Chapter 1 – The Meeting

Anna POV

I suppose today started out like any day. Wake up early, take a bath, change into some comfortable clothes, make breakfast, wake my little sister, and help my uncle set up the restaurant for the day. At least, that's how it was for the first part of my day. My aunt told me to run some errands before the restaurant opened, seeing as how we ran out of vegetables and such. Nothing strange about that right? So off to the market I went.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far, just chatting with the regular vendors and buying the necessary items.

"Miss Anna! I haven't seen you for some time! How's the restaurant goin'? Your aunt and uncle treatin' you well?"

"Good morning . The restaurant is doing fine and my aunt and uncle are treating me very well. How's your business doing?" is a nice old man who sells a variety of vegetables and one of the closest vendors I've been attached to.

"Well that's mighty good to hear! Business is getting a little slow but you know people. One day it might be mangoes and peaches and the next it could be broccoli and peppers! They're so unpredictable these days." says as he shakes his head.

"Well I think you'll be glad to know that I am interested in buying lettuce and carrots from you today if you don't mind." I said with a smile on my face.

"Well I certainly don't mind that! That will be 10 Yuans if you please Miss Anna."

Just as I was going to pay , I felt something on my head.

Bolin POV

"PABUU!" I yelled so loud I think the whole downtown area heard me.

I don't know what got into him this morning, maybe it was those berries I fed him…but whatever the reason, he went all crazy and started running around the marketplace with me chasing after him. He started to make some booths fall over leaving me apologizing to the angry vendors that owned them. I almost caught up with him when I saw him sit on some girl's head. I tried to stop running but instead I crashed into them. We both landed on the ground with a loud thud and boy did she look angry.

"Hey what's your problem?!" she said as she rubbed her back.

"Heh, sorry about that. I was only trying to get my fire ferret here." I gestured to my shoulder where Pabu was sitting.

"Oh, well I suppose that's okay. He is a cute animal after all, I can see why you care for him very much." She said with a smile on her face. She's only a stranger, but why am I getting butterflies in my stomach?

"Um thanks. If you want, I can pay for your groceries to show how sorry I am. I insist."

"Well that's very kind of you, but I don't think I'm the one you should be worrying about." She said as she pointed behind me to all the angry vendors.

"Heh heh..I think you're right, but I still have to make it up to you somehow."

I stared at her as she was thinking hard.

"Tell you what, I'll pay for the damage you caused for the vendors and in return, you do some labor work at my uncle and aunt's restaurant to pay off the debt." She finished with a thoughtful smile on her face. I only had a couple Yuans in my pocket as it is and besides, a little work never killed anybody.

"You've got yourself a deal. Uhh where is it by the way?"

"You just keep going down this street and take the second right until you see the name 'The Panda Lily'. You can start tomorrow morning."

"Why not right now?"

"Probably because you'll help the vendors with their businesses for the majority of the day as an apology."

I looked back and saw the vendors grumbling and yelling in my direction. I winced visibly as I thought of all the bad attitude that would come my way soon. I heard chuckling as I brought my attention to the front again.

"Don't worry, I'll tell them to take it easy on you when you help them get their businesses up and running again."

"Thanks again for your help. By the way, I never got your name."

"It's Anna, and yours?" she said as she paid the vendor in front of her.

"Bolin, and this little troublemaker is Pabu." I said as I rubbed Pabu's head.

"Well make sure Pabu doesn't cause trouble in this area again. I don't think they would forgive so easily twice in a row." She said as she started walking away.

"Thanks for the advice! I'll see you tomorrow!" I yelled as she started getting farther and farther away.

Well, now I have to change my plans for the next couple of days, but seeing Anna again leaves a pleasant feeling. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard an old man yelling at me to stop 'dawdling', as he put it, and get working.

Now the only question left in my mind is, how am I going to explain this to Mako?

A/N Wow, that took me a while to come up with. I'm not sure whether I kept Bolin in character or not but hey, that's what reviews are for right? Questions and comments are appreciated and feel free to PM me and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Other than that, until next time!