Chapter Seven: Corn Seeds?

Ceres didn't seem to want to fall asleep. At least her body didn't. She could hear Sokka snoring and kept trying to block the noise out by sticking her head under her pillow. Even under there the loud grumbling got through. She wanted to get up and stuff his pillow in his mouth but she knew he'd be mad if she did that.

Just as she was finally getting used to the noise she heard another one. It sounded like stone moving. Somebody was opening the door! She jumped out of her bed to see who was coming in. She was about to wake the others until she saw who it was that was coming in. The king was standing in the doorway. He stepped in. He knew Ceres was awake.

"I'm glad that you're awake. Come with me." he said. Ceres stood her ground for a moment before walking towards him. She wondered what he wanted. She took Leslie with her, even though she was still asleep.

"Where are we going?" she asked him. He had shut the wall behind her. It didn't seem to make a sound.

"Have you ever wondered why you aren't a bender?" he asked her.

She looked up at him "How do you know that I'm not a bender?"

"I know a lot. Like I know that you're name is Ceres." He said as an example.

"I'm not going to even ask you how you know my name. But, anyway, where are you taking me?" she asked him.

"To the garden. I want you to see something." He said, leading her down the staircases. "We need to be back before sunrise, so we need to be quick." He was surprisingly fast for a man that seemed to be at least ninety years old.

Ceres didn't object. He was the king, so she was sure that he knew best. He stopped in front of a door and opened it. When he was out of the way, Ceres was able to get a look at the garden. It almost took her breath away.

The garden was stunning. The trees were blooming in pink flowers and were so healthy that it was scary. The grass was a deep green and it was long and tall. It looked so springy that if you jumped on it you'd bounce. Flowers were also abundant there as well. There were so many different kinds of flowers that it could take you weeks to identify them all. There was a stone path in the center that had small statuettes on the sides. It ended at a large fountain with a few benches nearby.

"I didn't deck it out like most kings do." He said with a smile. Ceres didn't want to imagine what the gardens of 'most kings' look like.

"So, what is it that I needed to know?" Ceres asked him.

He reached into one of his pockets. He seemed to be having trouble finding the object. When he finally found it, Ceres was disappointed.

"Corn seeds?" she questioned him. He had a bag of corn seeds in his hand.

"Corn seeds. I can't tell you why, but soon enough you'll figure it out. Now let's go back to the chamber." He said. Ceres took the corn seeds and put them in a pocket. Leslie looked at them and cocked her head. When the king turned around to leave she shrugged.

He led her back up through the hallways and up the staircases and ended once again at the wall. He moved his hand and it opened up. "I'll see you again soon, Ceres." He said as he shut it again.

Ceres turned around to go back to bed. She sat down on her bed. Sokka was still snoring. "How in the world can somebody be that loud?" she asked Leslie.

Leslie squeaked as a way to say, "I have no idea".

Ceres decided to take a chance. She walked up to him in his bed. She took his pillow out from underneath him and before he was able to say anything in defense- WHAM! She brought the pillow down on his face and left it there. She then ran back to her bed to pretend to be asleep.

Hehe, serves Sokka right for snoring all night. How can anybody sleep that way without waking himself up?