Sakari can't help but allow a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips, but she turns her expression to stone as she looks down towards one of the men. "You," She points towards him. "Go into the city and find a healer. Run." The man nods and springs into action. "And you," She pointed authoritatively to another man. "cut off his furs, then wrap all the wounds tightly as soon as they are exposed."
Senna's mother continues to give out orders like a drill Sargent and the men act quickly, doing everything she asks as soon as she asks it. Sakari can't ignore the look of urgency and worry on Senna's face, but she has no time to address it or say anything about it at the moment. It's hard for her not to point it out, but she makes herself busy by cleaning the wounds and stitching them up as soon as she can. As she does this she listens in on the conversation Tonraq and Senna are having.
"What happened?" Senna asks softly, as if she's asking a small child why he's crying.
Tonraq attempts to move his hands as he speaks, but one of his hunting partners immediately pins his free hand down, knowing Tonraq will need every last bit of energy he can get. Tonraq doesn't seem to notice as he continues speaking.
"This big, beautiful polar bear dog," His words are far apart and barely audible, but Senna presses him to keep on speaking. She has to keep him awake somehow.
She listens intently and nods and asks questions to keep him going. He tells her about how he was only inches away from the polar bear dogs jaw, only a couple of inches away from avoiding the attack all together.
As soon as the male spotted him, it pounced and attacked. It pushed him down deep into the snow, knocking the air from his lungs and stunning him. He reacted as soon as he could by flinging ice darts into it's chest, piercing him in multiple places but obviously missing it's heart. The polar bear dog had caught his arm in it's mouth as he sent the darts his way, which explains the puncture wounds and broken bones in that arm she had noticed earlier.
The gashes on Tonraqs chest are from the bear dog digging into him. This could have easily been the death of him and he knew that. He acted quickly and packed snow down into his wounds with his free arm. If it hadn't been for his men sprinting over to him and using the last of their spears and knives on the beast, it would have torn his other arm right off if it had done that terrible shake of the head all dogs are known to do.
Tonraq manages a smile and he looks towards everyone around him, letting them all know how thankful he is for each of them.
It's not long until the man Sakari had sent off returns with a healer by his side. The waterbender gets to work and heals the wounds the best he can.
The waterbending healer explains to them that the wounds will heal fast and well, thanks to how quickly they all acted, but they will still need a couple more sessions to ensure fast recovery without infection.
Sakari keeps Tonraq for one more session until they return to his own home, where his final healing sessions will be held and he will continue recovery on his own.
A few days past and Sakari has noticed that Senna has said nothing about Tonraq wanting her to stay with him, and she still hasn't gone to check up on him. Sakari finds Senna in her usual spot, up on the stool behind the counter, a cup of tea that had once been steaming set in front of her.
"Senna, dear, is there anything you would like to talk about?" Sakari asks this softly as she takes a seat across from her daughter.
Senna looks up at her mother from her cup for a few seconds before she returns her gaze to the bronze liquid that has cooled quite a while ago. "No."
"Are you sure? You don't want to talk about Tonraq? I saw how he reached for you. I saw how you held his hand-"
"Mother. I have nothing I want to talk about."
Sakari lets out an exhausted sigh and drops her face down into her palms. "Why don't you ever talk to me anymore?" Senna can hear her mother's muffled words, but she continues to ignore them. "Why do you always push me away? Why do you push everyone away?" The woman who looks older than she actually is solemnly looks towards her daughter, who also looks a few years older than her actual age. The two women look at each other.
Sakari has got crows feet from squinting at different types of wounds and rashes for so long, lines on her forehead from having her eyebrows furrowed far too often, smile lines that now might as well be from the frown she wears now. She has long hair that has been pulled back at the sides and braided. Countless strands of gray shimmer through from behind the brown hair that still covers the majority of her skull. Her eyes have dulled long ago.
Senna looks exhausted. Her hair is pulled to the front at each side, covering her shoulders. While each lock has been tied with long ribbons in a decorative criss-cross, stray strands still stick out here and there, making it look as though she had styled her hair in a hurry, which she probably had. She has dark circles under her eyes and her eye lids are heavy. Her eyes don't have much spark left at all. Sakari's heart drops at the thought of that little last bit disappearing forever. She knows that day will be soon if something doesn't change.
"I know things have been different since we lost your father and your siblings, but-"
"Mother."
"No!" Sakari stands up and places her palms firmly down onto the table, startling Senna good enough to get her to look up towards her mother. "Listen to me! For once, just listen to me! I know you don't like the way I've turned out, the way my life has turned out and I know that you don't want to end up like me, but that doesn't mean that you have to push me out of your life completely!" Sakari quickly raises an arm to wipe away the tears that are beginning to fall from her eyes.
"I know that you're scared of ending up alone, but if you keep on pushing everyone away from you, that's how you're going to be! I know what you went through was traumatic, I went through it too! I was there! You may have lost your father and your brother and sister, but I lost my husband, the love of my life and my babies!"
"I get that you're scared that the same thing is going to happen to you one day, too. I know that's why you stay so distant and don't let anyone get close to you. But I've already lost two children, I'm not trying to lose another! Senna, you are all I have left and I want the best for you! I want you to find a man who will adore you the way your father adored me. I want you to know that absolute unconditional love. I know you haven't known that young man for very long, but love doesn't work on a schedule. It happens when it happens! And it's happening for you right now! As long as you don't ignore it and push it away like you do everything and everyone else! I pressure you so much and I know I make it seem like I just want you to get married and have babies so I can be a grandmother, but that's not just it. There is nothing better than the feeling of loving something more than you love yourself." Sakari pauses and gently cups her daughters face into her hands.
"The way you love your children is like no other love out there. I want you to know that. I want you to know that feeling. I want that for you. I want that pure bliss for you. You can have that if you go and get it!" Senna expects her mother to continue on her rant after the pause, but she doesn't. She only says one last thing after seeing her daughter stay still. "Or don't."
Sakari drops her hands and sighs, giving her daughter a sorrowful look before she turns and makes her way up the stairs. Senna drops her gaze from where her mother once was back to the tea that still sits in front of her.
It's late, almost too late, and Senna is hesitant to knock on the door, but she does it anyways. It takes a little longer for someone to come to the door, but it's understandable, given the only resident's condition.
Senna gives Tonraq a sweet smile as soon as he opens the door. "Hello." She greets.
"Good evening, Senna." He smiles back down at her as he opens the door wider, allowing her to enter his warm home.
"I came to check up on you." She turns to face him.
"Thank you... I, uh, was beginning to think that I wasn't going to see you for a while." He admits this somewhat shyly as he raises a hand to rest it on the back of his neck. "But, I'm doing fine. Thank you."
"Oh, that's good." They both smile at each other and a silence rises between the two for a few good seconds before Senna figures that she might as well leave now, her confidence diminishing quickly.
Tonraq reaches for her and catches her just above her elbow. "Wait." She stops and looks back towards him. "I should probably tell you something." She turns to face him once again and listens closely. "I may have grown up in a big house, filled with extravagant and expensive things. With maids and butlers and servants, galas and parties held for no apparent reason, acres of unneeded land. But, I'm a simple man." He pauses and swallows hard as he examines the expression on her face.
The candles emit a beautiful glow onto her dark skin, and her blue eyes are just shining through the shadows of his dim-lit front room. Her smile doesn't seem forced as it usually does, it's small but still sweet, just like she is. There's something about her that's different and he can't quite put his finger on it, but something tells him whatever it is, it's good.
"I just simply want you." Senna's smile widens and she comes closer to him. Close enough to rest her cheek on his chest as he slowly wraps his arms around her, still unsure of her feeling towards him.
"Tonraq," She says softly. So softly that he has to lean down a bit to make sure he hears what she is about to say. "I'm simple, too."
Years go by and the couple have had a small, simple wedding ceremony and now call the igloo they made together home. Tonraq works a simple job at the butchers and Senna is a happy housewife. They have recently been blessed with a beautiful baby girl, but it's not long until they discover something very extraordinary about their daughter, Korra, and they know that their life won't be so simple anymore.