Jinora, and Ikki feeding fruits to the ring-tailed lemurs on the snow. She smiled at the sight of them, feeling satisfied with where she was right now.
When the night came, Cloud decided to roam around the metropolis after listening to the whole tournament between the Fire Ferrets and the Rabaroos. She didn't come to the arena since she had a call from her father and it lasted about six to seven hours for some reason she couldn't quite explain. The father and the daughter talk a lot. The stories about their adventures were always never-ending.
Not even a few minutes later, she heard her stomach growling at the smell of noodles and other kinds of food wafting through the air.
"Come on, I just ate!" Cloud grumbled under her breath but nonetheless, she marched towards the familiar noodle shop.
She went straight to the counter and ordered a bowl of seaweed noodles, and some other vegetarian foods to satisfy her cravings. As she turned around to find a table, her lips curved into a small frown at the sight of a certain earthbender, sitting not far from her with tear-stained cheeks, slurping another bowl of noodle without even stopping.
Cloud didn't hesitate to approach the earthbender. "Bo?"
He looked up from his bowl of noodles and glanced at her. The moment his eyes landed on her, he started bawling loudly for whatever reason. Cloud was a little taken aback but she slid into the space next to him and he scooted closer to her, suddenly burying his face on her shoulder. She let him do that as she snaked her arms around his shoulders to comfort the younger boy, constantly patting his back.
"It's okay," Cloud mumbled, not caring if people were staring at them. "Cry it all out."
It took about an hour before the boy stopped crying, and between those sessions, her order had come around too She just told the waiter to set them on the table. Cloud didn't care that her shirt was basically soaked from his tears as she patted his arm. The boy straightened up in his seat, but he quickly slumped over the table as soon as he sat up. Cloud let out a deep sigh and looked at her cold food.
"I'm going to eat now, okay?" Cloud told him, preparing her chopsticks.
"Okay." His voice was muffled but she heard him.
Another hour had passed but Cloud still hadn't left the noodle shop, and neither did Bolin as he was slumped across the table like he had just drank five bottles of alcohol. But that would be impossible since he was underage. She could only think of one thing that was close to that, and it was heartbreak. But who? She wondered.
"Morning, Narook. My brother here?"
Cloud lazily looked up from leaning against her hand to see the older brother of the earthbender next to her. Mako looked very surprised to see her, but he paid more attention to his brother who looked worse. His face dropped. He didn't like seeing his little brother so sad, especially when he was the reason for it.
"Come on. Wake up." Mako tried to shake him awake but Bolin ignored him. "Taking you home, bro."
"Don't call me that. You're not my brother! You're a brother betrayer!" Bolin sobbed. Then he gestured at his ferret, who was lying in a bowl on the table with a big stomach as if he just ate ten bowls of noodles. He probably did. "The only one I can trust anymore is Pabu. And Cloudy! Pabu and Cloudy love me."
Cloud raised her eyebrows, looking up at the firebender with a questioning stare. "What did you do now?"
Mako avoided her question and placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "You're a mess, and we've got the biggest match of our lives tonight. Let's go."
Bolin slapped his hand away before angrily pointing at his brother. "No! I'm not going anywhere with you, you traitor!"
Mako glanced at the brown-haired airbender, watching them with a fairly concerned expression on her face. He slightly huffed at her and looked back at Bolin. Cloud continued watching them, the dynamic between the brothers familiar to her.
"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Mako sighed before suddenly picking up the earthbender, and hauling him onto his back with ease.
"Why?" Bolin sobbed.
"Told you dating a teammate was a bad idea."
"You're a bad idea! Put me down! Put me down!"
Cloud shook her head in disbelief and stood up from the chair, glancing at the table. She whistled at the satiated fire ferret and laid her hand on the table as a makeshift bridge. Pabu flopped off the empty bowl of noodles and slowly climbed onto her shoulder, the ferret snuggling closer to her neck, slightly tickling her but as soon as he got himself situated, she felt warm, causing a smile to appear on her face.
