Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Six☁

Nazadori waited by the large, earthen gates separating the palace from the public, the same gates that she stood at when King Bumi's casket traveled through the streets of his beloved city. This time, though, tears weren't brimming her eyes. A smile actually appeared on her face when she saw each member of the White Lotus approaching her. Each of the old men (besides that waterbender, the man was a menace sometimes) had made such an impression on her in the past few days that they had been staying here with her, and she was sad that they were all going back to their homes. However, she had a lot of work to do now.

One of her earthbending butlers huffed and grunted on his way over to her, pushing an earthen cart against the ground. She was glad that all the goodie bags she designed and made all through the night were ready for the members of the White Lotus. She hoped they would enjoy the effort she put into these goodie bags, with the little pieces of Earth Kingdom desert she attempted to bake by herself at home along with the tiny bouquets of flowers she put together. By early morning, she ended up throwing whatever random object she found in her house into the goodie bags to complete them in time. 

"Thank you for bringing this here," Nazadori said to the butler with a sweet smile on her face. The butler bowed, but she waved her hands at him quickly. "You don't need to do that. I'm just Nazadori, not the queen. Yet anyway."

The butler bowed again to her before walking away to wherever he needed to be. Her heart sunk in her chest as she watched his retreating form. The servants were supposed to listen to her, but he didn't today. Maybe she didn't have enough of an imposing voice or form. Or maybe it was against the rules to not bow to the monarch of the city. Whatever it was, she wasn't excited to experience that level of treatment. She was just Nazadori, a normal girl who had gotten thrown into this mess.

She shook off her bad feelings as the White Lotus finally made it to her. Nazadori plastered the smile back on her face, but it didn't feel that fake when she saw Iroh approach her first. Without saying a word, he opened his arms wide, and she fell into his embrace, grateful that he knew exactly what she needed just by looking at her. His hug was warm, and she realized it was something she never really had before, especially not with her family. Her mother, yes, loved her, but she never really hugged her like this, where Nazadori knew just how much she was loved.

"Thank you all for coming here," she said once she stepped out of Iroh's embrace. She smiled warmly at each man that stood around her. "It means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed your time here, and I can't wait to see each of you again." She turned toward the earthen cart that sat right next to her and said, "I made each of you a goodie bag to take on the journey home. It has some snacks in it and other little treats for each of you."

"You didn't have to do that for us," Master Piandao said with a small smile on his face. 

"Oh, I think it's nice that she's done this for us," Iroh said, already reaching for his own goodie bag. Nazadori stifled a laugh underneath a cough. "I appreciate all the baked goods, Miss Nazadori. I will surely enjoy them on my journey home."

Each member of the White Lotus took their goodie bags before they took their leave. Chariots were waiting for them outside the gates, and they all got into their respective one, leaving her all alone in the palace. It was absolutely silent around her, but she wasn't complaining about that. She didn't get much silence at home, so she had to enjoy it while she lasted along with being alone here.

"Did they already leave?"

Well, not entirely alone. 

Nazadori whirled around and saw Avatar Aang hurrying toward her. Today, he wasn't wearing his formal robes like he had been around the members of the White Lotus and the other royal leaders of the world. Instead, he had on what seemed to be a normal set of yellow and brown robes, something that he could be actually comfortable in and move around easily.