AMS

FEAR

Almost a full year has passed with Quey biding his time and spending his free hours meditating to escape his painful reality. He has unwillingly made a couple friends who he tries very hard to separate himself from. He tells himself he wants nothing to do with these awful bloodbenders. But it makes it hard when a couple bloodbending kids smile at him and ask him to play with them.

"Use your airbending to make those signs spin, and we'll try to make the dummy dodge them!"Bobbi suggested while bending the water inside the dummy, making it dance happily.

It was both disturbing and endearing to Quey all at once. It made him want to throw up as he remembered his parents being killed, yet it made him want to smile and laugh. He was so conflicted that he just decided to show no emotion as he dully nodded and got in his stance. He was unwillingly friends with Bobbi and Brady. Twins. Not identical, but they were born on the same day. They try to look identical by wearing the same outfits and have the same ponytail style. Quey made the signs spin and Bobbi tried to get the dummy to dodge every single one of them. Brady would be cheering them both on in the background. Without any of them noticing, Noatak would be close by, watching them play. He was mostly keeping his eye on the airbender. Quey looked and acted mechanical. He was just running on the will to stay alive at this point. Noatak grunted and went back to his house that also had his office inside.

"Sir, the airbender is now making friends with most of the children. Do you think he poses a threat and could turn the children against us?" asked one of Noatak's followers.

Noatak thought about it.

"Give me some time to think about it. I'll let you know in a few days," Noatak dismissed.

It was true. What started off as a robotic acting airbender and only a couple of bloodbender kids quickly turned into a robotic acting airbender and nearly an army of bloodbender kids. If Quey thought about ever rebelling, he certainly had the numbers to take out a lot of the adults. Noatak snickered at himself for worrying so much.

"They're just kids, having fun with someone who can airbend. He will leave for Air Temple Island in a couple months, and at this point, he is too broken to think like that. And if it did ever come to that, I can easily take out the airbender, and us adults can apprehend the children and reshape their minds," Noatak said, amused.

The follower grunted, smirking, and then left.

"Yeah. That's right. What was I so worried about?" the follower thought as he strode back home.

"Quey! Jump as high as you can!" ordered one of the kids.

If Quey didn't do what they asked him to do, they would make him do it anyway by controlling his body and limbs. What would the adults do to this abuse? They would go "aww that's so cute. They made a friend." The kids weren't as skillful as the adults, so when they controlled him, it hurt a lot more than it did when an adult bloodbended him. When has an adult bloodbended him? When he first tried to apply for jobs. They would at first turn him down, saying he's not a bloodbender. Quey would plead, and they would bloodbend him out of their shop. It stung a bit then, but when the kids did it, it was hard to breathe. So he dulled his emotions, and decided to just do what he was asked to do. He jumped fifty feet in the air, making the kids make sounds of awe, and when he floated back down, they all clapped. It angered him that he was just their play thing, that they weren't really his friends.

"What does it matter to you? Weren't you the one who never wanted bloodbenders as friends?" his subconscious asked him.

Bobbi and Brady would be in the way back, concerned for Quey. They never meant for Quey to be used and abused by the other kids. At least they didn't bloodbend him when he didn't want to do something.

"Quey, how about you versus the dummy?" Bobbi had suggested one time, her twin brother looking excited.

"Uh, I don't really want to do that. Can we try meditating? It's something I like to do," Quey had asked.

"Meditating? Um, we don't want to. But, you can go ahead. Brady and I will spar each other while you do your thing," Bobbi had answered.

Quey just now realized how much he missed it being just them and no one else. Right before his eyes could glow for even a second, all the kids ran home since the sun set. He felt slightly lightheaded and wobbled a bit.

"What was that from? That never happened before," he wondered.

Brady and Bobbi came running up to him and both embraced him, and his emotions turned into steel again.

"Quey, are you okay bro? Can we do anything to help?" asked Brady, near tears for him.

"No. I think I'm just exhausted and need to get my sleep," replied Quey robotically.

Bobbi put her hand on Quey's elbow, and looked at him with worry.

"Want us to sleep over with you, to keep you company? We're your best friends, after all. Right?" Bobbi asked.

Quey really didn't want any bloodbenders near him, but he didn't want to be alone either.

"This way," he said.

Bobbi and Brady brightened up as they followed behind him. They made it to Quey's home and when they stepped inside, they looked around, and felt bad for Quey all over again. Everything was still wrecked from when the bloodbenders first attacked his home. He never bothered to clean it. The messy state of the house reminds Quey of why he needs to stay alive, of why he needs to keep going. For them. Bobbi bent down to pick up a broken plate piece sadly, making Quey snap out of his robotic state and smack the piece out of her hand, making her flinch and draw her hand close to her body.

"Don't. Touch. Anything," Quey quietly warned, his nose flaring.

Bobbi squeezed her eyes shut, her mouth in a tight line, quickly nodding her head up and down in understanding. Quey felt a minuscule part of him feel guilty for scaring her, but the bigger part of him rationalized that she deserved to be yelled at. She's a bloodbender in his home, that was wrecked by bloodbenders. If anyone is going to one day clean up the mess, it was going to be Quey and no one else. He decided he was going to start cleaning the house a week before he leaves, and then, he will destroy the house to the ground using his airbending.

"Dude. You didn't have to yell at her. She didn't do anything wrong," Brady said, furrowing his brows as he held his sister.

"Bloodbenders," Quey started, his voice oddly low.

Brady flinched at Quey's new tone before becoming curious, his sister perking up as well.

"What about bloodbenders?" asked Bobbi, stepping forward.

Quey plopped down on the floor, making a cloud of dust puff around him.

"Bloodbenders. Took my parents' lives. If anyone is going to clean this mess, it's going to be me. And then, I'm going to destroy everything down to the ground so that no one can destroy it ever again," continued Quey, sighing at the end.

"What? Bloodbenders aren't bad people! They told us, that our leader Noatak negotiated with the Earth Queen, and that she and the earthbenders left Ba Sing Se willingly. Your parents just left you behind. I'm so sorry they didn't love you. But, we love you. We're your family now," replied Bobbi.

Quey snapped his head back at her and stood up.

"I WAS THERE WHEN THEY TOOK HER LIFE! I HEARD THEM KILL MY MOM AND DAD! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER DIRTY BLOODBENDER WHO'S BEEN USING ME FOR MY AIRBENDING!" shouted Quey, making Bobbi's lower lip quiver.

Brady didn't even say anything this time. He just held his quivering, sobbing sister. Brady quietly told her to calm down, and eventually she did.

"So...what? We were lied to by our own people?" asked Brady.

Quey breathed in and out. This was really unbecoming of an air nomad, he told himself. He thought about green grass, warm sun, flowers, and a nice gentle breeze.

"Yes. You were both lied to. The reason my house is such a mess, is because the two bloodbenders who killed my parents trashed it. I've kept it like this to remind me of why I need to stay alive. I need to do it for them. I need to stay strong until the day I can leave to go to Air Temple Island to live with other airbenders. Then, I can leave all this behind me and search the world for enlightenment. Heh, if I really wanted to, I could let go of my earthly attachments and fly. But I don't want to give Noatak a reason to kill me," explained Quey.

"K-kill you?" squeaked Brady, Bobbi having ceased her crying and looking just as shocked.

Quey chuckled darkly.

"You heard me. He brought me into his office. Told me not to leave early or try to get in his way, or else he would kill me. I could fly if I wanted to. But I'm afraid he will kill me if he sees me flying around. I only want to survive and leave forever. I want... peace for myself again," explained Quey, dropping his shaking fists and unraveling them by his sides.

Bobbi and Brady looked at each other sadly then back at Quey.

"Quey, do you even consider us to be your friend?" quietly asked Bobbi.

Quey looked up at her. She was so beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and ears. Her raven hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her icy blue eyes were orbs one could get lost in forever and not mind freezing to death. Her twin brother's eyes were darker blue, and his hair color was a dark brown rather than black, and he was a bit more on the chubby side.

"I never considered you both to be my friends. I've only hung out with you both in fear for my life."

That was what he wanted to tell them. He wanted to be open and honest. He didn't want to painfully lead them on when there was nothing to lead them to. It was like having a horse blindly trust and follow you to a wasteland with no water for miles, only to be left there to die of thirst. Quey did what he didn't want to do, and he nodded at them.

"Quey... you didn't even speak a response like you usually do. You're lying. Please be honest. Just because we're bloodbenders doesn't mean we want to hurt you. If we're not your friends, and if our presence makes you uncomfortable, we'd rather know than continue to blindly hurt you," softly said Bobbi, her eyes shining, threatening to spill freshly made tears.

Quey looked at Brady who just smiled and nodded in agreement with his twin before closing the torn curtains on the windows, and turning on a lamp in the living room that somehow wasn't shattered in the invasion.

"The truth is, I don't know how I feel about you guys, and I'm in constant conflict with myself on whether or not I like you guys or not. You both don't seem to be bad bloodbenders, but everytime I see you guys controlling that dummy, it makes me remember what you're both capable of doing if I don't fall in line and do as you say. You both never bloodbended me, and I am grateful. But, things are still too fresh for me. I know this might be asking for too much, even now, considering what I just confessed, but, until I leave for Air Temple Island, will you two protect me from those kids? Everytime they bloodbend me, it hurts so much I can barely breathe. It's getting worse each day. If you do that for me, I promise to seriously consider coming back to visit just you two every once in a while. Maybe more if we do end up becoming friends in the future," asked Quey.

He closed his eyes, expecting them to bloodbend him now, expecting to be slapped, expecting something physically painful. He had been holding in his fear of them for so long that it was both scary yet relieving to finally let it all out and in the open. When he felt arms wrap around him comfortingly, he allowed the tears to finally fall. It felt like hours passed during his sobbing until he finally passed out. Bobbi and Brady carried him up the stairs, into his room, and onto his bed. They didn't use their bloodbending, but they used their hands to carry him. Quey's chakra was unlocked that night.