She was alone, walking in the street, not a single living being in sight. The more she walked, the more desperate she became, and started yelling, and running, crying out for someone, anyone. But no one was there, nobody answered. She ran and ran and suddenly she was on the roof of the tallest building but she kept running, and over the edge she went, and she saw the ground rushing to meet her for a split second, before waking up with a jump.

The sudden movement made her head pound and she instantly got dizzy and felt sick. She cradled her head in her hands, and waited the pain off, slowly opening her eyes when it finally subsided.

She was in a dark room that she had never seen, sitting on a big bed. Thin beams of light peered through the closed curtains, meaning she had been out for several hours. She wanted to take a better look in the room, so she tried leaving the bed, but as soon as she got up on her feet the room spun around her, and she fell down on the hard, wooden floor. She felt sick again, and her head felt like it was going to explode, when a burst of light came through the door, forcing her to shut her eyes as she reached blindly for the bed, trying to get up. She heard a cry of surprise, and the sound of something being set on the floor, followed by a clanking sound. Soon after, hands were grabbing her, and she was too weak to fight, but the hands were soft and gentle, slowly helping her up and sitting her in bed.

"You shouldn't be up, you suffered a nasty blow. Here, lean against the pillows."

It was a soothing female voice, polite yet motherly, guiding her to the pillows that were arranged for her to place her back, which, she found out, was very sore, as soon as it touched the soft pillows.

"I'll get you some water, wait just a second."

She opened her eyes slowly, and saw what she could only describe as a very average woman, for she was not short and not tall, not fat or slim, and she wore her hair plainly in a bun. She dressed in robes, that although were much nicer than anything the girl remembered wearing, were still very common-looking. She picked up something on the floor — a metal tray holding what smelled like and appeared to be what those who ate on a regular basis called breakfast — and placed it on the nightstand that the girl luckily managed to avoid hitting heard on her fall. She did everything with so much skill, that barely a noise was made, the plates and cutlery remaining neatly in their places. She picked up a jar and started pouring its content on a cup, offering it to the girl, who took it and drank in small sips, feeling the clear water refreshing on her dry mouth and throat.

The woman waited patiently on the side of the bed, her hands folded in front of her. After finishing drinking, the girl gave the cup back and asked, awkwardly, as the woman started pouring some more:

"Excuse me, um, miss?"

The woman was startled for a second, but then smiled and said:

"You can call me Suyin, dear"

"Um, Suyin, could you tell me where I am?"

"Oh, all will be explained soon enough, dear. Here", she handed her another cup, which smelled nice and was releasing steam, "watch out, it's hot. Do you mind if I open the curtains?"

Everything was so overwhelming, and she was so tired and hurt and confused, that she just shook her head and started slowing sipping the drink, which tasted like tea, but was much better than any tea she remembered tasting.

Her mind started clearing up as the room filled with light, which hurt at first, but soon was very pleasant, warming her and letting her see the details of where she was. The room was simply decorated, but it clearly had an Earth Kingdom style – or so the girl assumed, she had never been to the Earth Kingdom, but everything that had shades of brown and green were probably related to it. The food on the tray next to her seemed delicious, and the tray itself was bigger than she had at first perceived, containing a tea pot, a jar of water, two plates of hot food that she did not recognize, and some bread. Her stomach made a sound too common for her, and she wished Suyin would hurry up with the curtains and help the food get to her, as she wouldn't be able to reach for the nightstand without falling over again.

She noticed that Suyin's robes were green as she turned around, but she noticed something else as well: she was missing an ear. In place of her right ear, she had a deformed shape, surrounded by a scar that reached into the middle of her cheek. She noticed the girl was staring, and her gentle smile became smaller as she said:

"Oh, I'm sorry; do you want me to cover it up?"

The girl realized she was staring, and turned away, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment:

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be staring… Sorry."

Suyin smiled larger, and said

"I usually have it covered and use make-up to soften the scar's appearance, but I was too busy this morning to tend to it. I guess it's for the best, Master Xin already doesn't like me spending time covering it up, under the circumstances he'd like it even less.

"Circumstances?" the girl looked up.

"With our special guest and all." She smiled as she placed the tray gently in front the girl, who was about to start eating, but a word that Suyin said had rung a bell.

"Master Xin?" she asked, feeling nervous, finally putting the pieces together.

"Oh, poor dear, you mustn't remember last night properly with the injury and all. I'll go tell him you're up and he can clear everything up, I should've done that as soon as you had awakened, anyway." She started leaving the room, talking to herself on her way to the door "He must be in the dining room right now, I'll-"

But her sentence was cut off when the girl dashed past her, running through the corridor. She felt her conscience slipping away, but she focused her mind and numbed out all the soreness and dizziness. All she thought about were her friends, Lei, the fight, the man who defeated them all so quickly, and she couldn't even hear Suyin yelling and chasing after her and calling for help. She ran through the wooden corridors, not choosing turns at random, until she stopped in front of two tall doors, gasping for breath. Without thinking, she opened one of the doors, hoping it would lead to the streets. But it didn't.

Inside, a long table was set for breakfast, and a man ate alone at the corner seat, as a couple of servants stood close to the wall. When they heard the door opening, they looked over in shock, and one of them rushed to the girl's side as the other one moved closer to the man. That man. The same man that was responsible for all that happened the previous night. Barely aware of the servant who tried to get her to sit down, she walked to the man, feeling as if she was about to faint, staring into his eyes as he watched her, a blank stare on his face. She managed to say:

"You! What… Did you… Where…", then everything went black.

When she woke, she was still in the dining room, sitting in one of the chairs as Suyin gently tapped her face with the palm of her hand, to wake her up. She looked very worried, and the girl couldn't help but feel guilty after running off on her like that, after she had been so nice. But that was nonsense; Suyin was paid to be nice to her. It was her job. Still, the other two servants didn't look nearly as worried, and the girl thought she might really care.

A few seats away, the man was eating calmly, and after noticing she was awake, said:

"Suyin, you may leave now."

Suyin looked back and seemed about to protest, but didn't, leaving after whispering "everything's alright" to the girl.

"You must have questions."

The girl was more confused than ever, as well as angry and scared. She wanted to fight that man and run away and get answers, all at the same time, but her body and mind were too worn out to perform any of those tasks, so she just stared at him, in silence.

"You were knocked unconscious when you catapulted into a tree to avoid my harmless restraining form. I brought you to my house and assigned Suyin to care for you. She told me you ran off before eating, so help yourself. It's my guess that you street urchins don't eat this well"

There were notes of sarcasm all across his sentence, which was strangely relieving, it made him appear more like an unpleasant authority than a cold assassin. The girl was famished, and the food did look delicious, so she decided she might as well eat up while she could. The man started talking again:

"We are in my estate in the city. Your friends got away from the park safely."

Friends. She couldn't help asking:

"And Lei?"

"I'm assuming you mean the firebender. I didn't see him again last night, his timing must've been off and he wasn't able to come to your 'rescue'."

So Lei was safe as well, good. She could imagine him being angry at not coming back for her in time, but it was probably for the best. Who knows what that man — Xin, as she had learned — would do if provoked enough.

She was eating silently for a while, before asking:

"Why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?"

To her surprise, the man laughed, looking at her with an amused expression:

"Your suspicion is endearing. I do not want anything from you, especially since there's nothing you can give me. You have nothing, remember?"

As if one forgets poverty, hunger, and fear.

"But you do have one thing, don't you?" he said, watching her angry eyes "You have pride. And even more than that. You have guts. And you're not a bad earthbender, either. What I want, girl, is to make you an offer."

She just stared and waited for whatever it was.

"I want you to attend school."

She choked a little, and drank some tea to wash it down.

"School? You fight me, kidnap me, give me food, and want to send me to some school? What is your problem?"

"As I recall it, it was you, and your friends, that assaulted me, injuring an innocent cab driver in the process."

He must've seen the guilt she was feeling, because he said:

"The cab driver is fine, by the way."

One of the servants came to Xin's side and whispered something into his ear. He got up, and the girl noticed he had one of his arms — the right one — was bent inside his robe, held by the robe, as if it were broken. Perhaps she injured him in the combat? She couldn't help but feel a little proud..

"Consider my offer. I will be back later to hear your answer. Do us all a favor and don't attempt another escape, you must be aware that you are in no condition to do so."

The girl didn't say anything, and stared at her food as he left the room with one of the servants.