Owning things? And I thought my jokes were bad

Crimson

They brought her in around daybreak, looking as if she'd been beaten half to death; and she probably was.

I didn't recognise her at first, from all the bruises. I was also too surprised at seeing another arrival in the heavy duty metal handcuffs. To my knowledge, all of the non-bender patients already been admitted...Had I missed someone?

I watched in confusion as the exhausted guards shoved the mysterious patient into my empty ward; pushing her down onto her knees. Her face was covered in a mop of short brown hair, and she had an arrangement of cuts on her exposed skin. My voice kicked into gear, as my brain registered that this unnamed individual was going to be here to stay unless I did anything.

"Excuse me," I called. They didn't seem to hear my voice. I tried again, this time, louder. "Excuse me, boys - who is this patient? I already had everyone -"

"You're the only one that hasn't clocked out," the taller one said gruffly, answering my unfinished question. "She's your problem now, doctor."

The shorter one tossed me a key, which I struggled catching. As they made for the door, my brain stuttered around the taller one's response.

Deciding to ignore it, for now, I walked over to the kneeling girl. Her hair still hung over her face, and her breathing had calmed down. I reached down to grab her arm, and I felt my thumb brush over something rough.

I looked down at her arm, expecting to see the norm; a big gash from a knife, or a burn mark. What etched into my brain was much worse.

The letter "B" was burned into her bicep.

I stumbled back, my small heels clicking against the floor. A Bender was right in front of me, and my heart suddenly pounding with nervousness.

I was alone with a Bender.

All of my nurses had clocked out several hours ago, and the rest of the nurses and doctors had accompanied the orderlies in their last run to the penitentiary. Thinking that I was clear for the rest of the morning, I had stayed to clean up. And now I was alone. With a Bender.

Carefully, quietly, I approached her. I had to get her up, out of the cuffs, clean, and into a cell. Hopefully, she wouldn't burn me alive or crush my body with rocks.

But which one of the Benders was she? There were dozens, any human knew that but which one was stupid enough to bend their element?

"I know you're scared of me," her voice was gravelly and rough like she had swallowed glass. Shit. Could they smell fear now?

I swallowed my fear and put on a straight face. "Of course, I'm not, Bender. I'm disgusted by you."

She chuckled, then coughed. "You know who I am, don't you?" She looked up at me, her blue eyes piercing my soul.

I let out a shaky breath. "You're the 'Avatar'. The most powerful Bender of them all."

She smiled at me, her teeth surprisingly white. "You're a smart human."

I turned away, my heart pounding harder when I realised who was under my care now.

The Avatar.

I was alone with the Avatar.

Turning back around, I straightened up. "Top of my class."

She chuckled again. "Such a high honour under the eyes of Aardvark."

Anger flooded my senses, and I kicked her in the gut. "That's Amon to you, Bender." The way I said Bender left a bitter taste in my words.

Her cough turned into a chuckle. The lights began to flicker, and fear overcame the anger. "I know you've dreamt about being a Bender,"

The words that left the Avatar's mouth hurt my heart; when in fact I have. But she couldn't know that.

"Nonsense," was my response.

I grabbed her arm and roughly brought her to her feet. She was around my height, 5'7" or so. I uncuffed her, and she rubbed her wrists, the skin pink and raw. The "B" on her bicep stared at me in the face.

She walked around my office, brushing her fingers over various picture frames and documents. My breath hitched, expecting a light flame to appear.

My eyes widened as things on my desk moved as if she had invisible hands. She sat down on my desk, her fur covered feet barely off the floor.

Her smile was blinding and intoxicating as if she could get whatever she wanted. My ears picked up a low rumble, and a small rock popped out of the floor, in a perfect sphere shape. It floated above her palm, and she began "tossing" it between hands.

Before I had my memory wiped, I knew what Bending looked like. But now, it startled me. I had only ever seen it in educational videos during class.

"Asami Sato, we're going to be great friends."