herbal | atla

i

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IT HAD BEEN A SLOW DAY at work, and Song Li was bored. She knew it was a good thing that nobody in the village was falling ill or getting injured, but she'd had nothing to do all day. Perhaps a 16-year-old girl should have had something better to do than work all day in the infirmary, she thought. But this was her life, and it had been since her father had left. Besides, with the impending doom of Fire Nation drawing ever closer, there wasn't much opportunity for fun.

"Song, can you help fold these sheets, please?" One of the girls called her over.

"Sure, Lei," Song sighed, before mumbling under her breath, "it's not like there's literally anything else in the world I'd rather be doing."

"I heard that!" Lei appeared from the back room, carrying an armful of sheets which she threw onto the table. She turned to look at Song Li and with a sigh, placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I know it's boring, but these things need to be done if we want anything to get done around here. We need to stay prepared for the worst."

Song merely shrugged, but on the inside, her heart sank. She knew what "the worst" meant.

A small smile made its way onto Lei's face as she bumped her shoulder against hers. "I'll tell you what. All the patients that come in for the rest of the day, I'll let you take care of them. You're in charge around here."

She found herself unable to prevent the smile that forced itself onto her face. "Really? I'm in charge?"

"Yep," Lei grinned. "Besides, my boyfriend's picking me up soon for a date, so the sooner I can get my shift to end, the better."

Song Li rolled her eyes in response. "Right, of course."

A pang of jealousy struck her, as much as she tried to stop it. She knew it was selfish of her, but a part of her longed for a romance like Lei's. Life in her small village was tedious and simple, and all she had ever longed for was something that would bring some flavour into her life. She remembered the days when she was young, and her mother and father would parade around her, being sickeningly in love. Back then, she had thought it was gross, but now she realised there was hardly ever a day they hadn't been happy and satisfied with their lives.

All she had ever done was try and provide for her and her mother, working at the hospital to try and get enough money to cure the illness that grief had brought upon Lian. All she ever did was try and survive.

It had been a while since she'd done anything for herself, and been able to actually live.

Falling in love wouldn't be that bad, she thought.

"Alright, Song, I'm taking off now. You know what to do, right?" Lei came over to her, her bag slung over her shoulder.

Song Li looked up from her thoughts, smiling. "Yeah, of course."

She turned to the door to wave at Lei's boyfriend, Jung. He waved back, and Lei walked up to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. With a final smile, they left and Song sighed. Damn it. When would she find love?

She sighed again and returned to folding the sheets. Barely a second later, the door was pushed open, and two people entered. The younger of the two, a boy around Song Li's age who had a scar around his left eye (and was, she noted, quite handsome) looked around in a panic.