AMS
LEAVING BA SING SE
Just as they promised with their hug that night, for the next couple months they protected Quey from the other bloodbending bully kids. They stayed by his side as he meditated to keep his wits about him. The first step to his healing process was being honest about his fear. The second step was putting his trust in Bobbi and Brady. Despite them being bloodbenders, they were nice to him, and the more he spent time with them in utter and complete silence, the more he appreciated their company. Before, he wouldn't emote at all with his face. Now, every morning, he greets them both with breakfast and the world's smallest smile, and a respectful bow. The twins noticed this slight improvement, and they would smile back at him brightly. The twins made sure not to bother Quey, so they would talk to each other instead. During their conversations, Quey would listen to whatever they were talking about. Sometimes he would let a small chuckle escape his throat, and they would hear him, but they would not mind. In fact, it was comforting to them that they could finally make him laugh. The couple months passed in a blur, mostly because Quey spent most of the time meditating and sleeping.
"Quey, even if we're not your friends, to us, you will always be our best friend. We love you Quey, and we will pray for your safety and for you to be happy. Even if it means we have to never see you again. Which, I hope is not the case. You're a really nice kid, and what our tribe has done to you, we never knew about until you told us. If we had known, we would have tried to help you escape during the last full moon," said Bobbi, sniffling.
Quey had a pained expression on his face. Whether he admit it to himself or not, he had definitely grown attached to these twin bloodbenders. Despite himself and the screaming voice in his head, he walked up to Bobbi and tenderly and shakily wrapped his arms around her, making her gasp and return the hug.
"Quey. You do care about us after all," she breathed out, smiling through the river of tears coming from her eyes. Beside them, Brady blew into a handkerchief, embroidered with dark blue and silver designs.
"Yes. You two have been so kind to me, despite being part of the same tribe as those awful murderers," said Quey, his voice cracking with overwhelming emotion.
He let go of Bobbi and gave Brady a manly hug. Not so manly since Brady started bawling like a baby. Then, Bobbi said something that shocked Quey.
"Brady and I found something in a trash bin. It's a flier saying it's looking for young bloodbenders to master it for medical purposes. Quey, my brother and I can finally learn how to use our bending for good! We can learn to save lives. It's with the great inventor Varrick's daughter, Saika Moon. So while you'll be mastering airbending, my brother and I will be mastering our element and use it to save lives. Since we won't be here anymore, do you think you could visit us often?" she asked.
Quey was shocked, excited, confused, and every other emotion.
"You guys, you'll be using bloodbending to save lives?" he croaked out.
Brady and Bobbi nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep! We already talked about an escape plan. Noatak made it clear he doesn't want anyone leaving here without his permission, but the next full moon is in a few nights from now. We're going to leave then, when our bending is at its peak. Although, it also means his bending will be at its peak, but we're strong for our age. Under a full moon, we're stronger than half the men in our tribe together. We can bloodbend some people and cause scenes with their bodies, which will distract a lot of people, possibly including the leader himself. It's fool proof!" Bobbi whispered in Quey's ear.
Quey deflated.
"That will never work. But Noatak shared some vital information with me that I can give you so you're both prepared to not go with that plan. He told me he can bloodbend psychically without a full moon, and he can sense heart beats. The second he senses anyone's heart beats get fainter and fainter, he will use his bloodbending to either bring you both back, or he will kill both of you. I'm scheduled to leave for Air Temple Island today, so he is only expecting one heart beat to fade away to nothing by distance today. If he senses more than one heart beat getting fainter, he will most likely kill all of us," sadly said Quey.
Brady stepped forward with a new plan in his mind that his eyes were wide with excitement, yet anxiety.
"I think I know a way around that. Our mom, who is a healer, studied the human body a lot. She found out in her studies that a heart can be stopped for one hour. We will go to the boat dock to seemingly see you off. Noatak has most likely seen the three of us hang together. I haven't told any of you yet, but my bloodbending has gotten somewhat stronger without the aid of a full moon. Yes, we know that those kids that bullied you can bloodbend without the full moon, but it's mediocre since they were hurting you. My bending won't hurt anyone now. Quey, and Bobbi, with your guys' permission, I can stop both of your hearts for an hour. By the time we get to Air Temple Island by the boat, I should have about ten minutes to spare. But I promise to restart your hearts the second we land. If you let me do this, all three of us will be free of this place forever, and my sis and I can one day come back and stop Noatak once we master our bending," offered Brady.
The idea of someone stopping his heart for an hour was very unsettling to Quey, evident by the way he was shaking. Then he thought about how they never, not once, bloodbended him. He knows he can trust them with his life. Quey eyed Brady seriously.
"No funny business? You'll restart my and her heart once we're away?" asked Quey.
Brady put one hand on his chest and the other up.
"I promise to solely use my bloodbending for our speedy and successful escape from Ba Sing Se. If I do not restart your hearts, may the spirits strike me dead right now," promised Brady.
Quey let out a shaky sigh, then started packing.
"Alright. I will trust you. That's saying a lot for someone like me because of what I've been through. Count yourself lucky, Brady. You too, Bobbi. I actually consider you two trustworthy. Once we get to Air Temple Island, the air acolytes should prepare a boat for you two to go to Varrick's house to master bloodbending," said Quey.
"Hey Quey?" meekly started Bobbi.
"Yeah?" he asked, still packing.
"Will you help us take down Noatak once we all master our bending?" Bobbi asked hopefully. "He is evil, and he needs to be stopped. I think he will have a hard time against someone who has mastered airbending."
Quey stopped packing and looked at her sadly.
"Once I leave, I'm never coming back. Ba Sing Se just holds one too many painful memories for me now. But look on the bright side. We all still get to be friends, and on days where I'm not training, I will come fly to you two. Yep, that's right. Once we leave and get to Air Temple Island, I will let go of my earthly tethers and enter the void and become wind," smiled Quey.
Bobbi nodded and smiled warmly.
"I kind of expected an answer like that, but it still didn't hurt to ask. I'm glad we can be friends. And the fact that you're gonna learn to fly is amazing! I can't wait to see you master your element," said Bobbi truthfully.
Quey half smiled and nodded.
"And I can't wait for you two to make a positive difference with your bending," responded Quey.
Quey found a second suitcase.
"If they ask me, I'm going to tell them that this one suitcase holds my clothes and personal hygiene stuff. This suitcase, I will tell them it holds things to remember my parents by, even though your guys' things will be hidden underneath my parents' things. Once we get to the island, I will remove my parents' things and hand you the suitcase. No doubt they're gonna open the suitcases to check. So we gotta be prepared. And if they try to look under my parents' things, I'll just suffocate them with a head vacuum. I can do that to five people at once," winked Quey.
Brady and Bobbi nodded, then gaped.
"Wait, how? When did you practice something like that?" asked Brady.
"Remember how I always meditated? Well, I would meditate on scenarios and practice that technique all up in here. Meditating does wonders. Since you two will be working on using bloodbending for medical purposes, you should try meditating on scenarios to further strengthen your bending capabilites. If you do that, no doubt you'll be able to save multiple people at once with your hands behind your back," said Quey pointing to his head.
They smiled and nodded in unison.
"By the way dude. I never told you this, but I've always loved your hair style. It's so sick! Like, both sides of your head is clean shaven, and your jet black hair hangs slightly over your thick eyebrows, and runs down the middle of your head, and stops just at your shoulders. I always thought you looked so badass," Brady complimented.
Quey looked up at his hair, lifting an eyebrow.
"You really like my hair style that much? I always liked it too, but I didn't think anyone else would like it as much as I do," replied Quey.
"I've always liked your hair too," beamed Bobbi.
For the first time since his parents last made him laugh, he doubled over laughing genuinely until tears streamed down his cheeks from excessive laughing. The twins hugged him, then the three of them went to Noatak's office. Noatak was in his office, filing through paperwork like usual until he heard a few knocks on his door.
"Come in," he called, setting the pen down and making the stack of papers neat again.
The door opened, revealing Quey, Bobbi, and Brady. The three of them practiced casual expressions before coming to his office.
"Two suitcases?" he asked, raising a brow.
"One has a lot of my parents things in it, mainly my dad's clothes for me when I grow into them," explained Quey convincingly.
Noatak felt bad for the young airbender for the first time. Like, truly felt bad. Noatak nodded in understanding as he remembered his father.
"Unlike me, this kid most likely had a father who cared for him and showed him love," Noatak thought.
"That's fine. What are you two doing here?" Noatak asked the twins.
"We're his friends, and we just wanted to see if we can see Quey off. We want to wave to him until the boat disappears like in the movies. Can we do that?" pleaded Bobbi, making puppy dog eyes.
Noatak sighed and inwardly rolled his eyes.
"Typical kids and their weird friendship stuff," he thought.
"I don't care, just as long as you both go back home afterwards," dismissed Noatak in a fake kind voice.
The twins and Quey bowed, thanking him for his kindness.
"So. Quey, how do you feel about leaving your home to go to Air Temple Island?" asked Noatak.
Quey smiled sadly.
"I'm a little scared, since I've never left home before, but the thought of living with fellow airbenders makes me excited and nervous at the same time. I just know that by going there, I'll be making my parents proud," truthfully said Quey.
"Ah, so that explains the rapid heart beats coming from him," silently mused Noatak.
Brady can also feel Quey's heart beat and is taking notes.
"Guess I'm gonna have to make mine beat that fast when I turn off his heart," thought Brady, not making his thoughts obvious on his face.
"Say, haven't I seen you two wander around the streets late at night a lot?" asked Noatak, aligning his pens neatly.
Bobbi looked down and nodded. This confused Quey.
"Yes sir. We don't exactly have a home," said Bobbi.
Now Quey was shocked.
"What do you mean? Didn't you guys always leave to go home at dark?" asked Quey.
"We didn't want you to worry about us or pity us, but, we lost our parents in the North due to a snow storm that wiped them out. When our parents were killed, my bro and I took care of each other until another bloodbender came to our hut and told us about Noatak, and said he was looking for bloodbenders to join him in coming to Ba Sing Se to start a new life. We asked him how we were going to do that, and he said Noatak had already spoke to the Earth Queen and she peacefully agreed to let us move here while she and the earthbenders left Ba Sing Se to go live somewhere else. Then we met you, and we wanted a real friend. Not someone who says they're our friend because they feel bad for us in that we're homeless," said Bobbi, still looking down before looking up and smiling at Quey. "That's why we really want to see you off, Quey. You're our first real friend in years."
Noatak now felt bad for the whole group of kids, and looked at the clock.
"Well, the boat will be leaving in an hour. The three of you best start walking if you want Quey to make it," Noatak said, thinking hard about what he was thinking of saying. "Bobbi and Brady."
The twins and Quey stopped and turned back around, waiting for whatever Noatak was going to say next.
"Yes sir?" the twins asked in unison.
Noatak had his hands interlaced, elbows on desk, and his brows furrowed.
"You're homeless and unhappy here right?" he asked, looking at them seriously.
They nodded, not sure where Noatak was going to go with this. Quey thought that this was kind of out of character for the man. Then again, Quey has only seen him that one time where he was callous and could care less about him. Perhaps this was just how he was with fellow bloodbenders?
"If you want, you can go with your friend to live on Air Temple Island. I know for a fact that airbenders welcome anyone needing a home into their home. That way, you won't be homeless or without your friend," offered Noatak.
All of their eyes bulged. Bobbi ran forward, looking Noatak in the eyes, her eyes wide and glistening.
"Really? You mean it, sir? Because if you do, then this is the best day of our lives," she asked.
Noatak genuinely smiled and ruffled her hair.
"I mean it. Go. Be happy," said Noatak.
Bobbi beamed up at him and the three of them joined hands and did a little dance of joy in Noatak's office before bowing to the man, thanking him with more excitement, and skipping out of his office. It was almost as if the spirits had a hand in that situation. The three of them made it to the boat where all of them boarded it and stood by the side as they watched Ba Sing Se get smaller and smaller, whereas their smiles got bigger and bigger.
