Teo woke once again to the patter of rain the following morning. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, looking over at the candle beside his bed to check the time. It was just a few minutes before he usually got up.
Stifling another yawn, he pulled back the covers and slid into his chair, and decided to use this opportunity to spend a few extra minutes washing up in the washroom down the hall.
The house was still quiet and dark as he gathered his things from his drawers and made his way down the hall, and past the noble's quarters. He could hear Master Bei Fong beginning to stir, but he knew that he wouldn't be rousing for about ten minutes more.
There was a slight chill as he closed the washroom door, and he noticed that a window was open, letting in the moist dawn breeze. He turned on the sink, and splashed warm water on his face, waking him up a bit more.
All of the shock and anxiety from the night before had worn off; yesterday seemed more of a vague memory, like something that happened long ago. A good night's sleep had helped him clear his head.
Teo leaned into the mirror to brush his teeth, and chuckled at his reflection; he was always overreacting to things.
He pulled off his nightshirt, tossing it into the clothes bin by the door. Feeling the cold air bite at his skin, he scrambled into a fresh tunic that he'd set on the counter, warming himself immediately.
He heard the rest of the family starting to move about, so he quickly grabbed a comb off of the counter and yanked it through his tangled hair, which, he noticed, was in need of a trim, and started down the hall to get Sadako for breakfast.
The night guard was already dismissed for the day when he went back down the hall to Sadako's room. Teo knocked on the door.
"Come in, Teo," Sadako called from inside.
Teo grinned and pulled open the door. "How'd ya know it was me?"
Sadako shrugged. "I 'dunno. Guess it's about the time you usually get here."
She was sitting on the floor with her knees folded underneath her, scraping her pointer finger across the carpet and leaving mindless trails around her.
Teo wheeled over. "Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yup." Sadako stood up and stretched her legs before walking towards the door, pausing to wait for him with her hand on the gold knob.
Teo was slightly taken aback by her confidence. "Um...come on, let's go then." He exited the door in front of her, and she gingerly rested her hand on the back of his chair. He kept glancing back to be sure she was still following him on the way down; she seemed to have memorized the way to the dining room herself.
Poppy had gone out to a social event with a few other society women, and Lao was conducting business out of town, so it was just the two of them for breakfast. The dreary day had inspired the kitchen staff to make a most boring meal of jook and toast. He saw Sadako crinkle her nose before forcing down a mouthful, and he followed in suit.
It wasn't terrible; honestly, he was glad as the thick liquid heated up his core as it slid down his throat. When the last of it had been finished, Sadako scraped her chair back and beckoned for him to come over. He obediently circled the table.
"We should go outside," Sadako whispered with a conspiring grin.
Teo laughed. "Sadako, it's raining!"
She smirked. "So?"
"We'll get soaked!" HE took a look at her lavender dress with embroidered white lilies. "It's hard enough to sneak back in when it's dry; if we're sopping wet, every person in the estate would see the puddle trail."
An innocently mischievous glint flashed across her pale eyes. "What's fun without a little risk?"
Teo sighed. "Sadako...no. We can't cause any trouble; your father would have me killed personally."
Sadako gave a curt laugh. "Fine, we won't do anything... but you didn't seem to have that attitude last week."
Teo shot her a quizzical look. "What happened last week?" he asked slowly, drawing out the words.
She grinned. "Oh, playing 'Mr. Innocent' now, huh? We snuck into town and you crashed your glider into some salesman's stand!" She laughed. "We had to high-tail it out of there before the cops showed up; don't you remember?"
Teo gaped at her, shaking his head. "No...Sadako, that never happened."
Sadako turned back to him, confused expression evident on her face. "Really?" Teo nodded.
She brought a hand up to her mouth. "Hm... maybe I dreamt it," she shrugged.
"Yeah...maybe..." Teo muttered. He watched her get up and the two left for her room.
He slightly gaped at her for the majority of the morning. He'd only partially told the truth earlier. That hadn't happened...last week. Or to Sadako. But he remembered that day; it was with Toph.
Once again, he shook it off. She did say she'd dreamt it...
Sadako didn't bring up the "dream" again for the rest of the day, so he figured; or rather, hoped; it had been forgotten.
Their options for entertainment limited, Teo spent most of the day reading to her out of adventure novels that he'd brought with him from home. She was surprisingly interested in the mishaps of Sogyo, a young hero from a small village on the edge of the Earth Kingdom.
Around the afternoon, the storm outside began to flare. It went on unquavering throughout the afternoon, and into the evening. On the way to dinner, Teo would hear the wind howling outside.
"How was your day, Sweetheart?" Master Bei Fong asked about halfway through dinner, breaking the usual near silence.
Sadako giggled. "Pretty good; I had the weirdest dream last night though."
Lao smiled compassionately. "Really," he toyed.
Sadako nodded between mouthfuls of her porket stew. She swallowed. "I thought it actually happened, too. Right, Teo?"
Teo vigorously nodded and focused his attention on his bowl.
Lao chuckled. "Oh, and what was this dream about, exactly?" He asked.
Sadako's eyes lit up. "Me and Teo were in town, and he crashed his glider into this vegetable merchant's cart. Then the weird guy there started yelling, and these big people showed up and started chasing us. We ran into this alleyway and waited for them to pass, then we went into this fancy-like teashop and told this old man and some other people about it and they all started laughing...and I don't really remember anything else." She grinned, while across the table, Teo tensed up. "It was funny."
Lao's face suddenly fell. "Are you sure that's what you remember?" He inquired, the playful tone in his voice replaced by a grave undertone of demand, silencing the table completely.
His daughter nodded, but her expression too had changed from pure amusement to unconfident seclusion. It was obvious that Lao's reaction had plummeted the atmosphere of the entire room.
"I see..." he pondered.
A strong gust of wind outside pounded a wall of rain against the wall, the only sound in the somber dining hall until the sudden metallic clink of Poppy setting her silverware over her bowl.
"Oh my, look at the time," she said in an overly-syrupy voice, her cheeks strained in a forced smile. "You kids really should be getting off to bed."
It took just one look at her hard eyes, wrinkled at the corners from the effort of sustaining the fake enthusiasm, for Teo to register that this was not a request.
He tapped Sadako on the arm next to him. "Come on, I'll take you to bed."
He turned to the end of the table and half-bowed to the nobles. "Good evening, Master and Misses Bei Fong; pleasant dreams to you both."
Sadako turned as well. "Goodnight, Mother. Goodnight, Father."
Her parents simply nodded, and the two left the hall.
"Goodnight, Sadako," Teo said as he dropped her back at her room.
"'Night."
The guard closed her door, glaring down at Teo.
"I know, I know," he said, "'move along'." The guard continued to glare, and he went back down the hall to his own room for bed.
He lay listening to the rain pelt the windows, thunder now booming as the storm raged along. Every so often, the room would go alight as a bolt of lightning ripped across the sky. Although he wasn't quite sure, he occasionally thought he could hear Bei's melody weave it's way into the roars and screams of the storm.
A particularly bright flash illuminated the room, followed by a crack and roll of thunder loud enough to cause the estate to shake, making it evident that it had struck somewhere nearby the town. Still listening to the white noise of the storm, Teo thoughtlessly drifted off.
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