Nita went home to find her mother dancing around the sitting room cleaning what the maid had already thoroughly cleaned earlier that day. She must've been worried about something. Nita thought she had seemed fine when she had left earlier that evening, promising to wait up for her, all smiles and steady hands.

It was easy enough to shrug off. To Nita this just meant that one of the other ladies around the Island had brought Tama, her mom, a bit of bad news. Maybe there was even a scandal of sorts. So she sat down in a cushy chair with a plop and a sigh and the plan to talk Tama's ear off. She had figured out years ago that the best way to clam her mother down was to ease her out of her little frenzies and into a conversation.

She started regaling all the events of the evening for her; starting when she left and noticed that out in their garden the snap pears were finally starting to bloom and going all the way down to the strap of her sandal tearing on the way home. But strange enough, it didn't seem to work. Stranger still, she ran out of their sitting room and up the stairs right when Nita got to the part of her story where Zeki told her to go home. Did she think he had a crush on Nita now? That couldn't be, because he certainly wouldn't get over Omi that quickly.

Nita grabbed an apple for herself from the kitchen and headed up to her bedroom, not stopping but noting her mother now bent over the little writing desk in her own room, on her way.

She always thought of her mother as a funny little duck. The woman was often just as jumpy and excitable as Nita was, herself, but it seemed a little more out of place on a woman in her forties. She had bizarre habits and bizarre fears and Nita's ultimate conclusion was that in all the world there couldn't possibly be another person as weird as her mom.

The thing was, she grew up with that around her. With that strange woman and her passive, doting husband surrounding her, filling her whole world up with love. Even when Tama couldn't keep her head straight and her dad, Sheng, was so far away with the Navy, she could feel the warmth of their love for her in her heart. And sometimes that made her sad.

Nita had all the love in the world right at her fingertips. She had everything she needed and if she ever had a want or whim her family jumped to give it to her. She wished Min had been born her real sister rather than just in spirit. Min was such a good person; so kind and smart and funny. So sad. Where Sheng had sent Tama and Nita to live on the Island so they could live happily and peacefully together while he was away, Min was sent there for her own good. Her parents thought it would be best for a young lady like her to grow up safe from whatever demons they saw in the people of the Capital, where they lived. That's what they told her every time they came to visit. They said she didn't know how lucky she was to be liberated from the scandal and depravity of the city. They said she should be grateful.

But she was lonely. She would never tell them or even Nita, but she was. They were sisters, Nita knew, so that meant they knew when something was hurting each other. Nita thought she could feel Min's loneliness grow each time her parent's left her. The nanny who served as her guardian was a useless and harsh woman. All she ever talked about was how Min wasn't living up to her great parent's expectations, how her friends would never earn her respect or a place of honor in the Capital. She didn't approve of any of the kids who lived on the Island year-round, especially not Nita.

Nita's family was all military. Her father came from an old and wealthy family, but everyone called him a dead-beat with no ambition because he never tried to further himself past Captain. Most of his ancestors were admirals or at least commanders. Her mothers family was nothing special; mostly just enlisted men for a few generations back who all seemed to marry really obscure women. Not a match Sheng's father approved of, certainly.

Min was just the opposite. Her father was a land lord and held a title that had been passed down the family line for nearly two centuries. His wife had been hand-selected for him by his own father and they were an even match with there noses turned up to just about everyone else. Very few people were worthy of them, you see.

It was sad. Thinking about it brought Nita back out from her room, seeking comfort from Tama. But Tama wasn't about to settle in to snuggle up with her daughter for a chat. She had climbed up into the attic while Nita was devouring her apple and her thoughts were devouring her. Nita stood at the base of the ladder up and listened to her mom rummage around.

"Mom, are you looking for something?" she called into the half-light in the ceiling.
Tama's voice came back to her in the commanding tone she typically withheld special for scolding her. "I got a message from you father, sweetheart. It looks like we're going on a trip." Her head popped up into the hole, her hair falling down, and she looked almost like she was getting back to her usual self. "It shouldn't be too long so I want you to go back to your room and just pack a small bag. Only a few things, okay?"

She disappeared again and left Nita with excitement and questions ringing in her bones. It had been a while since she had been anywhere but Ember Island. She wondered if her father was meeting them somewhere. That might account for her mother's behavior, odd even for her. She wondered if they were going somewhere exotic and exciting or somewhere for her parents to relax together for a while. Either would be fine with her.

The thought only crossed her mind once that this all seemed a little suspicious. As soon as it appeared Nita pushed it back down to wherever it had come from. Her parents had no reason to act shady and warily. They were good people, so this wasn't any sort of secretive escape. It might've been a surprise even.

Nita packed a bag quickly but remembered Min part way through and took of through the house yelling over her shoulder to tell Tama where she was going.

Min's house was dark when she reached it. That wasn't much of a shock. Her nanny always got mad when Min came home late so she was probably already in bed. Nita debated knocking on the door and asking to talk to Min properly for only a second. The nanny would've just turned her away so Nita climbed up onto the porch railing and up the corner column, onto the roof and skirted the wall to Min's window. She knew her friend always kept it open so she let herself in with a clumsy summersault.

Min, clever and quick as she was, was out of bed and on her feet ready for a fight before Nita even had her bearings. Nita laughed and Min let her guard down. She knew that silly laugh.

"What are you doing here, dummy, you're gonna get us both in trouble." Min chided.
"Oh, me? In trouble? Like that would ever happen." Nita retorted.
Min sat back down on her bed wearily. "You don't think that wombat of a nanny wouldn't paddle you if she got a hold of you?" She laughed. "What do you want anyway?"
"I'm running away to the Northern Water Tribe, haven't you heard?" She gave what seemed to her a good pause for effect. "Yes. Don't tell anyone, but my mother and I are stealing away like thieves in the night. Wanna come?" As she spoke Nita fluttered from foot to foot hands up by her chest and face, dramatically. Min laughed at the show of it all.
"Tama's finally taking you out of my hair, is she? Good riddance. Don't you ever come back either." She told her.
"It should just be a short trip." Nita said. "My guess is my dad got a couple days retreat and made plans to meet us at some silly spa." And bounced onto the bed with her friend.
"Then I'll see you again soon?"
"Count on it."

And they hooked one another's pinkies and shook on it like striking a deal. There was no way for either of them to know what would happen next.
To know how wrong they were.

So this is my first shot at a story on here...not my first fanfic, but my first go of it. I hope you all like it. I would love to know what everyone thinks of it, though. I have a general idea of how the plot's going to roll out, but I'm working half way off my sleeve, too. What I mean is any thoughts, suggestions, predictions, criticism; it would all be helpful. So you know R&R!

Thanks for reading,
Paper Pulse