The next morning, I was the first one to wake up. And I had to wake up Cabel to make sure we all went to get breakfast. Cabel had said something about the market, so he left to get something from there. Then, I knocked on Bruce's door. No response. I knocked again. And I got the same result as the first time: nothing. I checked the door knob to realize that it was unlocked. Had he done this on purpose?

"Bruce?" I called softly. I knocked on the door again, even though I had already opened it. I walked through the small kitchen and entered the bedroom, knocking on the already-opened door before I entered. "Bruce?" He groaned and moved in his sleep. I chuckled. He reminded me of a child in a way. "Good morning, princess!" I laughed and he opened one eye. Was it then that I realized he was cuddling with a pillow in a spooning position. How cute. I walked towards him and sat at the edge of the bed. "I hate to wake you up, but breakfast is being served downstairs and if we don't make it down there soon, all the food will be gone."

"Eat without me," he murmured. "You had me up all night. I just want a few more minutes to . . ." he almost fell asleep as he was talking. ". . . sleep." He grabbed my hand and put it on top of his head. "Remember when we were kids and you rubbed my head until I fell asleep?" Bruce smiled and wouldn't let go of my hand. "It still puts me right to sleep." Practically out of instinct, I ran my fingers through his scalp. If humans could purr, I'm one hundred percent sure that Bruce would. Immediately, memories flooded my head and it kind of hurt, knowing that what we had before would never happen again. That this, what ever this was, would only be here for a short moment. Until I found my parents. Then, what would happen? He would go back to the Fire Nation and go back to Yuki? Rule the Fire Nation? And what about me? I'll probably move to the Northern Water Tribe, like how Queen Colette wanted me to do. We're star-crossed lovers that would never be. And it hurt to think about it.

Someone knocked on Bruce's bedroom door. "Meria?" It was Cabel. I looked at him and slowly stopped rubbing Bruce's head. Cabel looked at my hand. Bruce opened one eye. "Sorry to interrupt," He said hesitantly. "I just wanted to tell you that the owner of this hotel made food specifically for us. And to just come get it whenever we please."

"Thanks," I said to Cabel. "I'll go ahead and get some food. Bruce isn't getting up any time soon." I did that. I walked downstairs and got us food. Cabel had already ate. As I was walking upstairs, Cabel caught up to me.

"So," Cabel said, elongating the oh sound. "Are you Bruce, like, a thing now?"

"What?" I asked. "No. He's a married man, Cabel. Me and Bruce have been best friends since we were kids."

"Just friends?"

"At one point, we were more than friends. But we were also children. Then I was called to be the Avatar and everything changed. Now we're strictly friends. What you saw up there was something I used to do to him when we were really little. Some days when it was storming, I would sneak into the royal palace, into his room, and run my hands through his hair until he fell asleep. Some times I would accidentally sleep there. Our childhood consisted of sneaking into each other's homes and lying to our parents to see each other. Even though my parents were okay with it, but his father had a big problem with him being friends with a homeless girl."

"Now you two are on a mission to save your parents?"

"That's how that goes." I was right in front of Bruce's door. I knocked.

"Were you ever in love with him?"

"Honestly . . " I sighed. "I was head over heels in love with him. He was the only person who understood me. We were with each other all the time. I mean, how could I not love him, you know? But I had to accept the fact that what I imagined our futures to be was nothing like the actual reality of it all. He's married. I'm the Avatar. I've accepted that. I've moved on." Oh, how that last part was a lie.

Cabel nodded slowly. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, really," I said. "It's no big deal anymore."

"Well, if you need me, I'll be in my room packing for Ju Lee Kin."

He went into his room, and I knocked on Bruce's door again. Yet again, nothing. I opened the door. It was unlocked. I knocked on the open bedroom door as I walked in. "Bruce I have you food- OHMYGOD -" I turned around and turned redder than blood. "I'm so sorry!"

"Spirits, Meria. You scared me. But, it's fine. I have pants on now. You can come in."

I tried not to blush, but it was hard not to. He was so big. I turned around and tried to keep my eye contact. "I'm . . . uh . . sorry about that."

"It's fine." He added, smiling. "You're fine." He was shirtless. It's like he knows this is killing me. There were scars there that weren't there since I last saw him shirtless - slightly more than ten years ago. He looked like a god. "Want to join me? I hate eating by myself." I knew that already. He hates eating by himself.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'll join." We sat on top of his bed, ate, and talked. He was still shirtless, which was a total distraction for me. And I'm sure he knew that. Yuki was one lucky lady.

"What're you doing after all of this?" Bruce asked.

"I'm planning on going to Ju Lee Kin and find the next clu-"

"That's not what I meant." He finished off his eggs and bacon. "I meant, what're you going to do after you find your family?"

"I . . . don't know yet."

"There's a spare room in my palace. If you don't want to stay in your home, for some crazy reason, there's always a room for you. Meria, look at me, I'm being serious. If you ever want to leave home and escape for a little bit, or if you just feel distressed, please come to me. I want it to be like old times."

I looked at him for a long time, and let myself process the change in him since the last time I saw him, many years ago. He'd gotten slightly darker, I'm guessing from a lot of Agni Kais. And he had more scars, as I noticed before. His eyes were still beautifully yellow. That's the one thing that hadn't changed about him: his eyes.

After we ate, I grabbed our plates and washed them in the kitchen sink. I started getting dizzy. Really dizzy. But I was stable enough to finish the dishes. After I put the plates up to drain, my breathing got heavier and I heard Bruce say, "M-Meria!" And a hard plunk noise. Bruce had fallen off of his bed. I fumbled to his room and rolled him over on his back. He was out cold, but still alive. I was getting dizzier, and that's when the front door busted open. Two men in black body suits barged in and grabbed Bruce. I tried to scream, but I was held back, and felt the electrifying pain of a taser in my back as I blacked out.


When I awoke, I felt my whole body ache. My arms and wrists hurt. My throat was as dry as a desert, and I felt like vomiting. As I tried moving, I realized that my wrists were chained to the wall behind me. I pulled on the chains hard, getting up and trying hard to pull them off. I took another step back and stepped on something behind me. It felt like an arm. I turned around and saw what looked like could be Bruce. I could hardly tell, because it was so dark in here. But, yes. It was him. It was Bruce. I kneeled down and patted his cheek. He wouldn't wake up. But he was alive, I knew that much. Because he was still warm, and he had a strong heart beat. I was weak, from what? I don't know. But it was hard to bend anything right now. I tried metal bending the cuffs off of me, and after two whole minutes of trying, I got them off. Now, time for Bruce. I didn't think I had enough energy in me for him. But, I did. And I dragged him to the only part of the cell that had moonlight and tried waking him up again. Still, nothing.

I got up and walked to the front of the cell. Just barely, I could see the outline of someone else there. But she wasn't in a cell. She was just outside, slumped over a chair.

"HEY!" I called to her. "HEY! You! Please help! How'd I get in here?" Nothing. What's going on here? How did we get here? Where's Cabel!?

Bruce groaned behind me and sat up. "I'm never eating food from a foreign place ever again," he murmured, getting up from the floor. "Meria?" He stood up and grabbed the cell bars in front of him to keep his balance. "What happened?"

"I have no idea yet," I answered. "But I'm gonna try to . . " I grabbed the handle bars and tried bending them. Nothing. I was weak.

The girl in the seat far from our cell, woke up, and groaned. I recognized that voice. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. The girl turned around, only proving myself right on who I thought it was. It was Jules, my little sister. I screamed her name at the top of my lungs and she ran to me with tears running down her face. I was so happy that I couldn't cry. Jules is alive! Her being here had given me hope that the rest of my family was still alive.

"Meria!" Jules cried, literally. "W-wait! I have keys! I have keys!" With a shaking hand, she dug in the pockets of her baggy jogger's pants - which is odd because Jules doesn't wear those types of pants - and retrieved a few keys. "They told me that this would happen but I didn't believe them!" She tried the first key. "I thought they were just messing around with my emotions." Didn't work. She tried the second key. "I didn't think I'd see you again." Still, no luck. She tried the third key. "They told me you'd be alive and safe. That they drugged your eggs and orange juice so they can quietly bring you here." The third key didn't work. Jules tried the fourth key. "I'm just glad you're safe, M." She unlocked the door and as soon as it opened, she threw herself onto me in the biggest hug I had ever received. We hugged like this in so long.

Wait, what just happened?

Did I just escape a kidnapping? With my kidnapped sister?

Was it really that easy?


Please review! Sorry I haven't been updating lately. I've been focusing on finding a job, and I got one!

Thank you all for the support and positive feedback, I love you all!