Wandering Firebender
Twenty Three: Farewell
Elio woke up sluggishly in bed to the sound of knocking on the door of his room. As he slowly got up and stretched his back and shoulders out, his nappy hair fell down over his eyes. He could hear Cindra's voice speaking through the door.
"Elio. Hey, are you up yet?" She asked.
"Uh, I am now," He answered in a low, dry voice. "What's up?" He asked, rubbing the leftover sleepiness out of his eyes.
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, of course. Just let me grab my shirt." He said with a yawn. He got up out of bed and grabbed his casual long sleeve shirt. He quickly put it on as he made his way to the door.
He opened up the door to see Cindra already fully awake and dressed to go out. She smiled pleasantly and entered into the room, holding some sort of ticket in her hands.
"You look like you slept well." She said with a giggle.
"Heheh, I haven't slept in a real bed in awhile," He admitted. "What're you doing up so early?"
"I had to go and get my ticket for the boat ride up north. I paid for passage as far north as they were willing to take me." She explained.
"Oh," Elio said in surprise. He knew Cindra would be leaving very soon, but he was still somewhat caught off guard by how quickly she had already prepared herself. "That makes sense."
"Mhmm! So I'm all set!"
"That's good," Elio said, taking a moment to fix his bed sheets. "When do you head out?"
"First thing tomorrow morning. Which leaves us one more day." She answered.
Elio nodded, letting this sink in. After traveling alone for so long, it was nice to have a partner. He and Cindra had gone through a lot together and had become quite close. Saying goodbye would not be easy for him, but he knew that it was the best thing for her.
"Shame it has to come so soon." He commented.
"Yeah. But we got one more day! And I wanna make the most of it! So what's the plan?" She asked. Elio hummed and shrugged.
"I'm planning on going to the market. I need to resupply for my trip to Ba Sing Se." He answered simply.
"Right! Well, grab your clothes and I'll go with you!" She said with a smile.
"You want to come with me? You should take this time to relax." He recommended.
"I can relax on the ship! Don't be such a stick in the mud, Elio. I'll wait for you outside." She said brightly, squeezing him on the arm before making her way out of the room. Elio went up and closed the door behind her.
Elio sighed and went to get dressed in his clothes to go out. He wasn't sure yet how to handle Cindra's departure. Her cheerful disposition added a bittersweet feeling to the mix; he always enjoyed her upbeat attitude, but this time it was clashing with his desire not to see her go.
Elio went downstairs with his bag and his staff on hand. He found Cindra waiting by the door for him with a smile. He walked over to her and nodded wordlessly. She fell in step next to him and they made their way to the market.
"Something smells really good." Cindra noticed and pointed out. Elio lifted his head and was able to smell what she was talking about; it was a kind of sweet and savory scent.
"That does smell good," He agreed. "Wanna check it out?" He offered.
"Duh!" She answered with a laugh.
The two of them made their way to the food stand where the smell was coming from. They watched as the woman running the stand was using fire to cook fruit, eggs, and meat. The smell hit both of their noses and made their stomachs rumble.
"That looks so good." Elio said.
"Let's buy ourselves a breakfast!" Cindra suggested. Elio looked at her hesitantly.
"I don't know... We do have food in our packs that we could eat instead." He pointed out.
"Well, I mean, yeah. You're right." She said, her excitement quickly coming down. Elio could tell that she seemed disappointed. He sighed and decided to change his mind.
"Okay. We can get the breakfast." He agreed.
"No no, it's okay."
"Nah, it's no problem. Hey, how much for a breakfast for two?" Elio asked the woman running the stand.
So Elio paid for the two of them to have breakfast together. And it was a delicious meal. However, despite Elio going along with what Cindra had asked for, he got the sense that she still wasn't happy with it. Perhaps she felt guilty for getting him to spend money unnecessarily.
After finishing their food they began walking through the market to buy food for their journeys. They went from stand to stand together like they always would. However, Elio's focus was clearly different than hers.
"Look! They have watermelons!" Cindra lifted up one and smiled at Elio. He looked at her and chuckled.
"That's a big one."
"You want one?"
"Nah, too heavy for me to carry. But you can get one if you want." He shrugged.
"Oh yeah, right. Well, I'll get it later. I'd have to carry it back to my room anyways." She realized.
"If you want it, get it," He encouraged. "I'm gonna head down that way for the travel-friendly foods. We can always meet up again later."
"Oh. Okay." Cindra stuttered.
Elio gave her a thumbs-up and a smile before going on his way. Cindra sighed and turned back to the watermelons. She picked up the one she had grabbed and paid for it. She then silently made her way back to the inn so she could leave it in her room.
Setting the watermelon down on her bed, her mind was starting to go in circles. On the one hand, she felt stupid for even getting upset at how Elio was behaving. After all, he would be on his own again soon, and he needed to prepare as such.
But on the other hand, she wanted their last day together to be nice and relaxed. Instead, it was just awkward. She really wanted things to go well though. So she went back out to find Elio and give things another try.
However, when she got to where Elio said he was going to be, she didn't find him. She started wandering around trying to find him, but he had disappeared. She sighed in annoyance and continued her search.
In the midst of her looking around for Elio, she came across a group of men setting up banners for what appeared to be some kind of event. Curious, she decided to go up to one of them and ask what the occasion was.
"Hey! What's going on here? What are the colors for?" She asked, gesturing to the banners and streamers that they were putting up.
"Oh, we're throwing a little festival tonight! There's even a group of traveling musicians passing through that have agreed to perform. They'll be providing the music. Singing, dancing, good food. The whole shebang! You should come!" He encouraged.
"That sounds really fun! You know what? I think I will come!" She said with a smile.
Cindra made her way back towards the inn with the festival on her mind. It was exactly the sort of send-off she had been hoping for! She and Elio could go and have a nice time before parting ways. She just needed to find him and tell him about it.
Thankfully, that didn't turn out to be a problem. When she got back to her room, she saw Elio at the end of the hall entering into his room with his items. Cindra quickly hurried over to him.
"Here, let me help you with the door!" She said, opening up the door to his room for him.
"Oh, perfect timing. Thanks, Cindra!" Elio said before entering into the room.
"You're welcome," She said before following him in. "Did you get everything you need?"
"Yep, just about." He answered as he began neatly putting everything into his travel pack.
"That's good! I, uh, went out to join up with you but I couldn't find you."
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you were gonna come back for me. My mistake." He quickly apologized.
"It's no problem... So hey, uh-"
"I did a little bit of asking around the market," Elio brought up without knowing that Cindra wasn't done speaking. "Turns out that there are no Fire Nation outposts near this area. It's a perfect place to lay low for awhile." He said.
"Yeah? That's great! And actually a huge relief, because I wanted to ask you something." She tried again.
"Oh yeah? What's on your mind?" He asked, turning to look at her.
"While I was out looking for you, I heard about a festival that's going on tonight. I was thinking we should go. There's supposed to be music and good food, like a big party!" She described.
"And you wanna go?" He asked. She nodded.
"Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun! Don't you think?"
"Yeah. I mean it does sound like fun, but..." Elio started. Cindra's expression was already falling into disappointment before he even continued, "It might be a better idea to just lay low, you know? Not draw attention to ourselves."
"And do what? Just sit here in our rooms for the rest of the day?" She asked. Elio picked up on her attitude, and this put him in a defensive mood.
"If you want to go to the party so bad, Cindra, then go. No one's stopping you." He said. Cindra exhaled impatiently.
"I don't want to just go to the festival. I want us to go to the festival, Elio." She stated.
"I understand that. But that kind of exposure could pose a risk," He pointed out. "And that's not even taking into account how much money we'll probably end up spending to get in, pay for food; you get what I'm saying?" He said.
"Yeah," Cindra sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll just go back to my room and finish my packing then." She said before quickly stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.
"Cindra, come on." Elio groaned, sensing that she was upset. However, once the door was closed, it did not open again. So Elio was left alone in his room.
When he had finished packing up all of his things, he walked out of his room. He was going to go over to her and try to see what was going on. But instead, he decided to leave the inn and go back out into the market to find out more about this festival...
"Yeah! It's gonna be like a big old party with all the stands providing their best refreshments and food! Everyone's invited!" One of the shopkeepers, who was apparently involved in organizing the event, described to Elio. Elio folded his arms.
"It sounds like a lot of fun, but what's the occasion for it?" He asked curiously.
"In general? Things have been pretty quiet and peaceful around here the last few months. It's just a chance to wind down and have a little fun." He said with a smile.
"I guess so." Elio said with a shrug. The shopkeeper glanced at Elio and leaned on the counter.
"Listen, kid, times are tough. We all know that. Look around ya. Everyone's struggling in one way or another. But just because things could be better don't mean that you can't find joy and have fun. When's the last time you took a load off?" He asked.
"Uh... I don't know." Elio shrugged again as he tried to think back to the last time he had a chance to relax. It felt like it had been forever now. Had it been weeks? A couple months?
"Sounds like you could use the chance," The shopkeeper smiled kindly. "Come to the festival tonight. Promise you won't regret it! After all, who knows when you'll get the chance to relax again?" He pointed out.
Elio walked away from the shop with his hands in his pockets. The longer he thought about it, the less he was able to recall times where things had been calm for him. He'd become so wound up by his circumstances that it was like his new normal.
The Fire Nation had a hand in giving him that routine too. Back when he was young, he was always bouncing around between school, firebending training, and the occasional sport. He was always keeping busy, so the moments where he had free time felt like unproductive, wasted time to him.
But tonight could be different.
Elio made his way back to the inn and walked up to Cindra's room. He knocked on the door, "Cindra? It's me. May I come in?" He requested.
"Yeah, of course. Door's open." She answered.
Elio entered into the room. He found Cindra was finishing up with packing the last of her non-essential belongings. She'd only left out what she would need for tonight and tomorrow morning. Elio closed the door behind her and rested his hands on his hips.
"I feel like we need to talk." He said.
"Yeah... I'm sorry, Elio, I've been annoying today, haven't I?" She asked.
"No. But something's clearly been bothering you. And I get the feeling it's probably me, yeah?" He asked her. She sighed.
"It's really nothing. I'm just making a big deal out of nothing." She said dismissively. Elio decided to change his approach a bit.
"Why do you want to go to the festival?" He asked.
"What?" She looked at him.
"I went to the market today to find out more about it. It sounds fun. But it seemed important to you in some way." He stated his observations.
"It isn't the festival that's important, Elio. I just wanted us to go together."
"Right." Elio nodded. Cindra shook her head.
"It's our last day together, Elio. The chances of us ever seeing each other again are very, very small, you know? You know that. I'll be going home to train, and you'll be continuing on to Ba Sing Se. You'll be in danger again and I won't be there to help you.
"I just wanted our last day together to be nice. No fighting, no training, no traveling. I don't care about whether it's at the festival or not. I just wanted to do something nice so that we could look back and be glad we did it." She expressed her feelings. Elio nodded in understanding.
"I see... I'm sorry. I didn't know you were feeling that way."
"Of course I feel that way, Elio. I mean, since we've met, we've gone through a ton together! No one's ever stuck by me and encouraged me to grow the way I want to the way you have. Not to mention the dozens of times you've saved my life." She listed.
"It sure has been a lot," Elio acknowledged. "You've been a true friend, Cindra. I can't thank you enough for everything." He said sincerely. She smiled a bit at him.
"You too."
Elio walked up to her and offered a hug to her. She stepped up to him and the two hugged each other tightly. He rubbed his hand on her back soothingly, and she wrapped her arms a little tighter around him.
"Let's go to the festival tonight. I'm sure it'll be a great time." Elio said.
"You sure? What about your money?" Cindra asked.
"I can always get more. But you're right: this is our last chance to do something nice together." He said, looking at her with a smile. She smiled back and nodded.
"Okay. Well, let me get my outfit together."
"Sure. I'll come get you this evening." He agreed, letting her go and exiting her room.
Elio went back to his room to wash up and get ready for the festival. He put together the nicest clothes he had and made sure he had everything he needed. And as he prepared, he imagined Cindra was probably doing the same thing.
Finally, the time came. Elio didn't have much to wear, but he still put on his best for the occasion. He went over to Cindra's room and knocked on the door. She opened up the door wearing a more traditional piece of water tribe clothing; something he hadn't seen her wear before.
"Hey, Elio! Ready to go?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah," Elio chuckled. "You look really nice." He complimented with a smile.
"Aww, you think so? I took this with me for when I reached the South Pole, but after we partnered up, I never really had a use for it 'til now. I'm glad you like it!"
"Haha, well let's get going." Elio said, gesturing for her to follow. They made their way downstairs and stepped out of the building. They turned towards the marketplace just to their left.
In the few hours that they had been away, the marketplace had been transformed into a bustling site full of attendees. Colorful streamers and banners had been hung up above. Different smells were swirling all over the place. And as promised, there was lively music and dancing not far from them.
"Oh wow! This is awesome!" Cindra exclaimed. Elio nodded in agreement, astonished at the spectacle.
"Yeah, it is. What do we do first?" He asked her.
"Let's try some of the food first!" She decided.
Elio let Cindra lead the way for the most part. They went around to different stands, trying and sampling different types of food. Elio was overjoyed to find some meat stands that were cooked similarly to the food stands back home.
Looking around at all the people passing them by, Elio found that he was enjoying himself far more than expected. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel like he needed to worry about his surroundings. He was able to just relax and enjoy this time he had with Cindra.
"The music sounds really good! Let's go dance!" Cindra suggested, pointing to the crowd dancing in front of the band that was playing music.
"Uh, I don't actually know how to dance to that kind of music." Elio said, trying to exempt himself.
"That's okay! I'll show you!" She laughed, grabbing his hand and dragging him over. Elio stumbled in surprise and followed her.
"Whoa, wait, Cindra!"
"Don't worry about it," She laughed again, pulling him into the crowd. "It's easy. Just follow along with the music." She said before beginning to dance, rocking side to side and moving her arms to the music. Elio gave her an odd look.
"Okay." He said nervously. He didn't want to mimic her exact movements, but he sort of understood what she was trying to show him. So he just started by rocking side to side too. Cindra giggled at how stiffly he was moving.
"That's a good start! Now loosen up!" She insisted, taking his hands and helping him move more. He followed along and very slowly he started to relax.
"I guess this isn't so bad." Elio chuckled, gradually starting to enjoy it, even though it was very much outside of his comfort zone.
Before long, the music changed. It became slower and softer. Cindra, realizing what it was, took Elio's hand and they walked away. However, Elio glanced back in confusion.
"Wait, what's going on? Why are we leaving so suddenly?" He asked.
"Oh, uh, this song's just not for us. It's a couples' dance." She answered.
"Oh! Well, we don't have to go. We can dance to this too." He said. She looked at him in surprise.
"Really? But we're not a couple." She pointed out.
"So? Come on, show me how it works." He insisted, pulling her back towards the crowd. She chuckled and gave in, and they walked back into the crowd.
"Okay. It goes like this..." Cindra directed Elio to place his hands on her waist. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. Then the two of them simply began to sway from side to side along with the other couples.
"I see what you mean. This is definitely a couples' sort of thing." He acknowledged. He'd been close to Cindra before, but being face to face with her in this context made him very nervous.
"Yeah... I've never really done this before. I've just observed from my parents, you know?" She admitted.
"Really? But you dance really well. Or I would assume you do, I wouldn't know." He said with a chuckle.
"Haha, thank you. It's just what I learned from my family, you know? Teaching and observing." She explained. Elio nodded in understanding.
"I gotcha... They don't really have dance parties like this in the Fire Nation. If there is dancing, it's typically formal and everyone does the same moves." Elio said.
"Sounds kinda boring." Cindra said honestly.
"That's why we don't really have them." Elio agreed with a laugh. Cindra laughed too.
"Haha, well I'm sorry if this is awkward for you. This is kind of intimate." She said, blushing and looking away.
"It's alright. I don't mind. I think it's nice." Elio said with a soft smile.
"Yeah, it is nice." She agreed. The song came to an end and the two of them stopped. They looked around them and saw other couples hugging and kissing each other. They looked at each other awkwardly.
"Yeah, moving on now." Elio said, rubbing the back of his head as the two walked away from the crowds. As they walked away, they took hold of each other's hands...
"This was really fun," Cindra said as the two of them made their way back into the inn once the festivities had come to an end. "I'm glad we ended up going, even if it took awhile to get there." She said with an apologetic chuckle.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm glad we went too," Elio said, squeezing her hand gently. "You were right. It was a good last day to have." He said before the two of them reached her room.
"Yeah, it was," She said. She turned towards him and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Elio. Thank you for everything." She said with a genuine smile. He smiled in return.
"You're welcome. I'll see you at the dock tomorrow morning." He said, resting his hands in his pockets.
"Are you sure? The ship leaves pretty early." She warned him.
"It's fine! I'll just go back to sleep after I see you off." He said with a chuckle.
"Haha, alright. I'll wake you up so you don't miss it," She said, opening up the door to her room. "Goodnight." She said, looking back at him and smiling again before closing the door.
"Goodnight." Elio said before making his way back to his room. He smiled to himself as he opened the door and shut it behind him...
Elio lifted his head to the sound of knocking on his door. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the window. The sun was barely out. He groaned and brushed the hair out of his face.
"Hello...?" He called out in a low, tired voice.
"Hey, Elio. It's almost time for me to go." Cindra said softly. Realizing this, Elio shook himself out of his sleep and got up.
"Okay! Give me one second!" He said, washing his face with water and putting his boots on. He grabbed his things and hurried to open up the door, startling Cindra a bit.
"Oh!"
"Let's go."
Cindra and Elio made their way over to the harbor. Cindra pointed out the ship that she was to be boarding. He walked her up to the end of the dock before she turned back to him.
"Guess this is really it, huh?" Elio acknowledged sadly. Cindra nodded and sighed.
"Yeah... I'm going to miss our adventures, Elio. Obviously I can't wait to be home again, but it's sad that this has to end. I really owe you so much." She said, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back.
"It's okay, Cindra. I'm happy that you're finally getting what you wanted. Even though I'm gonna miss you." He said, rubbing her back.
"I'm gonna miss you too... Please stay safe, Elio. If you get hurt, I won't be able to heal you anymore. So promise me you'll be careful." She insisted as she pulled away.
"Heheh, I promise," He said, rubbing her arm and managing a comforting smile. "Hey, I got you something; a little keepsake from me to you." He said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a necklace with a shiny purple stone at the end of it.
"Aww, Elio, it's beautiful! I love it!" She exclaimed, "Jeez, you're gonna make me cry now." She giggled, her eyes getting misty now.
"Haha, sorry. Here, put it on." He said, holding it out to her. She took it and put it on then readjusted her hair. She fixed it and smiled.
"How does it look?" She asked.
"Looks great," He answered. "Be safe out there, Cindra. Traveling on a ship isn't easy. Just, uh, don't get too close to the edge, okay? And if anything happens out there like a storm, below deck is the best place to wait it out. Well actually, you're a waterbender, so..."
"Haha, I'll be okay, Elio! I promise," She laughed. "Don't forget to write me if you ever get the chance."
"I won't." He nodded.
The two of them stepped in and hugged each other again tightly. Cindra rested her hand on the back of his head and curled her fingers in. They pulled away from each other slightly and leaned in for a kiss. They lingered for a few more seconds before letting each other go.
"Goodbye, Elio!" She said, grabbing all of her things and boarding the ship. When the ship began to pull away from shore, she stood at the back of the ship, waving to him.
"Goodbye, Cindra! You're gonna do great!" He called out to her encouragingly, smiling and waving back at her.
Once she was far away enough, Elio sighed and turned away and went back to the inn. Even though he was tired, it took him awhile to fall asleep. Even though he knew this was coming, it was emotional for him now. Once again, he was alone.
Neither Elio nor Cindra knew it, but they both shed a few tears that morning...
