A grave silence bit the atmosphere. My mother was holding her cheek. She gently lifted her hand off of it. I saw scarlet; Seiji had drawn blood.
And then, she started to cry. I couldn't bear to see her like that. But I was too shocked, too angry to do anything about it. I stared at Seiji, rage, fury, pure, ravenous anger taking over my entire soul. But at the same time, I was terrified of him.
The silence continued…one minute…two minutes…three minutes….four.
Finally, Seiji passed out on the floor. Right after he was out, I ran to my mother, and comforted her as she sobbed. I went with her to her room and snuggled with her in bed as she cried.
Why was this happening to us?
I hated Seiji with a passion. I wanted out. I wanted for Momma and me to leave Seiji and Akash and never return. So I decided I would convince her. I would have to, there was no other choice. Soon, it would be just Momma and I again, us against the world. Fate would let it happen, right? It would support us. It had to.
I went to sleep with Momma, her short breaths and trembling body my motivation. We were going to get out of there.
I was going to convince Momma to leave with me.
When I woke up, Seiji had left for work. He had cleaned up the floor, even though the stench was still strong. My mother couldn't go to work; she had gotten sick. Akash was sleeping still. That wretched boy hadn't even come to comfort Momma. Just the sight of him reminded me of Seiji, and so, it was unbearable. Because of that characteristic, I could never look Akash in the eye.
I cracked open a book. I had found it in an old chest under my bed. The book was called "The Great War." It took place during the time of the 100 Years War. I had heard about the War in my independent studies, but I had never really given it much thought. It seemed so surreal, that I couldn't even imagine how the time period could've been.
The story chronicled the journey of the previous Avatar, a young boy named Aang, who was trapped in an iceberg for 100 years after the genocide of his people before finally being released by a beautiful waterbender named Katara. He fell in love with her, and together, the couple and their friends helped him master all four elements and end the war. I loved the book. It made me cry, for it struck such a strong chord with my emotions.
It told a beautiful story about fate, and how, in the end, it always works out for the better.
Fate allowed Aang to find inner peace with his role of being the Avatar and led him to the love of his life. He learned that things happen for a reason, even if that thing happened to be the murder of his people.
It was this book that made me hold on to fate, that made me believe that it would always make life work out.
And so, I held on to hope that Momma and I would get out of there soon.
Soon.
The word became a mantra, my motivation.
I wouldn't let it go. I couldn't let it go.