[-Chapter Six-]

I was on my way to work for Mr. Hatsuo. His seventeen-year-old son enjoyed harassing me and making crude jokes when I was within earshot. Apparently that was his way of "wooing" me, since he loudly announced to the entire village that he was going to marry me someday. That was ridiculous—as if his father would ever let him marry a hired worker in the first place. Plus, he was a total pig and I would run away before I let myself be wed to that creature. I shook his face out of my mind with determination and a simple thought: Koto was the only man for me. Even if Koto didn't exist—something that I could not imagine no matter how hard I tried—I would never crawl to that immature swine. But a piercing, tortured scream broke into my thoughts and stopped me in my tracks.

"Please!" I looked up in shock from my position near the village mud pit.

The figure kneeling in the sloppy mud was that of a child, I realized; a young boy. He seemed rather familiar, with floppy, flyaway sandy hair. I studied him a moment longer before it clicked: Manchu, Aiko's best friend. They hung out together all the time when she wasn't at some type of party. He was worse off than my family money-wise, but he could still afford decent clothing and a house. I liked Manchu; he was a great influence for Aiko, because every lady needed to experience rolling around in mud—or at least they did in my opinion. He looked up at the building behind me then, desperation etched into every line of his face, and I was chilled to the bone:

His eyes were pure white.

As if my eyes were burning him, he whimpered and shrank away from my gaze. But he wasn't staring at me; he was staring at that building right behind me, as if it were advancing on him. Suddenly he clapped his hands over his ears and literally folded in half, screaming. My ears were ringing but I couldn't bring myself to shut out his pleas.

"Hei-Bai, no! He said that you could help me!"

I didn't know whom Manchu was talking to or what he was talking about, but I headed over to help him anyway. Somehow, one of the other villagers beat me to the punch. She was at his side, whispering quietly into his ear. I hesitated, curious if this motherly figure would be able to sooth the child.

"Hei-Bai! I need your help!" the boy insisted, his voice jumping another octave. He didn't even acknowledge the other villager, though his eyes passed over her several times. I suddenly understood that the boy couldn't see the villager at all. The villager seemed to understand as well, because dawning comprehension passed over her face. She scurried away as quickly as possible, as if Manchu's condition were contagious.

"Hei-Bai!" the boy wailed again, and I felt as though my heart were breaking in two. I knew what was wrong with the boy by now, though I had no idea what "Hei-Bai" was, or who had sent Manchu to that creature. My worst fears were confirmed when the boy lifted his tiny fists in frustration and the water from the mud rose up around him in the air. He was a Waterbender.

I ran to him, splashing through the mud and ruining my finest work clothes, although that wasn't saying much. I knew I would probably hear about it from my parents that night, but I didn't care at all. I cradled his head delicately. Manchu jerked in my arms, and turned his milky white eyes to stare up at me in wonder. "You," he breathed, and I pulled away in shock. "No!" he screamed, and wrapped his grubby hands around my shirt. "Don't leave me, please!"

"Step away from the child, Hikari." It was the voice that resonated in all of my angry dreams; the ones where I hunted down the people that I didn't like. Needless to say, I enjoyed the success of those dreams. Also needless to say, I did not appreciate Aku's presence here and ignored him. But what truly disturbed me was Manchu: he didn't even acknowledge Aku's existence. He hadn't sought out the source of the other noise. Being a Bender meant not hearing or seeing people in the Physical World. Everyone knew that. Why, then, could Manchu hear me? Why could he see me? What was going on?

A/N: Hello friends-also known as Tainted and my silent reader fanbase. Welcome to the next installment!

So, although Tainted made an awesome guess, Manchu is NOT dead. He is somehow trapped between the Physical World and the Spirit World. And for some reason, he can see Hikari in the Spirit World. How interesting... (insert random hypothesis here)

Also, Tainted you may feel free to use an Interlude if you want. It isn't really my idea, it's just a style of organizing chapters :) So go for it! And thanks for the cookies!

Finally, one last treat for you all: I know this chapter is very short. DUE TO SHORTNESS, WE WILL HAVE A DOUBLE UPDATE TODAY! *confetti and party balloons* I know you're all so very excited. I figure that we can have one early in the morning (aka, right now around 2 AM) and one later on today. Between 5 PM and 11:59 PM EST? I shall see you soon; enjoy!